…from the land of back bacon, Hockey and beer! 

Can your Fiero do this?

I get around a bit, and have had the honor of meeting some truly great people over the course of my life and career… Often times, I get an introduction to someone through a current client, or referred by another, and occasionally, I just stumble to the right place at the right time, and make a new friend. The latter is true with Ryan, who happens to be a very creative and talented fabricator in the Great White North. We crossed paths, and hit it off almost instantly. I had been admiring his work, and was stoked to find that he was admiring mine as well! Always fascinated with anyone who works with steel, I was just mesmerized with his vision and abilities. Schooled at BCIT in Vancouver, Ryan landed a great job at Fabrite Services in Cranbrook, and spent the next ten years at that great company,working up from cutting material and cleaning up, to an eventual role as shop foreman… While there, beyond being treated “like family”, he learned that “some people have some strange things to be built!”, as he puts it.  

Gratuitous in-progress shot!  

He also has some great mechanical skills, which he owes to both his father, and a natural curiosity as a kid. Fast-forward, and he’s completing the first of his planned series of supercar-inspired rides, a Reventon/Murcielago-looking beast, based on a Fiero platform he purchased for the princely sum of $60 just about a year ago… Knowing he got a great deal on the car, he didn’t want to leave it stock, and certainly didn’t want another fiberglass-wearing “kit” car. As the Fiero sat outside until December that year, he saw a Lamborghini Reventon, and knew just where to go with the wedge-shaped Pontiac. Researching the original car’s measurements, Ryan was off to the races, buying the steel, ordering glass from James at AGP, and finally, an intercooled, twin-turbo 350 Chevy and 6-speed trans with modified G6 axles, offering more than ample pulling power for the 3200 lb. ride. Add to that 11 1/4-inch cross-drilled and slotted rotors with Cadillac (rear) and Camaro (front) calipers, slowing it down should be well-controlled.

Dashing, isn't it?

The only regret at this point? “I’ll have to paint it”, says Ryan, “and cover up all of that work!” But fear not, as Ryan and I are getting the wheels moving on the next project, a Bugatti-inspired, home-built supercar that’ll bring in some elements from other great Italian exotics, and mix in some original styling points that we’re kicking around… and that means some more months of looking at bare steel!

Getting there...

Look for more updates as this beast nears completion and hits the road soon, as well as some previews of the design studies for his next home-built super car… In the meantime, keep an eye open over at Problem Child Kustoms Studio for more design/insight and delirium…

...and yes, you read that right. "Supper Car" Club.

Why "supper"? Simply put, supper is the term usually used by my kids when refering to dinner-time here, and weekday dinners (or "supper") are usually nothing over-the-top or spectacular, just a fill-you-up on good food moment in the day. A necessary part of the day, without a lot of fluff. Kind of fitting as you'll see when we get to the cars that would be in this club.

I had stumbled across the supercar club idea back in 2000, and thought "novel idea"... but then dismissed it, and went back at my day job. This past week, the thought popped back in my head while parking at the Post Office to ship out some designs, and I parked next to a perfectly preserved Gremlin. (I know!! Bitchin'!!) How long has it been since you've seen one of those? Apparently, the three other folks checking it out had the same thought. (note to the owner of said ride: What I wrote on my card is serious. I want your car.)

If you're into exotics, you no doubt know of organizations like Group 20's incredible Super Car Club, or P1 Prestige and Performance Car Club, or a few others. The basic idea is a shared-access plan, wherein members have access to a number of exotics and luxury cars for about the same cost as owning ONE. Pretty slick, and not unlike shared-access plans for yachts, jets, beach mansions, islands and so-on. So, for like $30k per year, plus a $5-10k membership fee, you're driving a number of cool cars throughout the year, insurance included. Nifty if you're of the persuasion that can afford it. Me? Nope. I fall more in line with my nifty idea:

The Supper Car Club.

Regular folks cruising regular (and occasionally rare!) cars. We'll round up a group of investors, and purchase a fleet of hand-picked, basic transportation cars from the past and present (if you can get 'em from the future, well, we'd like a word with you, too!). We'll set up a membership fee based on the value of the cars, say $75.00 to join, plus like $300.00/year, and base it all on a points system, allowing everyone access to the cars. You may buy extra points, or trade points for allowing off-use days for cars, etc. Naturally, cruising the Cavalier rag top in June would be double he points of the Cimmaron with the broken A/C, but hey, this is about exclusivity.

I can hear it now-- "Why would anyone want to drive a car like a Citation, or a Fairmont sedan, or an '80 El Camino with a broken tailgate?" 

NOSTALGIA.

