I know all the traditional guys out there are going to cringe when you read this but I was wondering if any of you had any pics of '57 customs with a spoiler. A few years ago there was a '57 in one of the rod maggazines that had one but it was a high aircraft type that you'd see on an Indy car...not the look I was wanting at all. In my quest to build something different but tasteful, I was considering a low, thicker almost straightlined spoiler more typical of detroit in the '80's. I think the biggest problem will be the large radius on the trunk lid would put a normal horizontal mount too far forward and too high above the fins so I may end up having to build special brackets, and maybe the spoiler, to mount on the radiused area of the trunk lid...maybe moulded in.
I've been having this conversation with Rich the last few days offsite. I'm sure someone has to have done it on something other than a Funny Car. Just never remember seeing such a thing personally. It would be a trick to pull off tastefully without destroying the classic lines and not be a visual attack. Surely someone has done it or attempted it before. I also would be curious to see the results good or bad. Any pictures out there?
Zap- :unitedstates:
I think you have too much time to kill. Why take a classic and turn it into a " FREAK " I don't see no one taking a foreign car or muscle car and turning it into a 57. But this is America and you can do what you want.
The only spoiler I can think that would look halfway decent on one of these cars is something like what Norm Wizner had on the MegaFord car.. But still, on a street car, it would look like crap. Main reason spoilers dont look good on `50's cars is that the cars are too bulbous, too rounded. Spoilers look good on later, more boxy cars.. For good reason, later, boxy cars need all the help they can get to look good. `50's rides look good as they are, without a lot of Pep Boys geegaws tacked all over them. Just my .02....
Rich:
There's a reason they call them spoilers!
With all the great and genuinely creative work you've already put in your ride, I think a spoiler might be just a bit too much and would SPOIL what you've already achieved.
Spoilers, and this is just my opinion [and apparently Potters :003:] just don't look right on fifties and early 60's rides. A Crites ram air hood or 60's style SS hood scoop is about as radical as I plan on getting. IMHO the 57 Ford was one of the best looking automobiles ever, but then I also liked 53-54 Studebaker Commander Starlight Coupes, and 61 Pontiac Ventura 2 door bubbletop hardtops, so there's no accounting for my taste. I just can't visualize a 57 looking good with a spoiler, but go ahead and take the challenge and prove us nay sayers wrong :003: :003:
BuBBA
Rich,
Just when we were beginning to like you. Go ahead, tear out our souls. Putting a spoiler on a 57 Ford would be a sacrilege. LOL Jim
lol... I told zap I shouldn't be gettin into this on the open....but I do like Bubba's challenge. About 90% of me is right along side you guys...it's the other 10% that makes me wonder if I can pull something off. James the Mega ford is awsome...I hadn't seen it before..but it's spoiler is not what I had in mind. My idea would be one that is very minimal blending into the body lines as much as posible, and wouldn't be seen from the view the Megaford was photographed at.
Rich, still think you should try building a mock-up spoiler out expandable foam or some other cheap material that would be easy to work. like we discussed over the weekend I don't think you'd want to mess with the car's profile. But then we're not talking about trying to change the smile on the Mona Lisa either. Do a search for a 59 Ford "kustom" called "My Blue Heaven", came out of my old neighborhood and was sectioned within days of being bought. Lots of people hated it then now its a kustom icon. You never know what you'll pull off.
Zap-
I'm just lost for words. WTF :003:
Rich,if you look at the trunk lid of a 78 LTD you will see ford built in a small spoiler to help the wind tunnel numbers
This reminds me of the dude on the HAMB, who wanted to narrow the car lengthwise, just because he could...Wish I had the time to spend on projects I'd end up wanting to do over...Like my frame on the rear of my `57..It is now stock again, no longer narrowed and mini-tubbed.....think it over before you end up looking for another deck lid, Rich..good ones are hard to find. At least try it out on a rusty lid before you irreversibly alter a good one.
Rich:
I'm really neutral on whether it would or wouldn't look good, correct, right, etc. on a 57. However, I think Zapato & Canadian Ranchero may have something to think about. A mock-up that some how could tie the deck lid into the two fins might work. Nothing radical, like on Mega-Ford which extended the deck lid to achieve more down-force. Maybe something like was done on the California Special Mustangs in the late 60's or, perish the thought, some of the 60's Z-28's could be moulded in a way to fit in with the look of the twin fins on the 57.
Hope I don't get stoned, too. After all it is going to be a "CUSTOM" and it is yours.
