The World’s Fastest Hippie – Go ahead and Inhale

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At the Grand National Roadster Show, one exhibition hall, #9 I think, always has a theme.  Last year, it was former America’s Most Beautiful Roadster winners. The hall was filled with with AMBR winning roadsters from back when the show was still in Oakland, CA. This year, the theme hall was the “History of the Race Car”. I just published another story about the Drag Race cars in this hall, but this one’s just about this 1969 Corvette named, “Revolution” and owned by the late Mike Mitchell.

In a hall filled with wild race cars, this one, as you can see stands out. The paint is fantastic!  The “Fastest Hippie” theme is carried out throughout the car with the psychedelic rainbow patterns on the side then the jumbo hookah on the hood and the zig-zag man near the cockpit. I bet Mike was alot of fun! (click on these pics to see them full size)

Researching for this story, I found a bit more info about Mike Mitchell, and about his passing in 2000. The story’s written by Phil Elliot at our friend Draglist.com.  The story’s called, “Farewell to the Hippie” and tells about Phil’s experience helping out at a drag race in Boise. Phil writes:

Anyway, I started the day in my wildest of hippyesque red, white and blue bell-bottoms, which had no back pockets. My wallet went on the dashboard of the truck — soon the wallet was gone with every cent I had. Not a good feeling 12 hours from home.

It’s a cool story, check it out.

Still looking, I found a video.  It’s a pretty serious look at Mike getting ready to race his equally wild painted Cuda funny car with, “Impeach Nixon” lettered on the back.  With pull-top Oly sipping spectators looking on, you’re treated to a smoky burnout at the end.

Is that exactly how you don’t really remember it? Any stories you can share about Mike and his rides? We’d love to hear them!

How-To: Custom Bumper Guards on a 1950 Merc

All Ways Hot Rods, located near downtown Phoenix, was founded in 1999 by the Way brothers Mike and Randy. They help hot rodders build their dream cars. One of those dream cars you may be familiar with is a flawless 1932 3 Window Coupe that won the 2008 Goodguys “America’s Most Beautiful Hot Rod” award.

In this shoebox how-to we’ll take a look at how Gregg Grisham, a long time member of the All Ways team gives the custom touch to a ‘50 Merc’s front and rear bumper by adding ‘51 Merc’ bumper guards. Let’s listen in to the how-to instructions from Gregg: “This method will work for most combinations.

I need to mention that it is important to clean off the chrome and copper from where you are welding, and to make the surfaces of your welds as pit free as possible, and a good chrome shop like Kerr West can do wonders to finish off the parts.

Here’s a list of the Chop Shop Tools All Ways Hot Rods used: Rolloc grinder with various pads to clean chrome and grind for fit, 45 degree with cutoff wheel and burrs, as well as a reversable cut off wheel. The hammer and T dolly were used to adjust fit of sections when welding, and to tap out some of the dents in the guards.

Here’s a finished look at the front bumper. “No Way” these bumper guards are NOT originals, you say? Way dude! All Ways Hot Rods that is.

Check the gallery below for more of the finished and in progress photos, along with the tools used.

Go check out the All Ways Hot Rods website for more of their beautiful craftsmanship. Maybe you’ve got a project they can turn into your dream car too!

 

Hot Rod Interior Guy Finishes Own Car!

The post man doesn’t go for a walk on his day off and hot rod builders, painters and upholstery guys never get a chance to finish their own cars. That’s almost a rule! That’s why it’s my pleasure to show you the finished product when they do.

This is th 1932 Hot Rod “Shop Truck” is owned by Glenn Kramer of Hot Rod Interiors, located in Glendale Arizona.

Glenn says, “I’ve been doing upholstery since 1980, and decided the best ride for me would be an all around hot rod shop truck that I could use for work & play.”

If you can’t reach Glenn at his website, or cruising his cool new shop truck at the Mesa Cruise or downtown on Central, then head over to his website at hotrodinteriorsbyglenn.com or give him a call at 623-872-2242.