Unless you were some spoiled brat as a teenager, chances are that through college (or beyond if you draw cars for a living and have kids), you've driven some questionable-looking, as well as performing cars. And what always comes up in converations about those times past (or present... it happens)? "Man, I hated that car, but I miss it!" Admit it. That '79 Delta 88 with the door skins flapping in the breeze was pretty cool. You had FUN with it. I sure as hell did. And my friends still remember that car... even the ones I bump into so many years later... And think about it: If you're into cars like I am, you check everyhing out. Like the afforementioned Gremlin. I was drawn to that like flies on... oh wait, bad comparison... but you get the idea. A car that hits home will draw as much, if not more attention than some exotic ride. (consider Playboy's Farmer's Daughters specials--- I read it for the article on cobbler -- was that a fluke? The girl next-door is always more approachable, and often more realistic. I bet they sold millions. Cars are the same way, I've found.)

Admit it: You had this poster right next to that one with the white Lamborghini.

We'll offer typical high school and college-year cars, and even a few hot rod-style versions... Maybe '78 Malibu with a severe rake, N-50's and Jensen 6x9's on the package tray, or even a hand-me-down LTD in powder blue... The kind of stuff you had back then. Imagine pulling up to your reunion in a Camaro with a dented fender, a Moroso decal and sheepskin seat covers, just like you had back in school? Talk about keeping it real. No rental Caddy for you. Just bringing back memories, much like your mullet and parachute pants. 

And for those who were in all of the musicals, or had weird parents, we'll round up some used Volvos, VW's, and the cream of the crop:

...it's tres chic

(I'm showing the smaller cars so that we get the "green" folks on board. Fret not, my fellow size 34 EEE carbon-footprint friend, I'll be battling you for points on the Granada with the bad valve seals and cracked rings. We'll have a little something for everyone. AMC Eagle? We'll have THREE.)

All told, I think that once the trendies see Justin Timberlake pull up at the ESPY's in the Monaco with the Keystone mags, bad paint and bubbling tint on the windows, this club will be hotter than some crystal and gold-leaf decoupaged Von Dutch hat in an LA boutique after seeing it on a video awards show. 

If you're in, hit me up... This will be huge, and a total blast. I have a line already on a Volare' wagon and a cherry Grand Prix...

More insight/design/lunacy over at www.problemchildkustoms.com.

...on the shelves at once with my work is always a cool feeling! (now there's an understatement) I've been fortunate to have my work in print in Rod and Custom, American Rodder, and now Truckin' this month, making it a great start to the Summer months! I hope you find time to pick up all three of these issues, if not for the artwork, but the great content in all of them. The amazing Mercury wagon in American Rodder is worth the price of admission alone, we've already been over the amazing '54 Merc (hey, I see trend here) in R-n-C, and the special horsepower section in Truckin' makes for some good reading as well! Thanks to Dan over at Truckin' for slipping my artwork once again into the Radical Renderings pages (and look out soon for a project that he and I collaborated on, which spawned some great concept art!). I hope you enjoy them all as much as I did creating them...

...sure look awesome when looking over old magazines and photos, don't they? All of the killer cars, shiny paint, classic locations, impeccably dressed people and so-on. It makes it all the more interesting when you either stumble across (or are handed!) an old snapshot that captures real life... an actual hot-rodding moment, frozen on Instamatic or Polaroid paper... 

In this instance, we have such a subject; one that makes you say "D'oh!":  

Yep, it's harsh reality, there to smack you in the head, as it always seems to. The photo above came to my desk while hunting for source material to fuel my current background project, documenting East Coast customs and hot rods... 

My father gave me some surviving photos of old cars and car shows, and mixed in was the gem you see above. The car was his personal ride, a '57 Chevy 210 that he originally purchased with a six cylinder. The car received a nifty little 283, bored to 301ci, and backed with a 3-speed, 4.11:1's, and exhaust he described only as "loud". The car was respectable and quick for the times, running low 13's. Not too shabby for a kid, and especially for a daily driver. 

Anyhow, the moment above captures the aftermath of a floor shift install. Say what? OK, not the IMMEDIATE aftermath... You see, my dad had installed a floor shifter that fine day, and, like so mmany times that I'm sure we can all look back on and say "yup... done that!", he rushed through to get to work on time (night shift!), and we all know how shifter installs seem to go... Something ALWAYS goes a little haywire. 

Needless to say, shifting from second to third resulted in, well, nothing. Youthful thought offeered the option to just reach through the ample hole in the floorboard and grab the linkage, when the stars aligned to strengthjen the Chevy versus Ford battle, and the mighty Chevy plowed into a '63 Fairlane.  

The car was fixed, using the remains of a t-boned Bel Air hardtop, with the same car supplying the interior for this same car a bit later. The car was sold when my father entered the service, and marked a three year span of ownership in his life. We'll have to look at the '64 Impala and '66 Charger that followed at some point, too, all with somewhat better results! Granted, I've done worse myself (and with no shift linkage to blame!), and that's not the point here... It's just an interesting look back on a moment frozen in time... one of those images you don't often see. It's real life mixing with youth, hot rodding, and all of those experiences we try to teach our own young 'uns with...  

Read more and enjoy some artwork over at PROBLEM CHILD KUSTOMS STUDIO.