Art & Inspiration <<<< Friday Art Show 10/5/18 >>>>

Still pushing old stuff ........

 

A couple from L.B.

 

Watercolour. New.

 

Another 31 coupe on 32 rails. Inspired by Dave Freiburgers new project.

 

Great start guys!
A couple of months ago, I've drawn a little scribble for the 20th birthday of Bielles Chaudes. A French Forum for hotrods & customs enthusiasts, a kind of lil' HAMB.






And the coolest thing: Gene Winfield approved!

 

A few photos I took yesterday evening at the Endless Summer car show.

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HAPPY FALL

High Noon Speed Shop

 

1957 MERCURY MERMAID
Hello,

A long time ago, my brother and I read all of the old hot rod magazines from cover to cover. We had our favorite hot rods and customs from each issue. During 1957, an issue had the weird, huge Mercury Mermaid build in a nice story. It was created and constructed by Bill Stroppe at his shop in Signal Hill. (We did not know it at the time, but as our cruising area expanded, we figured out that Signal Hill and Bill Stroppe’s shop was just East of our old high school in Long Beach.)

Of course, being brothers, a few years apart, there were always verbal arguments about which car is better for what purpose, etc. His favorite for Daytona/Bonneville was the Mercury Mermaid. He could not believe it was a modification of the huge Mercury Turnpike Sedans of that time.
Friday Art Sept 7
My choice was one of the Battlebirds that also ran at Daytona on the beach.

So we each had our own choices. One thing my brother did not like on the Mercury Mermaid was the silly whale fin that stuck up in the air behind the driver. He did take a lot of guff from me about that design, despite being a certified automotive designer creation.

He actually drew a similar streamlined headrest like the Battlebirds and then he changed it to a fin like a rocket. According to him at the time, that was way better than that “automotive designer” model. Guess what, back then I did not know the word, “compromise,” for our discussions. But, I had to agree with him that his two versions looked better. Wow, compromise…what a concept.

Jnaki

What does a teenager know about auto design, anyway? We just draw them the best we can with what knowledge of design we have seen. We also knew what designs would make things go faster…or so we thought back then. Ha!

“Of all the fine finned cars of the late 1950s, none was quite as radical looking as the 1957 Mercury Mermaid. It’s a car that, to this day, still manages to surprise with its utterly unique look. Created by the legendary Bill Stroppe and Associates for the 1957 Daytona Speed Trials as a factory experiment, the Mercury Mermaid was built to go as fast as possible and look great while doing so.”

“The Mermaid featured a giant tail fin just behind the driver and an almost completely flat, enclosed cockpit built by Eddie Kuzma. The car was thus made as aerodynamic as a chrome laden domestic land barge of that era could be without modifying the lower half. In other words, the Mermaid was the automotive equivalent of something of an inverted mullet-style haircut with the party (racing) up top.”
1957
“Arriving at Daytona for the Daytona Speed Trials in February 1957, the Mercury Mermaid was an immediate showstopper, its radical look backed by an equally impressive amount of speed. By removing the car’s interior and windshield and installing a small, single driver’s side cockpit with an equally small windshield in its place, the Mercury’s team shaved a great deal of weight off the vehicle while also cutting down on the car’s drag.”

“Stroppe and team flexed some serious muscle on the drive train by shoehorning in a Hilborn injected, bored-out 387 cubic inch Lincoln. On the beach, driver Art Chrisman pushed the car to a reported speed of 180 mph to prove that all those crazy looking design features were not simply for show. For whatever reason, the 180 mph top speed was not repeated and thus didn’t capture a speed record for the week. However, Chrisman captured second place for a standing mile record of 93.47 mph.”

 

Boy,...you guys are at it early, some nifty stuff already, I like it all...
...this "board" will be auction'd off at the Iron Invasion benefit auction tomoro, Sat Oct 6th, in Woodstock, Illinois,....and last, a sneak peek at next week's scratch...

 

Great stuff everyone. I got out early rusty hoping to get a cool sunrise photo of the beach. But I think it's too cloudy. Here's a old sketch from my phone.

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Image by edcodesign posted Feb 7, 2018 at 8:32 PM

Image by edcodesign posted Apr 27, 2018 at 1:39 PM

Great start, a couple of old top downs.

 

This all I have this week.

 

Lettering I did at the Old North State Invitational last weekend...

 

A few live shots from the HAMB beach cam.

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I've been on a Mr. Natural kick lately. Here is a new one and one from a couple weeks ago. One-shot on plastic traffic signal lens. Gary

 

..."Trickle-down Effect"...

 

Now, for a not Land Speed Photo,,,
I shot this two weeks ago, it is for sale, but I want to sell my soul first to get it,

 

https://flic.kr/p/

 

one old, one new

 

A few photos I took today at the Ocean City Endless Summer car show.

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Love the '55 210!