|
Post by Rallymaster on Jan 7, 2007 13:31:06 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Jan 5, 2007 13:29:00 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 31, 2006 9:18:48 GMT -6
This is a kit? This thing is excellent. HEY SCOTT!!!,THAT IS 1 COOL LOOKING SKETCH!!!,,,GO FOR IT JOE!!!!!,,Here is one that i would like to do,,only because i have about 4 of these kits. And John Force is my # 1 man when it comes to the floppers!!!
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 31, 2006 9:24:13 GMT -6
Speaking of GTOs, I've used a new program to create a web site for my Milwaukee GTO club. We were one of the few chapters left in the country with no web site: www.originalgto.comFor the record, the new tool I used is called "Rapidweaver" by RealMac software. It's amazing. I did this site in 1/3 of the time I'd normally do one in Dreamweaver. Of course, it's limited in features, but for "basic" sites like this, it's fantastically easy to both create and maintain.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 28, 2006 23:37:14 GMT -6
You're most welcome.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 25, 2006 9:53:59 GMT -6
Got this in my inbox this week: dreamcargarage.com/index.htmThis should be fun to watch! It will be on the Speed Channel on the 29th from 7-8pm. They're going head to head with the following 1969 cars: Hurst AMC Scrambler Baldwin Motion 427 Camaro Royal Pontiac RAIV GTO Yenko 427 Nova Grand Spaulding Dodge "Mr. Norm's" 440 6 pack Superbee Shelby GT500 428 Super Cobra Jet Look at the video clip on the website. Any thoughts on the finishing order? ? dreamcargarage.com/index.htm
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 23, 2006 11:34:53 GMT -6
Got a new CG art Showrod from Daniel Bland. Check it out in the Guest Gallery under his special Show Rod CG in 3D link. Look for this one and have a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year. And my thanks to you Showrod and classic car fanatics for your passion and contributions to our hobby.--Dave R.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 16, 2006 15:08:25 GMT -6
Another amazing idea. Way to go! I said the finished room in the garage would be dedicated to the Rally, and Corner... See any of your builds from the Guest Gallery?
Any requests?
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 9, 2006 19:10:43 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 9, 2006 23:56:35 GMT -6
Now that's a LOT of sheet metal!
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 9, 2006 9:24:06 GMT -6
The early-mid 60s Pontiac engines were sort of a "Robin's Egg Blue" and the later 60s ones were a "Blue-Metallic" type look. It looks really nice, much better than the original look. I just dont understand one thing, the color of the engines... Pontiac green Are they not blue???
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 4, 2006 21:45:53 GMT -6
I think Louis would love to see it and Steve back in the mags too--his point is there is a stark statement about this beloved show rod that seems to defy facts as we know them. Well...Sorry, All that Gossip Bores Me !! - Personally, I'd Just Like To See Steve & The Car Back In the Mags, At All The Shows & Tons Of $19.95 Kits On The Shelves to Boot..... and I wouldn't Give A Crap if it were Hot Pink or Fusia Plaid ...I'd still be real thrilled .
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 2, 2006 10:49:31 GMT -6
The board auto-sent me an E-mail for the Personal Message. Nice feature.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Nov 27, 2006 21:17:34 GMT -6
Here is his E-mail address:
slippery_arts@yahoo.com
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Nov 23, 2006 20:47:01 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Jun 1, 2007 13:58:36 GMT -6
Here's more from the owner: ---------------------------------------------- Dave,
Thanks for posting it, your site inspired me to get crazy with this car, you are thinking how can you get any crazier then it is, well I want to go with a :ice cream: theme. I have friend that made the shifter knob, its a skull and I put balls out of bearings eyes, well I am going to have him make an ice cream cone and then put a white skull on top!
Well I gotta get going.
