What's it good for? It's his personal car that he designed years ago and finally got to build. It's good for the same EXACT thing YOUR car is good for. Making the owner happy. Why is that so hard for some of you fuckers to get? You would be "embarrased" to be seen in it? And I would be "embarrased" to be seen next to you. Since you won't ever get to drive it, and I won't ever stand next to you, we're all safe. Sheesh. Gotta love people making closed-mindedness a virtue.
Thank you.....you nailed it. Your reply should be posted for eternity, and required reading before registration on the hamb is allowed.
My best friend Jeff Foose, who is a distant cousin of Chip and Sam worked for them as a gopher one summer in the '80s. He says that Chip is everything positive that you guy have said about him..hugey talented, well versed in the past as well as the future and is an all around nice guy. But his cars lack "something"...perhaps they're too sterile looking, to put him in the same league as Sam Barris, Bill Cushenberry, the Alexander bros., Ed Roth, Frank LaRosa, Gene Winfield, his dad and the rest of the old school customizers in my book. Maybe he'll build something that has the Got-Cha! factor of the El Matador, my all time favorite custom. It just hasn't happened yet. Jan
No actually Diamler/Chrysler builds (or built) the one he designed in college. Actually the view we got looks like any of a dozen other aftermarket bodies that you can buy or have been able to buy over the last 15 or 20 years. Its all right for what it is. Its not a trad ride but not ment to be.
Nobody else has done anything superior either, in the last few decades. Nothing will ever compare to the Beatnik Bandit......but Chip has talent....moreso than anybody else in this time period. In my book, he's at the top of the heap. Alot of people have one specific skill....metal fab, design, interiors....but very few have mulitple talents.....and be very good at all of em. Some people don't like Chips designs....but in the world of design, they are excellent ideas. Some just don't fit the traditional slot, and that is the problem around here....tunnel vision.
You're probably right,but it's awfully hard to shake that tunnel vision after drooling all over the great Kustoms of the '50's and '60s. I still have hopes for Chip to pop up with something that makes us all go DAMN, that's cool! yet. Jan
Foose doesn't hang out at local junkyards. He doesn't read every for sale item on old car places, looking for a Edmunds this, or a set of NOS that. He buys his stuff off the shelf, or makes it. This is nothing to be ashamed about. He sells everything he makes at a profit. He gets press. Young people like his stuff, etc, etc. Who are we to judge him, as he certainly could care less about people who live at the junkyards or in want ads. He's a high tech craftsman and artist, most of the readers here are low-tech. Just as crafty, just as artistic, but in a way that is Norman Rockwell, to his (can't think of a good Italian painter at the moment.) Let it ride. Someone will buy it, and they will pee all over themselves for getting it. I'm happy with my junkyard camaro clip and a mig welded frame.
I have said this a hundered frickin times, & I keep saying it. With a budgit like this ( or any other similar work ) why is the chassis such a TURD. With 500 plus HP why does it STILL HAVE SUSPENSION GEOMETRY BASED ON A FN PINTO...? CHASSIS & ALL FOR CONERS S.O.F.S...! Want to really do somthing differant & impressive, be for all the crome & 100k worth of paint & coatings - TAKE THE F-R TO A RACE TRACK & SHOW US ALL HOW WELL IT WORKS..! CAKE DECORATORS..!
black ... track style nose ...Green tint window(s)....Sixties style interior..... $40.000 Price-range ... : I would have bought one !! My dayly driver is a `06 Beetle Conv , and I fu...n love it ... BTW : Chip Foose is waay cool !! klaz
quote=Groucho]Looks like that Boyd THING from a few years ago. [/quote] Think that was a project he did for one of the Jap car makers, I think Mitsubitsi (or maybe itchypussy?). Think it was yellow and called the ALUMA Coupe. I found a picture of it. Do a comparison. What do ya' think??? I watched video on TV a few days ago where they introductioned Chip's car at SEMA. The reaction by the crowd was exactly the way I felt and saw it. No big WOW's, only a moment of dead silence, which indicated a complete let-down, and then some token hand clapping. The only person that had a positive reaction was Chip. I actually felt bad for the guy. A lot of hype and then a GREEN THING was uncovered. For a moment, I thought they uncovered the wrong car. Where's Boyd? Let's blame it on him.
