Even bigger difference than the race cars is the race tracks. Don't see the big dogs parked on the grass any more.
I wonder what the future of this one was. Any finished pictures? Impressive sheet metal layout; Before the magic of fiberglass and paper mache.
From 1960s New Zealand, Roger Devlin’s ‘Wild Honey’… Photo’s found on another thread here… https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/calling-kiwi-rodders-wild-honey.329927/ Glen.
Ray Farhner's X-Ray... Based on a mid-'50 Jaguar chassis. The blower is just sitting on top of the motor... LOL
Ray Farhner used a lot of Jaguar components in this car, suspension, engine and driveline, wheels, gauges and even the back window was from a ‘55 Jag XK 120. The article did not state if the 6-71/ Hilborn combo was just sitting on the engine to look cool or actually functional.
It wasn't.... The DOHC Jaguar six had side-draft induction, the blower is sitting on the cam covers. Look carefully, you won't see any throttle linkage or fuel lines. My understanding is R&C wanted the cover photo a bit more 'out there', this was the solution. I did see it at a show, the blower was missing.
Thanks for the quick response. Impressive build. I don't remember seeing pictures of that car before.
The blower balances out the bubble top. After seeing it with the blower, it would look sorta plain without it. When I saw the picture of it while being built, wondered how he was going to blend in the hood with the motor.
The top was removable, it was considered as a roadster. It went through several 'restylings', this is it today... To my knowledge, the 'blower' was never seen again after the R&C photo shoot.
These two cars illustrate the differences between a show rod and a show custom... The top one is a show custom, four place seating, larger than a show rod. The only 'rod' influence visible is the carbs sticking through the hood. This would never be mistaken for a Hot rod. Bubble top almost mandatory. The lower one has all the Hot Rod cues; smaller, two place seating, mostly exposed rear wheels, no doors, even the motor (not just the carbs) protruding though the hood. And a radically-designed body. Historically, in the heyday of these 'extreme' customs Ed Roth was main builder of Show Rods, starting with his 'Outlaw'. With a few non-Roth exceptions (the Manta Ray, Silhouette, Wild T. The Lil' Coffin and the X-Ray blurred the line somewhat), bubble tops could be optional. The rest were based on larger '50s-'60s cars, generally had four place seating and operable doors if not trunks. Motors were concealed. Pure customs, no hot rod influence here. Most all of them competed in a 'Pro-only' class. Barris was about the only big name that didn't get on the bandwagon, having made his statement with the Golden Sahara then moving on. Starbird built more bubble-top cars than anyone else.
This one is an interesting show rod, it started out as a driveway build and if I recall the history of the car Mr Roth and Watson both had some influence on it. Oh it was called the X-Sonic
To me that's a show custom, and only by virtue of it's bubble top. Belongs in the same category as cars like the Predicta, Electra and Forecasta.
The sad thing was that by the time I became a bubble top car it was basically a big kids toy. It had a remote control and was pretty much pure show car. my favorite iteration of it was the early years that it looked like a modified Corvette. There was some pretty neat alterations to it though. I guess Calif had a ride height rule. It rode too low and he went to hydraulics so that he could lift it when parked (or stopped) and not be too low. How is that for backward to todays thinking.
I forgot about the surf cars, yep, those were show rods. But Barris never climbed onto the bubble-top bandwagon like many others did. I didn't include the X-PAC or Roth's Rotar as I don't consider those as 'cars'.
Don't get any ideas. I subscribe to the 'build what you like' philosophy, but I also value the opinions of others. Must take some thick skin to build something you know as many people may not like as like. Anyway I like most of 'em..
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