This Buick has to be one of the sexiest concepts of that era I've ever seen. It's still living fortunately!
In the background of post #24 is one of the original Futureliners. I keep seeing that some one is having Dave Kindig in Salt Lake City city build a re-pop of one. It pops up in the back ground occasionally on his Velocity channel show, "Bitchin' Rides".
Funny how some of those styling tricks got passed around at GM - look where those taillight treatments ended up: And while we're at it:
Rubberrodder, I believe that is the real-deal Futureliner #3 @ Kindigs joint. It would be the actual one pictured in post #24 with the Jet engine and light bar/box on the roof. From what I am told that rig underwent a full resto there. Mighty neat piece. The '54 Dodge Firearrow was a slick Ghia design that I always liked: Dual Motors turned it into the Dual Ghia:
wouldnt be hard to reproduce this, buy a fiberglass batmobile, and backdate (un- bat) it.....just sayin.
I think that's a good point about the Futura! P.S. Hey, arkiehotrods, I sent you a pm. Sorry to interrupt this thread, I tried to respond to another thread you had posted some information on , but the thread was closed to responses. Thank you!
The gold Oldsmobile-ized Corvette still exists. Seems like the story I read it went through the Cord heirs or EL himself, to get it out of GM they took it all apart and shipped it in crates and that's how it was found. It's been a while, I don't remember all the details, so I may have it wrong.
Bob Butts ex Futura is now owned by a famous comedian. He paid more than a pretty penny for it and will probably spend a equal amount getting it ' restified'. I chose to build mine a different way....more like GHIA did. I built a fiberglass shell and at some point soon will be selling kits, but in the meantime ..metal shaping is much more rewarding. Here's the plug...
Yep, it still survives, and has been restored. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...-to-highlight-next-years-buick-national-meet/
It was a indeed a Tucker concept... Tucker Carioca The second Tucker. In 1955 6 years after his acquittal by a federal court, Preston Tucker was back in the news again with a new car, the Tucker Carioca. The Carioca was designed by Alexis de Sakhnoffsky. Preston approached Alexis about helping him to put the Tucker number two down on paper. Being broke, bitter and hounded by creditors, Preston planned the Carioca to be his solution for his dream of mass producing a car. Preston wanted to build cars that were fun to drive. His conception of a fun car was a sporty looking vehicle of intriguing design, whose performance was sparkling, and which could be sold at a profit for $1,000. The Tucker Carioca was to be sold in kit form. Read more... http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Tucker_Carioca
I shot some pics of the Chrysler Firearrows a few years back at a casino in Vegas. I can't say I was a fan of the checked interiors, but Hemi power would have kicked butt with Corvettes and T-birds back then. Very good looking and solid little cars for the time.
Another concept car, this one a Ford I had never heard of, also in the Imperial Palace in Vegas. This one had rotating seats, a fold away steering column and sloped back that looked mysteriously like the AMC Marlin in later years.
The "Italien" - built for the Ford Custom Car Caravan of '63. Pretty well documented history that I won't get into other than its restoration was chronicled in Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.'s "Thunderbird Scoop" magazine along with a blog the restorer maintained. Went across the block several years ago at B-J Scottsdale - seller learned a hard lesson about how the "big guys" collude among themselves at auctions, bid to $600K and went to the Blackhawk museum. Why it's at the Imperial Palace (usually these cars go there to be sold) I have no clue, but I'd love to know how much they're trying to sell it for today.
Some of the cars in the Imperial Palace were listed as being "For Sale" with a price tag, but most weren't. These cars weren't tagged, but I never asked if there was an unlisted price since I didn't have the spare $600k in my pocket. These pics were taken about 5 yrs ago, and I haven't been back to Vegas since. When I asked the cabby about the display in the Imperial Palace, he said that I was the first tourist to ask and he had to phone it in. Definitely worth the time to view it though. There was some very unusual vehicles on display... everything from a stock Nash Metro to one-off Duesenbergs and Ferraris.
The Jalopy Journal
