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Howard Hughes and his 1953 Buick Roadmaster...

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Feb 17, 2005.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    Just in time for the movie...

    http://www.barrett-jackson.com/events/florida/howardhughes.asp

    I just finished reading a book about Hughes. Crazy fucker, but he has some cool cars back in the day. Other than the above mentioned bacteria controlled Buick, he also built a '37 chevy "Jalopy" powered by a blown Cord motor - before germs scared him too much obviously... He drove it well into the late 40s...
     
  2. prime mover
    Joined: Dec 6, 2002
    Posts: 827

    prime mover
    Member

    it says that it was stored in hollywood for 20 years but I swear I've seen it at the imperial palace car museum in vegas.
     
  3. All I have to say is... damn that guy had some BALLS!

    Sam.
     
  4. Bigcheese327
    Joined: Sep 16, 2001
    Posts: 6,694

    Bigcheese327
    Member

    I always liked his '54 New Yorker, a very attractive car. Fifties sedans can be very classy - especially with a lot of the "mush" taken out of the chassis and steering.

    Any pictures of that "jalopy"?
     

  5. Django
    Joined: Nov 15, 2002
    Posts: 10,198

    Django
    Member
    from Chicago

    That's some cool engineering with all the aircraft stuff. You read the book? Haha, I cheated and watched the movie, which was pretty good. The airplanes were all models to minimize the cheesy cgi like in Pearl Harbor.

    It doesn't get anymore "hot rod" than that polished aluminum mono-wing racer he developed.
     
  6. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

  7. oldspeed
    Joined: Sep 14, 2004
    Posts: 897

    oldspeed
    Member
    from Upstate NY

    Hughes was such a genius, it was and is truly amazing what he dreamed up. I am a big fan of that guy and although he went nuts about germs he still in my book was one of the greatest achievers in history. Personally the spruce goose was my favorite, the fucker flew and then he just put it away.
     
  8. briggs&strattonChev
    Joined: Feb 20, 2003
    Posts: 2,234

    briggs&strattonChev
    Member

    WTF I heard he had a thing about germs but thats almost hilarious


    not to hijack the thread here, but has anyone been to the imperial palace lately? If so, was there a 61 buick lesabre convert (burgundy-ish w/ a white top)? My dad built that car and it was in the museum about a year ago, but it isnt on the website anymore, and he would love to get the car back.
     
  9. daign
    Joined: May 21, 2002
    Posts: 520

    daign
    Member
    from socal

    I'll be there all weekend. Got a room... I'll snag some pix for you.

    Hughes was a complete nutcase, but sometimes thats what it takes to change the world. Given an endless supply of cash at a young age can do that to a person...
     
  10. kroozn1
    Joined: Dec 10, 2004
    Posts: 144

    kroozn1
    Member

  11. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,754

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    I saw that car in a tent at B.J. in Snottsdale. Under the hood was crazy!
    24V generator just to power the purifier. Set up to run with or without the engine. Tons of fab work and aluminum bits under there, you could barely see the poor nailhead.

    jay
     
  12. I can just hear that race plane flying over at 300mph+... that radial pumping out a sweet tune: gggggggggggggggggggggvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhr!!!
    Sam.
     
  13. Kilroy
    Joined: Aug 2, 2001
    Posts: 3,227

    Kilroy
    Member
    from Orange, Ca

  14. briggs&strattonChev
    Joined: Feb 20, 2003
    Posts: 2,234

    briggs&strattonChev
    Member

    thats GREAT! thanks alot! I hope its still there.

    heres the only pic of it that I have on this computer:
     
  15. flatoz
    Joined: May 11, 2003
    Posts: 3,237

    flatoz
    Member

    I jsut love it


    no money+=crazy
    money=ecentric

    oh what a world we live in!

    Ryan,

    what is the name of the book? I have always been interested in howard hughes, dragged the wife to see the movie on the weekend, would love to read the book.
     
  16. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
    ADMINISTRATOR
    Staff Member

    I read "The Untold Story of Howard Hughes" but there are a lot of books out there...

