Jalopnik
What do you call a handmade car built by a 20 something name Bob Larson and old enough to have been in the original Detroit Autorama? You call it the Larson Engineering special and it is a treasure trove of clever ideas and hellish ergonomics. We're not implying anything, but if this is the car responsible for the whole scissor doors thing, we're way less excited by it. Still the way they operate is pretty clever, sort of a pivot on a carrier mounted to a parallelogram hinge and secured with a shot pin latch, not bad for 1953, but not even the tip of the iceberg for this car.
Novel ideas don't end there. The car has been sort of a test bed for go-faster ideas seeing all kinds of changes and updates over the years. When it was originally built, it pucked the trend of a front mounted solid axle with trailing arms and instead went with a swing axle design allowing for the low stance. Since anybody who's studied chassis physics will tell you a swing axle sucks for driving dynamics, the car was again upgraded with a double wishbone and coilover setup which it still retains. Motiviation comes via a compact V6 V8 which we could not discern but was equipped with some cool parts. The open headers have a cutout valve operated by a cable which runs down the center of the exhaust pipe and can be operated from the cabin. Speaking of cabin, even though it's a cool looking ride, the driver space looks like a special kind of hell. Looking at one of the mods in particular, the big scoops behind the front suspension leading into the footwell, we're assuming that in addition to being cramped, the footwells were hotter than the fires of hades. Yikes but awesome.
Comments
See, they call 'em HOT ROD's, because you have to have the vent, or the exhaust will slowly cook your leg like barbequed pig meat.
That's more like it! This car has a sense of danger - something those burnt-pumpkin million-dollar low-riders-of-sterility don't offer. All you need is asbestos socks, and you're ready to roll.
Spectacular.
I like the fat tires, dirty engine and overall coolness vibe of this one.
The front end looks a bit like this guy:
[visitbristol.co.uk]
Sorry for the link. For some reason, I can't insert images in my posts today.
Love the stance, proportions, and door hinges.
Hate the goofy clown face front end and pirate steering wheel location (It's drivin' me nuts!)
My guess on the origin of the V6 is Buick 3.8, based solely on the valve covers which have the trademark rectangular shape of the SBC upon which it was based. In the end, it's just a guess, though...
@Mike the Dog:
Chevy small block V8. The center two cylinders share an exhaust port on these heads, hence the three outlets.
That's not a V6. Some of the V8's from that era (early fifties) still had siamesed ports. Look at the two four-barrel carbs as well as the four plug wires under the exhausts. I'm going to guess early Caddy, as they were popular in the pre-sbc era.
@graverobber:
Egg-friggin'-zactly. Count the plug wires, people! My guess is the two center exhaust ports share a pipe as homage to the original hot rod V8, the flathead Ford (on which the center cylinders shared a port and a pipe). Other than that, there's no good reason for it.
I was gonna say, "get a hobby, kid," but I think we're lookin' at it.
I just looked through the gallery...
OMG! It's dirty!
I didn't even know they let petroleum residues into the show...
Would like to see a photo with the doors closed. I like the door hindge idea. Pretty cool car. Just goes to show you what you can have when you finally get tired of 32 deuces
@MarionCobretti:
I think you're right. A Chevy small block. For the life of me I don't know what he was trying to acomplish with the headers since the V60 flathead Ford is one beautiful engine. The whole thing reminds me of one of the old dirt track roadsters like Curtis.
The headers are brass, he was trying to accomplish decibels and tonality. The headers have their own gas lines and electric fuel pump so that he could light the parking lot of the drive in's on fire and have flames trailing him for 20'. The cockpit is as comfortable as a La-Z-Boy recliner and the car has those tubes for cool air in the Summer and a heater for the Winter since this was Bob's year round car. There is a site called :thehotrodsofdearborn.com that has cool pictures and a brief history of the car. It's been my Dad's car since he bought it from Bob in 1974. It's a 1957 283 Chevy. Bob had replaced the Flathead and wanted all of the rodders to think he was still running it, with the hood on, you can't tell what it is.
@graverobber: (Wipes egg from face) I knew there was a reason it looked like an SBC...
Being a southern boy, I was deprived of the pioneering in So Cal, but thank god for Hot Rod magazine! From what I can tell, the last vestages of the true spirit of hot rodding is still alive and well on some of the Cali dry lakes.
@MarionCobretti: I was thinking, "did anyone make a 6 that wasn't straight back then?" Then I saw the SBC finned valve covers, the ones I wanted for my 327, but wouldn't clear the roller rockers.
This car is rad.
My Dad has owned the car since 1974. He bought it from Bob Larson. I posted earlier, but it didn't show up. I may have been too long winded. The headers are brass for decibels and tonal quality. There are two electric fuel pumps, one for the dual carter's and one for the headers. There are gas lines that run to the headers to light the parking lots of the local drive in's on fire and flams trail 20' behind the car. Way cool Roadster.
@RichDeBene:
A flame thrower! That's just righteous man.
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