Hot Rods of tomorrow... sort of.

Back when I was in school, I participated in a competition sponsored by Michelin. The task was to design an advanced wheel/tire around their emerging technology, and to design a car around the wheel/tire.  I designed a "world of tomorrow" style salt flats jalopy, but honestly, I was never happy with it. Recently, when I've been doodling in my pocket notebook, I've started thinking about he idea again... Thought I'd share some of the chicken scratch..

New piece!

Been workin on this one for a minute... Check it out:

Barn Find Friday: 49 Olds Custom

Custom? For sure. Pretty? Not so much. According to the ad, it was done some time in the 50's, and from the looks of it, was never finished. It reminds me of a lot of the "Show cars" of the late 50's (and by show, i mean custom car show, not new concept cars) when the more = better mentality was becoming the dominant trend and people were swapping late model quarters, grills and fins, as well as all kinds of accessory junk onto their cars in the name of being wild.

The CL Ad

Chicken Scratch

Rough sketch for a design that I'm workin on.

Last Chance! D-165: "Sparks and Stripes" Shirts!

I'm starting to ramp up for Autorama in a few months, so I'm gonna be doing a new run of shirts. I still have a few left (I only have M and L sizes left) so I figured i'd give you guys a chance to get em on the cheap!

$12 shipped to the US, (add $6 for intl shipping) When they are gone, they're gone.

Get em in the "For Sale" section of my website while they last!

Here they are:

Close up of the graphic:

Barn Find Friday: 47 Lincoln Continental Conv.

Rough for sure, but Continentals from this era are far and few between, and the fact that it's a convertible make it that much more of a rarity.

The CL Ad

Are those Fenton Sharks that I spy?? ..Might have to give this dude a call and see if I grab em ;)

Dragon Wagon!

Just finished this portrait of Daves old 63 Wagon/Panel. I've always had a thing for early 60's b-bodies, and wagons, which made this a fun one to do.

Loud Fast & Dangerous

New rough sketch of an idea for a sticker...or something. I've been really into turn of the century graphic design lately, can you tell?

HI Speed 26 "T": part 2

Looks like the build for the 26 Tall T Sedan that I sketched up for the crew at Hi-Speed is a go! Given the quality of everything else that they do, this car will be nothing shy of stunning.

Here's some rough ideations on wheel proposals: The idea is an indy inspired knock off. The "HemRod" Duece came up in discussions, so i've thrown in a chart to illustrate some indy wheel looks from simple to complex, to set a gauge for the guys. 

The initial sketch of the car:

Valentine Vodka

In one of the last drives of the season, my wife, my buddy and I took a ride over to a new spot called Valentine Vodka Distillery, right off of Woodward Ave in Ferdale MI. It was a Thursday, late afternoon so there was really no one there, which was cool since we ended up meeting the chief distiller who gave us the nickel tour and hooked up a round. The place has a cool, low-key feel to it, and the drinks are good enough to knock you on your ass if you're not keeping track.

Barn Find Friday: '57 Ranchero

There were a few b.f.f. potentials today, but I thought this was the most interesting of the bunch. Off the road for 23 years, complete, looks to be the highly optioned Custom model given the paint and trim, and it's a big block (always a nice option) though I don't believe you could get a 390 in 57, so either it's a later model swap, or the owner thinks it's a 390, and more than like it's a 352, which wouldn't be hard to mix up since they look pretty similar if memory serves me correctly.

The CL Ad

SENROC Shirt Design

New shirt for my buddies at SENROC Classic Rod & Custom down in Australia featuring their 58 Chevy shop truck.

Here's the rough sketch that we settled on:

And the final design:

Barn Find Friday: 36 Ford, and 58 Vette

Wow.  Talk about your odd ball finds! The posting states that the heavily modified 36 has been buried for 40 years. The Vette seems to have endeavored a similar fate, both in cosmetic treatment and abandonment.  Definitely worth reading the story...and one more that proves that yes, they are still hiding out there. :)

The HAMB Thread

The 1949 Ford: Politics, drama, & mystery!

As a designer and a car guy, I have always loved the 1949 Ford for the paradigm shift it brought to the automobile styling word. Super ahead of it's time with it's stark simplicity, it pioneered a new era in surfacing. What I didn't know, however was how much drama and conspiracy theory surrounds the conception of the design.

I found this old Ford PR video on YouTube, which outlines the design process as it is supposedly went.

But when you read the attached article, you will find that something entirely different went down, and it's crazy to think about how explosive or damaging  a secret like this would have been had it gotten out back then.

The Hemmings Article: "Styling Simulation-Did the 1949 Ford really begin life as a Studebaker design?"

Granted, this isn't new information. In fact, the article in hemmings is from '05, but I just came across it yesterday for the first time, so it's news to me! :) Whether or not you believe it all is up to you, but regardless the story is a very interesting piece of automotive design history!

Barn Find Friday: '56 Wagemaker

I love wooden boats. My dad has a '41 Chris that has totally gotten me into the look of old floating works of craftsmenship. I have never heard of Wagemakers before, but that's not surprising, since I know as much about boats as I do about motorcycles, which is very little.  Anyway, I saw this, and it fits the mold as far as barn finds go. Been in storage for 56 years.. looks complete and has style for miles.

The CL Ad

Another golden oldie: Lil' Red Express

 I'm suddenly busy as hell, but I don't have anything new to post up just yet, so in the name of posting fun stuff, it's back to the archives.

 Odd that it hasn't happened already... I've seen some really odd things become pro-touring monsters, but I've yet to see a late 70's Dodge dressed for the part. I figure a Lil' Red (or any d-100 step-side for that matter) would be a great candidate. For this one in particular, I smoothed a few details, tucked the front bumper in, and rolled the rear pan, as well as kicked up the ramp angle in the rear fenders. The stacks have been shortened and mufflers integrated. Wheels are large diameter chrome jobs that look like the original stamped parts.

Mike's Toys : Interior Ideas

Some quick interior ideation work for Mikes Deuce

Barn Find Friday! 41 Buick Woody Wagon

Barn find being a loose term, seeing as this one spent the past 30 years in a field, but talk about a rare bird!  This thing is a full blown pooch, and would take a super dedicated person to do anything with, but when was that last time you saw one.. if ever?

The Ebay Ad

FuelTank TV: Craig Metros

It's not often that I come across guys like myself in the production car design world. I mean, most of us are car guys, and there are quite a few hot rod guys in that mix, but most of the guys that I know that are heavy into the hot rod scene aren't car designers as well, so when I stumbled onto this video, I was instantly excited...and a bit jealous (look at that studio space!) I think I've met Craig in the past, probably when I was a design student here in Detroit, but I definitely didn't know about his interest in fine art and hot rodding. Sometimes it's a smaller world than you think.

Aside from the good content, the vid itself is well done, and I plan on checking in often to see what new stuff/people Fuel TankTV will feature.

Factory 6: Craig Metros from Fuel Tank TV on Vimeo.

Project Anti-Lawn Ornament: Assembling the top end

Custom tool box for the wifey.

My wife loves bikes. She's got four cruisers now, all from the 50's and 60's. Since most of 'em come from estate and garage sales, nothing is perfect, which is all part of the fun anyway. Some time ago, I decided she needed a set of tools of her own...it's what every woman wants right? :)  I have a few genuinely old beat up boxes that I could have given her, but I wanted this to be a clean start (on the inside anyway) so I went out and bought a new black Kobalt box, painted it red, then wet sanded it back. The pictures actually don't do it justice; in reality, the red letters pop more and the gold leafing is crazy bright. For a weekend job, I'm pretty happy with the results and she digs it too, which is always good!