"Show Rods"....pfffft! When they reach the point of no chance of even semi-practical use, what's the point? Maybe there's a "World's Most Bizarre Somewhat Car-Like Thing" equivalent to "World's Most Beautiful Roadster"? Lynn
Portlander Bob Tindles' Orange Crate Couldn't find an original colored show photo so here it is in restored condition.
It appears that no model kits were available based on the Druid Princess or Orbitron? There was another dual rear axle cement mixer 'C' cab
Never liked show rods, did like the Orange Crate though and saw it on display at Detroit Dragway in very early '60's
I always remember the Orange Crate as being straight orange, when the car was restored was that the first time it was candy orange with ghost flames?
I've always had a soft spot for show rods. The Ala Kart (the first true show rod!), Matador, Mark Mist, Silver Sapphire, Lil Coffin, Les Po Po, Wild T, Outlaw, the Invader, XR6 to name just a few. All of these either were or could have been drivable cars. To be fair, I should include the Munster cars and the Monkeemobile as those were drivable, maybe even the Green Hornet Imperial. I love the concepts behind the Beatnik Bandit, Mysterion, and Dream Rod and they were true show rods but drivable, no.... I don't include the Batmobile as Barris 'gooped up' the original Ford design, it's not a true example of the restylers art. Anything that featured non-automotive themes I call 'shock rods'. The Phone Booth T, Red Baron, anything with plumbing fixtures or originally horse-drawn, etc, etc, those were just curiosities, designed to sell model kits. Or the ones obviously lacking mechanical parts needed to make them run like cooling systems, fuel lines and wiring. Saw a lot of those during the decline of custom show cars. Carl Casper churned out a bunch of those, but he wasn't the only one. Very few even try these anymore. I do have to give kudos to Mark Moriarity for building the Futurian, he perfectly captured the flavor and may have even outdone the Master....
The eclipse is a wonderful example, One of the magazines had an east verses west competition back in the early 60's where the readers were to write in and vote on either the Eclipse or the Ala Kart. The eclipse won and when I owned it back in 06 the 6 foot tall trophy that was awarded by the magazine was still with it. Here are a couple of pics from when I owned it
Man, I am humbled by this. Thank you very much, it is comments like yours that make all the itching worthwhile. I really appreciate it. This reminds me of what Darryl Starbird said when he first saw the car back in 01. "Damn that looks more like a Roth car than a Roth car"
I think this picture was taken at the 2004 flying eyeball reunion in Iowa ( I owned the road agent from 1995-2006) And while I only drove it a couple of times (no vin or title and nobody would insure it) It really ran and drove quite well. here is a pic of it at the GSTA show in 99. I still have the backlit Road Agent sign just to the left of the car
Dave Shuten and I restored the Twin Bathtub and made it run/drive. Pretty sure this and lots of the others posted are OT in the year they were built, or the context, but it's pretty cool be involved in several iconic restorations.
Does anyone remember the show rod that was a pool table? It toured in ‘70’s maybe even the early ‘80’s. I was judging the NSRA award at a small show in NW Wisconsin, there was a bad snow storm and the crowds stayed home, so with nothing else to do a couple of us killed time by playing eight ball on the car. I never saw it again.
This is the one that floats my boat. Looks more drivable too, except seeing out the front. Where is it now? Can I have it?
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