Bill
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Jun 1, 2007 11:01:32 GMT -6
This just in (my inbox). The real 1:1 Barris T Buggy found, restored, and being driven to work! Talk about living the Show Rod Dream. See pics below--Dave -------------------------- I am sending you a few pictures of my Barris T buggy, I just restored it last year and I got out for the summer I was looking for stuff on it and came across your site. This is the real Barris T Buggy, I will send more pic's later, A friend of mine was doing yard work for a lady in Denver, CO and she had this buggy in her back yard, it was half full of dirt and branches, she gave it to him for doing the work, her husband saw one of BARRIS's adds in a magazine and picked this one up back in the "70"s. She did not give very much info on it and I have not been able to get a hold of her, well my friend called me and said I have this buggy and you and your brother are the only people I know that would know what to do with this car, well when we went to look at it the C cab was laying in side and the back doors were also in the back, the top was white and it had white spoke rims with stock tires, the front end was at stock height, there was no seats the windshield was broken the wing windows were busted up, there was a engine but in bad shape. I have had it for about 6 years and have been collecting parts for it to make it right, the wheels are ET's the seats are out of a Nissan palsar nx it has a lowered front beam with caster shims, a 1972 1600 bug motor, the back hinges are for industrial coolers, they are the same ones that came on it, the blinkers and tail light were missing so I found those to put on there, Well thats about it, I have models and magazine adds on this car. I drove it to work today, I get a lot of looks when I'm driving it around, its definitely unique. I would love to find a real AMAZING MOON MIXER to add to the collection. well you have a good day there Dave. Bill Bergstrom LoveLand, CO
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Jun 1, 2007 8:04:07 GMT -6
Just got a message from Tom Daniel. Rommel's Rod T-shirts are coming on-line soon for sale at his web site. Like the T'Rantula shirts, they were designed by his son Kelly. I have seen the proofs and they looked SPLENDID!! I'll let 'yall know when they are officially launched.
--Dave
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 27, 2006 16:42:12 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on May 30, 2007 22:43:59 GMT -6
May 27, 2007 Everybody's Business The Dream That Once Was Detroit By BEN STEIN
I AM an American, and therefore I love cars. I am an American and, in America, you are what you drive, and here are some memories.
This is the only dream I remember from all of high school: Instead of my light blue, miserable 1955 Chevrolet, I had a white 1962 Corvette like the one my pal Calvin Kline (not the designer) had, and Gay Patlen, my high school dream girl, kissed me on the lips (in the dream). You are what you drive. Even in your dreams.
In 1972, my friend Arthur Best and I went from my boring job as a bureaucrat in Washington down to a small town in Virginia. There, for $1,750, I bought a cherry red, customized, startlingly powerful 1962 Corvette. In an instant, catching rubber as I shifted from third to fourth at 100 miles an hour on Route 95, I was Elvis Presley and Juan Manuel Fangio all at once. You are what you drive. I even took out Gay Patlen in that car.
Yesterday, driving from Beverly Hills to Rancho Mirage, Calif., I was trying to merge in heavy traffic on Route 10 and a huge truck was bearing down on me, not letting me in. I hit the boost phase on my Cadillac STS-V and flew onto the road, well ahead of that behemoth. Superman. Rocket man. Blasting off.
A car is what you aspire to, what you dream of, who you want to be. A car is the bigger, better, badder you.
Detroit is bleeding. Tiny profits or huge losses at the Big Three. Immense buyouts and cutbacks affecting employees. Bankruptcies at auto parts makers. Toyota passing General Motors on the superhighway of auto sales. Chrysler being given away — worse than that, Daimler paying to give it away — to a private equity fund. Knowing a bit about how private equity works, I have the horrible feeling that whatever the United Automobile Workers has faced so far, it’s going to become a lot worse when a group of private equity players with no responsibility to public stockholders is sitting across from the union at the negotiating table.
The decline of the auto business at the Big Three is tearing the guts out of the upper Midwest. When the workers are laid off or their pay is cut, their doctors suffer, and their retailers and their pharmacists and everyone else.
