These pictures are from the back of a roadster that I saw on the Goodguys shop tour back in August. Can someone tell me if this is authentic Tommy "The Greek" or not? I don't have a picture of the car, sadly. just the striping. also, if anyone has any pictures of authentic Tommy Hrones striping, can we please post them in this thread?
No opinion just some observations... Tommy the Greek was noted for his amazing straight line work (usually thick black with thin white outline) and there appears to be some straight lines in your photo, some nice, some rough. He was also noted for his teardrops, usually grouped in odd numbers (3 or 5). It seems this job was done at different times, with the design-striping being added later. Did Tommy sign his work? Did Tommy do designs? Here's a link to Herb Martinez's website and his tribute to Tommy Hrones: http://www.herbmartinez.com/tommy/tommy.htm I looked at this thread this morning and again a few minutes ago hoping someone would have posted some info. It would be very interesting to hear some thoughts from the people I think would be able to shed some light on the subject like Art Himsl, Rod Powell, Herb Martinez or Andy Southard.
Oh yea no one ever thought to do squigley lines to decorate untill Von Dutch. I'm sure he did not invent squigley lines, just made them popular. Jim
In the ever-amazing power of the HAMB check out some Tommy the Greek striping....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=318067 Scroll down to the shots of the dash in the Winfield truck.
Interesting article on the history of him. Thanks. So would these be considered Tommy The Greek style? I saw these on a car at a recent Goodguys show. I always liked these kind of cool black black spears with white outlines. I think I watched Herb Martinez do some of these on somebody's car at another show about five years ago, so that's interesting that he learned how to do them from Tommy the Greek.
that's rich guasco's restored AMBR winning roadster. Herb Martinez striped that car and applied those tear drops at the 2007 GNRS oh, and i would say thats not an actual greek striping job.
If I had to say either way I would say that is his striping, the "greek" Characteristics are defintley there.
Yes, and Tommy striped the car more than once back in the fifties & sixties- including the stripes it wore when it won AMBR in 1961. It still had those stripes when he tore it down and restored it for the 50th. He was suprised I was bummed he THREW AWAY the taillight panel with the stripes because he said that panel was homemade and he replaced it with a new one! Guasco is the best! He has had the car for almost 60 years! and he still enjoys it and gets it out and uses it. It will be at the AMBR again this year.
I agree-- it does seem as if someone striped over the first design with the white. it's quite obvious in person that the "chicken scratch" design was added later. i checked herb's site before i posted this, and while herb has some great stories and a wealth of information about him (books, website and personal conversations i've had with him) he doesn't have too many pictures of the work from back in the day. thanks for the responses thus far. it'd be cool to find out if it is authentic or not.
Rusty now you have something to shoot towards in building your portfolio. He was killer with the straight lines and I have always loved his style in general. If you want some practice i will send you my car
After carefully looking at the pictures and reading all the chatter generated by this post I would have to say that this is not Tommy's work. Just because the signature says "the greek" doesn't mean it's Tommy. First, the teardrops are too far apart. He always kept them much closer. Second, he never did designs other than teardrops, but this I'm not certain of. Artists are artists and we do experiment. I know a lot about Tommy's work but I am no expert or historian. I love doing the "Greek" style layouts and teardrops and if anyone wants that work done I would be happy to oblige them. Herb Martinez, Livermore, Ca.
I think that I can help with that question: " Second, he never did designs other than teardrops, but this I'm not certain of. " I bought a neat car last year having no idea what it was. Now I find out from friends in California that know the car that it was painted by Tommy! They even sent an article about the car from when he painted it. My car has no tear drops, just a nice subdued paint job in red white and black. As it only has a pretty good 1275 in it, I think it is appropriate that it is not over painted. I posted a picture of it taken last November on my web site www.N34.US - part way down the page. It is a big file, so you can zoom way in for detail... Comments? Don Piccard 612 333 6912
Here is a genuine example of Tommy the Greek circa '52. On an MG TC. The pic of the louvers was taken prior to cleanup, and they were punched by Jack Hagemann, also circa 1952.
I'm deliberately late to this party but I'd forgotten about it anyway. I refrained from engaging back in 2008 because it wouldn't have been appropriate then. I know the owner and the car. It's not authentic. The car has a very cleverly done patinised paint job involving some off the wall techniques which curiously naturally aged itself! The striping was a homage of sorts and the signature completely imagined, intended as a tongue in cheek head scratcher, is it, isn't it, kind of thing, a bit of fun and conversation starter. The owner is a fun guy. Chris
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