The X-Sonic

[Ryan]

Last night I was on the phone with a buddy having a fairly typical hot rod debate. See, he's a 60's freak and I'm more of a late 40's/early 50's type of guy. There's only a decade separating our favorite genres, but as we all know, a lot happen...

To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

[warpigg]

a "favorite" of Ryan's with a fiberglass body... what's the world coming to?

i'm glad pride motivated you to post this. i enjoyed reading/viewing it.

[Evel]

Ryan likes a 60's car???? OMG ....

I love the Xsonic its crazy how much it changed in such a short period of time...

I would love to clone the first pearl white version...

[JeffreyJames]

Push button steering would take a shit load of engineering huh? Definitely creative but I am still not sure that I see evidence of form following function even on this car.

[Ryan]

I am still not sure that I see evidence of form following function even on this car.

Exactly.

[Burny]

Nice looking custom for sure.

I would have to disagree with the argument that early hot rodders didn't take into consideration "creativity". Just a differnt type of creativity. As we all know it took alot more than just removing the fenders and dropping in the most powerfull engine that could be found to go fast...

I think as much connected as the two (Hot Rods and Custom Rods) are, they are definitely in different categories...just like Customs and Low Riders...same but different.

Apples and oranges...both fruit, different taste.

I wonder if Ford got the nose styling for their '61 to '63 Birds after seeing this?

[fiat128]

Being that I like both early cars and the custom show cars (I even have a soft spot for the 70's goof rods) I'd have to say this is one of the better ones. I never saw it before now but it's a nice looking car.

Not sure I'd want to be on the road with anyone using the joystick to control it but I guess you could think of this as an early "fly by wire" system.

[stude_trucks]

Cool, that is an awesome idea. I like the no gauges or controls look. I think I will put a push button steering system in my truck. Let me get working on that...

yeah, right, that is crazy and he actually drove it around?


But, honestly, I have to say, not sure I like the looks of that thing overall. I kind of like the mild custom version the best. I appreciate the creativity and the process, but not sure it is an improvement over the essentially stock and beautiful early Corvette. But, there are still plenty of stock Corvettes to enjoy (maybe too many) and this is a one of a kind.

[FRITZ]

YES!
A post for Mark & myself, LOL I love old Hot Rods, have a 29 coupe sitting in the wings but there is just something about the show rods that gets me going!!!! And if it has a Bubble!!!!!!!! Hell Yah!
Show rods, hot rods, street rods, low riders, minnie trucks, VW's
Its all good - same church just a diff pew
where is this can now???
FRITZ

[Shifty Shifterton]

Form and function flip in the world of kustoms, but they're still present.

If the function is asthetics, then the form is whatever mechanics are required to get you there. You simply can't apply hot rod form/function criteria to the hard parts on a kustom, totally different thought process went into selection & fabrication.

Doesn't make a lot of sense at first, but let the idea soak in with some wine and it might stick.

[raven]

Frankly, I thought I would hate this car, but I have to admit, I don't.
I'm not much on customs as a rule and less so on '60's jobbies.
This thing removes that from me.
Granted there are a few things I would have done differently, but realistically, those are minor, very minor.
I love the front end treatment.
I love the way it flows through the body to the fins.
I love the grille.
The interior falls on it's face. That is the only criticism I would offer.
The stance is badassed. The cheaters out back really set it off form me.
I love tThis side shot.
r

[Cyclone Kevin]

interesting is the word that I'd use, I saw this car w/o its former beauty @ Milt Pate's in Whittier a long while back. I thought that it would make for a great restoration-not that I could ever afford it.
It was just unique and I'm glad that someone bought it and will restore it one of its incanations.
Good read Ryan.

[1950ChevySuburban]

I've always liked that car, back when I was little.
I'd rather utilize a joystick steer control, say, off a wheelchair. It would certainly be easier to drive!

Beautiful car and creative genuis!
Thanks Ryan, this was fun!

[Von Franco]

Ryan when I was growing up in the late 50`s early 60`s I saw the big transition in cars.
When chrome reversed wheels came out guys were throwing early wirewheels away.
The same was when the chevy smallblock came out, flatheads were used as anchor weights. So with out the Jetsons Idea and others,hot rods would still be running around
like the way you like them. With that said there's nothing wrong with that. I myself see the return of the 40s and early 50s look because of the pionere aspect. Back in the
40s and 50s was the begining of it all and there was soul and passion to the sport.
In the mid 50s and 60s it was a time for shock factor and dare to be different
additude. So if there is a point in all this typing, well I'm glad hot rodding is getting back to it`s roots. And I appreciate the future type cars and I'm glad there are being appreciated.