    Most of the books deal with him being nuts and a recluse... The book I read went over some of that, but was mostly about his earlier life with women, planes, business, etc... I enjoyed it...
     
  17. MikeRose
    Joined: Oct 7, 2004
    Posts: 1,583

    MikeRose
    Member
    from Yuma, AZ

    They were showing that buick on the Today show the other morning. It's in really nice shape. Cool piece of history.
     
  18. Mojo
    Joined: Jul 23, 2002
    Posts: 1,872

    Mojo
    Member

    There's a thin blurred line between genius and insanity it seems. I read that when Harry Miller wasn't creating absurdly fast race cars, he was talking to his spirit guides who were telling him what to build next...
     
  19. Nads
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 11,862

    Nads
    Member
    from Hypocrisy

    Just think about what Michael Jackson's Lincoln's like.
     
  20. Levis Classic
    Joined: Oct 7, 2003
    Posts: 4,066

    Levis Classic
    Member

    What I liked about Hughes was the fact you cant tell him "you cant do that!"

    He invented flush rivits cause he needed them

    He built an flew the Hercules (Spruce Goose) cause they said in couldn't be done!

    Gotta love his gusto!!!!!
     
  21. I see that the 1954 OLDSMOBILE F-88 GM CONCEPT CAR went for a mere US$3,240,000 on Wednsday night.....if I hadda known it was so cheap....
     
  22. flatoz
    Joined: May 11, 2003
    Posts: 3,237

    flatoz
    Member

    thanks ryan,


    will look for it.
     
  23. CURIOUS RASH
    Joined: Jun 2, 2002
    Posts: 9,635

    CURIOUS RASH
    Classified's Moderator


    Air bags?

    When did they start using those things?

    Maybe they ARE traditional? :p
     
  24. Leaky Pipes
    Joined: Jan 11, 2005
    Posts: 596

    Leaky Pipes
    Member

    weather it was a plane, a bussiness, or a car, Hughes applied a different angle to it all, and hotrodded whatever came into his mind! a true american genius who never settled for the ordinary.
     
  25. lurch13
    Joined: Apr 29, 2002
    Posts: 224

    lurch13
    Member

    think this is the one in vegas?
     
  26. I agree with Ryan..., I liked the early history of Hughs....!!!

    I saw the movie and I was disappointed that they focus on his "POISON" instead of his "PASSION"...!!!:confused:

    That car has been on tour for a couple of years now..., I have photo's of that car at the Doughnut Derelicts cruise in Huntington Beach CA..., and I have the LAST photo's of the replica of the Hughs Race Plane when I saw it at the Reno Air races!!

    Shortly afterwards the plane was destroyed in a crash Killing Jim Wright...!!!

    Howard Hughs had "PASSION" and an eye for design that'll live forever...!!!:cool:
     
  27. Fidget
    Joined: Sep 10, 2004
    Posts: 1,013

    Fidget
    Member

    Comes with a diaper changing table, and a ball bin for the kids to play in?
     
  28. Fidget
    Joined: Sep 10, 2004
    Posts: 1,013

    Fidget
    Member

    The Spruce Goose is at the Evergreen Museum a few miles from me. They weren't allowed to let anyone access the cockpit because if they did, the ADA (American Disabilities Act) states that they have to have a handicap ramp into it for wheelchair access. So no one gets in there. They have a little placard that says that.
     
  29. Nads
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 11,862

    Nads
    Member
    from Hypocrisy

    Many years ago, '87, I did get to go in the cockpit, the thing's amazing.
     
  30. I was just reading "I Caught Flies For Howard Hughes" a slim volume written by one of Hughes Attendent/Body Guards. It covers from about 1957-1962 during which time Hughes engineered TWA's financing of a new fleet of jets. Extreme high finance while naked and reeking.

    I'm sure he probably would have benefited from some of the modern pharmacuticals. A genius. Obsessive-compulsive, you name it and no one was in a position to tell him what to do.

    Thanks for the book recommendation Ryan, I want to learn about the real substance of the man.
     

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