Hot Rod & Custom Inspiration

[repoman]

After spending last summer in Rome, I have a soft spot for Lancia's. There is a newer model called the Thesis, which has really beautiful lines. Pictures don't do it justice.

Here's a model from the 50's. Can anyone tell me what it is exactly?

[pimpin paint]

Originally Posted by repoman

After spending last summer in Rome, I have a soft spot for Lancia's. There is a newer model called the Thesis, which has really beautiful lines. Pictures don't do it justice.

Here's a model from the 50's. Can anyone tell me what it is exactly?

Hey,

My w.a.g. is that that's a Lancia Aurelia B20 GT (1950-58)

Swankey Devils C.C.

[pimpin paint]

Originally Posted by Kilroy

Something just struck me about this...

Don't these two look like Brothas from Anotha Motha or something...

It's like there's a kindred spirit within them.

Hey,
Wile it's true that the '32 Fords had been designed and styled prior to
Designer E.T. Gregorie's arival at Ford Motor Co., the look of future Fords
and later Mercurys and their '' nautical lines" was no coincidence. E.T.-
Bob Gregorie designed yachts prior to a career in automotive styling.

Swankey Devils C.C.

[flatoz]

have always liked the Aston Martins,the DB4 thru to the DB6 a genuine style and grace to them. Also the Auto Union cars, magnificent!

[repoman]

I'll try to get back on-topic, and off cars. Probably the only time I can get away with it!

The great designers did not find inspiration in other cars. Talbots were inspired by sculpture, hot rods sprang from warbirds.

I like this masonry. At first glance, the concrete anchors are the focal point. However, the brickwork is amazing. Apply this method to a chassis, and you get ideas for mounting points that are decorative, yet functional. From there the frame can be an elaborate ladder with alternating tube reinforcements.

[Kilroy]

Originally Posted by 50Fraud

Never seen that car before. What did it do, and what became of it?

If I remember right, it never really did anything...

I don't think they ever got the bugs worked out.

I think they ended up scrapping it. It was 4wd...

[Merc63]

Some more Rolls inspiration...

[cleatus]

Originally Posted by Merc63

Some more Rolls inspiration...

Wow! Never seen that one before. Don't care much for the awkward massive roof pilar lines & flat square windshield, but those front fenders and those long high-mounted headlights are fantastic!

Ya think the concours guys whould shit themselves if I cut the roof?

(realizing of course, that I could never afford to get my hands on it)

[zibo]

Originally Posted by OG lil E

Mercedes owners are very loyal to the make, and many are big collectors of everything Mercedes, including some super art work.

The open wheel race car has hot rod influence all over it. The wire wheels and lack of fenders shows the style that early rodders were copying on their cars. The nose just makes me melt! I love the way the nose and headlights are all in one, and the grille headlight protectors are super neat!

E

the big roadster i think is a w125 or somethin like that, it is one of my
most favorite cars too. PreWWII they had blowers and independent
suspensions,

Those holes though arent headlights, one was for an oil cooler and the other was for the blower/supercharger (they were big inliners)

tp aka zibo

[Gator]

Well, this is actually a little earlier than your examples, but I always thought the 1924 Hispano-Suiza 'Tulipwood' Torpedo was quite beautiful. It was actually mahogany and held together with thousands of brass rivets.

[Zerk]

I like these things, and have even gotten an idea or two from them:

https://www.ronson.nl/pages_nl/shopp....php?line_id=1

They were originally manufactured in England in the late '50s, I think. Made in the U.S. as well. A search for Ronson Varaflame on Google Images or Ebay would turn up a bewildering variety of finishes and patterns. I have just one, and the part to make it functional seems to be unavailable.

[Django]

Ryan turned me onto this link orginally, and I have studied it alot over the last couple years. WWII Aircraft cockpits



As for the Nazi connection to the engineering coming out of Germany pre-war and during the war... you can't deny the signifcance of many of those designs.

Just because Hitler "blessed" a car, doesn't mean the builders/designers took part in any despicable deeds as part of the Nazi war machine. Not every German was a "Nazi". Show what you got Ryan.

Maybe I am a bit on the open minded side, but I have the same respect for the Axis pilots as I do for the Allied pilots. They lived and died through the same hell as our guys. And after seeing a Japanese pilot and a Navy man shaking hands, hugging and getting teary eyed as friends 60 years later, who am I to carry old grudges?

