Hambers & Dollies

Just finished up the new logo for the guys in the "Hambers & Dollies" car club.

The initial sketch:

The final product:

38 Coupe.

Did this last year, though i just dug it out and touched it up last week.

Rendered Hope Charity Calendar

I was fortunate enough to be asked to submit some work for the 2011 "Rendered Hope" Calendar  put out by the guys over at CarDesignFetish.com 

All profits go to the Detroit Childrens Hospital, so I am honored to be a part of the effort.

Check it out: Rendered Hope Calendar

61 Chevy Impala

Just started roughing this 61 Chevy out for a new client. Just a quick sketch to show prospective wheel/tire combo and stance.

Exners Revenge... The Real Deal!

Recently a gentleman by the name of Marcus got in contact with me regarding my "Exner's Revenge" sketch, and asked if anyone had yet attempted to build it. The idea is based loosely on a mix of the cut-and paste design method that's given us cars like the "Atomic Punk" and a bit of Roth-esque show rod.  

The sacrificial lamb in this case, would be a 1961 Plymouth Valiant. Truth be told, i never paid much mind to the first generation A-body Lancers/Valiants. The coupes look like the 4 doors, and the 4 doors look like... well, ugly. That said, while the proportions might be on the odd side, there are a few details that i quite like. So I have taken those details that I like, cut away everything else, and put the pieces back together in the form of this 2 seat roadster. The engine would be up for discussion, but for the sake of keeping the sketch on the weird side of things, I elected to have it rock an injected (perhaps alky powered?) Slant 6. 

The name "Exner's Revenge" came about, because by 1961, Chrysler's  famed design chief's choice of form language was getting more an more space age, as the rest of the industry was going towards the slab sided, simple and clean aproach that ushered in the next generation of automotive styling. Just compare any early sixties Mopar to a Ford or Chevy of the same era and you'll see what i mean. By 1964, Exner had been replaced by Elwood Engle, and gone was the wild surface language, replaced by long horizontal simplicity. To me, the 1st gen Valiant is a nod to one of the last cars to bare that Jetsons-esque styling, and so making a even wilder statement using the same form language is my tribute to someone who obviously had some vision... even if not everyone shared it!

After  much discussion back and forth, I'm confident that if anyone has the know-how to build this beast and do the sketch justice, it'd be Marcus. So currently I'm working on putting a rear design together while he lights the torches. :)

 

Here's the starting point...or one of them for that matter. Turns out he ended up getting a two for one deal when he went to go pick it up!

Home for Turkey Day

Seems like every time I'm home, there's more stuff to do than there are hours in a day! The weather has been sort of crappy, but we've been moving stuff from one spot to another in the name of some sort of organization. My father is trying to cut back the collection of projects that aren't high on the priority list. Here's a typical yard shot and a few of the garage:

Blueprint Charity Auction!

I want to do something for others, seeing as Christmas is quickly approaching and there are many out there that don't have nearly as fortunate a situation as i do (especially kids.) So I just got in contact with Ryan, the creator and managing force behind the Jalopy Journal and asked if it'd be cool to list my work and give half of the proceeds to the HAMB, to show my appreciation for being able use it as a means to get my work noticed, and the other half back to a children's charity. His response was more than positive... but more on that later. For now here's the auction: Blueprint Auction

And since blog posts are lame without pictures... 

 

Started a new moleskin.

All the travel I've been doing lately has at least given me a chance to put some miles on the new moleskin.

Some doodles:

Wheels are Everything Blog

Some good flics.

Check it out:
http://www.wheelsareeverything.blogspot.com/

Home for a minute

Went home this weekend to NJ to visit the folks and attend my sisters engagement party. I was only home for 2 days, which made it a super hectic trip, but we did manage to go unearth this beast, which i had set up the deal for a few months ago, over the phone.

Ok, so it's a little rough... but when was the last time you saw a 1935 DeSoto Coupe!?

FlatCad Racing Logo #2

The 54 heads in for the winter.

Took the 54 on it's last ride for the season today. Due to construction on basically every road it took to get it to the pole barn that it's going to be at for the next 6 months, it took the better part of the day to get out there and back. But I can't complain. Any trip in a 60+ year old car that doesn't involve a jack, a belt or me laying under the car on the side of the rad somewhere is a success in my eyes!

Here's a few shots i snapped this morning.

10 31 10

Happy Halloween!

Score!