Why is it happening? The answer that everyone gives is excessive wages and health and retirement benefits. But is that all of it? American auto workers make barely more than their counterparts in Japan and less than those in Germany. Yes, there are “legacy costs” of retirement pay and health care for workers in Detroit. Other countries’ workers have pensions, too, although those pensions are more highly socialized than in the United States. But the cost of labor in a car or truck is barely more than a tenth of the price of an average vehicle, according to research done by my alter ego and genius finance-whiz, Phil DeMuth. (The average labor costs of a car or truck are slightly above $2,000, and an average car or truck costs about $24,000. These are rough numbers. If you add in the labor on the parts that go into the car, the number is higher, but it is higher abroad as well.)
THE legacy costs may mean a slight premium in the price of a Detroit-made car as compared with a Japanese or German car. But think about it: when was the last time you heard a buyer of a new car say that she bought her last car because it was 5 percent cheaper than another model she was considering?
I am sure some economists say that somewhere, but what I hear is that buyers choose a car because it looks better or handles better or seems to be better made or — in the case of us insecure men — goes faster. Fit and finish. Reputation for being well-made. Quality of the “feel” when you’re behind the wheel. Sexy good looks. That’s how cars are sold.
And this is where American cars used to rule the world. The Cars of the Fabulous ’50s (there is a book with that name; look at it and be amazed at what Detroit used to make) and the early 1960s were gorgeous, powerful, lush. You had the feeling you were a commodore of the proudest highway fleet in history. Buicks, Pontiacs, Dodges, Oldsmobiles, Chevys, Fords, Mercurys, Lincolns and, above all, Caddys, all looked and felt great. You didn’t need a Mercedes. The American product, Detroit iron, was the stuff of which dreams were made.
“Ye shall be as gods.” That’s what Detroit told us. “Ye shall be as gods.” And Detroit was Parnassus.
Then it all fell apart. Starting in the late 1960s (except for the Corvette, always the design leader in North America), American cars became shapeless blobs. When the cool sport utility vehicles and pickups and the late-’90s Caddys came along — reversing a bad spell for the Cadillac nameplate — there was a slight uptick. But even now, look at the style, feel the feel of the Nissan Altima or the Toyota Camry (often designed and made in America) compared with most of the Big Three’s offerings, and the comparison is pathetic.
(I vividly recall that when I bought a 1997 Cadillac STS, I noticed that the chrome line along the side was uneven. The salesman said blithely, “Detroit isn’t that good on fit and finish.”)
In other words, the problem is not the U.A.W. The problem is not so much legacy costs. The problem is that management stopped making cars that Americans wanted to buy and drive. The Japanese and German models, even if made in Kentucky, just look, drive and feel better, offer more of a thrill and are more reliable than what Ford and G.M. and Chrysler generally turn out. But look what happens when Detroit offers a model that consumers want, like the Chrysler 300C or the wholly redesigned Cadillac STS-V. The dealers can barely keep them in stock. They blow out the dealers’ doors.
How can Detroit revive? Find the people who make the Corvette. Find the people who created the 300C and the Cadillac Escalade and have them design new cars. Hire the quality-control people from Toyota and Nissan and have them supervise the plants around Detroit, just the way the Japanese hired W. Edwards Deming to teach them American quality control after World War II.
It’s not the workers’ fault, even though they will be blamed for it because they are the punching bag at this point. It’s management’s fault. Time to put the bean counters out to pasture and to install people who will design and make cars that dreams are made of. It’s not too late. If Cadillac can do it, everyone can do it. Yes, Detroit, some of us still have faith in you.
