122. The Pileup EP10: Odd Rods II

All right, all right, all right, the other stick, too.

Pile up, pile up.

Pile up.

Presenting by car crush.

We good start?

We don't know.

Hello.

Hi.

Welcome.

To the pile up.

Pile up.

I'm Memdog Nightmare.

I'm the queen of the fans.

And we're here with you today on our podcast called The Pile Up in case you didn't get

that part.

And this is where we talk about a lot of different automotive things.

Several.

Several different things.

And sometimes we talk trash and sometimes we don't.

We get the news wrong.

Definitely never get it right.

Exactly.

We're here to not get it right again.

Yeah.

In case there's any first comers here, we wanted to, newcomers, I mean, we wanted to just give

you an idea of what you're going to hear.

Clearly it's going to be bad.

Yeah.

It's just our enjoyment.

It might not be you.

It might not be your enjoyment.

It might not be correct is what I was saying.

Yeah.

Oh, okay.

I like what you were saying better.

Today we're going to talk about odd rods.

And this is Odd Rods 2.

So if you missed out, go back to Odd Rods 1.

Yeah.

Part 2.

Thus.

We chose 6.

We're going to pit 3 each against each other.

In one episode.

That's what we thought.

Like a bunch of silly birds.

Yeah.

Didn't happen.

Nope.

We can only get 2 at a time.

Yep.

So.

That's our story.

It was worth it.

Yeah.

I think so too.

Yeah.

Now we want to come back with a little bit of info.

Yeah.

Because we did Steve Scott's uncertainty.

Yeah.

We heard from the guy who built the amazing replica, which is super cool.

It sounds like he listened to the episode.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Appreciate that.

Thank you.

Hope you enjoyed it.

I'm certainly enjoyed seeing your car.

Now we have a little bit of extra with Steve Scott.

We have some juicy goss that happened in the 60s.

But it's very interesting.

And then we have like his exit from the.

The whole world.

Not the whole world.

The car.

The car of life and automotive.

Yeah.

So we wanted to cover those here off the top.

Do you want to start with the juicy goss?

I thought you were going to do the juicy goss.

Okay.

Fine.

Because it was your car.

Well.

That you've picked.

Sure.

I guess.

I just don't know.

I don't know the details that well.

You'll have to help me.

But anyway, what happened was that he won the like this hot rod sweepstakes of some

sort.

It was I think a big deal.

Yeah.

To win.

George Barris was really upset that he didn't win.

And in front of everyone slapped Steve Scott.

And Steve got a restraining order.

Yep.

Against Barris.

He had to stay a hundred feet away from him at all times.

Imagine how awkward the car shows were.

I had never heard that.

No one had ever told me that.

Like George has made people mad by, you know, again, like we talked about like

buying a car and then it's a part of the Barris fleet.

So then it's like it's a Barris car.

Yeah.

Totally lying about it.

What a character.

But I had never heard this laughing story.

And it is.

It's true.

It's not just the Internet fodder because Ed Roth did a, an illustration of.

He did a really cool shirt of, or like a waterside decal graphic of the

uncertainty.

And I don't know if it's supposed to be that Steve's got in it or

there's a monster in it.

Well, doesn't he draw people as monsters?

Well.

Why don't we just say there's a monster in it?

There's a monster in it.

The monster is holding.

I don't just don't want to make it out to be a portrait.

Okay.

That's fine.

But the monster is holding a summons and it says big George to appear in

court.

And I was like, oh, one across the bow.

Yeah.

Woof.

I'd never heard any.

I didn't know that.

And I'd seen the graphic, but I didn't know to be looking at the

fine print on the newspaper or the piece of paper in his hand.

It's such a good story.

Yeah.

That's wild.

It really.

Wow.

That's I mean, I'm aghast.

Now.

You had a juicy detail on his.

You said, you know, there is that juicy detail for us to bring up.

And I'm sorry that he got slapped.

And then you asked me if I knew what, what became of him in his

automotive lifestyle.

Yep.

And I said, no.

So I got this out of the autotopian.com.

The Autopian.

Autopian.

That's interesting because someone at work had just asked me if I

read Autopian.

Oh, well, it's pretty.

They have really detailed, this was a really detailed well written

article.

I liked it.

Yeah.

That's what he said they have.

Oh, well, he's correct.

Just look at you know someone that's not a liar.

Shout out Ryan.

Thanks for the good recommendation.

Thanks Ryan.

Okay.

So this is what Steve said.

About him about automotive.

Where's automotive career went one day driving home from my job at

Peterson Publishing Company.

I suddenly and very noticeably totally lost all interest in

anything to do with the automotive world.

It just happened.

It was like the channel on a TV just changed while I was

watching a program that up until that moment was everything

I had lived for.

And I was left with a total understanding of what had

happened and why and no desire whatsoever to try to

change the channel back.

I knew that even if I had tried to change the channel back,

the program wouldn't be there.

I gave notice the next day.

Wow.

This hit him like a.

Just a camera ray.

Nuclear bomb.

I gave notice the next day that I was quitting and from

that moment on I just simply what about my life with

very different interests and focus.

What?

