Darryl Starbird is mostly known for the radical customs he built in the late 1950's and 1960's. The Predicta, Futurista, Cosma Ray, etc... were all interesting designs that made a lot of magazine covers and turned a lot of heads, but they were also a... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Burn me at the stake if you must, but I like his whacked-out bubble top fantasy cars better. I'm not fond of the quad headlights on this Caddy, and that's the only major mod on it. The hood scoop on my '53 Ford is from a very heavily customized 1960 Thunderbird that was being put back to a more stock configuration. The hood corners were rounded so the hood couldn't be used, the guy sold it to me for $25. He told me that the car was a Darryl Starbird custom. That's before I knew who Darryl was, and the guy who was building the car thought it was just an ugly 60's custom. It's really well done, with round rod forming the new opening and sheet metal filling in the gaps. I'm 99% confident that the story is bullshit, but I like to believe I have a little bit of his work on my car anyway.
Starbird still has the Caddy and it is sitting in his Museum. One of these days I would love to see it restored. It is kool to see that it is in good hands....
Ryan Years back there was a story about Starbird and this Cad. It was his personal family car. The frist time his wife went to drive it,she could not find how to open the doors. If i can find the story,will let you know ,what rag it was in.
Along with George Barris (post Sam), I've never understood the "Starbird Worship". Street Rodder magazine strokes him on a monthly basis. Much of what he builds is downright hideous. This Cadillac is gorgeous though. I'll give him credit for it. JH
This is one of my favorite Starbird customs, too. I'm surprised nobody has replicated it. Quad headlights don't always look right on a '40s car - but I think they do here. Something else worth noting is the stance - low enough to be cool, but high enough to still be practical. You can tell this was driven.
I think it is even cooler now knowing that it was his family car and that he still has it. I don't blame him for keeping it around.
I just found an old Car Speed & Style mag ( Feb 59 ) with a story about Starbird & his predictions for styling with the pic of him in front of the grille from this posting. I'll scan it & post it. Steve
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