Glenn will be the guy grinning ear to ear when you see him and his wife cruising all over in the shop truck. Way to go Glenn!

Hot Wheels and Nintendo? Dwayne’s Blog

So I’m cruising the Grand National Roadster Show with ProblemChildKustom’s Brian Stupski. He freak’n knows just about everyone, so it doesn’t surprise me when he knows Dwayne. Dwayne’s got a booth at the Grand-daddy show and in the main hall no less. He’s selling these prints like hotcakes: (click to enlarge, it’s worth it!)

I’m pretty sure these are all $10 and available at Dwayne’s Website: FutureElements.net Store

These drawings are enough for a wicked blog, but that’s not what I’m writing about. As I was thumbing through some of Dwayne’s work, I see one of my favorite Hot Wheels, simply named 49 Merc.

I’m impressed. We all played (or still play) with Hot Wheels, so now I’ve met the dude who designed one of my favorites. So I started asking a bunch of questions…

1) How did you first get involved with Hot Wheels (Mattel)
That’s a very interesting story. I was taking a class for 3D using Alias Autostudio while working at Troy Lee Designs and I was learning how to build things in 3D. I got to know a few guys in class and they were all professional working for various companies. I started hanging out with one guy but I never asked what he did. We both had such a passion for cars that we just talked about cars all the time. Then one day he asked me “Do you have any friends that can draw cars well?” He was thinking since I was at Troy Lee Designs that I didn’t know how to draw cars. So I said “ Well I know how to draw cars, why? Then he said “ I am looking for someone to hire because we need help… I am the director of Hot Wheels and we looking for some good guys.” My eyes lit up and I said “I would love to draw cars for Hot Wheels, what do I need to do to apply” So he told me to bring my portfolio to him next time and he’d take a look. I brought my stuff and he basically hired me right there on the spot. I was at Hot Wheels about 3 weeks later and they gave me my first Hot Wheels to design which was the 68 Mustang “Boss Hoss” and the racing Lexus IS. Then I worked on various toy lines and several basic cars.

2) If you were a big hot wheels kid, (who wasn’t?) what was your favorite hot wheel?
Mmmm, good question. Well first I’m going to be biased and pick one of my own designs and that’s “Bully Goat”, What I thought the GTO should have looked like. Just for the record I designed it before the new Camaro ever came out, it has some similar characteristics. But as a kid one of my favorites was probably “Iced-T” I had several of them so if I lost one I had another one. I always wanted to do a remake of that model.

3) What kind of guidance did you get from Hot Wheel/Mattel about the design? Did they want a sled? If so, why do you think they picked you?
Yes I did have some guidance. Hot Wheels wanted several designs done that had different proportions for vehicles. Me and another guy Eric worked on this stuff and he actually drew the proportion with the big front end. So I added my take on it and I drew the 49 Merc to fit those proportions and everyone loved it.

(How cool are the extra hood pinstriping ideas Dwayne laid out?)

4) Anything we don’t know about the car/process that’s cool/unusual/interesting?
Well most of cars are built 3-up. So it is 3 times the size of the original Hot Wheel. I have My “Boss Hoss” and 64 Impala models. They look really cool when they are bigger.

So to wrap up the creative genius that is Dwayne, I had to ask him about this crazy drawing video he did on a what? Nintendo DS? (That’s still kinda freaking me out!)

Dwayne told me: I recently had a friend tell me about a drawing program for a Nintendo DS called “Colors”. The only way you can run it though is by modifying the DS with a Flashcart and a micro flash card. Basically it replaces a game cartridge and allows you to run new software on it. Then you install Colors and use it as a small digital sketchbook. It is really fun to doodle on. It is kind of like having a digital sticky pad with me all the time. It’s funny I draw for a living and I still love to draw in my free time.

So the drawing I did probably took about an hour and a half total. I did it with nothing in front of me I just started doodling and this is how it came out. Here’s a pic of the finished sketch.

