The man known as Coop has installed a bang up gallery of Speed Week at Bonneville photos on the Flickr. Bathe your eyeballs with the 1327 pics that Coop took while he was out there.

Coop Scores Speed Parts

Mister Cooper got lucky on a trip to a guy's garage to pick up some new wheels for his Falcon. Besides the aformentioned rolling stock, the famed artist let go of a few more dollars from his Cooply stash, heading home with a vintage Vertex Mag, a classic Edelbrock X-C8 cross-ram intake complete with dual Carters and a pair of classic finned valve covers, all for a Chevy 350 that he's building for a hot rod project. And when Coop says "phaeton," you can be sure the man isn't talking Volkswagen. [Positive Ape Index]

Coop Hits the Swap Meet

The one and only Mister Cooper got together with Señor Jalopy and belly-tank Bobby to hit a Model T swap meet in the fine city of Long Beach. As one of the few art critics Los Jalops intrinsically respect — as he himself has a bit of the old artist in him — we dig the man's take on the inherent majesty of the layout of parts on row after row of high-school gym tables covered in whatever's handy. Tin Lizzie-ownership fantasies will soon follow if you've got an American red blood cell in your body. [Positive Ape Index]

Coop Takes a Hooptyride

Given that the august Mister Jalopy hasn't seen fit to update his marvelous catalogue of wonderous things in over a month, Coop hopped in his new Falcon (the wagon is sadly still in a lawyer-induced state of disrepair) and went to check out the goings on at Hooptyrides, Inc. Also, one post down, he details an encounter with David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen! Dare we say it? It's good to be the Coop. [Positive Ape Index]

Yes, Please Lick the Plug: Coop's 78-Foot Painting

Coop is not a man to be understimated. He not only paints pictures just shy of 80 feet, they also happen to feature spark-plug-licking females illustrated in his inimitable, sexy style. Pop by his flickr page and check out the genesis of this bechwheemouth of rad-ass art. Also, check out his Kimberly Kane stuff, which is NSFW, mostly, but hot damn we wanna hang out with that girl. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Coop Felled by Lawyer!

Poor Coop. His recently-purchased Ford Falcon wagon was uncerimoniously crumped by a legal eagle sipping a caffeinated beverage and making an illegal left turn. Mister Cooper's laid up with a busted leg and the front end of his fresh garage-saling ride is ailing in a way that isn't just gonna buff right out. We wish the artist a speedy recovery and the lawyer a festering boil right in the middle of his forehead for mangling such a fine automobile and injuring one of our favorite artists. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Forget it Coop, It's Chinatown

Somehow, we imagine Coop walking out of the Los Angeles City Jail in a cream suit and watching fedora with a brown band, sauntering down the steps and stepping into his Model A hot rod. Just then, his phone rings. A voice on the other end of the line asks, "Are you alone, Mr. Cooper?" More »

I Wanna See Some History! Coop's New Tackle Box

This has absolutely nothing to do with cars. Unless it does. Which it does. So it does. While garage-saling, Coop picked up a tackle box once owned by one Harold Underhill, replete with a collection of lures, as well as Harold's fishing license from 1959. For petrolheads of a certain age, this will immediately invoke the scent of a certain era of garages, before said garages were mandated for automotive storage by asshat homeowners associations. This tackle box, friends, is an optical scent memory of the two-car garage prior to the advent of enforcable suburban same-color dictatorial suckage; when real men dropped transmissions in driveways with nothing but a Chilton or Haynes manual to guide them and a well-used Craftsman set to do the work. When the smell of pre-mix was the comforting smell of fatherhood, rather than the distant scent of gardeners. Of the banks of Folsom Lake at dawn or camping vacations on the Mendocino coast. This tackle box is a visual representation of the smell of the glory of the suburban garage of the West. And I haven't even eaten fish in twelve years. – Davey G. Johnson More »

