Proportion:that's complicated !!!

that one belongs to a friend of mine, had a few guys over before we took off on a little run

 

Paragraph breaks... think paragraph breaks...

 

Henry Js only look good with a straight axle in the front - nose up, big tires in back

 

I understand exactly your point. Sometimes you grind off the rough edges until there are none left, and the result is bland.

Sometimes a jarring detail adds interest to a design.

 

Anyone who can build a BADDER '55 Chevy than this guy can complain about his writing skills. Still on of my favorite cars of all time.....oh yeah, that Henry J is cool, too.

 

Scott,
Enjoyed your thoughts on proportion,but a couple things I need cleared up. I know you built the car,but you don't own it? I saw it in HRM, but don't recall those details from the article. The owner lets you drive it to the store? That's cool!
If you are really going to build another Henry, I say fix the wheel location,but leave the roofline alone...character(or lack of) problem solved. The work you did on the front fenders on the red car is the best modification I've ever seen on any Henry J.

 

The difference is SOOOO hard to spot. Here is a GIF file to help.

I have to agree that the picture Webster has under Goofy is a Henry J. But that is the appeal of it. I might move the front wheel opening and leave the roof alone.

 

Thanks for the gif Lee. That makes it much easier to view and a little bita fun to watch. lol

 

I had to. I wanted to see it too. Once I got the gif built, it was clear.

I used Gimp BTW. Gotta love free software.

 

That "J" is a great piece of work and just like everything else , beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is always doubt during and after a build but your gut probably had you go in that direction , everybody is their own worst critic.
I have built a fair number of race cars and every one is a learning expierence , some mistakes are made but I still come back for more.
We have a disease and there is no cure but the smell of grinding , rust , welding , blood , sweat , and tears, helps ease our pain.
Take care ,Rob.

 

Most 1930s and 1940s cars look better with the axle centerline moved to center the wheels in the fender opening. I moved the rear axle back 1/2" and the front axle forward 1 1/2" on my '36 Hupp coupe to get the right proportion. A dead on profile shot from 20 ft away or more will tell you what needs to be moved. Whitewalls highlight any issues.

 

Scott, errr Mr. Sullivan that last sentence had me rolling with laughter. Ya got a sense of humor to go with the mega skill's.

 

Scott,
Your Chevy II and '55 both heavily influenced my tastes over the past 30 years.

Can you please tell us your thought process when looking at a car?
-How do you analyze the car's esthetics?
-Do you look to see if the lines converge at a focal point well forward of it?
-Consistent theme?
-What else?

Thanks!

 

We will be lucky if he posts in here again after the haters criticized his initial post.

For those of you who don't know, Cheezewhiz is Scott Sullivan. He's had more cars on magazine covers than pretty much anyone else. The guy deserves respect.

 

Easier to read version:


"The other night I went to the supermarket in the HENRY J.
As I walked through the parking lot towards the car I got the most awful feeling.
As I looked at the car I realized that the front wheels/wheelwell were about two inches back from where they should be in relation to the overall fender.
I was sick, how could I have missed such an obvious design flaw?
Sure, I was clever enough to droop the nose for the proper attitude but boy was I blind to THAT black eye!
I couldn’t stop thinking about it, it would’ve been sooo cool!


To make matters worse, I should have been aware of this problem, one of my secret heros, FAT JACK ROBINSON had this same problem years ago on a ‘56 F-100 truck he had built.
He moved the front wheelwell 6” forward in the fender.
AMAZING!


Of course, once I started thinking about that, then my mind just drifted into this whole dissertation about proportion.
I’ve gotta say, in my defense, over the years I’ve seen EVERY BIG TIME car builder screw up some proportion on many of the “million dollar cars ” we’ve all been subjected to!
If you’re gonna cut something up bunky, you’d BETTER know what you’re doing!
I remember reading a car feature on a ‘40 coupe a long time ago. It stated that the hood was pie cut 4” in front, tapering to 0” at the cowl to give the front a downward slope.
Wow! I thought, great idea, then I looked at the side view of the car. EEEEEEWWWWW!!!!!
The hood looked WAAYYY too skinny in relation to the big bubbly fenders!


Anyway, after obsessing over my screw up for days, I finally pulled up a side shot of the HENRY into PHOTOSHOP.
I moved the front wheels about two inches forward…it looked GREAT…AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
Then, I changed something I WAS aware of while I was building the car but knew I wouldn’t be able to get the owner to pay for the labor.
Alot of ‘50’s cars have a really high crown on the roof of the car above the rain gutters.
The HENRY is particularly guilty of this problem.


I took about 1 1/2” out of the crown in my photochop. I now had the “perfect” HENRY J !
I left the image on my monitor and did some other stuff, occasionally looking back at the screen.
Man, now I gotta build ANOTHER car so I can get this right! It’s just waay too COOL!! I actually started planning out how I would build a new and improved version of a car I already did! I’d use an LS motor this time, and a manual trans, a more rigid chassis!
YEAH!!
Then I looked back at the monitor, MY GOD, THAT THING IT JUST PERFECT !
It’s like a little rocket!
It’s PERFECT !!


Something began to bother me…as I stared at the “perfect” little car I’d realized something.
It wasn’t “cute” anymore.
I had the same problem when I swapped out the wide whites for the HALIBRANDS.
This time I’d removed the very thing this car has going for it in the first place.
It’s quirky, almost goofy looking.
That’s it’s character , make it all SWOOPY and it ain’t got no SOUL !!
Boy, this proportion thing sure is complicated!
The same thing applies to EVERY modification we do to our cars.
Sometimes out of proportion is "perfect" other times, horrible.
Of course, one may argue that you just have to have an eye for that sort of thing.
Problem is, you've still got that old "eye of the beholder thing".
My head hurts..."

I had to...
It made my head hurt trying to read it...

C9 taught me/us to start each sentence on anew line on these boards, because even without paragraphing, that in itself makes it easier to read.

I remember when the Mazda Miata came out, I contemplated trading in my MGB GT for one but found that the car didn't "fit" me.
When I drive the MG I can have my elbow planted on the arm rest and shift with just wrist motion.
In the Miata, if I put my hand on the gear shift my elbow was in the friggin' ash tray!

That's not my point though.
My point is, the first year Mazda made a "cute" little inexpensive sports car, in cute bright colors, but the second year they came out with a "limited edition" Black model that looked way too sophisticated for the "cuteness" of the cheap little car.
It looked better in the basic bright Red White and Blue colors of the previous year.
It's also why most "compact" cars usually look like wannbe-customs when people attempt "leadsled" styling tricks on them.
They look better going the "Sporty car" direction of style.

I remember being shocked by how small, (early Corvette size,) Harley Earl's Y-Job and LeSabre are when I saw them in person at the Henry FOrd Museum.
They look huge in photographs but it's just an illusion brought about by the viewer assuming the car's size in proportion to the wheels, but the wheels are 13"dia!
The small wheels make the car look large, just as larger than "normal" wheels make a car look smaller.

 

Great insight into your brain Scott. Thanks for the inspiration.

And some of you gotta study your Hotrod history. Searching Cheezwiz might be a good place........sheesh!