And then the article said of that and that was it for Scott

and his amazing show rod building career.

He built one show rod.

It became an absolute legend and then he was done.

That's that.

Yeah, I don't know.

You see the most normal thing I've ever heard or it's

the most bizarre thing I've ever heard.

I don't know how old he was in that,

but he must have been pretty young if he was still

working at Peterson.

He was working for car craft.

I get it.

Sometimes it just gets sucked out of you.

Maybe it was just a delayed realization and then it

came at once.

He's like, that's it.

I wish I knew what those other interests were.

He'd been standing on the court and then he stepped

off the court and it all hit him.

He got back into physics.

He won a Nobel Peace Prize.

Maybe he just fly fished for the rest of his life.

Maybe.

Do you think he could retire off of a photographer's

salary for car craft?

I'm sure he got another job.

You said fly fish all I just thought you implied

he didn't have a job.

Well, I don't know.

Do you think he was a wedding photographer after that?

No comment.

I'm not going to go further.

Thank you.

Are you ready?

Do you want to do your first up?

Because I went first last time.

OK.

So it's your turn.

Wow, that's so thoughtful of you.

Isn't it?

Look at me.

All right.

Well, I'm going to break out the big guns here

and talk about Ed Roth's mega cycle.

Can we get a description of it?

All right.

I guess so.

Wait, was I supposed to give you something?

I don't know.

You just picked up your phone.

It's like you're checking your bank account.

No.

I was looking.

Listen, I want you all to know that we have notes

with pictures.

Just finished my intro to the show.

It's pretty good.

Anyway, Rose is going off over there.

We have pictures to the show, which is why

I'm holding my show notes.

Because we have pictures of the cars.

And I've got it in my, you're using an iPad.

Well, yeah.

Miss Vance over there.

It's open like a book.

Yeah.

Oh, is it?

Okay.

Well, I mean, yeah.

I think it's a kind of us.

Yeah.

It's nice.

Okay.

Mega cycle.

Imagine a cab from like a crane truck.

Okay.

Yes.

And it's at the front of the car.

Yeah.

So it's also very phallic.

It kind of looks, I guess the side shot kind of looks

like a semen.

Oh, I was going to say like a dick with a mushroom head.

Yeah.

That's fine.

Like a semen.

Yeah.

Either or.

I mean, yeah.

Something happening to do with the penile organ.

Opposite of that cab.

Opposite of that cab is the engine.

It's a Volkswagen engine.

The exhaust is sticking way up.

Okay.

So we've got a cab, a one-seater, and you're in front of the axle.

You're sitting on top of the axle like in an economy line.

An early economy line or early van.

Engines to your side.

It's like a sidecar.

Yeah.

But it's aft and it's out in the open.

You're sealed in the cab with the steering wheel.

Engine is outside and is exposed.

And the body is, you know, gets cigar shaped towards the back.

And then there's a motorcycle behind you.

There's a beautiful custom triumph being hauled on the back of it.

And yeah, that's the mega cycle.

So the original name is by,

Oh, is this the real, I thought you were making that up.

The original name is by Robert Williams.

And it's Captain Pepe's motorcycle and Zeppelin repair,

which is supposed to be a play on Sergeant Pepper's.

I mean, this was drawn by Newton, Ed Newton in 66.

Newt.

It's so bizarre.

It also kind of looks like a fly.

Yeah.

The really big, top heavy eye.

Yeah.

And then it's got like a roll bar shape going over half of it

that also doubles into a scoop on the roof.

The roll bar shape is pretty cool.

And then it's on Craggers.

As far as I can tell, any profiles in the back and any profile in the

front in later version, the first version.

I don't know if that's just a bias by tire on the front.

And then an any profile in the back.

It's going to hard to tell.

I like the second version tires better.

Yeah.

It's in junior Sam.

It's driveway there.

And Fritz shank painted it.

Coupe pinstriped it.

And the triumph is blue, not red.

I like the blue.

Oh, yeah.

I like the all blue.

I'm not crazy about the white version.

But I think Fritz redid it and did the bike red.

I think there's a lot of subtle angles on this truck, on the

sidecar truck.

Yeah.

I mean, we're like, there's a body.

There's that belly line in the cab.

And then just the way that the, sorry, not the belly line in

the cab in the back of the truck in the bed, in the middle.

And then the way the cab is sculpted up.

You know, I'm, I think I'm tripping.

I don't think that that's a, I thought that was a Volkswagen

motor in there.

I don't know that it is.

Is that a weird choice for Ed Roth?

No, it's totally normal.

Oh, okay.

Totally normal.

But I think I'm wrong though.

Hang on.

Let me look and maybe it's in here.

But anyway, the whole thing about this car is it's like

got a floating tube grill and it has an M for, you know,

mega cycle.

And he was urged by show promoters to dip, ditch the

Captain Peppies.

I think because it was too long.

Oh, it's got a Buick v6, my bad.

Sorry.

I got faked out by the exhaust, but I guess I knew that.

I was thinking about that because when I was talking about

building that other project and using the v6 and I said,

if I did a v6, nobody'd respect me.

And then I saw this and I was like, oh, okay.

Cool.

So I was always on that page with Ed.

