@Rusty why was the thread shut down? I'm good friends with one of the guys who helped on this car, the whole situation is odd and I'll just leave it at that.
Is this kinda like the groom seeing his bride the day of the wedding "before" the ceremony? Has more of an impact if you wait??
The car is here now for final assembly. I'm undecided if I'm going to cover this one or not. It's a gorgeous car and final assembly will certainly be interesting, but not sure I wanna deal with the fall out from it all. Ultimately, I'm a traditionalist... And I geek out for originality. This car is not done the way I would have done it obviously... still, there's lots of interesting historical details and the work that has been done seems to be really, really nice. But, there's also gonna be lots of controversy with it as well. Not sure I have the stomach for all that. Gonna think on it.
Wow I didn't see that coming! The car looks good. But I understand what you mean about how it is being restored.
I don't know about all the drama, nor do I want to. What I have to say though, is that despite whatever deviations from original that is one damn fine looking Hot Rod! Kudos many times over to @Rusty, Gene Winfield, and anyone else who has had a hand in bringing it back! @Ryan does it sound as mean as it looks?
I am confused. Why run a high dollar overdrive trans when you don't have a radiator? Or run a street rodish frame under what you are calling a restoration? This strikes me as somebody switching directions mid point in the rebuild.
If it were not the first R&C cover car, I'd be all for it. I mean, the car is gorgeous... And the work that has been done seems top notch. From what I understand, the owner got pretty far down the road of the build before he knew it was THE car. Hence the "modernairities".
It's being setup like the cover car for GNRS. Afterwards, a radiator will be added and the owner plans to drive the shit out of it.
One quick low light shot before I go into watch Homeland with the wife... The car really is gorgeous... Body is straight as hell, motor by H&H is detailed nicely, etc...
Good. At least it will be driven. Another dusty museum piece nobody gets to enjoy the world doesn't really need.
You know what, looking at how it is presented and the lowness most people will never see the modern style chassis underneath, it sucks that has been done but Fuck...... the external appearance looks perfect and spot on. Ryan, please do a feature, this car is too important not to.
At least the new parts are hidden, unlike the steering wheel and gauges in the Hansen Cobra thing currently featured on the board.
It's here so that Keith can do final assembly... or what's left of final assembly. And yeah, as far as I know Atlas is a real shop. It certainly has been in the past anyway... I think the owner sent it here for Keith's expertise on a few things.
i would guess it would look richer if it was sprayed over black sealer. i wouldn't be surprised if this is the color of my car, 55 caddy arlington green, which looked better over black. in my build thread, i sprayed a sample over light gray primer and ended up shooting it over black. you can see the difference. over black it is "alive" during the day and "rich" at night. i always picture Gene with an older style, paint covered, paint gun withwith a little piece of rag stuck in the vent hole.
I loved the car and the Rod and Custom cover, still have it. Its a shame that mag covers cant tell a story as those little pages mags did in those days. A tribute car is OK but only has meaning for those that related to the original. What does it mean to those under 40. Wasn't Petersons first little mag Honk? deChrome
Ryan, Like you I am kind of caught between a rock and a hard spot on this one. But I do like what I see. Like I really like to see an original fire wall on a car like this, but the stainless fire wall with the nice looking flat motor from H&H looks good on it. All in all it is a cool hot rod.
Im a huge fan of survivor hot rods, im a huge fan of nicely restored survivor hot rods, im a also a fan of the over -restored ones, that all being said im happy to see that the direction this one went only strayed as much as it did, sure it could be spot on but what can you do, you cant please em all! with that all said, again, i really like it.
[QUOTE="Ryan, post: 11290167, From what I understand, the owner got pretty far down the road of the build before he knew it was THE car. Hence the "modernairities".[/QUOTE] I don't think this is the case, there was a thread on here when the car was found, and HAMBers immediately ID'd the car, this is verified on Eric Arnett's IG page. He knew it was the Lew Thompson Coupe before he started the restoration, but again, it's still his to "restore" it as he sees fit, I guess.
the history stops once it hits the "museum". change makes history. it sounds like it will be run........the next guy may put it back........or change it again....... all ADDING to the history. cool car.
The car is beautiful! And no disrespect to Lew Thompson but by his own admittance a rough original build!! So in order to restore it you would have to hack things up and make concessions to safety! Lew loves the way the car has been redone and thinks it's perfect! I would have to agree that the build is spectacular and it pains me to see Haters! Most especially ones that didn't mind taking money to work on the car or that only now behind closed doors are keyboard heroes! Jump on whatever cool guy band wagon you want; traditionalists, purists, whatever best suits you! But to me I am just going to state the facts, most of you will never have a car this well built, and neither will I! Simply because it takes more money than the average car guy to build, even if you perform all work on it yourself! But I digress! This is the number one point for everyone that reads my rant! I know I would rather see this car with a God Forbid Tremec rolling down the Highway at 70, than sitting in a museum, restored waiting for the next Barrett Jackson auction to see which millionaire can add it to his collection! So when you see Me, yes me, and my Homie Eric Arnette cruising beside you at some show, keep your phone in your pocket and your cameras around your neck and turn the other way to keep from being GREEN from Envy! Mic Drop!!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The car was set up in two ways originally: 1. As race car as you see it now without a radiator using the "by-pass" tubes to circulate the water back into the block. and 2. With a radiator and grill shell for street driving.
Is there any advantage to running no radiator? I assume it's just a weight reduction thing? And to keep this on topic, I found this photo of it in its street trim. Great looking automobile.
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