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Home > Articles > Ragazine Rack > Vettester - Saga of the Corvette Street Rod
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"A production street rod from a major manufacturer? I don’t think so!", he snapped.
When the 1984 Corvette was released in 1983, it made a big impression on me. Not so much its exterior styling, but that engine with its plenum and injector tubes and those 16" directional wheels – really blew me away.  So much so in fact, that those contemporary elements began creeping into almost every street rod design I did in those days. I began envisioning a very non-traditional hot rod with an all Vette drive train, including the wheels... a street rod if you will, with Corvette qualities! After countless drawings, I always came back to the traditional ‘32 Ford Hi-boy as the core element in the concept.
Now in the early to late 80’s, I had the perfect vantage point to keep my eye on the street rod scene. Besides my driving ambition to design automobiles, I also had a graphics business (Top Flite Concepts) that took me to lots of the major street rod and custom car events. One day, during the late fall of 1985, while looking through the wares of one of the show circuit vendors, I noticed what I thought was a remarkable find: a 1/8 scale 1984 model Corvette kit by Monogram. What good fortune. All I would have to do is find one of those old "Big ‘32" kits by the same maker, and I was on my way to 3-dimensional fulfillment... planning to use only the Corvette’s engine and wheels and as much running gear as possible. At 1/8 scale no less, but certainly a hell of a lot cheaper than a "real life" alternative. I continued to look but never did find the "Big Deuce" that year.
In the following year, mid-summer found me in Michigan at an NSRA rodding event. During the course of the weekend show, I had renewed acquaintance with a designer friend of mine who just happened to work in the Detroit auto business. He was always a "hot rodder" at heart though. After several lively discussions concerning the essence of automobile design, it came down to a conversation about "full envelope bodies" vs. "fenderless cars". I’d always been partial to the compactness of purpose of the latter, while his job requirements made him favor the former. Standing in the midst of all those exposed tires (thousands of street rods) I asked, "do you think Detroit would ever consider an open wheeled offering?" "A production street rod from a major manufacturer? I don’t think so!" he snapped. He went on to tell me that hot rods and customs were all about "fun", and when you’re faced with realistic parameters and guidelines, that’s when the serious work of designing begins... I humbly declined to answer. He continued to remark, "You take away all that volume, and where ya gonna put all those modern and necessary ‘pieces and parts’... not to mention all the safety and pollution-control features demanded of today’s automaker?" Well, I guess I had just been "put in my place", and yet his words somehow presented an opportune and interesting challenge, no less. I still hadn’t found the "Big Deuce", by the way.
All during the rest of the event and the long trip home, his words kept returning to my thoughts. So much so, that it helped me form a new direction with my little scale auto project that was still simmering on the back-burner. I not only had a challenge, but I had the guidelines to follow and all the pieces and parts to complete the job – all in that one Corvette model kit . Since a production street rod seemed totally out of the question in my friend’s mind, it might be fun to imagine that possibility as a starting point. Then, if I could pare that Corvette envelope down to it’s essence, removing all but the essential elements while maintaining all the necessary production car requirements, I might wind up with a fenderless "hot rod"... seemingly worthy of becoming a factory offering. A Corvette if you will, with street rod qualities! (Notice the switch in purpose.) Also, one of those parameters my friend was always talking about was product identification – so that was also high on my list of self imposed guidelines; it was going to be a street rod, but it was definitely going to be a Corvette. In fact; it was to include everything the production vehicle contained. Everything... minus some fiberglas of course. Now I’ll have to admit, if my original intention was to put a late model Ford engine in a ‘32, and I’d found a 1/8 scale Mustang that fit the requirements, we’d be talking about a whole different "hot rod" right now (more on that just a bit later). So, parameters were set and finding the available time became the unknown quantity. Surprisingly, I never did any sketches of my new intentions, only the taking of a few measurements from some of the traditional highboy roadsters at hand, to get a sense of proportion. Working in 3-dimensions is a wonderful way to design, especially in scale.
 By the time I returned home from that 1986 Michigan trip, I was fired up. Out came the old Corvette model and a jeweler’s saw I’d recently purchased. Now when I was a "puppy", I’d built lots of models; however, it had been ages since I last put glue to plastic, and the idea of a jeweler’s saw was new to me but intuitively necessary for the undertaking. I won’t explain the entire body-building process in detail or construction of the running gear (that sounds like something for a future installment) but I will say this: everything for the Corvette street rod body was built from the kit’s stock body shell, generally re-proportioned to fit traditional roadster measurements. There was a slight amount of new construction in the cowl area and forward of the rear tires in the fairings, and of course the pseudo-frame rails were an addition (even these are a continuation of the lower "flange" that is a part of the Corvette’s front cap styling). Other than those areas already mentioned though, the rest of the body was simply cut apart and reassembled, although with great care. Even the cowling behind the seats was positioned to emulate the contours of the stock rear glass. The entire front end, forward of the cowl, is basically still the hood, although the left and right portions that contained the headlight assemblies now occupy opposite sides – the headlights still maintaining their original position in their panel, and include room to operate within the nose. If you’ll use your imagination – that nose, like the rear cap... is a safety bumper. And while we’re on the subject of imagination, if you want this beast to pass its yearly safety inspection, the bolt on fenders are stowed away in the imaginary garage. Everything else, right down to the catalytic converter and all the modern conveniences were planned to fit...packed into an economy of volume, and quite possibly ready for a future window sticker.