Ben Stein is a lawyer, writer, actor and economist. E-mail: ebiz@nytimes.com.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 27, 2006 14:17:17 GMT -6
Ok Harley, I'm attempting to post an image. I'm going to make this my "Retirement" car. It's a 63 Buick Riviera:
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Feb 24, 2007 12:15:26 GMT -6
www.monstercarz.com/A great site for this crowd to enjoy. Combines the best of so many things we dig--from Roth to Odd Rods and everything in-between. There is also an E-bay store link on the home page.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Feb 25, 2007 7:06:25 GMT -6
This is a followup on the Toyota/NASCAR (part 2) from Louis Kimery back to Scott Doyle. Again, I'm not into NASCAR, but there are a jillion diecasts of those cars out there so I'm guessing many of you are into them--d. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't really care if Toyota enters NASCAR either. The one thing that will destroy the popularity of a racing series (any racing series) is the predictability that comes from one or two racers dominating the whole deal. If it happens for little while it's healthy competition. If it happens for years on end, then everyone looses interest. Fans included. If Toyota dominates, NASCAR will change their rules so they can't do so for long. Toyota will then either adapt or get p'd and leave. It happens often in various racing series. It's happened in NASCAR before, even back in the good old days before sponsors ruled the earth. The gloriously unsophisticated but effective Plymouth Superbirds & Dodge Charger Daytonas were bred to win on NASCAR superspeedways during the 1970 season. It worked, until they were outlawed one year later.
NASCAR is at present the least interesting form of motorsports on the racing radar (IMO). They're all about building an entertainment venue that attracts corporate involvement and little else. That's why they took their already insanely popular series & rehabbed it into something that gives an edge to those competitors that are already doing well. This was done at about the same time as Nextel came aboard as the series sponsor. The better to make stars out of the drivers by. Joe average needs a household name to root for. Good ink for Nextel. NHRA is jealous and tries to follow their lead, but thankfully they haven't had quite as much success in selling out as NASCAR has.
My bone to pick with Toyota is their approach. If they have more resources than anyone else, then why was it necessary to basically copy the small block Chevy engine and then pretend that it's Toyota technology? They did this when they entered the Craftsman truck series. Of course, NASCAR could stop this sort of dubious practice, but it might strain the relationship with the "new" factory getting involved. The pseudo Toyota truck race motor made it's debut at the 2003 SEMA show and generated comments like..."It's the best looking small-block Chevy I've ever seen," I'm not sure what the current Toyota Nextel cup engine is made from, but the truck motor was designed in California, ripped off the Chevy, and was never even remotely available in any production Toyota. I'd suspect the current "Cup" motor is kind of similar to the truck version since NASCAR don't like overhead cams and such. Toyota needs to kept in line, somewhere in the ballpark of the actual rules. Making their Nextel cup debut with all the attention on "cheating" was probably not real good for the image. On the other hand, the Ford V8 in a Roush racing car (for example) is a very highly developed version of the production V8 that powers the Mustang. So there's at least a little bit of connection to the production cars.
Furthermore, once Toyota figures out how to dominate the series (if they can) they'll likely leave and look for something else to bruise with their Toyota technology mentality. That seems to be customary from the Japanese makers. Ford, GM, & Chrysler have been involved for quite a while. They're not going anywhere. I think the real reason that Chrysler curtailed their involvement for quite a few years is because it didn't have a production car during the FWD Iacocca years that would work on the track & meet the rules. They came back after they rediscovered RWD. NASCAR had to change the rules to allow 4-door cars to race when everyone decided to pretty much stop making new 2-door sedans, and this was long after Chrysler was absent from the track trying to make K cars with 4 bangers. Notice that today's NASCAR racer is pretty much a "no-door" patterned after a 4-door Impala, or a Fusion, or a Charger. All 4-doors in reality.
These NASCAR guys may be hillbillies, but they're not stupid. They'll reign in Toyota if they get too carried away.
LK
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Feb 25, 2007 7:03:29 GMT -6
I'm not a NASCAR fan (NHRA is more my thing) but here are two comments from friends of mine on the recent flap as published in the NY Times. This reply is from Scott Doyle. By the way, are there already Toyota/NASCAR diecasts out there? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry for the delay in responding to your email about with the article about resistance to Toyota entering nascar. I for one don't care if Toyota enters the Nextel cup series (they have been in trucks now for three years) and I do believe that one of the reasons a lay person (i.e., southern white mouth breather) is resistant to them is the xenophobic aspect of "them" ruining "our" sport, there are a few reasons that I think there is resistance within the nascar community and among some of the more thinking public.