Click on the picture of “Dusty Rod” to see the video over at FutureElements.net (it’ll be worth it!)

Too much! I gotta let my son see that so maybe he’ll give Star Wars and Mario Karts a rest!

Dwayne’s got some new stuff coming out soon. He’s making a book for the LA Roadster Show that will feature a lot of my sketches and artwork. I will also give an incite look on how I create a few of my drawings. He’s also got a few new pieces that will be on hand patined metal. Then, check out his website for a step by step process of how I work and get my art on the metal. The store for all of the $10 artwork and the tutorial section just went up.

I hope you enjoyed this blog as much as I enjoyed meeting Dwayne. Look for stories in the future.

Want to have a look around this website? Start here in the Killer Garages. Thanks for looking! If you like what you see, please JOIN!

More from Dwayne Vance.  Here’s a link to his new book called, “Hot Rod Art Book, Masters of Chicken Scratch”.  Get it in advance and save $5.

Model T Hot Rods and Typewriters

It was my pleasure to meet Kirk Wright of Scottsdale, AZ at the Scottsdale Pavilion’s show. We started talking about my car, a 27 Ford Roadster and the the 2.3L Pinto motor I run. Then Kirk started telling me about some of his cars. After hearing about the Model T ‘banger motors he was building, I set up a meeting at his house to see what he’s up to. His card says AAA Typewriter Service on it, so I didn’t know what I was getting into. I got into this:

If you’re into nostalgia racing or old-OLD time hot rodding, or just really into Model T’s, then you just spilled your beer. You’re looking at a one of kind Hemi headed model T engine. The valve cover is also a unique piece.

It’s a modified original Ardun valve cover. Kirk added extra room to clear the custom made aluminum roller rockers. Displacing 190 cu. in, Kirk expects this engine to put out about 320Hp. Don’t believe it? Kirk’s basing that number on another T engine he’s built and dyno’d. That’s in another T pickup that Kirk’s owned since 1951 when he was 11, bought with $50 saved from 3 years of picking cotton. The whole story’s told in a book Kirk wrote himself called “Me and the T”. It’s on old trapper’s truck used in Young, AZ.

At first glance, you might see this truck as an unusual, but not extraordinary rat rod. You’d be mistaken. Looking past another 4 cylinder bad-ass, you’ll find 4 wheel, power assisted disc brakes, rack and pinion steering and a cleverly hidden alternator mounted on the rear axle near the wheel. Too cool.

This ‘banger makes 278Hp. I asked if that’s dyno proven and Kirk honestly told me that this engine’s an exact copy of one that did dyno at 278. How can an engine designed almost 100 years ago take that much power? Even Kirk thinks Henry would, “Shit his pants” if he saw what’s being done to his engine. I thought for sure it’d run hot, but thanks to an external oil pump from a Subaru and an entirely new oiling system and cooler, it hold 12 quarts of oil. It never gets hot and never stops turning heads. What could be better? Kirk drives the truck all the time and runs it hard! He just got a speeding ticket on the highway a few days before we met. GO KIRK!

I couldn’t be happier with what I’d seen so far, then I saw this vintage Hill Climb racer and record holder from 1976:

Then, walking past the Dodge SRT-10 Ram (naturally, it’s way beyond stock) I saw this speedster in progress:

And then this 1911 Ford Model Torpedo that belongs in a museum but is plugged into a battery tender, just in case Kirk want to go for a spin:

I plan to write more about another T motor in Kirk’s garage, the T parts he’s got, the custom race T parts he designed and made, his plans for the hill climb racer and even the vintage racing pictures he’s got on the wall. I’d do it now but I can’t remember everything Kirk said! I left amazed and anxious to write this story but had to wait almost a week until Sunday’s paper came out. Seems the local paper found Kirk pretty amazing, too. Look for more info and details about everything soon. It’ll be a good excuse to go back and see the soft spoken gentleman who repairs typewriters.

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