Big Mean Fish (71 Cuda)

[city_ofthe_south]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t201/city_ofthe_south/71cuda_jpg.jpg

My latest work. There is still some tweaking left to do here but i wanted to get it in to a contest by Sunday. Anyway, this is going to be total blasphemy but I bought a couple "exotic" car mags. i mean, Lambos and those super cars are great but i never really liked them ... that's not what i'm talking about. I picked one up out of curiosity one day and starting flipping, expecting to see jillion and five dollar cars on every page with bling bling rims that they're calling "modified" ... Lambos, Ferrari, Bentley .. the usual. Not so. I had no idea the number of companies that i've never heard of and cars i've never seen with really awesome design. Whoever they have designing interiors cold smoke most (not all) American cars right now. I think our old muscle cars really had some style that was either ahead of its time or something because i've figured in my head since looking at these exotics, that it's the details that are drawing me to them. They don't just slap random crap on the car and call it trim. (taking a long time to get to the point here) .... i've been shaving everything off the cars, matching one trend or another and i still think it's cool. but even the road course "function" of g-machines could be considered European inspired. SO, Cudas have the gills, the running/fog lights, little front spoilers, wing rear spoiler, the 71 has THE grille .... a set of serious race track looking wheels practically completes the package without any other changes. by god i even did the door handles and i SHOULD have put a mirror on the facing side of the car. i already don't like mixing "street rod" with "hot rod" so i'm looking to these exotics for race inspired styling which i think is what our g-machines need. Course, I'm not saying that many don't ... i guess i'm telling you about this epiphany of mine that is probably coming much too late considering who i'm talking to .....

as far as the art ... i know, i'm making you read too damn much ... i took the source photos of this car, which is a very original 340 4bbl with the shaker, then i did a pencil sketch to get some distortion and went to illustrator with nothing but my sketch and a scan of the wheels.

[wiedemab]

Nice work - I like the work on your site too!

[asaenz]

Awesome rendering, I love your style:yes:

[XcYZ]

That's awesome. Very cool! :bow:

[Hdesign]

Another great one!

As far as the philosophy of design you refer to, it's really nothing new. Italy specifically and other Euro design centers have always been at the head of the pack when it comes to materials, finishes and style. It's no wonder that most of the best art museums are there. European culture in general embraces it while the US embraces Walmart, Home Depot and Target. It's different priorities and culture, nothing more.

It's also not really fair to compare our beloved Big 3 to Ferraris, Lambos and Bentley. You get what you pay for. I've seen concept sketches for domestics that would blow away concepts I've seen for the highest end exotics. The problem is the execution and cost cutting that happens to make a Charger, an Impala or Mustang affordable to the masses and profitable for manufacturers.

I would agree that during the 60's SOME musclecar designers had an eye on Europe but the US is a totally different market, as it should be. American styling, for the most part, fell off a cliff after the early 70s due to so many political and economical reasons among other things. Until very recently, styling was secondary at best and interiors were a joke. Economy and reliability were at the top of the list and that's where Toyota and Honda filled a huge void. They flat out made longer lasting, gas sipping cars.

I also agree that the G-machine movement was a long time coming for so many reasons you've already mentioned. Good and great design is accessible to more people, more people are aware and that's a good thing. Fake vents and intakes look like clutter since they're non-functional. Gigantic chrome bumpers look ridiculously heavy. And tall side wall tires and jacked up suspension look goofy and awkward for driving. However, much of the sheetmetal styling, the functional hood scoops, recessed grill assemblies and short greenhouses matched with raw pavement folding power is what gets people excited. There are very few cars that deliver an "experience" now. Whenever the internal combustion engine becomes extinct, you can be sure that people will be retrofitting musclecars with the most current propulsion systems available. They've never been short on a "driving experience".

[city_ofthe_south]

yeah exactly but organized and with punctuation :) but really i didn't want to compare the 3 i talked about with anything American. Money can get you anything. Those are just the cars I EXPECTED to see when i saw exotic or euro or whatever and flipped open the magazine. I've never liked them because like you said, you get what you pay for. But after opening a couple magazines i discovered much much more than those 3. I've just never paid much attention. Also, I don't know if any muscle car designers were looking over seas or not but I'm noticing what elements of the design attract me to old cars and to some of these exotic numbers (or elements the two have in common i guess). I suppose being from a generation long after the cars came and went, I've never had an interest in street rod design, which i see seeping into muscle car builds now. Hot Rod magazine i think it was, called it Muscle Rod or something. It gets the thumbs down from me. Anyway, no, none of this is new and i knew i was preaching to the choir but who else would care? I'm just spewing random thoughts. It compliments my art. The art speaks volumes of what is in my head and my writing is erratic and unorganized ... and incomplete. uh, the end.

[city_ofthe_south]

hey ... thanks everyone for checkin it out too.