There was a show on TLC on German engineering and inventions during the war. Alot of things we take for granted came out of that time period from German engineers. Hell, the interstate system as we know it in America is based on the German Autobahn, whose construction was heavily advocated by Hitler. People drive BMWs everyday and I would bet money not even 1% realizes that the BMW logo is a propellor and that they produced aircraft motors during the war. Same with Mitsubishi.

Anyway...

The FW-190 (BMW powered) is one of my favorite aircraft from the '30s/40s. It's styling cues from the Hughes H-1 are pretty obvious... the placement of the landing gear, the track of the landing gear, the basic canopy design... all derivitave of the H-1. And the H-1 is one of the baddest "hot rods" of all time IMO.





Art Deco is a good source for making parts too. The shapes and designs are influences great for making your own parts.

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by cleatus

Wow! Never seen that one before. Don't care much for the awkward massive roof pilar lines & flat square windshield, but those front fenders and those long high-mounted headlights are fantastic!

Ya think the concours guys whould shit themselves if I cut the roof?

(realizing of course, that I could never afford to get my hands on it)

Another pic of that Rolls, showing the interesting dual sliding sunroofs...

[cleatus]

Wow, again! look at the rear overhang on that thing - it's gotta be about 5 feet past the rear axle. Pretty low too for a car of that era.

That thing is way-over-the-top crazy, flambouyant & excessive> I love it!

Any info on who originally commisioned it or who designed/built it?

[53burb]

Originally Posted by cleatus

Wow! Never seen that one before. Don't care much for the awkward massive roof pilar lines & flat square windshield, but those front fenders and those long high-mounted headlights are fantastic!

Ya think the concours guys whould shit themselves if I cut the roof?

(realizing of course, that I could never afford to get my hands on it)

The caps look like the ones on Coles-Hammit's '36 Ford

[pimpin paint]

Originally Posted by cleatus

Wow, again! look at the rear overhang on that thing - it's gotta be about 5 feet past the rear axle. Pretty low too for a car of that era.

That thing is way-over-the-top crazy, flambouyant & excessive> I love it!

Any info on who originally commisioned it or who designed/built it?

Hey,

I don't beleve that that was a creation from the era, but someone's idea,
of late,of what "art deco" should/would have look like on a Rolls chassis.

There are to many design elements in conflict, even for the "deco" era.
The Tatra-like fin, the Vosin-like sliding roof panels, and that grille shell,
never. Rolls was very protective of its' trade mark grill and mascot and
would not sign off on anyone fuckin' with it. Since they (Rolls Royce)
held the final say on warranty of the power train and chassis over the
coachbuilder, anything other than an uprignt grill shell wouldn't get a
green light.

Even the Swiss and frog coachbuilders of this era ( both known for some-
pretty weird creations) wouldn't toss this many elements into one design.

Swankey Devils C.C.

[Beach Bum]

Originally Posted by cleatus

Wow, again! look at the rear overhang on that thing - it's gotta be about 5 feet past the rear axle. Pretty low too for a car of that era.

That thing is way-over-the-top crazy, flambouyant & excessive> I love it!

Any info on who originally commisioned it or who designed/built it?

It's a 1926 Rolls Phantom I chassis rebodied in the 1930s by a Belgian coachbuilder named Jonckheere who apparently specialised in buses and commercial truck bodies. I have seen a photo of that car when it was rescued from a junkyard in the 60s or 70s.

[Merc63]

Originally Posted by Beach Bum

It's a 1926 Rolls Phantom I chassis rebodied in the 1930s by a Belgian coachbuilder named Jonckheere who apparently specialised in buses and commercial truck bodies. I have seen a photo of that car when it was rescued from a junkyard in the 60s or 70s.

[Bruce Lancaster]

Just as a useless datum point on the Rolls Royce, I vividly remember seeing a small picture of it in a late 1950's or early '60's vintage Pop Sci or Mechanics magazine long ago. That round door is a pretty definite identifier...I remember the caption as saying it was built for the Price of Wales, with no further info...the PoW designation would have had to have been a reference to an earlier time than the magazine, of course, and I am sure absolutely no knowledge or expertise could be assumed of the writer.

[AZAV8]

My inspiration is simple: Bill Neikamp's little blue car, the first AMBR winner.

Yes, the old styling, the Art Deco stuff from the '30's and '40's is influential as well as the stark simplicity of a WWII fighter cockpit. But it all comes down to the same principle:

K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple and Safe.

Or Stupid for the last S.

Watch out for more Art Deco knock-offs. Art Deco is making a comeback. But it will never be as beautiful as the original.