Projects SHOEBOX UPDATE: yes,,i've lost my miind

every time i look at this car, with the green "cove" tap out lines, and lincoln fender caps, i vision a sportier version of a packard. maybe a your car looks how a packard prototype car would look of the same era..

 

from today,,,,,,,,,the car needed a rolled pan, so i mocked one up,,needs fine tuning,,but it helps tie the rear in nicely i think..,,,the '57 chevy pickup grille surround will positioned a few inches lower,,the clamps kept me from being able to set it where its actually gonna go,,,,it will become part of the body,,i will sink it a couple of inches and use gold expanded metal to fill the cavity,,i need to also slide the whole deck area back a bit to close the visible gap between it and the rolled pan,,,the bumpers will also be recessed some more.......

 

I'm trying to figure out why you started with an actual donor car as opposed to just a title. Clearly you are building a car from scratch anyway...
You rule.

 

You so crazy!
How much do you plan to recess those bumper/dagmars?

 

Jim, SlowandLow63 referred me to your work that you are doing. Pretty cool stuff going on with your combination of three dimensional tape drawing, photoshopping, and cutting!

If I can make a comment/suggestion based on this 11-6-08 update: I would first of all, keep the beltline dip; very Dutch Darrin!!! But what I would do is is as that tape line goes down to the rear wheel opening, pull it slightly forward of the wheel opening, then at the bottom, curve it forward as you did on the door tape line. You want to keep your eye moving (as you have done on the belt line); keep it moving back forward to contrast the flowing rearward sweep of the fender line, rather than have your eye movement end in the ground as it is done now.

Next I have always believed that front and rear wheel opening should match (as has GM and Ford Design). If you are happy with the mock-up of the rear wheel opening, trace it, enlarge it slightly, and transfer it to the front opening. After you do this, you might have to slightly tweak both door and rear fender dip line to match the opening. Doing this will make your car a, whole cohesive design rather than looking like someone designed the rear and someone else designed the front, and then the two designs were joined together. I don't have Photoshop so I can't really "show" what I am talking about. Bugatti, Talbot-Lago, Delahaye all did some interesting things with their swoopy body work!

Some where else in these posts, someone suggested a "breezeway" roof line. I think that this would look fantastic on this car. Barker of New York City, back in the Thirties pretty much came up this design element in the "Windblown" Rolls-Royce that they built back then. Someone else mentioned Gaylord, but their roofline had a fairly vertical rear edge.

Somewhere in my vast pile (33 years worth!) of car designs and rendering of mine, I have a contemporary car design in which I used this roof line with some of the same sort of flowing fender lines that your car has. As soon as I find it, I will photograph it and post it.

 

Yo...Jim.....I helped Vic load up that shoebox roof today...it's on it's way to you!

 

hey mark,,,,,thanks VERY much,,,i really appreciate it.......
i need to widen the roof on the shoebox and that will make it MUCH easier to do..

 

thanks for the suggestions,,,i will try out the wheel opening idea,,,it may very well look better than what i have,,ill try it out tomorrow,,,,i have the roof pretty much figured out,,,i dont really think i like the "breezeway" style roof (especially on that gaylord car)..,,but ill look forward to seeing your picture,,maybe you'll change my mind,,,,,,thanks for taking the time to type out that extensive post..

 

just checkin back in, really like the progress so far. diggin the slope to the rear!

 

I know that you now have all the changes the 2008 model so it's about
time to work on new 2009 changes.
TwoChops

 

worked out more of the details of the rear of the car,,,i moved the deck area between the taillights in 6 inches,,,cut in the 57 chevy pickup grille surround,,repositioned the taillights, sunk the bullets in,,slit the quarters and pulled out the bottom part to align better with the fins,,,,,,,,heres a few pics...

 

wicked..like to see this one finished man.
cool vision

 

thanks for all the different photoshop ideas,,,

 

Lookin good jim...i like the 57 grill surround. And the dagmars should look pretty bitchin when its all tied together.

 

I really like the rear end treatment Jim. You know, one day you'll have to weld all this stuff together, unless you put casters on those jackstands.

 

that day is coming soon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,the windshield is the final piece of the puzzle,,should have it this week if all goes as planned,,once i get that situated, its weld,,,weld,,,weld,,,weld,,,,weld,,,,

 

jim, your car reminds me of the old amt model car kit. (the 50 ford convertable 3 in 1 stylized customized stock amt kit. i say that you can call your project STYLIZED!!!! you did a lot since i saw you this morning.
that model kit made me want to do my 51 ford that way.
later vic

 

cool,,i know the kit you mean,,,,yeah,,i was on a roll today,,,it was one of those good days you get every so often,,so i wanted to take advantage of it.....glad you like it,,,,

talk to you later.............

 

once again to bad ya dont live closer or i would help ya weld that thing up and to think i had it bad!!!!!

