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Customs Rocketfire Shoebox

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Ryan, Jul 30, 2009.

  1. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
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    Staff Member

  2. It would be great to see someone build that.
     
  3. Strange Agent
    Joined: Sep 29, 2008
    Posts: 2,879

    Strange Agent
    Member
    from Ponder, TX

    Yeah, that's pretty sweet. Almost gives me goosebumps.
     
  4. That is one slick ride. I would love to see it built!
     

  5. SinisterCustom
    Joined: Feb 18, 2004
    Posts: 8,277

    SinisterCustom
    Member

    The lower 1/4 side trim and how it flows to the exhaust in the bumper is simply beautiful...
     
  6. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
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    That shape is familiar, but I can't place it...
     
  7. hombres ruin
    Joined: Nov 21, 2006
    Posts: 3,305

    hombres ruin
    Member

    Lee pratts bronze and green shoebox is amazing.Very nice ride.
     
  8. Billybobdad
    Joined: Mar 12, 2008
    Posts: 960

    Billybobdad
    Member

    At one time I had the "little book" that had this one in it. I think it was sometime in a issue from 1956. The article had not only this one but a whole series of designs with "Space Age" styling. If I remember correctly this was one of the more conventional designs most were like something from the Jetsons.
     
  9. texastramp
    Joined: Jan 11, 2002
    Posts: 81

    texastramp
    Member

    Ryan, This may seem to be off topic but it of course isn't. You know you are absolutely obsessed with all these things with wheels. It doesn't seem to matter whether it's a Rolls Royce or a 32 Roadster or a Custom Ford shoebox .......... Here it is Thursday and you are still dwelling on another custom Ford. Didn't you get enough last weekend. It's a sign of some sort of incurable insanity. You look at these cars like they are something other than just an inanimate object.....................

    HEY WAIT, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT MY WIFE TOLD ME LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS ENTHUSIASTICALLY TELLING HER WHAT I WAS PLANNING FOR HER 49 CONVERTIBLE.

    Ain't it great!!!
     
  10. pretty funny - can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for the missus' drop top shoebox, Bro G. You need another custom critter prowling around out there.

    I love the style of these really loose sketches in the lil books - some tasty details on this mockup without fretting too much over 'em - and dig that Earo Saarinen styled heli-pad in the background. Just taking a drive to another day at the office!
     
  11. silverdome
    Joined: Aug 23, 2007
    Posts: 556

    silverdome
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    Being obsessed by something like that is euphoria!
     
  12. PurplePearl50
    Joined: Aug 1, 2007
    Posts: 816

    PurplePearl50
    Member
    from Sedalia,Mo

    I went to Salina also and I just walked around for hours all week end looking for every little detail on cars and trucks that most people would not notice.

    Today on the ride home from work in my 50 I was thinking about everything I saw all weekend. It was heaven.

    Then main thing that is crossing my mind right now is... That I want a car that looks like it should have been built in 1953-1955. I want some thing that is a mild kustom yet the touchs of design just bring back the look you see in the pictures from the 50's.

    They two cars that really did it for me at Salina was the A. Brothers Golden Chariot and Brad Masterson 51. They are at both ends of the scale but they just scream what I want in my car. Only a few builders out there now in my eyes are getting that design and execution done. Its hard to do some thing original 50 plus years later but its still possible we just have to put our minds to it.

    I have a hard time sleeping at night some times cause I just think about every picture of cars and actual cars that I have seen.
     
  13. 51fleetline
    Joined: Mar 18, 2008
    Posts: 367

    51fleetline
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  14. Billybobdad
    Joined: Mar 12, 2008
    Posts: 960

    Billybobdad
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    I think the issue on the right (R&C March 1958??) is where the illustration came from.
    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

  15. Not getting how larding furbelows on a simple, clean design such as the shoebox conforms to the notion of form following function. Since the shoebox is a blank slate, it lends itself to being turned into a bird, a fish, or a '56 Chrysler. But, hey, what the hell. this is a hobby, not a religion.
     
  16. buickbelle
    Joined: Oct 10, 2008
    Posts: 241

    buickbelle
    Member

    People ask me why I am such a lady carnut. I was raised on a dairy farm way out in the Boonies of Wichita, Kansas with FOUR brothers, it was either get involved in cars, or be bored out of my mind, I was never bored!!!