That first year of 1986 saw only the basic completion of the body and engine ( a slammer, if you will). But with a makeshift front suspension and a couple of rear tires, she was ready for mockup – then a couple of road trips – and of course... some explanations of purpose to a close circle of friends. I must say, I rolled a few eyeballs that year. After initial shock though, everyone seemed to think the concept had merit – although, in slightly different directions. 1. Some saw it for its shape, and suggested a legitimate stab at the Oakland Roadster Show (I didn’t think that too realistic). 2. Others, for the conceptual idea behind "Envelope bodies" being trimmed into elemental hot rod shapes (remember, this would have worked with a Mustang as well). 3. And even one, as would later come to pass, for the purity of purpose that it was... a "factory street rod".
 My first stop that year, with the mock-up in hand, was my friend Ed Newton’s place in San Jose, California. Now, I value Ed’s opinions most highly, and when he excitedly asked if he could photograph the red-oxide mock-up positioned on his drawing board... I knew quite possibly that, "I had something here." Anyway, as we mulled over the possibility of yet other street rods being fashioned from this basic idea, Ed’s fertile imagination began to soar: Camaros, Mustangs, even old Edsels came under his conceptual command, as he sketched and talked of turning such body styles into rolling fenderless roadsters, still maintaining all their contemporary identity. Eventually, Ed and I combined for several magazine articles concerning the concept, and for those interested, Part One of his related designs can be seen on-Site in Motorburg’s Muscle Rods.
That "Ed trip" left me highly encouraged, so later in the year, as an exhibitor at the S.E.M.A. Show in Las Vegas, I dragged the ol’ Corvette-in-a-box along for the ride. Don Thelen, Pete Chapouris and even Thom Taylor came by my motel room one evening while at SEMA to take a look at what I’d been chattering about at the show. A Corvette street rod? Well, I don’t think the traditionalist in any of them allowed full acceptance of the factory street rod approach, but there was good natured encouragement for the design in general, culminating in a discussion of the possibility of such a car for The Oakland Roadster Show. One of Thom’s recent non-traditional designs had recently won the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster award... so there was a slight chance that avenue wasn’t without merit. Very slim chance though, for the AMBR had, by that time, returned to its traditionalist’s roots concerning competitor qualifications and has remained there ever since.
On the last day of the Show, several fellow artists dropped by, as well as a young designer named Chip Foose, who was just into his second year of Art Center as I remember. I’d met Chip when I was exhibiting the previous year at an NSRA Show in Merced, California. He had stood for the longest time studying my Graphic T-shirt designs and we had struck up a conversation. I immediately took an interest in Chip, having already been aware of his Dad’s talents, so when he offered to show me his current portfolio, I jumped at the opportunity. Wow! He had come such a long way in a year and a half, and it was I who was now admiring his work. In the course of the conversation, and with him looking at several of my new graphic designs, he asked what I had been up to... styling wise. Out came the Corvette model and an explanation of the factory street rod concept, and I could tell Chip was genuinely intrigued by the idea. Everybody for that matter, in some way or another, seemed to be accepting my little modeling project... either for the design, the concept, or both.
Once again, time, which I never seemed to be able to find enough of, relegated the ol’ Corvette to the back-burner for a while. Everywhere I went though, people that were familiar with it, asked about it’s progress. Even Ed had proceeded with a series of designs based on the original concept. Sometime in mid 1988, with enough design material to warrant publication, Ed asked me If I thought I’d ever complete the 3-D Corvette. After all, it became the inspiration for his series of contemporary designs, so he felt that we should link the Corvette model and his art concepts for a more dynamic presentation – and I agreed. Well, for the rest of that year and off-and-on until May of 1989, I worked to complete the car for what we hoped would be a combined article for publication. If I’d have known the amount of work it would take – I’d have stuck with pencil sketches and would’ve been done with it.
 Work on the model was quite exacting. Underneath, everything was hand built. The traditional looking front suspension was all hand fabricated, as was the frame and Corvette-like rear end. That front end, by the way, though looking like a traditional dropped axle... is actually hinged at the corners and employs upper ‘A’ arms (a traditional looking, independently articulated design I saw at the NSRA Nats in ‘88). The interior, trunk and engine compartment had long been opened up, so no detail could be left to the imagination (I should have just "flogged" myself instead). Long story short; all told... my little project took me 6 months of combined time to complete. It was ready for display at the NSRA Nationals in St. Paul, June of 1989. There, it was snapped up for immediate inclusion in a Rod & Custom article about the Event and several magazines spoke with both Ed and I about the concept, our combined efforts and subsequent publication. Afterward, our combined article did appear in several magazines as a "feature", including Nitro (from France) and the premiere issue of Custom Rodder Magazine, as well as stand alone articles concerning our individual contributions. We both got plenty of mileage out of that original 1/8 scale model and the concept it spawned. In fact, it’s impact is still being felt today in many ways... this story included. Look through any modeling magazine in the years that followed the concept’s publication and you’ll see countless versions of traditional envelope bodies being forged into street rods... Edsels, Camaros and the like, some of them directly from Ed’s subsequent designs. That’s the "small". Here’s the "big" of it. You remember my young friend Chip? Well, he soldiered on at Art Center, and somewhat later, as his Senior Project, he chose to build a contemporary 1/5 scale street rod for his presentation. Here, one could imagine a factory offering with all the necessary safety and street legalities (all those necessary "pieces and parts" my designer friend was worried about). In any event, I’ve always felt Chip’s encounter with the "Corvette Street Rod" was the eventual inspiration for his "master-work" and I think he’ll agree.
Now, let us hearken back to my Detroit designer friend when he said, "A production street rod from a major manufacturer, I don’t think so!" Even that statement has been proven false through a series of sequential links. Chip’s Senior Project... his design almost exactly... was picked up by Chrysler (they added the bumpers) and became the basis for the Plymouth Prowler. Hey! A "factory street rod"... I knew it would happen all along! |
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