Bastards! I'll have to dig deeper. 1930 Mercedes Benz SS Erdman & Rossi Roadster Here's one from left field. 1953 Giaur Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B 1938 Talbot Lago T23 Figoni et Falaschi Coupe 1955 Lincoln Indianapolis Boano Coupe 1935 MG PA/PB Oliveau Roadster
I'd love to hear more about that! He designed some of the most beautiful bodies ever, IMO. ( and yes, some ugly ones too...) I think his Maserati Coupe was pretty much considered to be a failure, but mostly because the body was built in Italy, and they didnt follow his design exactly ( something similar happened with one of the Italian built Cobra Daytona Coupes ) How cool would it be to track down his original blueprints and build a Maserati Coupe to the exact measurements he calculated for it...
I've only seen one of my all time favorite Sportscars on this Thread ( the Lotus Eleven ) Here is the other one. The Alfa Romeo TZ1
1962 Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato..... 1955 Austin Healey 100M LeMans..... 1965 Serenissima 308 Jet Competizione.....
Aww crap! Just when I had finally weened myself OFF of "European swoopiness" to concentrate on other things, Tony had to go and start a thread that everyone would post bitchin', swoopy, European sports cars of the 50's and 60's in! Thanks... Great.... Awesome thread!
Jaguar XK 120..... Take your pick......1969 Porsche 917. Take your pick....part II. Transporter with some swoop.....(and fast, read L rear fender!)
Time to add a couple more of my own favorites. The cars in this group are those nasty, OT Yurpeen cars: Partially answering my own question, what would the Figoni/Falaschi teardrop Talbot look like with unskirted fenders and a longer wheelbase: A couple of people have posted pictures of the Jag XK120, which certainly fits the swoopy/agile description, but nobody has shown the coupe. In my opinion, the M versions with wire wheels and no skirts have more of an agile look than the original skirted models: This is some kinda Delage; I don't know any details of its body but I think it's handsome: And this is a Farina-bodied Alfa. It's a little chubby looking, might look more athletic with the skirts off, but I think it's nice: More to follow.
who here has seen this thing in person? it is positively enormous. i'm talking massive. take a look at the driver. he's a normal sized dude, but he looks tiny in that beast. i was overwhelmed by that thing at the petersen. its ginormous! something like 150" wheelbase with almost 6' track width....
I've seen it at the Pete, where it's currently on display. The curator told us that, during the restoration, they found it necessary to bag the rear end -- the car is so heavy that it immediately sagged to the ground.* I understand that it's also a complete pig to drive; very difficult to steer. *Edit: admittedly, this may mean that the restoration stopped short of equipping the car with the heavier rear springs that it obviously needs.
I haven't been very successful in herding this back to HAMB-relevant vehicles with the swoopy/agile qualities I seek. So, here are a few cars than kinda have what I was looking for: Butch Hurlhey built this car for the late Harold Olsen a long time ago, maybe in the '80s. I think these fastback Chevys have a nice swoopy look to them in stock form (and as lowriders), but the hardtop chop, fadeaway fenders, and flush skirts on this car are just exceptional: I have long thought that an interesting phantom could be made from a '41 Cad fastback body with a '40 LaSalle front clip (LaSalle never made a fastback, sadly). Here's a neat photochop of this idea done by Rik Hoving, with a hardtop chop that's similar to the Olsen Chevrolet above: An early Buick custom, uncharacteristically skirtless for a custom of the '50s, which manages to look pretty swoopy. I'm not sure, but this may be the car that Kurt McCormick now owns. Rik?: An on-topic treatment of an off-topic car, by HAMBer Chrisp. This car is unfortunately stalled, and has not had much work for a long time: And, following my earlier thought that prewar Fords have a kind of athletic look, here are a few that I think have a particularly attractive stance and at least a whiff of swoop: Two customs, done by Coachcraft in the '40s, which extend the athletic look of the stock '40 Ford with a bunch of handmade panels: ...and a couple more Europeans that just look like they could tear you up. I believe this is a Vignale-bodied Osca: and this is a Zagato-bodied Maserati A6G:
And a few more comments on some of the cars that have been posted, starting with page 4: Another of Mr. Costin's creations, perhaps his most handsome. This design was done as a pure aerodynamic exercise, with little attention to cosmetics (unless it was massaged by somebody at Lotus with a discerning eye). Swoopy, in spades; athletic, no way. Same comment as above. Rick, you've got so many delicious choices in this thread now that I'm overwhelmed. To comment on just a few, the Atlantic certainly belongs in here, with or without skirts. I think there are now FOUR versions of the 8C2900B in the thread. All worthy, of course. Me too. You're absolutely right. If there were a list of understated customs that got it exactly right, this car would be near the top. Scaglietti was originally a small shop that concentrated on building bodies for Ferrari racing cars, although I have the impression that the designs actually came from Farina. Ferrari bought out Scaglietti a number of years ago, and I don't know if they still exist as a separate entity within the Ferrari organization. Yet another 2900. As I understand the history of these cars, Alfa ended one year's racing season (1937?) with a dozen or so spare GP engines which were going to be obsolete by the following year's formula. Not wanting the expensive and exotic engines to go to waste, they built the series of 8C2900B sports and GT cars to use them up. I don't know if the chassis are at all related to the racing cars', but Alfa was among the best at building great handling cars all the way back to the early '30s. I think it would be pretty intimidating to beat on one of these today, but I bet they'd be up to the challenge. Agreed. It's the last car in the first post on this thread. I'd be happy to tell what tales I can, but I really was just one of a bunch of kids that sort of sat at his feet to learn something profound. He talked about this, and was obviously pretty bitter about the degree to which the execution differed from his original design. One example was the carburetor air intake; Frank had specified a rear opening in the hood blister -- an early version of cowl induction -- and the body builder (Zagato, I believe) just assumed that he didn't know what he was doing and put the opening in the front. All right, I'll shut up now and let the thread take its course. Thanks to all you guys for participating in it.
Okay, I got the swoop down, but I've never equated most domestic or custom cars as "agile", so that requirement really narrows the field and is kinda throwing me for a loop....
You're right, of course; very few of them could be considered agile. I like it if they LOOK the part, though. That Motorama fastback Corvette was neat, wasn't it? Too bad they never developed that car for production.
Hey Mr. 50. if an when Model cars magazine ever gets it's forum up an runnin you need to check out a Peter Lombardo. he does a Vacum formed body he desighned himself thats close to the french car. This guy has some reall talent too! scrubba
Well, sure! Swoopy just means "looks like it goes real fast"; why would I discriminate against "looks like it handles decently"? I forgot that it was called the Corvair!
I Googled "Peter Lombardo model cars" and found hundred of photos of his work. He's quite a prolific model builder! I wasn't crazy about his "art deco aero coupe", but he did a '60 Ford with a Torino fastback top that I would drive in a minute! Thanks for the lead.
I'm with you on the anti-big wheel opinion, but had to make an exception on this P1800. Who knew a Volvo could look that sexy. No surprise, you can appreciate a "Swoopy" car, growing up around those amazing cars of your Dad's. Some of these guy's would be amazed at what is hiding there.
I feelin' 50's era concept cars....... '54 Desoto Adventurer II.... '56 Nash Rambler Palm Beach.....(wave to Wayne Carini in the background.) '52 Chrysler Thomas Special..... '53 Cadillac LeMans..... '52 Packard Panther Macauley.....(strange one, but I dig it.)
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