I am veryimpressed for discussingGMFuturliner, as one of the Americanlegendvehicles. Perhapsamongyouwillask, how canthesevehicles are referred to asFuturliner. According toWikipedia, the GM Futurliners were a group of stylized buses designed in the 1940s by Harley Earl for General Motors.
They were used in GM's Parade of Progress, which traveled the United States exhibiting new cars and technology. The Futurliners were used from 1940 to 1941 and again from 1953 to 1956. A total of 12 were built, and 9 were still known to exist as of 2007.
Through the excellent product quality, the ability of Indonesian artisans in creating high artistic works can not be denied anymore. One example is the Boyolali craftsmen who became the spotlight this time.
As reported by Carscoops on Tuesday, October 21, 2014, that a workshop which is located in one of the cities in Central Java - Indonesia is able to make a replica of the Bugatti Veyron 'land jet' that made from genuine wood. It also explained that the replica of the French luxury car was made at a scale of 1:1 and can be redeemed with a spend of Rp. 40 million (or approx US $3,362 or €2,600).
The Bugatti Veyron Super Sports replica made entirely out of teak. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1ziSuo2)
The entire body and detail of the Bugatti Veyron can be seen carefully on this high-quality wooden replica. The owner of the workshop, Mr. Eko Lukistyanto, said that the life-size Veryon was made from teak wooden scraps and it has a fully detailed interior with a workable steering wheel and shifter, pedals and seats.
The replica of Mercedes Benz 300SL made entirely out of teak. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1wscYqG)
Meanwhile, the typical Indonesian wooden Bugatti Veyron is made to fulfill orders from the European buyer. Further, the wooden car is going to be sent to the owner who was in Germany.
The replicas of premium motorcycles made entirely out of teak. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1rPXqrH)
Not only working on the Bugatti Veyron, but the same workshop also working on many replica of the other luxury cars. In addition to the French hypercar, they also has made the German sportscar replicas, such as Mercedes Benz 300SL and many variants of motorcycles. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CARSCOOPS]
Back to 2013, a Bosnian pensioner have a unique way to spend time with his favorite car, 1974 VW Beetle. He managed to overhaul almost the entire car body coating with a layer of wood.
Momir Bojic posed with his unique 1974 wooden VW Beetle. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1Yg7RX)
He is 71-year-old man named Momir Bojic does not want to be silent even though he is no longer young. VW Beetle initially usual classic look, add more epic, thanks to his creativity. In fact, he has prepared such a great idea, since 2005.
According to Slavorum some time ago, he had spend more than US $50,000 (Rp.579 million), the dream that he had planned for years proved to be true and looks unique.
Right side view of 1974 wooden VW Beetle by Momir Bojic. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1WETxq7)
Everything from the bonnet to the gearstick was carved in his garden workshop - with help from his wife. The couple also created wooden fittings for the pedals, wheel caps, bumpers, front turn signal lamps, tail-lights, wipers, side mirrors, steering wheel, parcel shelf, dashboard, glovebox lid, clock and even the radio antennae.
Dashboard view of 1974 wooden VW Beetle by Momir Bojic. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1Yg7RX)
The car features thousands of thumbnail-sized, finely sliced sections of oak designed to replicate the commonly seen wooden-tiled roofs in Bojic's homeland. Each tile involved 23 separate procedures, including cutting, chamfering, beveling, drilling and smoothing, before they could be applied to the vehicle.
Engine view of 1974 wooden VW Beetle by Momir Bojic. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1Yg7RX)
The level of detail was so much attention until the wooden parts enveloped entire body of the car including the hood, wipers, console, steering wheel and dashboard. Not to forget he also drive it wearing a hat that matching with the car's color.
Top rear view of 1974 wooden VW Beetle by Momir Bojic. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1WETxq7)
The car is perfectly roadworthy, and Mr Bojić says its draws crowds wherever it goes. Maybe golden years aren’t so bad, it makes people forget profit and makes them do what they love! *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | VTIBET | SLAVORUM]
It's probably one of the most unique custom cars I've seen in that it isn't based on any particular car, and was actually built by a west-coast boat builder in 1959. Check it out, it looks like a cross between a rat rod, farm tractor, and so on. And according to VisualNews, the roadster was created based on the article in the September 1956 issue of Mechanix Illustrated magazine.