He Brakes For Nobody: Coop's New Wheels

Apparently dissatisfied with his Model A's garage-sale-booty carrying capacity, Archduke Franz Coopinand requisitioned this '65 Falcon from fellow artist Keith Weesner. It's got a warm three-hundred-two inches of Ford Windsor under the hood and front disc brakes. He's threatening to install a slot car track in the back, which would essentially make it the coolest compact '60s wagon in just about any part of Los Angeles the man cares to drive it. Also, with two noted artistes counted among its owners, it may someday join the pantheon of the McGee/Scritchfield roadster and the Bumbeck Starion as an sigificant piece of Californian autocultural import. Barrett-Jackson 2030, anyone? – Davey G. Johnson More »

The Future is Then: Coop on Decals

Pal-O-Tha Jalop Mike LaVella once said, "For some reason, and I'm not exactly sure why, American Culture seemed to peak around 1963." We'd be more likely to say '68, but we do understand LaVella's argument for '63. Regardless, the 1960s were simply an incredible time for design and popular art in this country; we grew up with its leftover detrius emblazoned on our brain, much in the same way you'll see a 14-year-old kid wearing a Black Flag or Metal Up Your Ass t-shirt today. Coop dug up this '60s-vintage decal sheet and comments, "I want these images tattooed on the inside of my eyelids." Click over for more of the man's musings on the fantastic. – Davey G. Johnson More »

It Was The Time of the Vanner, In The Year of '71

Over at the blog which indexes all positive apes, the Inimitable Mister Cooper posted an incredibly boss ad for a custom Dodge van. Unfortunately, it was not safe for work, so we passed on passing it off as our own discovery. But when the boss isn't looking, click over and check it. Meanwhile, Coop's post pointed us to a wellspring of amazing vanning-related advertisements from the Me Decade. Click over and smile. Or eat 'em and smile. That's what Diamond Dave would do, after all. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue: Coop Goes Model-Crazy

A certain Mister Cooper indulged his Gasser fantasies lately in molded-plastic form, whipping up a '63 Pontiac Tempest, a '37 Chevy, and a Ford Cammer-powered Willys panel truck. Now and then, a sophisticated man of the arts and letters likes to take a break from dosing himself with cadmium, settle down at the desk and huff Duco for a few hours. You know, the simple pleasures. – Davey G. Johnson More »

22 Pomona Avenue: Horrific Hot Rod

The builder left alone. His mind was blank. He needed time to sleep; to get the memories from his mind. This much is obvious, but you really just have to go look for yourself. The only thing we could possibly say about this hot rod pickup from the Grand National Roadster Show that Coop didn't is that if there is any justice in this world, Derek Riggs should be allowed to sue over it. Many times over. And repeatedly. And one more time for good measure. Plus, once more with feeling. Poor little primered child of the damned. Poor little primered child of the damned. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Coop Weighs in on the Grand National Roadster Show, Johnson Weighs in on Hot Rodding

I have to admit, that I was a little dismissive of the GNRS in the post below. Maybe part of it's projection: as a NorCal to SoCal transplant, I realized that Northern California is where I like myself better. I'm more at home there; more at ease. Los Angeles is an amazing, wonderful place full of stuff you'll never find anywhere else, or at least not in the same combinations. What's more, it's the birthplace of hot rodding, low-buck land speed racing and drag racing. It gave us Hot Rod magazine, the So-Cal bellytanker, the Doane Spencer Roadster and the Pierson Brothers Coupe. More »

Jalopnik Late-Nite: Best. Motorcycle. Movie. Ever.

We know Davey G just posted something from Coop's blog, the incomparably cool Positive Ape Index. And we know that it is gauche to steal our fellow writers' sources. Like, if Wert started blogging about odd Karmann Ghias and Gasgacinch we know we'd be bummed. But we also know that it was snowing today in Malibu. Based on that we've determined that the above film is too fantastic not to be shown here on Jalopnik.– Jonny Lieberman More »

Old Crow Belly Tanker Gets Engine Turned

For those of you who happen to be fans of the Bandit's dashboard or '50s diner countertops and/or trim, engine turning — aside from any weird fetishes you may have that we'd probably rather not know of — is likely the reason. It's simple in concept, really. Just a gritty pad on a mill laid down repeatedly. Of course, to do it well, it helps to spend hours throwing away and screwing up material. Anyway, the back half of Bobby Greene's bellytanker canopy was just subjected to the treatment and then emblazond with the Coop-drawn Old Crow logo. Does it get much manlier? We just checked our pants. It is manlier than us, that is for sure. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Coop Takes a Holiday Motor Excursion