Ed Roth was about like, he was really concerned about his

carbon footprint that he's leaving behind on earth.

So like he rode his bicycle everywhere, especially when he

moved to Utah.

I remember you tell me that.

You know, he built those like motorcycle cars later.

It's really interesting.

Like the road agent and he like drove it to

Alaska and back and it, I think he got like 99

miles per gallon in there or something.

Damn.

Yeah.

He did a three cylinder car.

I think the stealth was three cylinder and road agent

was maybe a motorcycle engine.

It's interesting to be in his line of work and then to

have such opposing views to it.

Yeah.

That's the thing.

That's a part where I think it's just where like,

you get a guy like that.

There's more to him than just what you think is

on the outside and then people tend to ignore

that part.

Yeah.

That's too bad.

It is really.

I mean, you know, Ed was on about that.

He was, that's why a bunch of the cars had

the smaller engines.

I mean, not all of them.

The last one he was building that was in his house

that they moved to the museum.

I had a V8, had a Cadillac V8 and had the letter

that he wrote Cadillac when he asked for the motor.

Did they give it to him?

Mm-hmm.

Oh.

Yeah.

I think they gave him a North Star motor.

Did he die while he was building it?

Yeah.

Oh.

I mean, I don't know if he was in the shop

when he died.

No, I mean, sorry.

Was it in build when he passed away?

Yeah.

It was still in the shop there or is that

the house and so they removed the room

and moved it.

His house was in Manti, Utah

and where Eileen lives now is a couple blocks

over and Eileen lived.

I think they lived, I don't know if he had

still had his house when he first moved there.

Mm-hmm.

And then they met so they had separate places,

I guess.

So they moved, the museum is over at

Eileen's place.

So they moved that room in the car

and exactly how it was into the museum.

Oh, whoa.

So you can see how the car is sitting.

Yeah.

See when it was in process.

Mm-hmm.

Dang.

It's pretty cool.

Working right up till when he died.

It's pretty cool.

Yeah.

That is really cool.

Yeah.

How old was he?

Do you know?

Early 60s.

Okay.

So he was pretty young.

That's too bad.

I think it was.

I mean, I don't know what too young

is anymore.

Yeah.

I mean, I think he was like 65.

Let me look at that.

I can find that out pretty quickly.

Or maybe I can't.

I don't know.

I thought if I just clicked on his bio

here on custom ROM,

I'd get it really quick, but not really.

Where's our producer at when we need her?

Well, I thought you'd be searching it

at the same time.

Yeah, you know what I kind of thought.

I thought maybe I should search it

while you're searching.

And then I just didn't do it.

Sorry, he was 69.

Okay.

Just like David Bowie.

I thought he was.

69.

I thought he was a bit younger.

Either way, I still think that was too soon.

Yeah.

He lived from 32 to 2001.

Damn.

I know.

It's a long time.

I know.

It's a long time.

He's definitely an original.

Mega Holler is interesting because

Ed loaned the car to this guy

at a salvage yard in exchange

for a VW pan to build his next car.

And

so the deal was like Ed hauls off the

pan or whatever.

And

the guy

gets to have the car in front of his junkyard

for a year as advertisement.

Ed comes back

and they're using it as a doghouse.

And the dogs have ripped the seats up

and

the car was pretty

pretty fucked up.

That's so rude.

Yeah.

I mean

it says a local junk dealer.

So Ed sold the car to Jim Brocker

in 69 and Jim traded it to Harris

and then Bill Harris died the mega cycle

and several other cars in Bill's collection

were auctioned off.

Harris was a huge collection

and all of Ed's stuff was in Harris at one time.

Oh wow.

Brocker

the Brockers were Hollywood people

and Von Dutch lived at the Brockers.

And so they would have this like Haunted House

every year and Ed Roth and Von Dutch

would decorate the Haunted House.

Whoa.

I bet that was a really killer Haunted House.

Yeah.

Dutch lived in his bus there

and they would bring him groceries

so like he didn't have to go out.

Wow.

He's worked.

So he could just work.

Yeah.

He was pretty much a made man at that point in his life.

So

but they really liked.

Yeah.

The Brockers really liked Big Daddy

and Von Dutch.

I would love to go to that Halloween house.

Yeah.

I know.

Right.

Isn't that so cool?

I mean Ed Roth for a time

worked in Knott's Berry Farm.

Like he just quit doing hot rods all together

and just went and sign

sign painted

because he never thought of himself

as a very good sign painter

so he just took a day job

painting signs at Knott's Berry Farm.

To get better.

Yeah.

Oh.

That's cool.

And he was just there doing nothing

and he thought that it was wrong

that

that he was drawing monsters

with like bloodshot eyes for kids and stuff

and

he just like

thought what he was doing

and God's eyes was wrong.

Oh because they were like stoned.

Yeah.

But who knows if they're

maybe they're just happy.

Well when he was hanging out.

He was just under pressure.

When he was hanging out at a shop

there was this guy that was hanging out

and he said that the guy

was like always smiling

and he was like

hey what's your deal man

why are you always smiling

and he was like

oh I'll bring you something tomorrow

and he's like

I thought great John's

gonna bring some of his good drugs over

and he brought him

the Book of Mormon.

