So I bought a parts lot on eBay that had a bunch of 49 Ford parts in it. One of the parts is what appears to be an aftermarket set of wings that replace the plastic piece on the 49 hood ornament. On the bottom of these wings, it has a stamp that says, "Ray Russell Ind. Designs." These wings end up making the Deco-Spartan Ford ornament look like a Deco-Mercury. I mean its pretty fucking cool actually. But my question is who is Ray Russell? Why have I never heard of him?
To answer your question, Ray Russell was many things - tinkerer, designer, customizer, engineer, president of the Detroit Industrial Designers Association. He built some unique cars made out of plastic and plywood during World War II http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...raulic-drive-the-wartime-cars-of-ray-russell/ attempted to build and market a small car toward the end of the war http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/07/08/the-gadabout-and-the-phantom-corsair/ and later customized a 1953 Ford, which he apparently used as the pattern for a fiberglass car he attempted to market called the Detroiter. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...s-sectioned-shoebox-and-other-modified-fords/ Definitely interested in seeing the pictures of those wings! dan
I like this: And this one: I'll post some pictures of those wings when I get home today. I can't wait for the 49 hood ornament so that I can see what it was originally suppose to look like. I'll keep you posted. Thanks Foul for the links to the pictures.
Interesting. From all my research on him, I kinda figured he had something else going on to support the cars he was building. Guess designing auto accessories was one of those somethings else.
Is he smoking the front tires in this photo? I think I like this guy. Bonus that he looks kinda like Doc from Back to the Future.
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