Every now and again someone looks at the logo on my truck door and asks “What the hell is Strange Days?” I never have a good answer, because there’s 25 years of odd history here and its just too hard to go through all that. But after 25 years of working together some explanation and celebration is in order… Here goes…………… Steve, Dana and I met while working on the carousel project here in Missoula. While working with about 100 others we discovered that we all had a great sense of the offbeat and we were all motorheads. Plus Steve and Dana have skillsets that are WAY beyond those of mere mortals...We started meeting at my shop every Sunday to work on whatever project any of us dreamed up. There have been others that join in on the fun as well… Nick, Bill, Howie, Jerry, Phil, and Alex and others become part of the crew off and on and we love having them join in. Every damn one of them has talents that amaze. I thought I’d post some photos of stuff that has p***ed through the “Strange Days” shop as kind of a retrospective of what gets done here.. Remember -One day a week for 25 years… THE FINKOSEL: This made quite a splash at the Detroit Autorama in 08...A carousel of Roth figures that is rideable by small children. The figures were all hand carved of wood using a chisel and mallet. We sold the Finkosel to Doc here on the HAMB, and it later was purchased by Beau Boeckman and is on display at Galpin Autosports. Here’s some photos of it in action http://finkosel.homestead.com/files/index.htm THUNDERPIG : Thunderpig is a motorized and hot rodded 1947 Dodgem Bumpercar. This was also a fun build that showed in Detroit in 08. It made it into quite a few publications at the time . More on it here: http://thunderpig.homestead.com/ It even has a model kit… THE COBRA This is Steve’s FFR Cobra. A pure joy to build a car that came with all the parts! He drives the hell out of this thing. The PLYMOUTH COUPE This is the car I would have built in high school if I had the money and skills at the time. As an old man I had to call AAA every time I needed to get in or out. Way too cramped. !!!!!!! THE STRANGE DAYS SHOP TRUCK I bought this Econoline for 500 bucks… Needless to say it needed a LOT of work! It finished out pretty well, and Steve And I cut our teeth on lettering...We learned a lot. THE GAS PUMP I’m not sure where Dana got an old Gas pump, but it was a great quickee restore. THE NEW YORKER My buddy Willie got me a 57 New Yorker for free, and the Strange Days crew got to work. We had the entire body done and it ran, but the interior was a real mess. Sold it to a guy who loved and wanted it worse than me. HE STRANGE DAYS BELLYTANK This was a long term project that ended in an odd way. Steve Dana and I were all bitten by the land speed bug. We decided to build a front wheel drive bellytank. It took a lot of years of on again off again work but we figgured that this small block powered baby could top 200 MPH. Finally we finished the car but really couldn’t afford to campaign it and sold it to a couple of long tall texans. Both were well over 6 ft tall, and had to stretch the car before they ran it. It’s first year out the car topped 209 MPH. There have been other projects as well,(many not HAMB related) and I may add to this thread if anyone is really interested, but now you know why it’s simply called “STRANGE DAYS” 25 YEARS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You should meet this guy named Moriarty. Cool stuff. A great way to spend part of a quarter of a century.
Congrats on all your accomplishments, some very cool stuff has been in, and built in your shop.... And I think the Shop Name is awesome!
First c***ette tape I ever bought as a 14 year old in '67, so it is what I think of when I hear the name. Impressive stuff, cool group! (you guys, that is)
Great stuff! The land speed car is pisser! And people tell me all that time I spent "experimenting" in the 60's was wasted! You could build another race car and call it "White Rabbit" ( and the youngsters on here would think you've switched to VW's!!) Be safe, and keep having FUN.
The Strange Days projects were all the rage when I first found the HAMB.................still some of the coolest stuff on the board
The talent of the Strange days crew knows no bounds They are awesome dudes too, and I'm proud to count them a**** my friends.
Chaz, thanks for telling how this one appeared. (Finkosel) Tis a great story and you guys create good stuff!
So, I thought I might update this a little bit with the latest and current project going on at the Strange days shop. This is Chuck's 53 Ford Ranchwagon woody. Chuck got this car almost 20 years ago, work was started on it and then other things took over. About 4 years ago we dug it out of the back garage and have been working on it since. You can catch up and follow the build here; http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/53-ford-ranchwagon-woodie.816780/
I have thoroughly enjoyed following this build~Chuck,Dana,Steve and Nick have worked together like a fine Swiss watch and the transformation if the"Redheaded Stepchild" is nothing if not a lesson in patience,imagination and talent. The wagon building bar has been raised another notch. HRP
Thanks for the background on The Strange Days Garage.Great post.Please keep the updates coming.LOVE the Finkosel. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
Great group of guys and projects. I had no idea you've all been doing these projects for 25 years -- well done!
up till you mentioned 25 years I thought possibly it came from a mr.o'leary.cl*** room session.a lot of creative ideas in those projects builds.
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