And then he became Mormon.

Yeah.

Oh wow.

And then he

eventually got tired of being

recognized everywhere he went

so he

would go outside of California

and

drive until

nobody would recognize him.

Apparently that was

Manti Utah.

So he moved to Utah

and it was

you know right by the temple.

Uh huh.

Oh boy yeah.

In the small town.

Salt Lake there.

Yeah he just

rode his bike around town

and everybody just

thought he was just this

weird eccentric guy

that rides his bike everywhere.

Just kind of hiding out.

Oh do they have a temple

in that tiny town?

Yeah.

Oh okay.

Big.

Yeah it's real big.

The temple is.

Uh anyway

mega holler.

Tiny town big temple.

Fritz shank

you know

spritz by fritz

repaints mega holler

at some point

junior owns it.

The triumph gets repainted

back to red

and

coup pinch triped it

at some point.

I don't think it's like

that now

and then

uh let's see.

Mark Moriarty I think

own

Mark has owned it four times now.

Wow.

So I think Mark Moriarty

has it now.

Just a dealin and a tradein.

Yup.

Imagine what that guy's life

is like.

He's owned that four times.

Yeah.

Just buying like weird

shit left and right.

Yeah I did kind of think

about that some people

it is their thing.

But yeah at one point

in the middle there

when it was in disrepair

and the hair has had it

I guess.

Ed's son Darryl Roth bought it

and the Druid Princess

had an auction

and Ed and Darryl restored

mega cycle

and Druid Princess

in the middle there.

And when they were done

in the middle

they were sold to J. Oberg

and then once again

sent on the show circuit.

So I don't know what years

that is

but J. Oberg is another

odd rod movie car

TV car guy in California.

I had to look him up

like somebody I met

was like oh I worked for J

and then I had to like

look up J. Oberg

and he

had his hands in some cool

movie cars and stuff.

I think it was just that

people didn't like him

and I could be totally

wrong about that.

I think Dan Woods

I think part of the

Dan Woods story

which we're going to talk about

is like he hooked up

with J. Oberg maybe

at some point.

1980s Ferrari F40 limo

like he did crazy

like these like

like what happened

to the world's longest

car

and that comes in by built

by a famous car collector

J. Oberg

has 26 wheels.

Whoa.

So like J.

is another proprietor

of Wild Cars.

We should probably do

a deep dive on him at some

point.

It'd probably be interesting.

Put a pin in it.

Yeah it'd probably be

interesting.

So anyway the

Megahuller has made

the rounds

and it's kind of amazing

that it's like still out

there and hanging there.

The body again

it's blue

red triumph on it

there's a singular cab

that you sit in

the motor is next to you

the axle is behind you

so you're

hanging off the front

of it

and then there's

this asymmetrical grill.

Yeah it's going to save

the grill.

With a beautiful M

you know

that Ed

probably hand carved

nowadays we laser cut

and just have it

polished out of

stainless or something

you know.

They still make them

like they used to.

Yeah and it's like

coil over straight

axle kind of

suspension I think

under there

and I think that this

was the car where

Ed said

eventually a guy

gets tired of

looking at

you know coverings

and wants to see

what the car

is made of

and that's why the

car is completely exposed.

Oh interesting.

Yeah.

I mean it is

bizarre looking.

Yeah.

It's weird looking

like the little

sidecar.

Yeah and it's got

an offset rear end

like a truck rear end

or something where

it's offset

so it matches up

with the offset engine.

Wait.

It sticks out

further on one side

than the other.

The third member

is offset in the rear

end.

Okay but the wheels

are still parallel.

The wheels are

still parallel.

I don't know if

that's either

like a dump truck rear end

or if

Ed just had the

axle tubes

custom made

and the axles.

Yeah.

You know.

I mean Ed was

a pick and yard

kind of guy

but you can see

in this shot

that it has a

nice clear line

from the engine

back but they're

both off on the

passenger side.

Oh wow it is

almost touching

like the

coils on the

on the

passenger side.

The frames of Ed's

car is like this one

drops down twice.

Is that crazy

math do you think

to make it

so far offset?

No.

It was more about

finding a rear end

or either like I said

he might have had

the axle tubes

and axles

made for it.

Yeah.

I bet that's what he did.

I don't know.

Ed's a junkyard guy

so it could be

a dump truck rear end.

They come like that?

Yeah.

Some dump trucks

are excessively offset.

Oh okay.

Didn't know that.

Oh like a big

you know what never mind

I'm not going to pretend

I know anything about it.

But again

this also has

his coil over

rear axle

so it's like

the frame ends

at these little pockets

and the coil springs

are on the rear end

and like

a bunch of Ed's

cars are like that

so it's got

coil over axle

and then a

panored bar

that centers the axle

and then it's got

like a little

four-link setup

so that you can

change the angle

of the rear end.

A bunch of Ed's

cars are like that

I like it.

It's like a show car

way to go

because then when you

see it from the back

then you can have

that chrome spring

under there.

Looks cool.

Very

interesting.

Yeah

and then the front end

it looks like a

galaxy front end.