My buddy Matt never ceases to get me into trouble when it comes to hunting cool vintage go-fast goodies. God knows I have more projects than i know what to do with, and any money spent on ...well, anything else is money that isn't being saved for eventual paint jobs, materials, necessary parts, etc.

That said, after looking at his newly polished McCulloch supercharger, i couldn't help myself from looking into them.

A good quick history lesson on McCulloch/Paxton Superchargers:

http://www.paxtonauto.com/article.php?id=3

While perusing through craigslist i came across an ad for an "old big block mopar supercharger." outside of Chicago. With a vague description, and a fairly low asking price, my curiosity was peaked. I dropped an email with my number and received a call a few hours later. What the gentleman told me, was that it was a late sixties unit that was originally on one of Team Plymouth's (or Direct Connection maybe?) drag cars in 68 or 9. That car was wrecked and he bought the unit to run on his big block Duster. It's all there minus the crank pulley and belt (both of which seem to still be available from Paxton). It spins freely and worked when he took it off of his car before he sold it years ago. As far a the official-ness of the history, it's a cool enough story, but I don't plan on looking into it any further.

Needless to say after shootin the breeze and catching some Chicago Drag/street race history, I told him I'd take it.

Now... what the hell am I gonna do with a vintage big block Mopar Paxton super charger? Perhaps I'll just clean it up and sell it to finance some other, more pressing part of the automotive addiction, though I guess my 68 Imperial could use a little extra kick... ;)

Here it is... A bit Scruffy, but turns freely and has all the parts and hardware as promised.

After a quick clean up:

Flatcad Racing Logo (Part 2).

Some finished logos based on what was picked of the first go-round.
We'll see which one Buddy digs the most.

Flatcad Racing Logo.

Recently, Buddy ("38 Flattie" from the HAMB) gave me a call about doing a logo for the 38 Chevy coupe he's building to run at B-ville. After talking over the build for a few, i am super psyched to have any part of his project. It takes a special kind of lunatic to run a blown flat head... never mind a blown Caddy flat head. He'd a super cool, super knowledgeable guy and I'll be anxiously waiting to hear when he breaks the record for that setup!

Anyway, here are a few quick sketches i came up with to run past him for a logo.

Still More Moleskin Sketches

UltraCoat Shirt Design

New shirt design for Jeff @ UltraCoat Powder Coating in NY.

Swap meet.

Took the 54 out this morning on what could be one of the last rides of the season before it get cold and gray here in MI, and went out to a swap meet in Davisburg with a buddy of mine. As far as hidden gold, I cant say I ran into much that I couldn't live without, but i did find these hilarious things:

Nothin' screams hillbilly like Bud Spinners.


I did find a dude with a decent sized box full of little books from the late 50's to early 60's. He told me that he had had and entire set of them, and that he even had 11000 of them at one point. After leaving his spot and coming back to look again about ten minutes later, he told me that he had had and entire set of them, and that he even had 11000 of them at one point... again. You meet some interesting folks at these things. Anyway I managed to pick out a few that I found interesting content in. One in particular is especially cool. It's an R&C from 61 featuring "Car-icatures." I'll have to get some decent scans of some of the illustrations soon, so stay tooned.. git it? hahahahhhh, i kill myself. :P

1955 Escalade!

I was digging through my external hard drive and trying to clear up some space when i came across this unfinished sketch i did in 06 or 07. I remember i was designing in the full size truck studio at work and the idea struck me that if the Escalade is essentially a dolled up Suburban then why couldn't the same rules apply in 55? Granted it might be a bit on the literal side but i always liked the lines of the mid 50's GM utility vehicles and laying frame cant hurt either... :) I think something like this would make people take a second look for sure!

Indy 34

A ways back, my buddy Anthony at Hi Speed Customs (http://www.hispeedcustoms.com/) got at me about throwing together a design for a potential client. He had some rails and a chopped 3 window shell, but wanted to sell the image of what could be. Truth be told, it was slated to be a car that would travel with the companies race team, and serve as a rolling advertisement of their totally non car related product but was still a cool opportunity. Anyway, times got tough, everyone tightened their belts and the car never came to be.

Here's the sketch. I was going for a bit of an early 60's indy car vibe:

Business Cards

Sorry it's been a while since i've updated. Been super busy with work and life... Anyway here's a double sided business card i did for my man Shawn at Appleman Interiors

More Moleskin Sketches