Remember when Chrysler left racing for twenty years and you had Ford's and Chevy's only on the track? While the sport still grew, it's real rise to it's current level came about the same time as Chrysler's re-entry. This was not just because of Chrysler, but the main reason was cheap gas and advent of technology that allowed manufacturers to produce average priced automobiles with great horsepower that met government emissions standards. This allowed the average nascar fan to buy a car from his preferred company that actually made him feel like a racer as he drove the kids to school in his Charger R/T, Impala SS or Mustang GT. Maybe he wants to spend a little more and buy a Corvette or one of Chryslers SRT8 cars and really feel like he used to when he was younger and drove one of the muscle cars you are so fond. I may be off the mark on this, but that is my experience.
While it is true their is not much difference between the cars aerodynamically, the real difference is in the engines. The engine builders and the individual teams get research assistance and funding from the manufacturers to develop more horsepower and better fuel economy; two thing that have can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of a race and a specific teams ability to win or lose, not just for one race, but over the course of a 36 race season. I believe the fear within the existing teams supported by the traditional "big three" and nascar is funding. While the "big three" are struggling to exist and face large loses each quarter, Toyota continues to post profits and their entire worth as a company is three times that of the other manufacturers combined. Quite simply, if Toyota wants to dominate the sport it can outspend and field more teams than the other companies can ever hope to support. So what happens if Toyota decides to pump more money into the sport? The real money is in the sponsors' and they don't stay with cars that don't get TV time. TV time comes from one of two thing, wrecking or leading. If Toyota starts to dominate, the sponsors' will follow the TV time to the Toyota teams and this will mean other manufacturers teams will fold. As this happens, the other manufacturers, who are already in financial straits, may decide that spending what little money they have on racing may not provide the best ROI. If this happens, I it will be difficult to get enough teams to field 43 cars for a 36 race season. How many viewers and attendees will there be to watch 20 Toyotas to go around the track?
Now the reason the average fan may take offense to Toyota coming into the sport. What do you think of when you hear Toyota? You think of your accountant taking his family on vacation in their 30 mpg Camry, the college or high school students cruising around in their Corolla, the wife taking the kids to mall in their Sienna or the Prius driving earth show wearing not shaved in the right places "earth woman" sitting in the Starbucks drive through getting her double cinnamon lattee and listening to her Indigo Girls c.d.. Unless you but a Tundra, you can't get a V8 in a Toyota. There is no Camry SS, there isn't a vehicle you can buy from Toyota (outside of their exclusive and expensive Lexus line) that even has a hint of "racing" performance. Are you really going to put on your Toyota racing hat and drive your Camry to the speed shop? I know you have the "Fast and the Furious" rice burners and these can go fast, but come on, I'm talking off the lot here. Also, I'm talking a car you feel good about putting on your t-shirt and nascar cap, cranking up the stereo and playing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" not putting on your Members Only jacket and cranking up the latest Depeche Mode retrospective. If Toyota wants to garner race fans and realize an ROI from their nascar investment, they need to provide a few reasonably priced cars that actually have some performance when they come off the showroom floor. Sorry for the delay in responding to your email about with the article about resistance to Toyota entering nascar. I for one don't care if Toyota enters the Nextel cup series (they have been in trucks now for three years) and I do believe that one of the reasons a lay person (i.e., southern white mouth breather) is resistant to them is the xenophobic aspect of "them" ruining "our" sport, there are a few reasons that I think there is resistance within the nascar community and among some of the more thinking public.
Remember when Chrysler left racing for twenty years and you had Ford's and Chevy's only on the track? While the sport still grew, it's real rise to it's current level came about the same time as Chrysler's re-entry. This was not just because of Chrysler, but the main reason was cheap gas and advent of technology that allowed manufacturers to produce average priced automobiles with great horsepower that met government emissions standards. This allowed the average nascar fan to buy a car from his preferred company that actually made him feel like a racer as he drove the kids to school in his Charger R/T, Impala SS or Mustang GT. Maybe he wants to spend a little more and buy a Corvette or one of Chryslers SRT8 cars and really feel like he used to when he was younger and drove one of the muscle cars you are so fond. I may be off the mark on this, but that is my experience.