First time I saw a tiny picture of the car I thought.... hmmm has Foose buillt a "plowboy" rod out of '70 cuda, interesting. But then I saw a bigger picture and, no he hadn't. I think that could have been quite a interesting project.... not cool... but interesting
I still like the P-32 and the Tub he build on Overhaulin. He can build something really good but until the big money crowd wants it, it won't happen. You think he's building for the junkyard, build it yourself crowd?
I dig it. I have been involved with tuners since I was able to drive(still only 24). I would sit at the magazine rack in the grocery store lookin through the "rice" magazines. These types of cars were what initially sparked my interest in "hot rods"(alot of you here may not call them that but thats ok) The reason they caught my eye was it was something just as flashy(to my eye at the time) as the cars I was/am into. Whether gettin more youngins involved can be viewed either way... After they caught my attention I started picking up rod magazines more often realizing how much was out there. Starting to see the character that classics have that I feel most modern cars do not. One of the big things that sparked my interest in classics is you can find one that needs a full restoration and give a complete new life to it, compared to how I see it with imports, tryin to simply add character which often fails and make it faster. I feel there is more too it with a classic rod/custom whatever... To me it sets its self apart from Boydster cause it is carbon fiber body, fiber glass would have been much more simple and less expensive(I also think it is cool to mix old and new in certain cases, this being one of them). I know it was mentioned that people are sick of carbon fiber but quite simply it is here to stay in modern racing so for a car to be perfomance oriented and the funds it only makes sense to me. Also the mid engine is not something I expected at first glance. I think it is cool to see what Chip himself intended on a boydster or a prowler looking like but seein the things that got nixed along the way. Undoubtedly Chip is stoked about it, if it is really his vision he has had for so long. I picture this situation being much like all of us that modify most everything and every time we see something we say to ourselves " I would change this slightly, chop that, shave that etc..." I can only imagine how pissed I would be if someone changed my design and then seeing it as a production vehicle. Pretty long winded for a newb but these are they types of cars that sparked my interest in hot rodding and then customs. Im not an elite-ist or this is better then that type of person. I know everyone has their own opinion. I personally am into all kinds of cars, trucks etc... I think I just enjoy/appreciate craftsmanship in general.
how were roth and others viewed back in the day? this car is the future.. of one portion of the hobby/ sport whatever.. I'd love to drive it.
All the builders back then that had this type of one off styling study, were serious and were taken serious. Cushenbury, Jefferies, Winfield, Barris, Puhl, Wilhelm, all had this type pf roadster showcar. It was cutting edge stuff. Roth was a joker, and he knew it. He made Barris mad because he was stealing the limelight. Barris said he was crude. So they had a magazine article to debate the issue and Roth showed up in a tuxedo, tails, and a top hat. He never took himself serious, but Barris always took himself serious. Roth was a real showman. I leased the Beatnik Bandit for a show in FLorida and what a show it was. A complete sound system, that was the latest available, played every half hour. It had a professional announcer on tape and cool music. This was the beginning of HI-Fi, (1961). It was something. Roth was a far greater showman than he was a car builder. Everyone now just sees the car, but it was a complete show. Ron Ekholm, who was the first employee of Promotions Inc., brought the car to Florida and if he is out there, I would love a tape of that show. I would also love any pictures he had of my show, because I was to busy to take any pictures.
Here are some of the old concept carts from the old days. These were just like Foose's car, an expression of the builders idea.
Looks like copyright infringement, chrysler's gon'a want some money, guess the Prowler is back. Msgt Dad
We have to remember that in the old days, most of these cars were built in the west to showcase the builder's talent and promote his business. The rest of the country only got to see these cars at an indoor show where the promoter had enough money to bring the cars east. We only had magazines then, no internet where every corncob could be a critic. Anybody who has built a car, knows the time and effort put into this Foose Car. Chip Foose only has 24 hours in a day and can't be involved in every step of the process. Like it or not, he is now the CEO of a multi-millioon dollar corporation. A smart man takes care of business first. He already has his reputation, maybe he just built this car for himself, because it was his dream.
i agree with everything you've said but styling is dated? i almost forgot we were in a traditional/old school hot rod forum
Looked on Rikster's Site and found a couple more of these futuristic jobs. One of the Dave Puhl Illuision, and one of Strabird's Futurista. Always can count on the rikster site to find pictures.
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