Where's the Purple People Eater gone to?

This thing burst onto the scene a couple of years ago and was in every magazine and on every internet page you visited.

It seemed that it was everywhere. It even went to Japan as part of the Shifters Club display once.



Now it seems to have dissapeared. Has it ever been finished or run at the drags (as was intended) or is just parked up somewhere or what?

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Alfster

I thought about being rich but it don't mean much.
Look at Henry Ford, all those millions and he never owned a Cadillac!

 

it's probably getting a new incarnation, I remember it being a blue with red flames A coupe with the butt cut off and a pickup bed, then it had a grey roadster p/u body with a hinged carson top-type thing, then the first body became the PPE....I wonder what's next...

 

I saw it at the CHRR in October

 

...last time I talked to Marky, the PPE was getting worked on and completed slowly, as he was moving and trying to get a house,...plus the roadster pick up with the hinged top is a completly different car, Marky said he finally got the stuff to re-do the motor,(6-carb Pontiac), and that the car was gonna be back on the road soon,

Axle would be able to comment more accurately...

 

are you sure, I thought it was the same chassis?

 

yeah, I'm sure, saw the RPU at the shop after the PPE was together...

 

I was looking at pictures of it when it was in Japan I think...and to me it looked like the back tires weren't the same, like they had different tires on each side...maybe it was just me though.

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The Road Rockets, est. 1957

 

There are two cars you guys are talking about. The one with a pick up bed is a different vehicle. I was thinking it got driven on the street.

The PPE is still around, and Mark to my knowledge, is trying to get it strip ready. When I saw it and talked to him at the last HRR, he had really thrown some pipe work into the interior and built a beefy cage. The rear also has some transverse suspension, and he said he was working on the motor.
I have some cool interior shots somewhere.
Do not be surprised if he actually does get the thing going down the strip.

The tires are different side to side, the white wall is bigger on one side than the other....

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We don't STOP at no stinkin' yellow lights..


[This message has been edited by Hemi (edited 03-03-2003).]

 

I knew it..ha!

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The Road Rockets, est. 1957

 

Man, I bet that thing would be a pain in the ass to drive, with the motor that high, and that short of a wheelbase..

Great looking car though, I really like the "short coupe" look...

 

Dude should just throw an SBC in it and start drivin it!


-J


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DOWN WITH FRANCE!!!

 

Very cool and very large model... hahahahahaha
I'll never forget the first time I saw it at the LA Roadster's show in '2000... it sure looked cool...
I wonder what it would take to get it legal for strip use... has Marky actually had the thing looked at by an NHRA tech guy?
Drag it out to MOKAN in August!

Sam.

 

If I have time later tonight, I'll scan and upload the interior shots I have. The new cage is pretty burly.

As far as NHRA legal, I don't know. My understanding is that the project was started to actually race one day, so we'll see I guess. I wish him luck and hope he does just to spite the nay-sayers

Somewhere on my hard drive I have some pictures of a few shorty coupes just like his that actually raced back in the day. I bet it was twitchy as hell though....I'd drive it.

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We don't STOP at no stinkin' yellow lights..

 

Here's a cool shot I have, compliments and copyright of Mark Gewerts.




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We don't STOP at no stinkin' yellow lights..

 

Thanks Hemi! Thats my new desktop background.

 

Yeah! I'm sure it would be a lot of fun screaming down the strip and then trying to stop that thing with no front brakes!

 

That's what they make 'chutes for.

Most drag cars have spindle mounts...I've never understood that complaint about the PPE...

Sure it's not daily driver/ sunday cruise sensible, but funny cars, gassers, Altereds, and the rest do not have front brakes either....

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We don't STOP at no stinkin' yellow lights..

 

It depends on the length of the shutdown area at your local strip... but most, if not ALL of the fastest drag cars do not have front brakes.
They do have parachutes though (cars that go 150mph in the quarter or faster need a chute)

If the cage is legal on the PPE, the thing(s)he may have an issue with when getting tech'ed are the short wheel base (cars have to have at least a 96" wheel base... when cars start running quicker the tech people like to see them with longer wheelbases). Another thing is the motor that is as high as it is in the chassis... they may have an issue with that. And how fast is it going to run...
My guess it that the thing will probably run in the 11's with the tire he has and the motor set-up he's running...
The best place to take it to for a shake down run would be st Palmdale for the Antique Nats... they are a little lax on the inspections... not that that is a good thing.
Sam.

 

Watch what you all say about Marky and his cars, cuz I'll tear you a new one if I think you are being mean to him!

 

here's an old one. photo by me.


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Think of the dog... rickamado.com Now 16% cooler!

 

I understand all of that stuff. I'm thinking either he or Axle had said they were shooting for stuff like the anitque Nats, not to bracket or match race it as a serious competition car.
Working with folks and having a father-in-law that drag races, usually the mindset is on getting down the track the fastest, and not on what was done in the past. The guy at work thinks the whole nostalgia movement is a huge waste of time and money, but he is part owner of a nitro-funny car. He is not alone in his view, and I can understand what he's saying.

That said, I think it's cool for people to build stuff from the past. We have had some really bizarre cars built in the search for what works, and not all of them were winners. I have seen a few cars like the PPE, and even the Bantam picture on another post is very similar to the set up. They were real cars, and they went down the track.
Yes the motor is a little high, the wheel base a tad short, and the concept out in left field as far as practicality goes, but it's a representation of where we have been, good or bad.

Personally,

I think that it is a fun car, not unlike the Roth vehicles, but also I think the final vision could actually make a few passes down a strip one day. Not going to set any modern records I'm sure, but I see it as more of an exibition runner, and an adrenaline blast to drive and to get down the track in one piece.

Time will tell.
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We don't STOP at no stinkin' yellow lights..


[This message has been edited by Hemi (edited 03-03-2003).]

 

Im with Ryan...

Those Bias slicks, will smoke all the way down the track....if it stays straight....I dont care how much cage is in it...I wouldnt race it with that short of a wheelbase...


BUt it is one of the coolest cars, I have seen recently...


PC -

 

An interesting debate.

But one look at the swiss cheese frame and I don't see it revving past 2000 rpm. Wouldn't it just twist itself into a pretzel with the motor sitting that high?

Hooking up? How about revving it up in neutral... Awesome car regardless.

-Dane

 

Who am I to try and school you Ryan, but I think the PPE is somewhat emulating the look of a gasser from the 60's. As far as I can tell, those cars had the engines up in the air for one simple reason, weight transfer. You have that big mill up there static, creating power that is transfered to very UN-static rear tires that only know they want to go forward, quickly. Problem is, even though the rear end just wants to go, that engine and it's weight are on the verge of either flipping over backwards or (more likely) planting the tires to the track. It was all theoretical as today's racers are not building current cars in that manner. Just the same, that's what they did. As far as PPE goes, who knows if it is or will be up to the job.
Oh yeah, I like the car but you will never strap my ass in that thing

 

too bad we can't get ole Dirty Doug to clean it
up a bit. It would make nice show car.
Right now it seems to be in Hot Rod Limbo.

 

Now THIS would be a handful!!!






[This message has been edited by Hemi (edited 03-03-2003).]