We haven’t had a good ol’ hot rod on the site for a little while, so here’s one that’s been patiently waiting in my archives. A classic looking Model A, low to the ground, in a gorgeous combination of blue and gold, stunning in it’s simplicity. Notice the distinct lack of rust, skulls, or goofy body proportions. This is my kind of rod.

Thanks to Chris for submitting.

CLICK HERE for the full build thread.
There are some pin-up style model shots in the thread which may be NSFW, so please express caution.

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Almost 2 years ago to the day I featured a hand-built aluminium hot rod named Emerald Tide which took it’s styling inspiration from an artist’s painting. Well the same artist has many more paintings and the same builder is creating another awesome car to match one of them. This time it’s a chopped and channeled ’51 Ford pickup going by the name of Lit Up. I know I say this about many builds but the fabrication work in this one really is simply amazing. The word “talent” doesn’t even come close when trying to describe the one-man, metal-morphing, killer-shop-owning, car-building machine they call Jimmy. The custom chassis rails made from laser-cut sheets of flat metal on the first page should give you a fair idea.

CLICK HERE for the full build thread. The car is still unfinished but I will be keeping an eye on it and will definitely post up when it’s complete.

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I’ve posted a video once before about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth which I urge you to watch (if you haven’t seen it already), especially before reading the build I’m about to show you. I’m not here to give you a history lesson, but I think it’d be pretty cool for the younger guys who might not be into the older stuff to get yourself up to scratch with the early days of custom car culture and familiarise yourself with names like Roth, Barris, and Winfield.

So anyway, the story goes that one of Roth’s crazy creations from 1964, the Orbitron, was recently found in an almost abandoned state in Mexico with it’s iconic triple-light nose chopped off. Apparently it had changed hands a few times after it left the spotlight before being used as carnival transportation and finally finding it’s resting place outside an adult book shop. A car restorer found the car and negotiated the sale from it’s current owner, bringing the car back to SoCal to be restored to it’s former glory by the guys in the know.

I’ve barely touched on the story so please make sure you hit the link at the bottom of the article to get the full lowdown, there’s a lot of information on the site and I hope you find the time to read through it. Kudos to all involved for saving this bizarre bubble-top beauty from what might have been it’s ultimate demise.

In the 60′s, upon completion…

As it was found, bruised and battered, a shadow of its former self…

On its way home…

History being recreated…

Completed chassis, this is what $40,000 of chrome looks like…

Back to its former glory. The three coloured headlight beams all converge in one spot to create a white light.

CLICK HERE to find out everything you need to know about The Orbitron, make sure to check out the History and Restoration pages.

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Yes you read that right, an Alfa Romeo Hot Rod. Who would be crazy enough to put something like this together? The Swedes of course!

Thanks to Mikael for submitting.

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CLICK HERE for the full build thread.

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It’s been a while since the last hot rod build, so I think it’s time we sink our teeth into some vintage American iron. I can’t help but be extremely jealous when I see such talented folk create a car with their bare hands from such a depleted starting point. Scooter, the talented fabricator behind the build, certainly knows how to piece together a good ‘rod and document with very nice photography. Make sure you keep your eye out for some text links posted on the first page of the thread, which will take you to some other (earlier) threads of the build process.

Thanks to Pingar for the submission.

CLICK HERE for the full build thread.

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How cool is this old colourised photo. Apparently this was a magazine cover which showcased cars built by the Ayala Brothers in California. If you want to read more about them, click here to head over to Rik’s very detailed spotlight post on the H.A.M.B.

I’m guessing most of you already read Speedhunters, but in case you haven’t checked it lately, I’m going to be doing some guest blogs this month since March is “Builds/Previews Month”. Firstly I’d like to thank Rod Chong for giving me the opportunity, it’s most appreciated and I can’t express my gratitude enough.

I’m going to post up the builds here too, so here’s the first one that just got published in the last 24hrs or so. You can see the story on Speedhunters by clicking here.

The first build I want to show you is known as the “Kaiser Drag’n build”. It’s a 1951 Kaiser Manhattan owned and built by Keith who resides in Tempe, Arizona.

