Additionally, he’s a collector and custom enthusiast. Rydell owns one of the largest GM dealership chains in the country, with showrooms in 14 different states. Wes Rydell had seen the sketch, I had seen the sketch, and we both started talking about it.” “Art Ross was the designer for Cadillac in the ‘30s, and he had done a drawing of this really cool convertible. The project on his mind today is a customized Cadillac concept car that was drawn decades ago, but never built. When it comes to inspiration, Foose has ideas that both look ahead and back to the great designers of the past.
Because when technology is available, it gets brought into the aftermarket world.” What dreams my come “I’ve been talking to a customer recently and he’s asking what if we do a hybrid or an electric car? I’d love to do something different – so far it’s just conversation but you’re going to see that technology. “The way it affects my work is when somebody wants to take that technology into customization,” Foose said. Hybrid engines are motivating some of the world’s top sports cars, and that technology is making its way into the custom world. But the guy who wants to build his own car, he’s buying cars like that and then modifying them.”īut as the world is seeing with cars like the new Acura NSX, the BMW i8, and the LaFerrari, there’s more to performance than big displacement and forced induction. You can get a car like a Hellcat, and it comes with a warranty. “I’ve always said there’s no rules or laws in customizing or personalizing cars,” Foose stated. If I knew what I was going to be doing in ten years, I’d be doing it right now. If it’s not a historically important car, there’s not a lot of value to it.” There’s so many of them on the market, and you’ll see it at auctions where there’s just one after another of these cars coming up. “They’re looking at getting a smaller house and downsizing to keep two cars. “You can get them so cheap now, because collectors are at an age where they don’t want to build new cars and they don’t need 15 cars in the garage,” Foose explained. Owners of custom performance cars that may have cost well over $100,000 to build often struggle to find a market where they can recoup their investment. The hot rod and custom car community where Foose made his name is facing serious challenges as an entire generation of enthusiasts ages out. Then it’s how you hand-finish those parts that makes it stand out from another car,” Foose said. You can test something on the computer and build things that could never be built before. “You can design a hot rod in your chair, then the parts are made and you just bring it together. I’ve always said there’s no rules or laws in customizing or personalizing cars.Ĭomputer-aided design (CAD) is a big part of the technology story in customs. The pilot and navigator seats are from a real B-17 bomber. The dashboard and gauges are from a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr. The front tires were produced for motorcycles, the rears are Firestone-labeled and Coker-built. From ’32 and ’36 Fords came front and rear suspension, shocks and wheels. Other ’39 Lincoln components include the side-shift transmission and the front and rear brakes. In the spirit of the sort of repairs made during the war, stitch marks, hammer marks and welds were left in place.Ī 1939 flathead Lincoln V12 engine powers the car, and the exhaust manifold tips are exposed, just like on a P-40 aircraft. There was no P-32, but the car’s numerals represent the ’32 Ford Highboy style. He also designed a custom aircraft-style nose, produced in aluminum by Marcel’s Custom Metal Shaping.įoose told that his inspiration was more P-38 Lightning or P-40 Warhawk than P-51 Mustang. He started with a 1932 Ford chassis and a new but vintage-looking steel body from Brookville Roadster, an Ohio-based company that has been making replacement panels for the hot-rodding community since 1972.įoose took 2 inches out of the quarter panels and added that same length to the car’s - or should we say ground-bound and wingless aircraft’s - doors.
The idea intrigued Foose so much that during a break between seasons of filming Overhaulin’, he turned dream into reality. For example, this P-32 “Street Fighter” built more than a decade ago by Chip Foose and his team.Īccording to the website, “Chip always wondered what if a pilot returned from the war (WWII) and missed his plane so much that he built a hot rod to emulate his old aircraft?”
#Chip foose house series#
Yes, the 2017 SEMA Show ended Friday, but we’re not quite finished with our series of SEMA Seen vehicles.
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