Peel Out!

Photo Shoot

Nothing much is happening in the fun car department right now, winter means rust repair and service and hopefully it will be all set when spring is here. Meanwhile, here are some shots from last summer.

...and I like it

I managed to get my hands on a pair of tail lights from a 1941 Packard, just like on the one from the previous post. Got to say, it looks just as good as I hoped it would. This is just a quick mock-up, it will need some metal work to look good.

Use them now, or save them for the coupe?

Hunting for parts: Ain't it fun?

Sedan treatments

As I browsed through some old magazines I found this article in the march 1956 issue of Car Craft. Quite a cool treatment for a '47 Ford sedan, if I may say so. The Oldsmobile grille is a classic, and the Fiesta hub caps are excellent for any car from that era, so is the '49 Chevy license plate guard.

The choice of tail lights intrigues me, they look amazingly good on this type of car. The text says they are from a 1939 Packard, but I am not completely convinced. From the pictures I have seen of '39 Packards, they used a tail light with a similar shape, but it appears to be smaller in size and with a flatter lens.

...and a question on the HAMB solved it: 1941 Packard

What if...

If I had a nickel for everyone telling me "how hard it is to make a chop look right on a '41 business coupe"(often said with a tone that suggests it shouldn't be done at all), I'd have enough cash to get me one of those tasty In-N-Out cheeseburgers, cooked animal style, with fries. That's a lot of nickels!

What if Jesse Lopez brought a business coupe to the Barris Bros. (or the Ayalas! that would have been even cooler), and asked for it to be chopped somewhat like Jack Stewart's coupe, would I have to use my own money at In-N-Out? I guess so.

The use of "I" above may suggest that I will chop a '41 biz coupe. No. It's in safe hands.

The Tom Branch roadster

Imagine going down the freeway in a deuce roadster at 75+ mph, open headers, no top on a cool november night. Now, imagine falling asleep in the passenger seat. No? I did. Really.

To my defence, it was the end of a long, good, exhausting day and Jet Lag snuck up on me and hit me hard. Back then, Tom's roadster was in bare metal, but not anymore. Tom and Fabian turned a great roadster into one of the greatest.

More bike shots

As an irregular contributor I get Gasoline Magazine for free. If I hadn't been, it would have been the only swedish magazine I had subscribed to. I bet they who work at the other swedish publications are nice people too, so I buy two or three issues of their magazines annually, combined.

In the most recent issue, #5, I got some photos of Martin Ring's Harley chopper. The rest of the magazine is chock-full of good stuff: Top chop tech, Ulf Larsson's '29 roadster, Sweden's most beautiful custom, and much more. Get it if you can, maybe you'll learn some swedish too along the way.

Ebay addiction

Sold photo book. Got paid well. Bought car part. Happy. Fooling myself: I got all I need now. Listing more books. Searching for taillights. Reasoning with myself: Will 1940 Buick look good?

Biker

For the upcoming "In The Wind" show at Gasoline Gallery I made this image last weekend just before going to the Hammers' show. For the proper look I shot it on Tri-X film with a Canon Dial half-format camera, then scanned it and had it printed it on tan/brown cardboard for what I hope looks like a sixties' piece.

Wouldn't mind being there at the opening on september 21...

Hammers' Back to the 50's Timewarp

The Hammers Car Club arranges a show late in the summer at irregular intervals. The last one was three years ago, the first one was two years prior to that one. It is not widely advertised, mostly by word of mouth, and this is one of those shows where the phrase "Quality over quantity" suits perfectly. If Sweden ever gets exotic, then this is the place. Through the farmlands on a road that gets narrower by the mile, it's held on a small country fairground, surrounded by woods, lying next to a lake.

I didn't get to stay long this year, next time I will camp out.

More images here.

Just a note: As I have a flickr account, I wasn't aware of the limitations set on non-members. However, it costs nothing to join with no further obligations, you get to see full size images, and will be able to download them to your own computer.

More parts

Back in the day the steering wheel of choice for customs was either the '49-'51 Merc accessory/Monterey wheel, or the '49-'50 Crestliner/Ford accessory wheel. The latter was used in the Eddie Dye roadster, the Tom Pollard roadster, the "Snooky" Janich '41, the Calori coupe, more recently in the '36 three-window coupe of Jon Fisher, and both the '40 and '49 Fords by Lee Pratt. Thought it would be cool if I could have one for my next car.

So, I sold some stuff I had lying around on that global marketplace, found this wheel for about the same amount of money. So far, it cost me no more in real money than what I've paid in import duties and tax.

With a little luck I may have found a way to fix that busted horn ring. Any other tips and suggestions? Please, shoot me a message.

In The Wind

At Gasoline Gallery, presented by DicE. I'm honoured to be able to exhibit together with such a fine group of people.

Iconic

They seldom get better than this, do they? Hot rod staple put together with fine-tuned sensibility made this five-window something very special.

If you want more of Jack Butler's Deuce, you need to pick up Hop Up Special #3. The photo above is courtesy of Don.

Parts

A-Bombers' Old Style Weekend 2008

What does it take to keep a true Hop Up guy or gal from going back to Old Style Weekend? Paul, one of the nineteen guys who get it, said it had to be one of two options:

1. The A-Bombers no longer arranges Old Style Weekend.

2. Yours truly is going six feet under.

2008 pictures here. See ya in '09.

Jokers and Dice: Like hand and glove

Time again for the annual trek to Tidaholm for the Jokers Car and bike show, this time they teamed up with DicE Magazine for some extra two-wheeled action. Great as always, check the pics to see for yourself.

Jari showed up with a delicious roadster, I got to say it was my definite favorite this year.