The car in standard form, a great classic shape but it’s about to get a whole lot better. Not bad for $150.

Here we have the beginnings of a roof chop. You can see just how much extra body work has to be done to the A, B and C pillars to make the new roof line conform to the rest of the car.

The Kaiser sitting side by side with its new heart, nervous system, and skeleton. The donor chassis for this build comes from an ex-Police 1995 9C1 Chevrolet Caprice. A keen eye will spot that at this stage the B-pillar has been moved back, and the front door has been lengthened. That’s how you convert a 4 door car into a 2 door.

“When two become one”. The heavily modified 1951 body rests atop the 1995 chassis thanks to some custom mounts. The frame was airbagged and notched before the body went on, making it much easier to work on.

After much more bodywork, wiring, and general wrenching, the car was at a drivable state and even attended shows like this.


The airbags doing their thing.

But the work was no where near finished. The above image shows the new frenched home for the numberplate.

Moving our attention to the inside of the car, a custom brake pedal takes the place of its boring OEM replacement. It’s details such as this that make these projects go on for so long. But when the end result finally comes to light, it’s these same details that set them apart from the rest.

The stock gauge cluster didn’t escape from being modified. The framework behind the fascia was trimmed enough to be able to fit a series of Autometer gauges in place of the originals.

Then, the numbers were rubbed off from the speedometer, and only the needles of the smaller Autometer gauges were visible. This retains the classic appearance of the original dash while having more accurate functionality thanks to the newer components.

Late last year, the car was stripped back down and hauled over to the workshop of custom car legend, Gene Winfield. The Kaiser was sent there for the purpose of having the bodywork and paint completed, but when you’re in the company of someone like Gene, more modifications are bound to happen, and that’s exactly how it went down.

Here’s Gene in the process of welding a frenched base for the hood ornament.

Group shot, Keith & Gene standing proudly in front of the Kaiser. It must be an indescribable feeling to work side-by-side with Gene Winfield on your own car. Keith is actually in the early stages of setting up his own shop, you can hit him up at TruCraftDesignCo@gmail.com.

Bare metal fenders being massaged to perfection, so close to being covered in fade-style paint job along with the rest of the body. Which do you prefer? Painted and glossy, or raw metal?

Lastly, I leave you with a parting image of the Kaiser sitting patiently outside Gene Winfield’s shop awaiting further attention. Why stop here? Because like most of the builds I feature, the car is still a work in progress. What you see here is only a portion of all the hard work and details that have been put into this build, so if you want to see more (and I know you do) then head to the actual build thread at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=272171 and keep checking back for updates.

Speedhunters have just done a nice writeup on Ed “Big Daddy” Roth as a part of their “Misfits and Mavericks Month”. Whilst reading through the comments at the end of the story, I noticed someone posted up a non-descriptive Youtube link related to the subject. When I clicked the link I was greeted with a full length movie/documentary over 1hr in length. If you’ve got the time, I highly recommend watching this piece. Not only does it focus on Ed’s crazy creations, but it also touches on the history of hot rodding and how it boomed into a successful commercial industry, something I find very interesting. 1950′s California sure would have been a fun place to be growing up as a young gear-head.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gys-6znFEC8

If you’ve been keeping up to date with all of the different automotive events happening around the world, then you’d know that Bonneville Speedweek has been and gone. Our friends over at My Ride Is Me have uploaded over 500 images to their gallery. Click the image to head over and enjoy the coverage.

Here’s one for the metal-heads. The story behind this hand built masterpiece starts with a piece of artwork, and finishes the same way. The drawing pictured below was purchased at a car show, then a few months later the decision was made to build the car in real life out of aluminum. I know I sound repetitive when I utter words such as “craftsmanship”, “quality” and “second to none”, but this build really is all that and more. The pictures speak for themselves.

CLICK HERE for the full build thread.

More images in this thread:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=387411

Don’t forget to check out the site of the artist who penned the drawing that started it all…
http://www.keithweesner.com/

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