What if: Custom bodied roadster.

This car showed up on the HAMB recently with a call the figure out what it is, or was for that matter. I like my hot rodding history as much as the next guy, but this this doesn't really seem to ring too many bells as far as gettin recognized as anything too noteworthy. One gentleman mentioned that it could have been built in the 50's or early 60's when the idea of European sports cars was starting to really take hold, but the budget of most forced some back yard builds, loosely based on sleek euro proportions. Whatever the case, this example is a bit on the wonky side. Nothing really seems to line up, and with the addition of some 70's turbine wheels, and a later model small block, it looks like a kit car gone ...kit car.

Alas!  Some see junk... some see potential. I'll play for the latter team today. I think the low and long proportions lend themselves to an indy car inspired rod, complete with knock off wires, white letter Pirellis, & hood straps. The front and rear fenders would both need some work, both by bobbing, and a bit of massaging to get the shapes to flow better. I've shorted up the distance from cowl to grille, which still leaves it about a half mile long, and added a hood. Power comes from a "function driven" flatty. In otherwords, the dress up stuff would be to a minimum, though if it's finned for performance? Hell yeah. I've lobbed off the roof, which looks unnecessary, and strightened out the belt line. Some might argue that the dipping belt is race car-ish, though in this case, given how sectioned the car is already, keeping it hurts the speed of the body side. Windshield is angled back, and flat. Lastly that humpback of Notre Dame deck lid needs some reshaping. It has no flow with the rest of the car and aids in the broken look of it.

Easy job? Not so much. But potential is potential, and if people didn't believe that, the hot rodding/custom thing would have died a long time ago.


The car in question: Yikes.

My thoughts:

Original thread: HERE