1959 All-Wooden Speedball Special Roadster. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1YgBrd)
As reported by Hemmings Daily, the Standard Catalog, as faulty and full of holes as it is, actually has an entry on the Speedball Special. They have it listed as a 1956 Buckboard, though they note that "it may have been known as the Bruce or Bruce Buckboard." That would be because they say a Donald S. Bruce designed the car. They list the manufacturer as Automotive Associates Co. in White Plains, New York.
Left side view of 1959 All-Wooden Speedball Special Roadster. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1YgBrd)
Here's the result: a modified version of the Speedball Special. The car is equipped with an impossibly rare 1952 Ariel Square Four motorcycle motorcycle engine and transmission and that the suspension was taken from a Citroen of the era, except lights, guages, etc., the rest was all hand fabricated.
Rear side view of 1959 All-Wooden Speedball Special Roadster. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1YgBrd)
A smooth-running four-cylinder 1,000 cc engine able to push out about 42 hp. That might not seem like much, but when driving the sequential four-speed and with a weight of only a mere 750 lbs this little wooden car has got to be a rocket. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | HEMMINGS DAILY | VISUALNEWS | JALOPNIK]
Of the many supercar names that did not reach the production stage perfectly and recorded sales figures or can also be said to be mere boasting. Noted there is a supercar known as Melling Hellcat in 2006.
It was a car that was originally mentioned will be the most serious competitor of the V10-engined car for Bugatti Veyron. Not only that, when it viewed from the name derived from the name of the person who developed it is clearly not just any name.
2007 Melling Hellcat is conceptualized and developed by Al Melling, a slightly mad engineer and designer who had dealings in F1 through many famous names. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2sQtubV)
Well, the Melling Hellcat is a car conceptualized and developed by Al Melling, a slightly mad engineer and designer who had dealings in F1 through many famous names such as Lamborghini, Chevrolet, Leyton House Formula One and Benetton. Through his company called, Melling Consultancy Design was once the center of engine development that had succeded to help TWR win at Le Mans with Jaguar four years in a row and also had been known to develop the TVR Speed Six block which is used in many modern TVR sports cars.
2007 Melling Hellcat's interior could be described as simple, sparse but functional. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2sQtubV)
But a little different for this mid-engined car, Melling decided that he didn't want to just build a custom engine and instead would take on the establishment with his own bespoke supercar. He had experience with V10s through engine development for the Lola F1 team which never came to fruition, but the engine he built for his own supercar was something else.
Al Melling in another his sports car called the 'Wildcat'. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2Zi9Ul2)
It is a 6.0-liter quad-turbo V10 engine which is said to produce 1,175 bhp of power and 880 lb.ft of torque, with heads and blocks milled from a large billet of aluminum material. And the car comes with a weight of only 1,200 kg and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds (that's a surprising acceleration time figures for 2006). And for its exterior design strongly influenced by TVR, and also has a Marcos TSO GT touches within its thundering line.
2007 Melling Hellcat comes with a weight of only 1,200 kg and said to be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.6 seconds. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/377sbEl)
The Hellcat was built as Melling's motivation to enter Le Mans once again after it was previously done with TWR, with the aim being to produce a GT1 variant of the road car to take-on the endurance world. It's said to only 50 units will be produced in its Rochdale-based factory, but unfortunately, the number of cars produced has never touched or approached that numbers.
2007 Melling Hellcat used a 6.0-liter quad-turbo V10 engine which is said to produce 1,175 bhp of power and 880 lb.ft of torque. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2sQtubV)
Although the lack of car production numbers, but the top speed proposed by Hellcat could be a nightmare for the Bugatti Veyron. Melling quoted 295 mph in full chat, but if we're honest and thought the claim is mere boasting. Sure, it has four turbochargers like Bugatti but according to some automotive observers aerodynamically the speed of this car has no hope of rising close to the 300 mph figures.
This is because the frontal area and general dimensions of the car do not allow such speed figures to be reached, especially with a power of 'only' around 1,200 bhp. Then at a price of around £ 185,000, it can almost be considered as a bargain even if it reaches 230 mph, which is why those claimed top speed figures make it look like a joke.