While it is true their is not much difference between the cars aerodynamically, the real difference is in the engines. The engine builders and the individual teams get research assistance and funding from the manufacturers to develop more horsepower and better fuel economy; two thing that have can have a dramatic effect on the outcome of a race and a specific teams ability to win or lose, not just for one race, but over the course of a 36 race season. I believe the fear within the existing teams supported by the traditional "big three" and nascar is funding. While the "big three" are struggling to exist and face large loses each quarter, Toyota continues to post profits and their entire worth as a company is three times that of the other manufacturers combined. Quite simply, if Toyota wants to dominate the sport it can outspend and field more teams than the other companies can ever hope to support. So what happens if Toyota decides to pump more money into the sport? The real money is in the sponsors' and they don't stay with cars that don't get TV time. TV time comes from one of two thing, wrecking or leading. If Toyota starts to dominate, the sponsors' will follow the TV time to the Toyota teams and this will mean other manufacturers teams will fold. As this happens, the other manufacturers, who are already in financial straits, may decide that spending what little money they have on racing may not provide the best ROI. If this happens, I it will be difficult to get enough teams to field 43 cars for a 36 race season. How many viewers and attendees will there be to watch 20 Toyotas to go around the track?
Now the reason the average fan may take offense to Toyota coming into the sport. What do you think of when you hear Toyota? You think of your accountant taking his family on vacation in their 30 mpg Camry, the college or high school students cruising around in their Corolla, the wife taking the kids to mall in their Sienna or the Prius driving earth show wearing not shaved in the right places "earth woman" sitting in the Starbucks drive through getting her double cinnamon lattee and listening to her Indigo Girls c.d.. Unless you but a Tundra, you can't get a V8 in a Toyota. There is no Camry SS, there isn't a vehicle you can buy from Toyota (outside of their exclusive and expensive Lexus line) that even has a hint of "racing" performance. Are you really going to put on your Toyota racing hat and drive your Camry to the speed shop? I know you have the "Fast and the Furious" rice burners and these can go fast, but come on, I'm talking off the lot here. Also, I'm talking a car you feel good about putting on your t-shirt and nascar cap, cranking up the stereo and playing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" not putting on your Members Only jacket and cranking up the latest Depeche Mode retrospective. If Toyota wants to garner race fans and realize an ROI from their nascar investment, they need to provide a few reasonably priced cars that actually have some performance when they come off the showroom floor.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Dec 5, 2006 12:29:34 GMT -6
Revell has abandoned the "Monogram" part of their identity? Tom Daniel just informed me of this. When did this happen? www.revell.com/Look at the logo on the site.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Feb 25, 2007 7:11:23 GMT -6
Boom that clip is priceless! Makes me wonder who made it and for what purpose? Did the big three fund it to promote Americans buy more cars back then? (like we needed the prodding?)
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 12, 2006 18:20:18 GMT -6
Is that an 1/8th scale Lil' Coffin being scratch built? Thats gonna be wild!
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 12, 2006 9:03:11 GMT -6
okay, I paid the fee to remove the banners. Pretty painless and cheap @ $7 a month for 50,000 page views. I'm just about ready to hand the keys over to Brandon and Dave.
I like this format. Visitors can come and go without having to register, and the feel is very familiar.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 12, 2006 9:07:02 GMT -6
Well I'm in. I hope many others will to. I feel as though I am betraying Dave's site, but the cr@p pop ups and god knows what else is being spied on in my computer was starting to get to me. It reminded me of the the days of "free internet providers". Is there any way Dave can move his stuff here? This isn't to undermine Daves site. Dave is THE MAN when it comes to The Coffin Corner. I just want it to continue as openly as it has for the past 4 years I've been here.
|
|
|
Post by Rallymaster on Oct 11, 2006 19:54:17 GMT -6
Should we push forward with this? or continue with fart banners?
|
|