Let’s get this straight: As much as I love the old steel, I’m no hot rod historian. I stopped to snap some pictures of the 69’er because of the blown Oldsmobile drivetrain sitting between the frame rails.The front end looked familiar, but little did I know, I was looking at a piece of history.
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What you see below is one iteration of the Edelbrock-eqipped So-Cal Streamliner that was raced on the Bonneville salt flats. Powered by a flathead V8 Ford these, cars – with their delicate-looking suspension – were often found going over 200mph, which is equivalent to a Ferrari 575M Maranello. Not bad for 1940s technology.
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I’m sure you remember the television commercials that ran a few years back with the Gomer Pyle-esque main character asking if the owner of the other character’s Chrysler-brand vehicle was powered by a Hemi engine. It’s a bit of a misnomer though, as the head shares more in common in combustion chamber shape with the older poly-spherical (or “Poly”) heads than the traditional “true” hemi-spherical (or “Hemi”) heads. Somehow I don’t think “That thing got a Poly in it?” would sell as many vehicles though. Continue reading
I ran across this Chevrolet hot rod at a church car show in Glendale. While I like the twin turbo V8 engine and the wide rear tires, there are a lot of details about the truck that leave me scratching my head. Take the sword sticking out of the driver’s side fender for example: what’s that all about?
From the back, we can see the huge aluminum wing which I think looks too new on such an old truck body. Why is it installed backwards? Is it an aesthetic thing, or does the owner really not realize that it’s backwards? The “Jesus Saves” taillights obviously reflect the owner’s personality, and while they are definitely an original idea, it’s not one that I am a fan of.
The utter simplicity of the twin turbo installation here is pretty cool. However, the flex pipe exhaust and various dice pieces accenting the engine bay make this thing look more shoddy than “DIY cool.” Don’t get me wrong, I really want to like this truck! However, the owner has gone overboard with personal touches that I feel don’t really blend together.
Still, I bet it goes like hell when he puts the pedal down!
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You can usually find this Gremlin at the Pavilions on Saturday nights. I’ve never been able to find the owner of the car but I’d eventually like to find him and ask him some questions about the car, but for now, I’ll just go out on a limb here and assume that it’s really fast.
This car is weird, and I love that about it. I love the front end, the bare metal, the bizarre half back window and the motor, of course, but I find the interior especially cool. I like everything about it, from the screen, to the randomly placed ignition components on the floor, even the “gremlin” in the sheet metal of the dash. It’s just a really cool car. Enjoy the pics!
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Let me start by saying that when I found out they made a longbed stepside for the 60-66 trucks, I wanted one. They’re super rare and reproduction parts are expensive to say the least, but I just like the way they look. They aren’t very well liked in the 60-66 community (like all long beds), but the guys that do have them, love them. I had convinced myself when I started this build that if I wanted one, I’d have to make one out of a short bed. A daunting task, but I added it to my list of things I would need to do to get the truck to where I wanted it. Thankfully, I have a craigslist addiction that knows no bounds. I found someone with a 1962 GMC long bed stepper (powered by a 305 v6 and a 3 speed manual no less) that wanted to trade for a fleetside. I emailed them immediately and we were both so excited to get what we wanted we scheduled the trade off for the next day.
What I didn’t know is that the wrap-around window 60-63’s sit on a different frame than the vent windowed 64-66’s. It took a little bit of convincing but eventually we finalized the even trade. One bed for another. Here’s the photographic tale of how it happened.