Let's see it.

It's like this

it's like this

steel hat channel

and then

super narrow

control arms.

Hmm.

Yeah I wouldn't

recognize it

I believe you.

I think

I kind of think it's

from a galaxy

and then

it's just coil over shock.

It's pretty simple

front end and the frame

isn't really that crazy

but it's really neat

super neat to see

the way Ed did that stuff

and it's got a

rack and pinion steering

out in the front

which

That's always nice

Uncertainty also has

but the Uncertainty

has the rack and pinion

running the length

of the frame.

I can't hardly

wrap my mind around that

it's weird.

It's like a dragster

front end

and it's just

it's a long story

it's not going to be

interesting radio but

I'll tell you about it.

We'll have it more

face to face

but yeah

on this one Ed's

got the rack and pinion

just like hanging way out

front on this

special bracket

that looks like

the Chicago Bulls logo

Yeah I saw it way out there

mm-hmm

Very cool

Very simple

Very unique

Yeah

It's pretty neat

Ed's a smart guy

Eccentric

Smart

Smartly eccentric

Yeah

Excessively eccentric

I guess

excessively enough

I don't know

Anyway

It's

I'll hand the mic to you

It's your turn

I was going to say yeah

Do you want me to go?

Yeah well butt in

On to

2002

Vanturian

which is built by

Carl Kasper

sometime in 1974

I believe

I've seen it

Rose has seen it

and she actually was

pretty bummed when she

saw that it was on my list

Yeah

I mean your face is

trying to say that you weren't

I was

definitely going to pick it

Oh I thought you were

about to say I was bummed

when I saw it

and I was ecstatic

when I saw it

Oh yeah I'm sure you were

I was so thrilled

because it's in that

Hot Rod Show World book

and I was like

wow this thing's nuts

and then I saw it

and the colors are

still as

brighter than the pictures

could show

The pictures don't do it justice

Yeah they're really vivid

And it's big

Oh is it big?

A lot you know

I'm going to say something

that makes it sound like

I thought it was small

but that's fine

Some show cars are small

This thing's big

It's big

Okay

Maybe I won't say

about how small I thought it was

It's really long

I sort of thought it was

like

had a little ghost

of an

Astro in it

because I thought

it was small

Okay anyway I'll

cut that part out

Whatever

Yeah we don't have

to say that

Yeah anyway if you guys

haven't figured it out

then

and it's aerodynamic

it's raked with a sharp nose

it's like a slick

wedge from the side

It's a huge wedge

It's okay

It's a huge wedge

It's got a sculpted body

real and illusion

and it's hard to tell

from the photos

which is which

and since Rose has seen it

in real life

she'll probably be able

to tell us better

The colors are

bright

as Rose said there

Mostly orange

Yeah

Well it has a red body

Is it red?

