Dick Teague Hot Rod Sketches (1947)

You may have seen a few of these black & white drawings that I uploaded with part I and II of the Veda Orr Lakes Pictorial, so it seemed worthy to put the rest of the collection up. Richard (Dick) Teague was just another 23 year old hot rodder hanging out at the dry lake beds of Southern California when he drew these sketches, but he was already deep in the automotive design word having penned concept renderings for Kaiser Automobiles and hired the same year by General Motors Design Studios as a apprentice stylist. Years later he would bring us some real gems like the AMC Pacer and Gremlin, but I like to remember the good times, ya know? These drawings have a great charcoal-like finish to them, with crude and simple shading almost like some tattoo art (sorry but Rex Burnett and Gus Maanum’s work had him in spades). Dick obviously had a love for single-seater Modifieds, with not a single Model A or Deuce Roadster in the set, and only a few other racing cars represented with a T Roadster and lone Belly Tank/ Lakester in the batch. It’s nice to see Stu Hilborn and Don Blair’s cars in the mix. Recognize any others?