Jack Hagemann Sr. built this car for himself in the 1980s. He hand formed the body out of aluminum. Modeled after the Porsche RS60 Spyder but 4 cylinders and 150MPH wasn't enough so he built this one with a 6 Cylinder Turbo Carerra Motor...
Agreed, great job on the 40, I remember seeing the Willys built by the Swedes yrs. ago........Truly inspirational work....If you study the pics of the 40 Ford, you can get a glimps of how it was done, from a paper pattern to shrinking and stretching ect......Theirs alot to learn just in the pics, atleast some of the process........Its just a matter of giving it a run at it yourself, it can be done in a back yard garage if you want it.........Good to see this stuff, I really am a big fan of the the old magazines that showed the guys and gals making a frame then making all the body contours out of thin rod then sheeting it piece by piece.......Littleman
No, it dosent have rust or flat black paint... but I think everyone (well nearly everyone) on this message board will appriciate the end reasult. It's going to have a 50's style salt flat racer look... all hand fabricated with nothing hidden (exposed welds, wires, tubes, and brackets). I am actually looking for a chassis builder right now (No not TCI crap), but an actual fabricator how can get this body on the road. I've got big plans that needs and artistic, skilled craftsman... Any suggestions? I know, I know... I don't like billet either, but common, how can you pass up on a aluminum 40 steering wheel on a aluminum 40 roadster. There are a few billet pieces on this car, and they are all as trick as my wheel.
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">I was gonna post a few pics of my in-the-works project, but what would be the fucking point? That is pure art, plain and simple.</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">You must be kidding...building a chassis should be child's play after that! Again, amazing craftsmanship!</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
I wish I had those skills... It was made by our freinds at FoMoCo for SEMA a few years ago. They built 2 bodies off of the same bucks, the aluminum one I ended up with and an all copper car with GT40 running gear "40GT". (I think the duvall style windshield on the copper car looks like crap), my aluminum body is a stock looking posts. I did not mean to take over this thread... sorry.
this one's virtually being handbuilt by an Aussie rodder, using a scale model for inspiration! Cheers, Glen. http://www.ozrodders.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=13648
Some people have it and some dont. You sir, have it all. this is something I only dream of being able to do. How long did it take to build the bucks and how did you get the dementions. Guess I should have read the entire thread befor asking stupid questions.
i have seen the early stainless steel fords in person years ago,they were unreal.your work sir is ...out of this world,wow!!
hi guys, that 40 was built in poland in an ex-military plane plant, the same guys that build the kirkham motorsports cobra bodies there as well as the copper 40, the alumium 40 was a practice piece for the copper car. i kept all the build pics kirkham posted about the build as they sold it on e-bay , apparently to brad . interesting car, made a lot of us wonder why the made the panels in such small pieces. gary
The car is actually made of hundreds of small pieces (I've never counted them). Real good coach builders would use 1 or 2 pieces for the fender, not 50. Its odviously harder to metal finish, but much easier to fabricate when you use allot of small parts. I added some pictures of the inside of the front and rear fender as well as the motor compartment so you can see how many parts there actually are.... (you can also see all of the shrink, stretch, hammer and wheel marks)
Gary, do you still have any of those pictures fabrication photo's... I did not save all of them, but I would like to have them... This aluminum body was going to be built for the SEMA GT40 display, but Ford and Kirkhan decided that the polished aluminum did not photogragh well, so they offed it and built the copper one, and I ended up with it.
I agree - that aluminum '40 is - uh - well amazing seems to be an understatement. With skills like that maybe you could get a job working for Boyd
hi brad , i`ll make you a cd. p.m. your address. also , did you get the bucks ?? also we discussed this car on www.metalmeet.com gary gary
Not a totally handbuilt car, so it might not belong on this Thread. But What Brad said about the smaller pieces reminded me of how I did this one. Its a mid '50s Sunbeam ( 1st pic), that I cut the Nose and Back off, and restyled it. After I made the frame out of heavy wire ( 1/8" or 1/4"... cant remember the size...), I made squares at about 5 X 5", hammered them in the right shape and welded them in. ( because of the grid pattern some guys here locally called the Car " the Quilt" ) After the squares were welded together I cut the Wire frame out. At the time I was working in a Shop that had no English Wheel, Shrinker or anything like that. (Infact all I owned at the time as far as Metalshaping tools were 2 Snap On Hammers, 2 Snap On Dollies, and I found a big block of wood to hammer into...) I also lengthened the Cowl, Stretched the Doors, Built a new Windshield Frame, etc... All in Steel.
thats a whole lot of hand planishing on the sunbeam !!! seen you post pics of it before, but had no idea that you did it with all hand tools, great job. gary
Yeah, it was... Lots of Hammering. The other guys in the Shop hated me ( claimed the noice gave them headaches...) Hard to believe thats almost 15 years ago. I heard a Shop here in Tucson is finishing it up right now...
Hey, That aluminum '40 reminds me of some of the work of 40's,50's & 60's Italian coachbuilt bodies. Ghia, Fissore, Vingale and a number of others used that method to produce body panels. Small hand- beaten panels, welded and slapper shaped together. Picture post- war Italy, lots of guys lookin for work, few if any machine tools, and almost no press tooling. Mostly younger guys, the war had taken alot of the skilled help, each would "build'' his own section, and, yeah, shaped over tree stumps, or crude forms. It was like a sporting event, with each guy compeating for the best panel. All of the panels welded together, slapped and filed into final shape. Sometimes the finished product was a little rough. Early Ghia bodies got the metal close, than slathered spot putty 1/64th" thick, than blocked to perfection. Swankey Devils C.C.
Hey brad, check out biokustomz and devious customs in SoCal. They are both capable of building any chassis you can imagine from scratch.
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