I thought it was orange

I had it written down as orange

and then I looked at

another photo of it

and I was like it's red

That one where it's really shiny

I don't agree with that

Well because there's

orange accents on it

I've seen it in person

I feel like it's orange

Okay well there's

two different orange colors

on it then

Keep going

Okay

Alright

I'm gonna say it has a red body

Rose is gonna say

it has an orange body

I'm gonna say it has

a fluorescent orange body

Okay

with yellow, blue, orange

and purple accents

It's got a blue roof

with a small wing

at the top of the cab

and a cute little

spoiler at the tail

It's got that same

roll bar idea

that is on half of

Megahuller

Yeah I was gonna say

it is like that

It's pretty cool looking

Oh yeah the back

is like a cowl

I'm sorry

the back is like

a reverse curve type wing

that you'd see on a

transam

or Porsche

or something like that

It's real cute

It's just like a little

progressive wedge

A little whoop

from front to back

It is a progressive wedge

and you sit way in front

of the front axle

Yeah you do

As far as I know

it's a scratch built body

Okay

Yeah it's a 76 vet rear end

It's got a 454 Chevy

and that is sitting in a

Damn

I didn't know it was a big block

Well listen to where it's at

It's sitting in a

plush diamond tuck

bay

behind the seat

I feel like if I

stood there long enough

Carl might come along

and he might let me

drive it

I don't know if it runs

because it's in like a

velvet

I just kept staring at it

Diamond tuck

padded room

Also on wire wheels

Oh yeah

Yep

Which was the style at the time

Which was the style of the time

Can we get back to

how the engine is

in the plush diamond tuck

How much more do you

have to say about that

Bay

Okay

Well I'm saying

you probably never

even got started

You think

they started the engine

up in that

environment

I shudder to think

they're pushing that

What is pushing that mean

Not starting it

and pushing it

with human beings

Oh okay

Yeah I guess it wouldn't

get that hot

if you just

started it

and moved it

I mean I don't know

Okay

I don't have any photos

of the engine bay

I do yeah they're

in the show notes

They're in the

picks

Okay I can see it

How crazy is it

and everybody else

we didn't say this

at the top of the episode

but we have links

in the show notes

so everybody can follow on

Okay so the engine is

right behind the driver

Yeah

but then the

It's huge

air cleaners

for the carb

are basically

at the button

tufted

headliner

Yeah

So in my opinion

I don't see how

you could start it

and not suck the

headliner into the

carbs with that

supercharger

It's always a

blown motor

It's a blown big log

Yes

and the air cleaners

are at the roof

Which is kind of

I think the point

right

you're supposed to be like

this is stupid

but it's cool

So maybe they were pushing it

It's always entirely

possible

Maybe they got a whole

bunch of people to push it

It's always entirely

possible because

even if I feel like

even if you ask Carl

he'd tell you it ran

and it might not

Well it is

a good fantasy

that I would run

So I couldn't find

that much about

the building of this

but I did find out

a lot about

Carl as a kid

so I'm gonna

Okay

Or as in like

how we got to where he was

Yeah I met him once

he was super nice

He used to go around

in disguises at his shows

so that he could

kind of hear what people

were saying

That's hilarious

Yeah

Good for him

You want to know the truth

But he was super nice

and it was actually

really cool to meet him

even though like

a guy I worked for

had worked with

Carl a bunch

and would kind of like

say things

but just

in the way that you

talk about somebody

that you've worked with

for a long time

I feel like

Carl getting him into

rush jobs and stuff

or judging the show

and having to work

a lot at the show

but it was cool

after going to the

Carl Kasper show

as a kid

a bunch

to meet him

and he was nice

and I didn't know

that a bunch of these cars

were hit

when I was a kid

you're just like

you think about ownership

Right

He's done a bunch of stuff

He has a ton of cars

and it's like

he's not like Jean

where he like

goes out and brags about it

he just like

puts it in his show

and then he's sort of

not a guy you can reach

but then

he is his own

media machine

so I feel like

it sounds different

where it's just like

another one of Carl

Kasper's wild cars

has a big engine

and crazy paint

and that's kind of

all it is

Yeah

You know we're like

Jean's cars

that have a little more

story I feel like

Okay

Yeah

I guess I don't

I don't know the

stories of Jean's cars

That's what I mean

is like

there seems to be

not a lot of

Carl

Okay

Alright

Now here's

This is

about the

Okay

let me say this

This is a

screenshot I found

or it's a scan

of a magazine

and it's hot rod

it says hot rod gallery

Okay

and it says

Vanchurian candidate

Carl Kasper's van

is of

classic

proportions

Buck Rogers has

nothing on showman

Carl Kasper

and we suppose

that the man

from the 25th century

if he were with us

today would feel

Vanchurian

No Vanchurian

isn't a

shopped channeled

sectioned

or double whammied

stalker

but rather a

full blown

including its

671 Huffed

451 inch

rat motor

fiberglass

whiz bang

which was

designed and constructed

at Kasper's own shop

it's cockpit

compartment

tilts forward

for easy

entrance and exit

Ooh

I didn't see that

I guess I

didn't realize that

It's fiberglass

so it's

under inch plexi

that's thick

under the

hand rubbed

translucent

acrylic lacquer

over a

pearlescent under base

with shades

running from

tangerine to crimson

red, ice, blue

and organic purple

is a full

chrome ollie

tube frame

employing

reworked

old's cutlass

control arms

and a

76 vet

rear end

Well he really

described the colors

better than I did

so thank you

for reading that

It was a good

these pictures of

answering it looks

like the body

changed a little

but I don't

I struggle to believe

that

the windows

look smaller

like they

change the hatch

Well I think

like

there's so many

interesting body

lines on it

and there's

like

there's the part

I can't really

I don't know

if I can

explain this

to the listeners

but there's

just a part

of the scoop

Yup

Is it an actual

scoop right there?