Bob
57 AGIN
You are right Bob, it is his car, a custom (Kustom) to do with as he pleases. We didn't crucify the guy with the chevy motor, or the one wanting to drop a Red Ram Chrysler in one. I guess we all have our own idea of what the perfect `57 is. Mine changes, it use to be what my old yellow car was, 4 wheel disks, drag racing wheels, lowered, sbf stroker, 5 speed...now I want 4 wheel drums, stock stance, y block and 4 speed with steel wheels and center caps... Different strokes, that is what makes the hobby so cool, there is no right or wrong way to do it, so long as the work is safe. I enjoy all `57s, and even though I may not like the way something looks, I will respect the time and effort it took to make it the owner's ideal `57 Ford.
So Bob, thanks for inadverdantly making me remember that cars are not gods to be worshipped, but cars to be built, driven and enjoyed by the one who pays the bills!
Rich, keep the idea forge burning hot!
was looking at a early 80's mustang hatch back,has a small bolt on one on the back edge of the hatch back.maybe have a look at it
Rich, now that you've been roasted am wondering if you're going to try some kind of mock-up or walk away from the idea. Was checking out my wife's 2008 Focus and it has a very low simple spoiler. Lots of different choices out there to stimulate your creative drive.
Zap- bawl
the roasting was more of a light toasting...not to bad at all, in fact I was surprised by some of the "almost positive" replies. A lot of ideas to be kicking around...I even was looking at the panels at the end of the roof line above the tailgate window on a few mini vans for ideas. I'm kicking around the idea of a subtle lip shaped around a blue oval. As I mentioned, I'm trying to get my hood and trunk done...my last two panels...I've given up hope of getting paint on it in october...I was just rushing things too much and a lot of details still to be done like the hood and trunk hinges.etc. After I get my trunk lid done and fitted on the car. I'll have more time to play with some mockups.
Surely a walk around a mall parking lot will fill your head with possible donors. Take time to sip a "Big Red" and think it all thru.
ok i tried to post on here when the thread was new .....................said sumthin nabout my session had timed out?????????????
soo lets try it again
first off i wouldnt do it BUT IF I DID i would put the horizontal piece even with the top of the fins and make the fit soo tight against the inside of the fin that it would look like its all one big piece and mount 2 up-rights on the trunklid i wouldnt let the horizontal piece stick out past the end of the fins
i wouldnt make the horizontal piece too thick maybe use the horizontal piece from a repo 70-71 gto judge spoiler if its wide enough
it would look better on a fairlane then a custom because of the taller more greacefull fins on the fairlane
subtle, effective. Imagine some canted tailfins on top of the fenders..like a '57
Quote from: 4banger on 2010-09-20 13:48
I think you have too much time to kill. Why take a classic and turn it into a " FREAK " I don't see no one taking a foreign car or muscle car and turning it into a 57. But this is America and you can do what you want.
wasn,t sure how to respond to this..thought about it for a while and decided..... sometimes being a "freak" isn't too bad. Here's some pics I took in Fort Worth this past weekend...all could be considered "freaks" if you will, but you can park any one of them in my driveway.
My point is being different can be incredibly interesting if pulled off well.
Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2010-10-03 20:52
subtle, effective. Imagine some canted tailfins on top of the fenders..like a '57
I still like the idea, if you take time and play with with it you are likely to come up with a winner. And as I've always believed when it comes to our cars it only has to please you and no one else. Specially if you manage to keep it "SUBTLE". Any more pictures of what looks like a wildly modified 64 Fairlane?
I wasn't sure what year it was..I was guessing '63. Somewhere I have a brochure from the company that was using it, or built it, as a display. Lots of body panels,bumpers, ect. covered in what looked like a mylar film. You had to look real close to tell it wasn't real carbon fiber. When I find that brochure, I'll check for a website, and more photos
You were right, it is a '64. Go to www.ringbrothers.com and click on video. They have about a 15 minute video on the car, but odly enough the video was extrtemely disapointing...very amatuer. Poorly done to the point where the camera guy kept the camera on the ring brothers and not on the different details they were describing. In fact..15 minutes of video and you don't even see most of the car.
The Ring brothers have ruined more old cars than George Barris, lol...Still, they are artists, I guess, I just wish they would kill Chevys instead of Fords..
Had never heard of the ring brothers before and have to agree its time for them to pick on some GM products. Lots of work ,well done but not to my personal taste. Plus I love 64 Fairlanes just the way the came from Dearborn. I grew up down the street from Ford privateer racer Bill Ireland's shop and loved what he did with 64 thru 67 Fairlanes. Also in 64 the second grade teacher at my grade school ( a brunette version of Linda Vaughn, big hair big well you know) drove a 289 Hi-Po red 64 Fairlane. Not sure if it was the car or Miss W. but I'd see that car driving by and it always gave me wood. Have always lusted for one of them if you guys figure out which one please let me know.
Zap- :unitedstates: :burnout: