"Angry" Aluma Coupe

[ea0863]

The story goes that Larry Erickson designed and Boyd Coddington built the Aluma Coupe originally with an American powerplant in mind. When Mitsubishi sidled up for a project to showcase their products, somebody had the brilliant idea to drop a two liter four cylinder Eclipse motor in the trunk - which angered the hot rod gods. Marcel DeLay fashioned the lithe body out of aluminum, and thus was born the Aluma Coupe. Fast forward a few years, and rich car collector David Sydorick bought the car to show off at obligatory Saturday morning "Cars and Coffee". Only problem was, this was the heyday of JDM sports cars, not to mention American beasts such as the C5 Corvette, Dodge Viper, and Ford GT. So, practically at every stop light, the Aluma Coupe was left in the dust of some quicker and faster car.

So, Sydorick pulled out his checkbook, and the project was underway for the "Angry" Aluma Coupe you see below. The motor was to be a Scale Repro's Plus top fuel dragster creation.

The decision was made to put this motor up front, both because of favorable weight distribution, and also to show off this gorgeous hunk of American iron. That may have meant moving the firewall back, and a little less legroom for the passengers, but hey - life is all about priorities...

The interior came out no less sexy with its bare transmission and new tunnel - so much so that the owner seriously considered making the car into a roadster.

Cooler heads prevailed though, and the signature roof of the Aluma Coupe was left in place. Together with some rims and truly meaty rear tires from an AMT Nova Pro Street, it hit the road to embarrass all who dared challenge its dominance of speed.

Only minor problem was that right from its maiden outing, the freaking thing was so fast that it started to strip the yellow paint right off the car! There was some talk of going with some blingy vinyl wrap, but in the end, the decision was made to leave it alone and let the beauty of the original hammered aluminum body shine through.

Whether indoors or out, with hood on or removed, Aluma Coupe was a poseur no more.

Now, of course, you can look up the specifics of "Angry" Aluma Coupe for yourself. However, please note this is my story and I'm sticking to it!  

Edited May 24, 2023 by ea0863

[ea0863]

Quick shout out to @Straightliner59 for much of the inspiration of this build...

[Rattlecan Dan]

Beasty! Angry or not, it's still really pretty. So much stylin' and profile n'. Great story.

[Straightliner59]

28 minutes ago, ea0863 said:

Quick shout out to @Straightliner59 for much of the inspiration of this build...

Well, thank you, kindly. Nice interpretation! I like the bare-metal nose, a ton! The body just screams to have the engine up front, with a scoop poking out of the hood. Great work! It would also make a great-looking salt flats racer. Hmmm...I might have to find me another one!

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

So glad to see this car turned into a super strong machine. Well done! 

[ea0863]

10 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

Well, thank you, kindly. Nice interpretation! I like the bare-metal nose, a ton! The body just screams to have the engine up front, with a scoop poking out of the hood. Great work! It would also make a great-looking salt flats racer. Hmmm...I might have to find me another one!

I saw a salt flats version on the Australian Model Builders page a while back, and I agree - - - this body is a natural for such a build.

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/t991-aluma-coupe-salt-flat

[spencer1984]

Aweesome work on this!

[Jay Whittaker]

Rightful metamorphosis. 

[Mad Slammer]

I have built a couple… Mine are not angry though…

[ea0863]

29 minutes ago, Mad Slammer said:

I have built a couple… Mine are not angry though…

No Roberto, yours are totally chill beauties!  I LOVE that roadster with the custom interior and cut down windshield. And the front engine build has a great paint job. Did you put a Honda motor up front, or something else? Now I have to see if I can find more photos of these builds...

[Straightliner59]

13 hours ago, ea0863 said:

I saw a salt flats version on the Australian Model Builders page a while back, and I agree - - - this body is a natural for such a build.

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/t991-aluma-coupe-salt-flat

That's very cool!

[Mad Slammer]

8 hours ago, ea0863 said:

No Roberto, yours are totally chill beauties!  I LOVE that roadster with the custom interior and cut down windshield. And the front engine build has a great paint job. Did you put a Honda motor up front, or something else? Now I have to see if I can find more photos of these builds...

Thanks bro, the engine is a parts box find… it’s an offenhauser or something like that I’m not very good with engines… ?

[Snake45]

This pretty much pegs the needles on the Snake Hella-Cool-Ometer and the Snake Badass Gauge, so, well done and model on, my friend! ?

[ea0863]

12 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

This pretty much pegs the needles on the Snake Hella-Cool-Ometer and the Snake Badass Gauge, so, well done and model on, my friend! ?

Why thank you Richard! It's wonderful to even register on such cool instruments, much less peg them  

[slusher]

Very nice!

[Straightliner59]

On 5/24/2023 at 10:13 AM, ea0863 said:

I saw a salt flats version on the Australian Model Builders page a while back, and I agree - - - this body is a natural for such a build.

https://ozautobuilders.forumotion.com/t991-aluma-coupe-salt-flat

Well, I found one, cheap on Ebay! It should be arriving, soon!

[Koellefornia Kid]

Angry indeed! Nice job, I really like the bare metal front treatment!