Yeah

Okay

well I mean

I highly

recommend everybody

look at

Also the stance

is hard

what I put up in the

shadows

When it's in

the shot in the grass

I mean it basically

the cab is touching

the grass

like it's raked

like a van of the

day

but the front

is so

low to the ground

Yeah

it's really

And just the

shape of it is

like a shark

Corvette

Yeah

I actually have

a postcard of that

God it's nasty

Yeah it is nasty

I mean it's a little bit

of a snort on the front

but it's a really

cool car

It's a really cool car

Interesting guy

Yeah

Well he was

self-taught

he's kind of

an underdog

and he's very

humble

like you said

he was homeless

as a kid

so he grew up

with his grandparents

he had a really

interesting background

at 11 he bought

a sewing machine

and he had a

cool string

and sprang people's cars

just right into it

he built his first car

at 16

and it's still out there

winning shows

so he still shows

that car

I can't remember

what kind it was

I should have

gone a little more

deep in that

he says that

if you love

what you do

you'll never

work a day in your life

and then

what he's doing now

I saw in an interview

probably from

the 90s

or maybe early

2000s

he said he is

what he's doing now

oh that's what he

I mean he said that

in an interview

yeah

so I thought that was

interesting

and that's what I have

for the

vanturian

what's your next car

sorry

I was just looking

at all these

different Carl

Casper cars

because it's like

they just don't

have

I don't know

there's just

something about it

I think it's one of

those things where

like Carl is so

good like

I do think

he is good

at building

and hits all

it's like when you go to

a restaurant

and you're like

what does this place have

and then it's like

one of those places

that has everything

right

and you're like

a little bit of everything

then it's hard to decide

why do you do everything

cause like

you look

Carl's like

got this shoebox

and he's got these

like custom things

and then he's like

got that

late model

Ford Explorer

and then the general

lead

oh yeah

he did some late model

stuff too

oh yeah

and he's just done

one of every style

but like

even if that were the case

like

still a bad Mamajama

yeah

and he's got

huge collection

and just like

all these show

he's really put out a lot of work

yeah

yeah the

and I don't think

he's a copycat

I think he has original ideas

yeah I mean the

popcorn wagon

is two blowers

there again

another one

yeah

another super

it's got like

a modified

Model T grill

it's a wooden C cab

and then it's got a popcorn

yeah it's got

Model T lanterns

and windshield

and then

two blowers

on a small block

with a shotgun scoop

that's all the way at the roof

well that exhaust is insane

it's like the ice truck right

that exhaust is crazy

yeah

it's pretty nice

it's really crazy

it's so out there

we all should google

Carl Casper

and then I will put

links to the show notes

with the

vantuary

yeah anything

that comes up for Carl

I think is interesting

yeah as a kid

we always went to the

auto show

at freedom hall

Louisville Kentucky

and

I was telling Emily

that I was like

well I was

Emily thought it was

like really amazing

because they have these

old posters

world's largest

auto show

and it's

you know 24th annual

custom auto show

and

you know

it's like

one hall of it

is the nice

show cars

and then it's like

then you've got

on this poster

okay

star Chuck Wagner

from

radio

and then WQMF

radio station presents

playboy magazines

25th anniversary

playmate

candy loving

candy

WDRB

which was our local

Fox channel presents

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck

with special guest

Care Bear

what

50 bands

super jam

band battle

I always remember

that in the commercial

50 bands

is it over the week

see the vibrant

new dance craze

of the 80s

flash dance style

break dancing

stuff

TV wrestling stars

Jerry Lawler

and Jimmy Hart

from the WWF

and Ohio Valley

wrestling

right

kit

the night rider

stunt car

what

so it sounds like

it's a whole

variety of things

you can do

falcon crest star

Lorenzo Lomas

so

then it's got

the shirt tails

there's also

bronco hog machine

what's that

I sure want to

find out

it says

WAMZ

country station

presents the world's

two wildest car

crushing four by fours

bronco hog machine

plus

what

all-american

yes

okay I want to

drive one of those

yeah that's right

bronco hog machine

yep

also this is a super

grainy black

and white poster

and all this stuff

is just jammed

all over it

that's certainly

a lot of stuff

yeah wow

oh my gosh

it's really good

how did you

even read all that

I started in

one corner

there's a ton of them

there's loads of these

posters uploaded

and they're

definitely bring back

a lot of memories

for me

because it's like

got the fall guy stunt

truck

on this other one

Steve Bond

as Jimmy Lee Holt

and general hospital

I don't know

it was just

world premiere

of the street

hawk stun cycle

just

you know

Miami Vice

stars

wow

they just have

a little bit of everything

and cool cars

yep

he really kicked out

the jams on these

this

let's see

what year was this one

can't tell

oh my god

I can't tell

what year this one is

but it's got the roach coach

did you look that up

in our odd rod search

I did not

okay the roach coach is

wild

and then

at the same one

Tom Wopat

from dukes of hazard

and

and the general Lee

and then

welcome stars

from Buck Rogers

Tweaky

and Aaron Gray

as Wilma

so I don't know

they had a lot of

there was a lot of stuff

when you went to the

Carl Kasper show

yeah

it sounds like it

there was like

50 things to do

so it's family friendly

sounds like

yeah I mean

that's

a lot of why we went

right

but I mean

it was fun

here's

one where Mr. T is a guest

generally is

huge on this poster

and kids I know

you're getting really excited

about this

but they don't have these shows

anymore

the lowrider hopping contest

is always big on the TV

commercials

I even know the song

off the top of my head

bum bum bum bum

bum

if you didn't call it that

what are you doing

yeah you're right

the greatest show ever

it could be though

I mean

yeah

America's at that time

kinda got the

leg up on auto shows

yeah

I'm gonna believe

it

I'm gonna believe it

and say it was

is

okay was

because it's not

around anymore

yeah

I think that's good

because then we'll do

ice truck next time

and something else

what else

I'm doing

beatznic bandit

too

Wow, that's a good one.

Yeah, it is a really good one.

I love how 90s it is.

And then on accident, I also got a 2000s car,

Roswell Rod by Fritz.

That one's so good.

Yeah, I picked some pretty good ones.

And then my last one is the Golden Sahara too.

Also good.

That one is gonna be my biggest,

it's gonna be my swan song.

All right, well, I guess we won't rush it

and we'll just leave it at that.

I mean, Megahaller,

everybody should go look up Megahaller,

see what it looks like.

I don't know, look up all of Karl Casper's stuff.

Like the Hot Rod Show World magazines,

if anybody's got those,

oh my God, you know what we're talking about.

You've seen these wild things,

like I was, I pulled up the little cement mixer

that's got indie profiles.

Oh yeah, she did.