Is there one better than another? I don`t know I'm an art bum so what do I know lol.....

One side note Ed big daddy Roth told me why the guy cut a hole in the bubble top of
the X-sonic. He was at a show and was in the car moving it with the top down and the
top got stuck, something to do with the hydrolics. So after they pryed him out after a
half hour or so he then decided to cut it so it wouldn`t happen again.Go figure............

Endsville
V.F.

[Richard D]

Ther's nothing about that car I don't like.

[MarkX]

Originally Posted by Evel

I love the Xsonic its crazy how much it changed in such a short period of time...

I would love to clone the first pearl white version...

Yes!!! my thoughts exactly.................................

[oilslinger53]

theres a cool story about this car in "the history of lowriding". the whole early part of this series was cool, but ill just post the X-sonic part about ron agguire messin with the cops

Chapter Three
Cruising into History under the Law's Nose.
"X-Sonic" was sporting a new blue and platinum Larry Watson paint job with style, and owner Ron Aguirre was leading San Bernardino, California's Krankers Car Club on a caravan through Los Angeles. They were on their way to the The Renegade's 1959 Memorial Day Car Show at Veteran's Stadium in Long Beach. The custom-crazy crowds had no idea that they were cruising in on a crash course with history. Neither could police eager to enforce Vehicle Code #24008, the new law against lows, used by overzealous officers to discourage events just like this one.
"There were probably 15 to 20 of us, driving down the San Bernardino freeway into Los Angeles. We saw some cops coming the other way," Ron remembers. "The motorcycle cop cut across the center divider and made a U-turn, pulling us all over. By the time he got to me, I had raised the car up to legal height. And it was really low; it had sidepipes and everything. He came over and looked at the car."
"I could have sworn that this car was too low," said the officer, scratching his head. "It's just the style," Ron replied, without even breaking a sweat. "It just looks like it's really low." The officer, skeptical, crossed the divider to the other side of the freeway. Ron dumped the valves, dropping the car to a cool cruising height. The officer turned around, and had to believe what he saw--nobody outside Aguirre's immediate circle knew about the top secret hydraulics. As he walked back, Ron smoothly pumped the car back up to a street legal stance.
"Boy, that thing sure looks different on the other side of the freeway," said the cop, shaking his head. "Go ahead, you guys." Ron smiled crookedly while the rest of the club tried not to laugh, and fired that Corvette up. The rest of the ride went smoothly, and the Krankers cruised into the auditorium just in time for move-in. "There was a concrete barrier around the track that had to be cleared," Ron remembers. "All of the car owners had to block their cars up to clear that barrier except me. I drove my car up to the barrier, pushed the button to raise the car and drove it over the concrete. Well, you wouldn't believe the cheers and commo-tion when I did that."
"It dropped to the ground, then surprised everyone by silently raising the body," remembers Pharaohs member "Rocket" Reyes Rio, a spectator later inspired to open one of the first lowrider specialty shops in San Bernardino. "They just couldn't believe it," agrees legendary painter Larry Watson, also in the stands that fateful day. "There was no technology in those days, and he made a car go up and down; what was he, God or something? How did he do that? What was going on here?"
That's what everyone was trying to figure out as Ron's friends and fans crowded around the car for a glimpse of the miracle machinery. But. it wasn't for any trophy that Ron and his father had installed the hydraulic Pesco pumps and Sidewinder valves salvaged from retired B-52 bombers on his lowered Corvette. Ron was too low for the law--custom cruisers were required to roll at a street scraping stance, something every automotive enthusiast of the era aspired to. But the law stated that "no part of the vehicle be lower than the lowest part of the rim." That changed every-thing for borderline legal cruisers like the X-Sonic.

[Tinman]

The X-Sonic has also earned the prestigious distinction of the car that has spent the most time on my home computer's desktop... almost two years now!

Nice little article dude!

[Mazooma1]

scanned from the "little book", 1962, "Twenty Top Customs, by George Barris"

[Moriarity]

That car rocks, I remember a little blurb in one of the magazines about 12 or so years ago that a corvette collector found the car, didnt care about its history and was going to strip the corvetee specific parts from it and scrap it, but was offering it for sale before hand for 5000 bucks if someone wanted to save it. someone did buy it. I apparrently was too stupid to buy it myself. wonder where it is today. the picture that accompanied the article looked like the body was intact and it was on 4 wheels with no interior or bubbletop.