I am building a 26 Roadster. The AMBR winner has good old Lobster Claw Flames. I've always loved them and have seen them on A's and Deuces. Never on a 26 T. I'm thinking of going that way. Can I see some pics of your T Roadster with LOBSTER CLAW flames?
Pat : That is interesting. I was thinking the same thing about the 1927 Touring car I am building. I should be done with the bodywork in a couple of weeks. I thought the same thing about the AMBR winner. Mark.
@Boon BA The latest conversion of a T-Roadster body for street use, including the inspired original style crab claw flames from the Koenig/Voight modified roadster. The T-Roadster uses a big Buick motor with a 671 supercharger and carbs for simple street use, plus added power when necessary… The evenly spaced headers lead to the fairly quiet collector. Hello, Trying to draw those early fat tipped flames on hot rods is a frustrating project. As little kids, somehow those fat tipped flames came naturally with what little skills we had. They looked like real flames. But, today, to draw what we were able to do back then, is an exercise in frustration. The Pacific Auto Body Group from San Pedro, CA had a variety of early race cars at the local Lion’s Dragstrip when it opened in 1955. We saw different versions as it became our time at the drags. The flames always flowed well from the front to the back. The crab claw flames came out of trying to emulate the early flames on the cars we saw at shows and the little R&C magazines. We were actually trying to draw the stretched out flames, but due to our little hands and inexperience, they ended up looking like the crab claws that pinched us at the Rocky beach jetties. An old art teacher who liked hot rods and customs back then showed us the progression of the flames. In his eye, the letter “s” was the goal. Swoopy “S” style makes the simple curves of the flames. But, we ended up with a letter “C.” The teacher told us that as we drew the “C” and move to an angle direction, the “C” looks like a swoopy “S.” So, we kept at it until we were able to get the series of “C” at the right angle and lined up together to make a swoopy flame base. The lengthy process to connecting them together was the next step. One of the best samples of a true crab claw set of flames was on the Joe Koenig/ Fritz Voight Modified Roadster. As we looked closer, it just looked like those crabs we saw backing up into the rocky crevice and reaching out to grab our pinkies. Ouch! Jnaki The inspiration for the old Friday Art. Original “crab claw” flames ala 50s style, prior to stretching out the claws… "The Stretch..." Plus... an experiment of sorts:
The Jalopy Journal
