Meeting the Mistress

Back in 1980, Len Legere Sr. bought the remains of a ‘71 Javelin from a wrecking yard, and took it from a forgotten mess to the ISCA National Championship. The car had a HUGE impact on me almost twenty years ago, and still brings forth that teenage awe that it did when I first laid eyes on it at the Clutch Artists AutoRama in Buffalo, NY.

The one and only Mistress
Before we get too deep into it, dig on some video caught by my father those many moons ago (pardon the low quality– time has been harsh to the old VHS tapes, and his transfer was decent, but moving it online has degraded it a bit more…).

The car absolutely jumped off of its turntable that March day, and drove deep into my psyche. Here was a modern custom car… a contemporary take on the radical customs I was already obsessed over as a kid, but oh, so much more! That stance was aggressive, and not typical at all of a custom car, it had billet rollers, and those proportions, man!! Chopped and sectioned, and channeled just right over that custom frame… This was a 1:1 version of the models I was building! I can’t begin to count the hours I spent studying the car as it went ’round and ’round that weekend, but know this much: I was taking notes.

Radical Custom AMC Javelin
As a junkyard-trolling individual, I recognized the (then) late-model Monte Carlo headlamps, the Fairmont tail lights… but the specifications were branded into my brain: roof chopped 2.5-inches, body sectioned 3-inches, floors channeled 5-inches. I stood there, imagining the car sitting on the ground… how it would have looked, a whole, what… 40 or so inches tall? Awesome.

How’s the old girl look today? VERY well-preserved indeed. Some pics from this past Summer:

As she looks in 2009

It's what's inside that counts, too...

A modern classic
Anyway, I bring this car up following a week of finishing off a couple of pro-touring style car renderings, and a late night of pondering where that whole movement will go next. After all, custom cars grew to become milder versions of their former selves, save for a few notable examples like we have here, and pro-street became, well, pro-touring… Yet, almost 20 years ago, Len Legere created a car that would easily meld the custom and pro-touring camps, and left an indelible mark on my design sense. Since that day in the Buffalo Convention Center, I’ve worked to add styling cues to my designs that honor that pivotal moment, and have enjoyed the hell out of it all. Here’s hoping you’ll do the same, and thanks, as always, for peeking in….

Naturally, the question remains for my fellow hot rod designers (and those just peeking in, too!) :
How would YOU, as a hot rod designer or artist, update this car to compete once more in the modern day? What changes, if any, would you contemplate? Bonus points for posting up some ideas!

Hot rod art

…and prints that really “pop”.

Traditional Lakes Roadster artwork

As we were packing up some prints to ship out the other day, a friend stopped by and began to rave about the color and quality of these pieces. Naturally, I was stoked to hear this, and realized that I’d never really given much thought to it. After all, I see them from loose pencil roughs on paper, right though completion in digital, and all of the post-print work that goes into them, and simply want to deliver a piece that looks good. To me, each piece just has to look “right”. My pal then gave me an idea: Show some of these pieces as they look on paper, complete… ready to ship. So, I snapped a few pics of some pieces, and wanted to share a few examples with you, just to show what kind of quality you’ll receive when ordering one of our prints:

1955 Chevy rendering

Our renderings for example, are delivered on superior quality, acid-free archival paper, and the work itself is created using an 8-color pigment process (UltraChrome K3 by Epson), and all post-print work (airbrush, etc) is created using Createx and House of Kolor products for the truest color matches and best ‘flakes and pearls where needed. I’ve never really promoted these facts, as I assumed that all renderings and prints were created equal, but after receiving a ton of positive feedback, I thought I’d share it here, and hopefully swing anyone thinking about grabbing a print over to the “yeah, I’ll take one” camp!

Just for kicks, here’s an example of the detail I like to throw in, these shots coming from a ‘55 Chevy resto-mod rendering:

1955 Chevy interior drawing

…and yes, you can even read the lettering on all gauges:

1955 Chevy dashboard rendering

That all shown, we’re pretty proud of the finished product, and hope that you will be, too! Even the experimental works have been turning out with a great look:

Automotive fine art

I hope that you like what you see, and that all of the techno-jargon makes sense. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up, and I’ll get you an answer! Thanks for looking in, and thanks to all who have been collecting my work! Look for more new pieces soon!

…and feel free to browse or grab some hot rod art here!

"The forbidden-ness of the place..."

...is what made it "so compelling", Greg Noll once said of his decision to surf Waimea Bay, which, in November of '57 he conquered.

Surfing there was considered a no-no of sorts, stemming from the death of Dickie Cross there in 1943, as well as the sacred ruins in Waimea Canyon, and a house that the locals presumed haunted... All signs of surfing the almost unexplored (at the time) North Shore seemed to have a big red slash through them. But on that fifth day of November, a drive was so great in the mind of one man, that he cast all superstition and fear aside, and rode some waves. He was quickly joined by Harry Church, Bing Copeland, Pat Curren, Mickey Munoz, and Mike Strange... six guys who spent three years trying to draw enough courage to surf there... And once they did, they became legends.

What's any of this have to do with building or designing hot rods?

Plenty.

I get inspiration from a wide range of sources, and always seek to implement the ideas I get from those sources into a design, or piece of art. Mr. Noll is one of the people on my list of great inspirations, as he was a true pioneer in his craft, whether riding waves, or creating the boards to do so. While I could go on for days about his contributions to the surf industry, I'd rather concentrate on those few opening words from this entry...

"The forbidden-ness of the place is what made it so compelling."

Has there ever been a better way to describe the feeling of taking a torch to a car with the intent of creating something unique?! I imagine the late Sam Barris, contemplating the first cuts on his Merc, or his Buick, for that matter... It was a visionary, bold move to drop the lid on either car, and yet, his decisions to do so spawned legend... and countless chopped tops to follow. Decades later, some in the hobby/industry still embrace this pioneering spirit with the battle cry of "dare to be different!", pushing the creative envelope just a bit further each time. It takes a big ol' pair of stones to carve into something different, something not considered mainstream, and really have at it. Of course, it also takes "doing it well" to be successful.

I recently penned a design for Popular Hot Rodding that embodies this approach, taking a relatively forgotten and over-looked car, and just "having at it", bringing in influences from all over the place...


...and it was cathartic, man. "You don't do one of THOSE..." I was told... Which only fueled the fire, as such challenges often will in those with a creative bent. I finished the roughs for the car, and began to think of even more rides off of the beaten path. I'm not saying that drawing this car even compared to riding Wiamea for the first time, but the excitement of taking a direction with it (that I've sat on for years) that is fresh sure packed, metaphorically, anyway, the anticipation of paddling out.

I guess that it all just comes down to finding inspiration in unique places, and then summoning the courage to apply it properly. Not to mention boldly crashing though some previosuly closed doors along the way...

More, as always on my site!