It's a six wheeler and it's got a chrome cement mixer.

Yeah, I wasn't into it.

But the model with it, the scale is small

and it's like a C-Cab.

I was into the idea and I wasn't into it visually.

I think they're all idea cars, right?

Even the bad ones.

Yeah, yeah.

Bath tub car.

You sit on a toilet.

That was the one you were like, it sucks.

You hated it.

And then you wanted to present it to everybody.

I both love and hate it.

Okay.

Because it is...

I mean, it's cool, they took the concept all the way.

Exactly, I mean, it's got everything.

It's so classic in that scheme and that realm

and like I feel like to fully remember history

as it were, you should have some of the shitty ones

and some of the good ones and the line should be blurred.

It's like so bad, it's good.

If you were gonna make an appalling hot rod, that's it.

Yeah, I mean, it's pretty...

It's a thing to be sitting on a toilet

if you're driving it and I'm sure it doesn't drive that.

It is sad to think of some of these as a paycheck.

I built them small so I could get more on a trailer.

Oh yeah, somebody said that.

You know, just building different cars

to get three or four cars out on a tour

and be getting paid to fill the trailer up

and go somewhere.

Hey, you gotta make a living, man.

Well, that's what I mean.

It's like, it's good and bad.

It's a hustle, but that's why some of them

I think are absolute shit.

But they're concepts and I like the concepts.

Yeah, I like the concepts too.

I like the concepts too.

Don't take my criticism the wrong way.

Yeah, well, we did another episode

in the books on the books

and I just wanna remind everybody,

I know I've said it 50 times,

click the links in the show notes

if you wanna see the cars that we went over today.

Ooh, you know what?

I ran into a listener

and he was like,

did you look at the show note links for the prelude?

And I was like, no, I didn't really look at it.

And he was like, the back wheels on the prelude

turn opposing the front wheels to a point

and then they flip and go the other way.

Oh, I did put the right link in.

I thought you were gonna say the link was broken.

No, no, he was just so impressed with what-

And he did the show note links.

I love it that people do the show note links.

He was saying like, yeah, it was Steve.

He was just like totally psychotic Japanese design

where like one person spent their whole life on this.

Oh, you know what?

That reminds me, we did have somebody write in

and talk about they had a friend in high school.

So that's what you're-

Ah!

Okay, Emily's getting into her messages.

We've got another write in from another happy listener

who has something from a high school car.

Their friend had-

Is this a callback to the features episode?

Yes, yes.

And this is a motorcycle dad on Instagram.

And he said, hey ladies, listening to Car Crush.

I knew a guy in high school whose parents

bought him a new four wheel steering prelude.

Rich Prick, it was a pretty sweet car.

I asked if it was sold in the US or as an import

because I was having issues finding out that.

And he said, yes, he got to write in it.

And yes, it was sold in the US.

And yes, it cornered quite well as I recall.

And he said it was available in 88.

And I think his was in 89.

Okay, brand new when I was just a sophomore,

junior in high school.

Okay.

Yeah.

Right on, that's it.

I kind of remembered my friends going off about him.

So-

Yeah, so I don't remember any.

And that was like the time when I was in high school.

So I don't know, I was in high school in the 80s.

What am I talking about?

I don't know.

Honestly, I don't know.

Maybe that's why I don't know about him.

But they would have been the age of car

that people would have been buying.

I had somebody write me telling me about,

cause I posted that coffee maker

that plugs into your cigarette lighter.

And this guy was like, Craigsler put a photograph.

And I was like, we already talked about that

in our last episode.

Way to tell me that you're not listening.

Oh.

And the guy just kept going on about more accessories

that we're already in the episode.

And I'm like, yeah, I get it, dude.

You didn't listen.

Yeah, that's okay.

You don't have to listen.

Yes, you do.

Just turn it on and leave it and don't listen to it

cause that just makes us have more listeners

on our platform.

If you want, but we hope you listen.

Whatever, we're just screaming in the woods.

Yeah.

I think we're, I think that wraps it.

That's it.

We're done screaming in the woods for the day.

We got it out of us and we feel better.

We're gonna get back in the shop.

We pulled my windshield out of my 67

and we were fixing some little bit rust in the corners

and welled up the seams where the skin meets the A-pillar.

The windshield posts, so it looks so cool.

Rose made a really beautiful piece of skin for the A-pillar.

Tiny little piece, but it makes all the difference

in the world.

Yeah, but it sure blends nicely.

It looks great.

As many of you know, you don't take your windshield out

very often.

No, so she's found a bunch of stuff to do.

It's pretty inconvenient.

Every minute, another thing to do pops up.

I don't think so.

Every hour and a half.

I've seen some far worse windshield openings,

but we're gonna paint the dash too.

So it has turned into a project

and we're gonna get back on it.

So thanks for listening.

Let's get a look at.

You done been piled up?

You done been piled up.

Bye.

["Pomp and Circumstance"]

you

122. The Pileup EP10: Odd Rods II

Ferrari F40

Buick Century

Oldsmobile Cutlass

Chevrolet Corvette

Ford Explorer

Ford Model T

Ford Falcon

Ford Bronco

About this episode

Original notes