No matter what your political party or affiliation, no matter what your stance on the big issues is today, I think we can all agree that this election cycle has beat the hell out of us, and I think we’ll all be glad when it’s over. If you, like me, have found yourself surfing between news websites, political blogs, and strange YouTube channels today and finding yourself stressed out about the results at the ballots today I think you’d appreciate some solace, so here’s my contribution to that. Below are a few links to interesting stuff on the web that is wonderfully politically neutral, there are no attack ads or threats of impending doom. Enjoy, and remember in a few days this is all history.
Ed Roth interviews Von Dutch- Video series
This should be required viewing for anyone who cares about hot rods, custom paint, pinstriping, and craftsmanship. Von Dutch was a hell of a character, and despite the stories of his unsavory characteristics he was a true craftsman and deserves to be heard. I learned a ton watching these videos, it amazes me that footage like this exists:
Eryk Frias’ Hush Hush build thread
Eryk’s 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass is, for me, the most important car built so far in the 21st century. He took a tremendous amount of knowledge, family history, and worked with some of the most talented people around to create something truly special; the high water mark for traditional lowriders for sure. He also is a great writer, so if this is your first time reading this you’re in for a real treat. If you’ve always appreciated lowriders but never fully “got” the aesthetic I’d implore you to read this start to finish.
The Aztec and Bank Robber “One Eye” Bobby Wilcoxson!
The Aztec is one of my favorite Barris cars, and I was overjoyed to read this wild story of it’s strange history. From the article:
“One Eye” Bobby Wilcoxson liked fast women, fast race horses and fast cars. With proceeds from one of his bank heists, Wilcoxson bought one of the most famous hot rod’s ever customized: The Aztec. A 1955 Chevy, the Aztec was many things but fast one not one of them.”
http://barriskustomcity.blogspot.com/2011/01/aztec-and-bank-robber-one-eye-bobby.html
The Cramps – Tear it Up – Urgh! A Music War
Urgh! A music war is an incredibly important documentary with amazing footage of most of the greatest bands of the 1980’s. Here’s a personal favorite of mine, The Cramps, doing a great live rendition of Tear it Up! If you dig it be sure and click through some of the recommended videos in the sidebar, there’s some great stuff there.
The Restoration of the Galileo Shuttlecraft
OK, so this one is a little self-indulgent, but hey, it’s about a Winfield build so that’s on-topic enough for me. The Galileo Shuttlecraft was built by Gene when he was working with AMT, and not a lot of people know that Gene basically threw out the plans that the Star Trek designer Matt Jefferies had sent over to him in favor of the final design that we’re all familiar with and built the Galileo on a shoestring budget. This ~10 minute video goes through the history and restoration of the Galileo, and I think it’s a great watch. It’s interesting to me as a car-guy to see a huge crowd of people gathered together to see the reveal of the restored Galileo that probably has no idea who Gene Winfield is or how close the Galileo is to some of the custom cars that were rolling out of Gene’s shop at the time (notice how similar the rear of the Galileo is to the Reactor that Gene also built), it’s awesome to see the 1960’s custom car aesthetic used in a way that can be appreciated by anyone, not just car people.
Here’s another video with a ton of footage from the restoration:
