How many were wrecked ?

[Greg Myers]

How many original customs and iconic Hot Rods were wrecked by "Kustom Kar" guys ?

[Greg Myers]

I know some people like the remakes.

[Richard Bartrop]

At some point, all of them.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I dunno...but what's the story on the shot of the Futura, apparently recently?  I thought the original was terminally modded into the Batthing by Barris.

If somebody's built a full-scale replica, that's one of the very few things I'd tag as "awesome".

[Richard Bartrop]

1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I dunno...but what's the story on the shot of the Futura, apparently recently?  I thought the original was terminally modded into the Batthing by Barris.

If somebody's built a full-scale replica, that's one of the very few things I'd tag as "awesome".

 

Going by what's in the background, that has to be a replica, and yes, it is awesome.

[Greg Myers]

Funny thing, when i picked the other picture I knew i'd get responses on it instead of the original post question.

Here. How's this ?

[cobraman]

Was one ever made better ?

[Greg Myers]

anyone remember these adds ?  

: I just made it better ."

?

[Greg Myers]

1 minute ago, cobraman said:

Was one ever made better ?

Matter of opinion. Just like these monstrosities. 

[espo]

9 minutes ago, Greg Myers said:

anyone remember these adds ?  

: I just made it better ."

?

What honest and true "Car Guy, or Gal" would sit on their car in this fashion ? 

[Greg Myers]

15 minutes ago, Richard Bartrop said:

At some point, all of them.

Yes some were, but not all. 

[Greg Myers]

Just now, espo said:

What honest and true "Car Guy, or Gal" would sit on their car in this fashion ? 

Corporate America, TV add. the almighty Buck. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

The Eddie Dye roadster, which I think is the most perfect rod ever built, was broken up and the parts scattered. Last I heard, some of the bits have come back together, and it's getting a newly fabbed nose and hood.

EDIT: Rodder's Journal #77 has the story..."Like so many other early hot rods, the Eddie Dye roadster lost its identity when it was updated to keep up with the times. More than half a century later, the pieces are back together again, thanks to New Jersey’s Tom and Jim Bobowski and Jimmy White of Circle City Hot Rods in Orange, California. In “A Roadster Reunited,” we tell the complete tale of the mysterious track-nosed ’29 Ford using historical photos, magazine articles and interviews with past owners—all of which nicely augment the baremetal studio feature."

                       

Edited September 9, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[Greg Myers]

AMC TV add

Edited September 9, 2020 by Greg Myers

[Draggon]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this. I love the L'il Coffin, but I love the first version(s) the best. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Draggon

[Greg Myers]

You're in luck.

[Richard Bartrop]

The L'il Coffin is an example of one where the iconic version happened somewhere in the middle of its evolution.

[Draggon]

1 hour ago, Greg Myers said:

You're in luck.

Yep, that kit has been on my want list for a long time! Not super hard to find, but super expensive ?

[Snake45]

No one mentioned the Car Craft Dream Rod/Tiger Shark yet. Personally, I think the Tiger Shark was an improvement. 

And then Chevy turned the Mako Shark II into the Manta Ray. They should have left well enough alone. 

[Brian Austin]

To answer the original question, I'm not sure we'd find a meaningful number.  How do we all define "wrecked"?

 

Custom show cars routinely got rebuilt year after year.  The Predicta is an example whose fame comes from its middle-era configuration.

 

One can argue the Lincoln Futura was already wrecked by Ford, through neglect in its later years.  It likely could well have been scrapped at some point  had it not become the Batmobile.

 

A number of driveable replicas have been built of both the Futura and Batmobile.

[Richard Bartrop]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

No one mentioned the Car Craft Dream Rod/Tiger Shark yet. Personally, I think the Tiger Shark was an improvement. 

And then Chevy turned the Mako Shark II into the Manta Ray. They should have left well enough alone. 

You're not alone in thinking the Tiger Shark was the better version.

[restoman]

9 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I dunno...but what's the story on the shot of the Futura, apparently recently?  I thought the original was terminally modded into the Batthing by Barris.

If somebody's built a full-scale replica, that's one of the very few things I'd tag as "awesome".

The hacks on the tv show "Car Masters: Rust to Riches" did a replica... but awesome is one of the words that I would NOT use...

[64Comet404]

It comes down to getting more 'life' out of a show car, back in the day. Some changes were to modernize the car, such as Ed Roth changing the engine in the Tweedy Pie to a SBC, and other changes were for the sake of change (pretty much everything George Barris did after Sam's death). Very few, if any, cars were 'improved' by such actions.

The L'il Coffin looked good in both the Stuckey and Starbird versions. The later mod was fugly beyond belief.

[Snake45]

15 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

You're not alone in thinking the Tiger Shark was the better version.

I know, right? I just scored a complete, intact survivor/glue bomb Dream Rod on eBay. IMHO there are only two things I can do with it: Blow it apart and rebuild it completely as the original (which I'm not a huge fan of), or just clean it up as it is and display it as a cool old survivior. It would make no sense to try to improve it or customize it or put my own spin on it, as the common reissue Tiger Shark would be a MUCH better starting point for such a project. (Or maybe I'll run into someone for whom the CCDR is their "Holy Grail" kit.) 

[iamsuperdan]

I've always wondered what happened to old show cars and magazine cars, and how many them become unrecognizable or fall into serious disrepair..