Cars like the Intruder,above, by Rad Rides by Troy (Trepanier) are what happen when a deep pockets collector (George Poteet) gives an open checkbook to one of the top radical builders in the country. Love this car.
....and drop the ball. Money + Talent doesn't always = success. The craftsmanship is second to none but the execution falls flat (IMHO). The most glaring piece that stands out as 'not belonging' is that grille. They could've done a far better job than that square rack they stuck in there. It's a kin to seeing a smoking hot babe at the beach and when she turns around she's got beaver teeth hanging past her chin. With the artistry they put into the headlights one would think more thought and effort would've gone into the grille. Perhaps they thought too much about it, who knows.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Chopd. First not to be picky, but the "execution" term I find synonomous (sp?) with craftmanship, so I think what we're discussing is actually design, not execution. Here's why I like the grille....it's not overpowering...it flows. It's like a good composition in an artist' painting. Go back and look at the pic Jeff posted of the entire car. The grille does not interfer with the flow of the entire presentation. Your eyes are not distracted to any particular area of the car, including the grille. What I'm talking about here is readily aparent in the next pic of the '56 that Jeff posted. I have a hard time looking at the '56 without my eyes being drawn back to the grille. That said, imho, the '57 is a very difficult car to customize....and improve at the same time. Unlike other years where so many other grilles work well, the '57 does not. It seems like 60% of the '57's owners just went stock (mine is), 30% went tube grille. 8% totally f#$@ed it up, and the remaining 2% had varying degrees of sucess. The best one ever is Burgdoff's out of Kansas.
I love the colors on the wagon,the car is absolutely beautiful but IMHO the 57 Ford grill is impossible to improve. I have always disliked directional wheels. The quality and finish are exceptional. HRP
quote HRP...."I love the colors on the wagon,the car is absolutely beautiful but IMHO the 57 Ford grill is impossible to improve." Here's a poor quality photo of the one guy that did, imo...Bugdoff's. Low pixel count makes the straight ss bars look weird
I have to agree on the 57 grill. Looks unfinished to me. I'm also not too crazy about the headlights. The angle looks funny.
We can agree to disagree, it's all good. Not to be equally as picky, but, the term 'execution' was intended to be synonymous with application, not craftsmanship. Neither of which should be confused with design. The design of the grille is lacking and the application of said grille fell flat. The craftsmanship is stellar again, IMHO. It's funny you posted this pic because this is one I had in mind for a custom '57 grille that had proper design, craftsmanship and execution. I'm one of those guys that thinks it's difficult to improve upon a '57 grille but that is one of the rare examples that succeeded. That one flows whereas the other one looks like the rack off the back of my '57 refrigerator.
I think both grills are OK, but the bumpers don't fit with either, Put a bumper that flows with the grille and they both step up several notches.
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