    I remember my oldest brother sitting for hours, doing nothing but drawing cars, his drawings were customs. My father traded an old hog trough in 1956 for a 1946 Ford, I remember Paul drawing hundreds of pictures of that old Ford. When Paul went into the Navy, my 2nd oldest Brother Ben took some of those drawings, then along with his friend, who was doing a 53 Ford, they set to customizing that 46 to what Paul had drawn. In 1962, he was done with that ol 46 and it was soooooo cool. A hand made chrome bar grill, reversed chrome wheels, rolled rear pan, 61 Dodge tail lights, re-upholstered bucket seats out of an old MG a four speed, and a black shiny paint job, it was just cooler than dog feathers once the car was done.

    I don't know what ever happened to the rest of Paul's drawings, I wish I knew where they were, but this is where my love for this sport came from, and will always be a passion of mine. The imagination of a kemper is without a doubt boundless. The reason why I love this sport and the people who are into it.

    Carrie
     
  17. theHIGHLANDER
    Joined: Jun 3, 2005
    Posts: 10,245

    theHIGHLANDER
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    That side trim reminds me of a Virgil Exner era Mopar. The car in real steel and chrome would be a knock out. A drawing takes on some of the artistic license of the person doing it but in all reality the scale is pretty close.

    Hey Ryan, good try at using words to decribe this (more than just this car) but I think we both know that's close to impossible. You did nail one thing though bro...it truely is in the mind of the builder and also subject to change as it progresses. The good ones as well as the WTFs.
     
  18. madman customs
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 26

    madman customs
    Member
    from odanak

    i wood love to build this car do you moor pic the madman
     
  19. vein
    Joined: Aug 9, 2005
    Posts: 479

    vein
    Member

    That would make a nice custom. I think alot of people should take more notice of what flows and looks good rather than just something put together that absolutely looks like garbage and throws it out there. People really need to look back and take notice of great custom builders like Alexander brothers, gene winfield and others alike. Reyes had a clear idea of what a custom trully represents.
     
  20. Ryan
    Joined: Jan 2, 1995
    Posts: 21,633

    Ryan
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    Yeah, we are sick...
     
  21. NTAPHSE
    Joined: Feb 5, 2006
    Posts: 1,028

    NTAPHSE
    Member

    I love the style of that sketch, it gives me something to try to mimic and develop. It's amazing when someone who isn't in our world can make such an observation and just nail it. My only technical criticism is that the mountain reflections in the paint are a bit dark and distract from the car's lines, but I don't think this was supposed to be a masterpiece. He was just throwing down an idea on paper and he nailed it. It was probably one of a hundred sketches he did that day. I wish so badly that I could have been part of those glory days of design.
     
  22. wallace
    Joined: Aug 7, 2009
    Posts: 51

    wallace
    Member

    Man that is an awsome picture I wish I had the skill to do mine like that. But for right now Id be good with just getting some bumpers
     
  23. GMC Guy
    Joined: Apr 12, 2006
    Posts: 8

    GMC Guy
    Member

    Rocketfire, It was great having all the cars here in Salina on the week end and even
    more great, was all 15,000 [est] visitors. I hope the show continues here and that
    our city directors fund a bigger place. After all, Thomas Park is ideal, with all the
    shade trees and location easy to find from I-70 and I-135. But this show has about outgrown that park, but the good news is that Salina has other parks.
    lets do that again next year!!!
     
  24. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    At first glance, looking at that drawing, I loved it.

    But after studying it some more, I think there is something that is "off"...


    The original Shoebox, to me, has someting that is a bit dual personallity.

    The bulk of the body is clean and slick for its period, but the roof is too much of a carry over from the previous model, the Fat Fendered Ford.

    It is too round, with too much of a crown
    ( again, just my opinion. And it is what I try to change when I chop one of these...)

    Modenising and lengthening the body some more makes the contrast between those parts stand out even more.

    In other words, I love it.
    Its really cool.

    But I think it needs more work done to the roof to make it better...
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2009
  25. smarg
    Joined: Nov 18, 2008
    Posts: 1,069

    smarg
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  26. studeboy
    Joined: Feb 12, 2003
    Posts: 539

    studeboy
    Member

    You sir are EXACTLY RIGHT!!!! The picture is on page 32 of the March '58 issue. Below are scans of the article. Unfortunately one (or more) of the pages are missing. Ryan this ones for you.
     

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