 

yeah,,that would be cool........

i think we both like to torture ourselves,,,,,

 

the 39 im plannin out is getting chopped sectioned and channeled what a joy!!!

 

yeah,,but it'll be worth all the work,,,,,,,,

 

Excellent!

 

Jim,

I finally found the the portfolio with car rendering from the past ten years. Please bear with me, as it might appear to go "Off Post", but in the end, I hope my original suggestions of a "Breezeway" type rear window line will help.

A little background:
Eleven years ago (1997), I was talking to a fellow designer friend of mine, telling him that I thought there probably was a market out there for a hyper-luxury car, i.e. a million dollar car. We talked about it a while, and I decided to do some sketches. Back in the Thirties, many luxury cars were powered by Lycoming and Continental engines. They both are still around, so I thought, how appropriate for it would be to utilize a contemporary air cooled aircraft piston engine in an automobile. I requested information, and armed with engine dimensions, I laid out a two seater car with a long 133 inch wheelbase. I wanted something along the lines of Duesenberg and other classic car proportions.

As you can see, I came up with some fairly swoopy fenders, mimicking the flowing fenders of the Thirties. I threw in the Breezeway/'58-'60 Continental Mark roof line, not only as a "jolt" to the swoopy fenders, but also to allow a retractable top within a short deck lid.


This drawing, by the way, is to scale; 1/10th inch to the foot. 133 inch wheelbase; 48 inches high.


A closer detail of the roof line.


A quick 8-1/2 x 11 sketch of the rear of the roof line and mahogany deck.

A year later, a guy I knew was selling a 1975 Eldorado coupe. His Cadillac was a patina'd Firemist red, a bit of tail-dragger, with dual glass-pack exhausts that put out a nice rap from the 500 cubic inch Eldorado motor.

I drew a bunch of quick sketches try to figure out what I could do with this car. I eventually thought that a boat tailed speedster would look pretty cool, so I drew up a chopped windshield, raised the power dome to give the Eldo some Fifties flavor, cut-down doors, and extended rear fender end caps.





Thinking that if I was to build this car, I would want to drive it year round, so I again took a page from the late Fifties Continental Marks, and thought that an "Erector Set" top, in the style of British sports cars of the Fifties and Sixties would be the best for sudden rain storms: a light weight collapsible metal frame with a snap-on canvas top.



As you can see in the rear perspective, I have cut down the rear deck lid, made the original rear fenders into fins, and added a mahogany boattailed deck. I also thought that some sort of semi-permanent top would be pretty cool, so I drew up this top (with Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow influences) intending it to be fabricated out of aluminum with exposed wooden inner structure. It would then attach to cleats on the perimeter of the wooden deck.





I guess what I am trying to show, is that this type of roof line can work. It provides a jolt to your design, in such a way that I think most people would initially think and say: "Yes this look a bit out of place, but ya know, it works!"

Think also of music; Jazz, Rock, The Rolling Stones, Bowie, Garbage, and other have had songs that flow along, then wham; here's some chords and notes that seem out of place, but in the end work!

Hope this helps!

 

carnutofthedecade thanks for posting those pictures of your renderings,,you are really talented and can definitely think outside the box,,,the boattail on the caddy is very interesting,,,,,,,
im leaning towards doing a roof with a removable center section,,but will study your renderings some more,,

 

Thanks! I'd love to build the Eldorado, but the lack metal working skill, time, and the bod will probably keep me from building it. Unfortunately I have rheumatoid arthritis and when it flares up royally, as it has recently, days, if not weeks can fly by and I am not able to do much!

 

nice fancy lighting!!!!!!

also i got some fender bottoms off a 53 caddy they are not in the best shape but you front wheel well reminds me of them . caddy have a straight line like that accross the front wheel if ya want em just pay shipping and they are yours.

 

played around with the quarters a little,,,i added a little piece to the top of the quarters that will move the dip forward about 4 inches,,,the door will now dip directly into the beginning of the quarter, instead of having the dip continue into the quarter,,it also adds some needed length to the quarters......amazing how much difference a little piece of metal can make,,,carnutofthedecade suggested changing the shape of the front wheel openings to mimic the shape of the rear wheel opening,,,i mocked it up..it needs tweaking,,but has some definite possibilities..hopefully. i get the windshield tomorrow and can start laying that out this weekend.,,,

 

A lot of nice shapes going on & I like the scoop area you added below the back glass - that's a cool idea.

One thing keeps fighting my eye though - the top of the cowl seems much too high compared to the rest of the car. Especially when viewed from the front 3/4 angle - From the dash forward the car is very massive & bulky, whereas from the dash back, the car is very sleek and thin. If you keep the back of the car sectioned down as much as it is, it seems that the front needs to be thinned down some as well.

 

i understand what you are saying,,,,it looks a little different in person believe it or not,,,
the car will also be lower by about two inches which i feel will address the problem as well.....i could still section the front more, because at this point, the nose and doors are only tack welded..ill have to do some more studying....