The one in the middle was built by the Ayala brothers,,,i love that car,,,it was supposedly never finished because Gil was more interested in racing it
A lot of 40 Ford pieces in a well done hand made "sports car". A 41 Merc that is a bit over the top. A lot of Packard influence again in what appears to be someone's attempt at a hand made sports car. If you were to get your hands on a stack of Mechanics Illustrated or Popular Mechanics from the early 50's you would probably find a number of photos or pictorials of peoples attempts to build their own sports car out of American iron. Some like the little car with the 40 fenders on it hit the mark and some like the one with the Packard grill didn't get near as close. Many of the imported sports cars in the early 50's had prices that were far beyond the normal working stiff's means but he could buy an old coupe or sedan for not much more than pocket change and start in cutting, hammering and welding. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Yep, the middle one is Gil Ayala's personal car and it was a bad*** in it's day. Several stories of him street racing it and even getting taken to jail because of it. I gotta say the most unusual custom I can think of is the Modern Grecian. This is one of those customs that I just never "got" and I don't think I'm alone here. Photo courtesy Rikster-
first version of the modern grecian was a little better (the grecian),,,not much though,,,not one of the barris' better efforts in my opinion,,some of the little details are kinda neat tho
Back in the 40s and 50s, there were a certain amount of home built cars - not necessarily hot rods, more like custom one-offs. The builders might have even found plans in Popular Mechanics, or similar magazine. Some of their work and styling was good.....some not so hot. This sporty number was made from two 1946 Hudsons. The builder actually lived about two blocks down the street from me. But I never saw it.....was too young then. Jan 1952 issue of Mtr Trend. He later tried building a similar looking car with a fibergl*** body. Didn't turn out very well.
Some of the sport customs are pretty cool. Some of the over the top ones are an exercise in extremes. It's amazing to me how much work and talent could go into one of those but no taste or artistic eye. Still they are interesting. The third car I found on a website called Desert Cl***ics. It was for sale. They have some really interesting cars on there. Even a 1/2 million $ Bellytanker and 67 L-88 Vette. Have any of you guys heard of them?
Nothing "Stranger" than this ****... found in Waukesha Wisconsin... no steering wheel... just a joystick and built on an Oldsmobile frame with an Olds Rocket engine...!!! I like it... but it is "STRANGE"!!!
meet George Jetson..... Jane, his wife ... the red one in the first post has some Studebaker influence with the headlights and side gills on the fender.
Don't get it? I HOPE I never get it, looks like a horrible flesh necrotising bacteria is what its got. Doc.
Umh...i was trying to understand what was goin on here, then read the Monte joke and got it....this is beyhond sanity vs insanity, probably the worst attempt at...whatever they were attempting to do! Anyway, is it an iternational welded on top of the chev?or at least does it look like one?i kinda see a resemblance on the grille area. I think the sectioned packard grille idea is neat, even tho i dont like small euro style sport cars, and the international truck is neat too! The Hudson in the avatar is better even! The Olds based Jetsons car looks like a failed copy of a 50s concept. The sick are unleashed!
<P>is it possible to use a full sized all be it shorter school bus frame for a doner frame for a ford extra cab long bed 95 what if i wanted to graft an additionale xtra cab on it if you can give me any information on such a swap info on frame specs on a buss or direction to a more appropriate post forum if this would be out you alls scope. just looking for info please email me lable it H.A.M.B. thanx so much. reseach before a project storm.</P>
So what's to not get? There were tons of over-the-top hot rods built in the early 60's that are idolized by most rodders. This is the same mentality applied to a custom car. Hard to understand such blatant excess in today's high-tech world, but back then this car was right in style...a leader in trashy overkill. Easy to criticize today, but hailed as a work of true genius in its day. Barris was never one to be behind the curve...
The Jalopy Journal
