Dave Shuklis' Shamrock

[afx]

Is this Dave Shuklis' original Shamrock.  Let me know what you think.

 

Edited March 18, 2017 by afx

[Day 2 Muscle]

I thought his cars were in a museum !! Maybe Auto World? Was an article on them way back in SAE

[High octane]

I do remember that car from a VERY long time ago. Dave was a great builder at the time.

[oldcarfan]

Sure looks like it.

[Tom Geiger]

I saw these photos in Lyle's post on FaceBook, and the Maryland bunch saying they had the original Shamrock.  I can tell you that this is a very good clone.  I posted a few photos of the real Shuklis car in the museum.

While it's very close there are a bunch of differences.  First the color is not the same.  Second, the rear wheels are different. the dash and steering wheel are positioned different. The original car doesn't have a shamrock on the seat.  The firewall behind the seat is a different color.  The rear wheel wells are a different shape.  Also note the trim above the door is cut out on the original, but remains solid on the clone.

Note that AutoWorld and Car Model Magazine were both controlled by Oscar back then. AutoWorld would give you a how to sheet when you  purchased the kit. I know this was also done with the Bobtail Cat.  So someone followed the instructions really well building this clone!

[1972coronet]

What makes the late Mr. Shuklis' work even more outstanding is that he had was paralysed ---- he used his mouth to build and create these crazy customs !

( at least that's what I remember reading in a reprinted article in a 1983 Auto World catalogue ... please correct me if my info is erroneous )

[magicmustang]

Boy, that brought back memories. Went and looked at my old Auto World Catalogs and found this on page 7 and 8 of the 1963 edition. Enjoy.  

Edited March 19, 2017 by magicmustang

[afx]

Thanks for posting the pictures Tom. I had no photos of the original car to compare. 

[250 Testa Rossa]

The original model was restored by Pat Covert and Bob Downie.

[Tom Geiger]

Just got a note from Mark Gustavson:

Hey Tom,

Great to hear from you.  Randy Derr alerted me earlier today about the photo -- I thought it was a many decades-old photo until I noticed differences in the pictured model from the REAL Shamrock that the Museum.

Here's the original story on the acquisition from the Museum site:  http://themodelcarmuseum.org/Models/Shuklis/shuklis.html

I can ASSURE you that the genuine Shamrock model by Shuklis -- that Norm Veber personally picked up from Dave's father about 21 years ago -- IS in the Museum. I looked over the Shuklis condition on Monday of this last week and saw it there when I dropped off some items.  The model pictured in the photo you sent isn't close to being in the condition that the genuine models is in the Museum and there are differences. 

My only way to explain the model pictured is that someone, back in the day, built a "clone" of the Shamrock. 

Ask whomever where they got the model? There's a heck of a story here . . 

[Zoom Zoom]

The original model was restored by Pat Covert and Bob Downie.

Correct! When Pat got the model to restore he asked me to do the paint and stripe; he did the rest. Fun project, honored to have been a part of it! 

[moparfarmer]

What makes the late Mr. Shuklis' work even more outstanding is that he had was paralysed ---- he used his mouth to build and create these crazy customs !

( at least that's what I remember reading in a reprinted article in a 1983 Auto World catalogue ... please correct me if my info is erroneous )

I was very young back then but remember seeing his models in the magazines..Don't want to ruin your story, but I know Dave was challenged physically but how would he paint and put these model together with just his mouth?  He was a very good builder then and would probably still be now..Hope I didn't step on any toes..

[Russell C]

Now, does the one in the first post appear to be a really old copy, or something more recent? By comparison, this 2013 thread about a "weird Ford cabover" caught my eye because I recognized it as a copy of the original Bob Nordberg cabover that was the co-top winner of the 1964 Revell Pactra contest (which I happened to locate afterward as described in my thread here. If I have it right, the original Nordberg cabover will be restored and re-shown to the public at the upcoming GSL contest for the first time in 50-some years)

Wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't other old copies of famous models lurking in people's closets out there ....

[afx]

The owner of the car in my OP thought it was a clone.  However there was debate at our club meeting yesterday that it may be the original.  The thought was that the car was lost while it was loaned out to be restored.  Glad the original was safely returned to the Museum.  It is such and iconic car in modeling history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Darby]

On 3/18/2017 at 9:08 PM, 1972coronet said:

What makes the late Mr. Shuklis' work even more outstanding is that he had was paralysed ---- he used his mouth to build and create these crazy customs !

( at least that's what I remember reading in a reprinted article in a 1983 Auto World catalogue ... please correct me if my info is erroneous )

He wasn't was paralyzed, he had muscular dystrophy.  There are photos of him holding models with his hands. But he was still quite ahead of his time.

[1972coronet]

29 minutes ago, Dave Darby said:

He wasn't was paralyzed, he had muscular dystrophy.  There are photos of him holding models with his hands. But he was still quite ahead of his time.

Thanks for the corrected information . I did not know that it was M.D. 

[Mark]

Auto World included building instructions for the Shamrock with every Styline Corvair kit they sold.  They did that with several other cars featured in CAR MODEL magazine early on.

[styromaniac]

From the 1963 Auto World catalog....

Edited June 19, 2020 by styromaniac

[Tom Geiger]

Mark, were the building instructions  copies of the magazine articles? Or a separate Auto World piece?

[styromaniac]

The cover car was Dave Shuklis' "Red Rever"....

[styromaniac]

The catalog had some other Shuklis model concepts....

[styromaniac]

The 1962 Auto World catalog....with two Shuklis models on the cover...the "Red Rever", and his 40 Ford.

Edited June 19, 2020 by styromaniac

[styromaniac]

More Shuklis compositions....the guy was imaginative and prolific.

[styromaniac]

A Shuklis cover car for Car Model magazine....the "Orange Juicer".

[styromaniac]

Copy of the page from Mark Gustason's model car museum write up of Dave Shuklis...mentions how Norm Veber of Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland acquired the collection from Dave's father.