Art & Inspiration HOT RODS & CUSTOMS with MOON DISC

A 1951 Oldsmobile two door sedan for a couple of teenagers in 1956-58.

Hello,

In the original purchase, this Oldsmobile two door sedan was a Pale Yellow.
So, one of the photoshop folks will have to put on a set Moon Discs on this photo. Thanks... @themoose ? lowered rake, if possible?

My brother was so anxious to get his first car that he had a good paying job and earned any money, as soon as any other job popped up. He was saving to buy his first car at the age of 15. People and his teenage friends were all laughing at him, mainly because he could not legally drive, yet. But, because his best friend was already driving at age 16 and they grew up together, it was heading for a conclusion, fast. A determined teenager with money to spend was a rarity and he was in the same house as a young kid brother who had none… ha!

But, as things go, our dad had to co-sign the registration papers and they drove the new car home from several blocks away. The big sedan already looked lowered as it was 5+ years old. But, my brother had the sedan in the backyard getting a polish job almost every week. The interior was so clean it could have been used as a hospital surgery room. Everything was immaculate after a 15 year old got through with his upkeep and polish process.

Jnaki

Yes, as his teenage driving friends came over for the weekly gab sessions and car talk, I was hanging around in the background. I was earning some money as a cleanup kid and did hubcap exchanges, so the older teenagers could see which hubcap looked good on which car. They all sat back and I was the kid doing the hard work of taking off and adding on new hubcaps as they appeared each week, on different cars.

The yellow 51 Oldsmobile was on its way for the latest custom add ons. One was a chrome lakes pipes unit hooked up to a set of down tubes from the stock headers. The lakes pipes ran the full length of the Oldsmobile sedan and had caps that could be opened for a loud drag racing sound.

As my brother found out, a lowered sedan + a set of pipes underneath the doors leads to adjusted driving techniques. Our neighborhood had two deep ruts across both intersections of our own block, that always get flooded during the winter rains. When the streets were dry, it still was a hard place to cross with a lowered Oldsmobile sedan with the addition of lower mounted chrome lakes pipes.

But, that was not the big problem. When my brother went to the local teenage hangout with friends, his car was lower yet. 4 teenagers made the low car, lower to the ground and yes, the lakes pipes were inches away from hitting anything larger than a pack of cigarettes.

So, the driveway prevented his lowered Oldsmobile sedan not able to go into the drive-in restaurant parking lot. He had to drive around the block and come in the alley behind the line up of cars and hope there was still a space open in the back row. Getting out was a reverse action back into the alley and out to the main drag. The lakes pipes were removed and sold to a Chevy sedan friend that kept the sedan at stock height. The chrome lakes pipes made the Chevy sedan look lower than it was. YRMV

Note:
There goes my future first car… down the street…

As we were getting in a search mode for our Model A gas coupe build, the Oldsmobile sedan was still pale yellow. By the time we were getting the Model A cleaned and running, my brother’s friend made him an offer that he could not refuse on the Oldsmobile Sedan. But, the condition that my brother gets a new color of Lime Green to make it a “new” car for a new driver/owner.

So, for the last few months, it was Lime Green until it drove away with our neighbor behind the wheel. YRMV

 

I didn’t live this stuff, but am trying to figure it out. I expect the original idea was to reduce wind resistance on cars that were truly racing. I can see that migrating to the street, but how does that then work with whitewalls and patina trucks? I will admit I was trying to make an impression when I put them on our winter wheels on a new beetle. It was not a look my wife could embrace. They look “ in place” in certain situations, that is when they work for me.

 

Hello,

Back a long time ago, some car journalist wrote a research story about wind resistance and showed the swirls around various parts of a car. The boxy cars to sleek coupes and sedans all showed some form of air pressure direction on the various parts of the overall designs.

The Bonneville/dry lake racers took those research ideas and made changes to improve streamlining for the long races and timed runs. Yes, we all questioned how any streamlining helps or hinders daily drivers. But, they do. Ever drive a contrast in design parameters? When the surf VW vans were the thing in So Cal, it was a contrast to cool the motors in the back and keep boxy rolling rectangles smooth as possible. The wind patterns on those VW vans or any vans at the time were crazy with swirls off of the top, sides and rear. The front obviously had swirls going and over as normal.

So, the streamlining of later model vans all picked up on being somewhat sleek. We cant all drive the Kenz/Leslie Streamliner on the streets, although it could get 50 mpg with its sleek body. Ha! But, the early design experiments all pointed to sleek gives more advantage than those that cause swirls in parts of the overall car design, that includes the big swirls around the wheel openings. In/out/ swirling all about, sounds like a modern dance move. But, that is what wind does to the wheel openings.

Jnaki
Most of us are not Bonneville racers with streamlined cars. So, the sleek bodies are as far away as we could like. But the car designers are stuck on creating co-efficient of drag as low as one could make a daily driver without looking like a streamlined race car. The lower the drag, the better the gas mileage, etc...
The VW vans were in the short cylinder group creating a rolling box against all winds and flow. So, that was the worst of any coefficient of drag. Yet, we all had those cool surf wagons for extended long vacations down in the Baja, Mexico coast lines.

Note:

Does the streamline effect design make a difference in drag racing? or Bonneville? Bonneville, yes as it is for longer flat out racing distances. But for a quarter mile at a time? 8 to 15 seconds for most cars? It probably does not make a difference. Although tell that to the folks that consistently lost to the streamlined "Sidewinder" in the 1958 to 62 years...


As far as hot rods, especially open wheel versions, they are a lost cause as there is too much stuff going on around the open wheels. But, they look cool. As far as the larger open wheel trucks, well that is another case of over the top styling and the open wheels + the upright box gives more problems with the wind than open roadsters. (cockpit tarps help in the smooth wind flow on roadsters, too) YRMV

 

My Elco as I drove it through the 90s (it's off the road since the 00s, but still has them on it).

 

I'm a huge Mooneyes fan, went and visited the shop a few months ago when I went down to pick up a Lincoln in Cali....got a personal tour of the whole property from Chico himself, who was the only one there that day. I'll never forget how cool and special that was....he didn't understand why some dude from Montana was so jacked to be there lol...One of the most humble and kind people I've met.

 

Have you ever noticed that there is no middle ground with Moon Disc, guys like them or they don't. HRP

 

I had screw on moon discs on my HOT ROD Datsun pickup. had bigs and littles and a California rake, 205-78-15's out back and 185-70-14's up front. had a big pipe and a glasspack, louvered hood, tach on the dash. I was so cool back then....

 

’33 Plymouth of Kenny Holmes of Hamilton, Ontario. This is the car that was chopped on the floor of the Toronto Motorama show last year by TV car builder Bad Chad.

 

It's a special place to be sure...

 

You have to get a GMC 6 in that and go drag racing!

 

I ran them on my SS

 

They look good on certain cars, they look bad on certain cars. That being said most cars look better without them, but they are only hubcaps, put them on, run them for awhile, change them out. The 2 Chevys above don't look good with them, but the red Ford truck above them, and the black one, as well as the 33 look really good with them.

 

I agree, the black pickup is mine. I ran them for awhile but wasn't quite sold on it so I pulled them off. The 33 is a buddies who just recently changed wheels and tires and also isn't running them anymore.

 

To my mind Moon discs want whitewalls. Either that or white treads, from salt.