In the end, the Melling Hellcat never made it into any automotive showroom, and let the Bugatti Veyron have the world's top speed record for itself for years. That is a fantastic hypothetical part of the British-made V10-engined supercar that could have asserted itself as a performance legend even though in reality it doesn't make any sense. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | AUTOBLOG | DRIVETRIBE | SUPERCARS]
Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.
Perhaps, the world's automotive enthusiasts are more familiar with the names of the car line-ups of the raging-bull logoed Italian manufacturer like Aventador, Huracan, Miura, Countach, or Murcielago, this is very understandable. Because indeed one of the other line-ups, namely Lamborghini Espada was very little produced by the manufacturer in the 1970s.
A 1968 Lamborghini Espada was turned into an insane hot-rod styled car by Danton Art Kustoms. (Picture from: https://yhoo.it/2PGNMO0)
Not only a few in numbers (more precisely limited to no more than 1,200 units), Lamborghini Espada also created full of identity that is very difficult to match with other cars even though the fellow raging-bull logoed cars.
This makes the Lamborghini paradigm unique tends to weird, it can be absolutely pinned on the figure of the Espada. The car model in production from 1968 to 1978, known as Ferruccio Lamborghini’s answer to the Rolls-Royce Corniche grand tourer in the time.
Danton Art Kustoms' 1968 Lamborghini Espada 'Rat Rod' still used 3.9-liter V12 engine and left exposed as it normally applied to the classic hot-rod tradition. (Picture from: https://yhoo.it/2PGNMO0)
But what would happen if the strange figure of the Lamborghini Espada was then modified in such a way as to carry a hot-rod style that is not commonly done by automotive enthusiasts in Europe? You’ve probably able to see how's wild as Danton Art Kustoms’ 1968 Espada hot-rod.
The 'Rat Rod' as the French custom workshop refer to it and built-in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Espada at that time. Now, the car is ready to be auctioned as part of the sale of Kissimmee 2020 Mecum Auctions in central Florida in January.
The interior of Danton Art Kustoms' 1968 Lamborghini Espada 'Rat Rod' is laid out simply and combined with Tri-Colore of the Italian flag accent in the middle. (Picture from: https://yhoo.it/2PGNMO0)
It might be because from the beginning the Espada has brought a unique car image so that it can be transformed into a perfect canvas in the process of creating the first hot-rod styled car built using the base of the Lamborghini car.
The interior of Danton Art Kustoms' 1968 Lamborghini Espada 'Rat Rod' is equiped with 4 custom-made seats. (Picture from: https://yhoo.it/2PGNMO0)
For this vehicle, Danton built it together with CHD Edition and Carrosserie Hervé. They had some fun with the elongated grand tourer design. Although the car really looks like an intact Espada, its sweeping curves are made sharper and equipped with new side scoops.
Meanwhile, the wheelbase has been widened dramatically and its 3.9-liter V12 engine left exposed as it normally applied to the classic hot-rod tradition which also functioned as a car showpiece. It's a stunning appearance with its gorgeous stainless steel tubular headers and exhausts on full display.
Danton Art Kustoms' 1968 Lamborghini Espada 'Rat Rod' used fat Michelin racing tires that wrapped its red rims. (Picture from: https://yhoo.it/2PGNMO0)
Then the process was refined by giving a matte black paint job with an Italian flag accent. Then a racing-style reinforced windshield, the interior is laid out simply with custom-made seats, and fat Michelin racing tires that wrapped its red rims to give the Espada an undeniable impression like a car that came from the Mad-Max' era.
Danton Art Kustoms’ 1968 Espada Rat Rod is expected to sell for between $200,000 to $250,000 when it goes up for auction during Mecum’s Kissimmee next year event. Considering its one-of-a-kind nature, that just might be money well spent for Lamborghini and hot rod enthusiasts alike. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | YAHOO] Note: This blog can be accessed via your smart phone.
They were used in GM's Parade of Progress, which traveled the United States exhibiting new cars and technology. The Futurliners were used from 1940 to 1941 and again from 1953 to 1956. A total of 12 were built, and 9 were still known to exist as of 2007.