Coop, Mister Jalopy and Gale Banks all headed down to the Holiday Motor Excursion, where no car newer than 1932 was allowed. The Oklahoma Art Demon snapped somewhere in the neighborhood of 450,372 photographs and posted them all at his Index of Positive Apes. He also apparently found out that Alhambra may be the solution to the existential quandaries that overcome sensitive arty and writerly types. Who knew that the secret to happiness lies in the San Gabriel Valley? Not us, pal. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Coop Might Build Electric Motorcycle, Maybe

Coop is a many of many projects. Not quite as relentlessly prolific as his pal Mister Jalopy, Mister Cooper tends to take things a little more slowly. He also updates his blog more often. Unless the project in question is acquiring a set of Plomb tools in the original box sitting on a garage sale table. Then that sucker moves like a chimp with cheetah legs pumped full of crank. He's tentatively decided to enter the world of obscene torque, and as such has secured himself a Triumph chopper frame, which he will then stuff full of electricity. We think this is a splendid idea, because Coop in biker garb is just a really fun thing to think about. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Coop on Jake's '34 Fordor

Sometimes, we get annoyed with hot-rodding. Guys either build ridiculously-expensive billet-rods with no style, or cookie-cutter vintage-style rods that are about as original as their tattoos. It's an increasingly-hard medium to work in, because it's become so codified. But when you're Jim "Jake" Jacobs, you don't really worry about that. Jake's one of the legends of hot rodding, having worked for Ed Roth, edited Rod & Custom and founded Pete and Jake's Hot Rod Parts with the equally-legendary Pete Chapouris. And what did he bring out to last weekend's Mooneyes deal? A '34 Ford Fordor sedan. Huh? Click over for Coop's take on the car. We completely agree with him. This thing is an absolute master class in how to build a car correctly. This is a goddamn hot rod. – Davey G. Johnson More »

La Carrera Panamericana Hangovers

Coming down off the end of a marathon drive is always a little tricky; adapting back into the real world after spending thousands of miles watching for hazards and pushing oneself to the limit. But as Coop notes, "Maybe the fear of death does this to you, but food tasted better, the air smelled sweeter, everything just seemed to be turned up a notch or two higher somehow." And when it's an event like La Carrera Panamericana it must be even more amplified. The racers have been home for a bit and Coop's finished his tale; he also directed us to Kristin Stewart's blog, which is a great chronicle of her experience in a '52 Lincoln Ford. We think the only races that come close to La Carrera's cool factor are the 24 Heures du Mans, Paris-Dakar and the Baja 1000. So get to reading. More »

A Whole Mess of La Carrera Panamericana

Haller, Rachel and Coop have all checked in with updates on the state of the race. There've been a number of hairy wrecks with at least one person, the navigator in an E-Type, landing in the hospital. Coop reports: More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Coop Checks In

Everyone's favorite fully-bearded Oklahoma-native pin-up, hot-rod and rock 'n' roll artist finally turned in a report from the Mexican road race, and he claims there's much more to come. He, Gerie Bledso and Jim Silver qualfied 7th and took 7th overall in the first stage. Then some do-gooder complained that their Mustang's engine was too powerful and they got bumped from the Historic C class to the Exhibition class. Keep Gerie and Jim away from the cliffs, Coop. Everyone stay safe out there! – Davey G. Johnson More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Coop Arrives in Veracruz

Wherein, Mister Chris Cooper and Se or Gerie Bledso make it to Veracruz and are greeted by a big, giant head. Plus, pictures of neat scenery and beyond-cool racing cars. If Coop can manage to stay awake after a day of high-speed navigating, we predict the boy's race reports will be wicked-awesome. Click over to the only site that indexes positive apes for his latest dispatch. More »

We're Not in Mexico, But Coop is: It's La Carrera Panamericana Time!

Because we suck, we are not running La Carrera Panamericana this year. We came oh-so-close, but funding and timing simply were not on our side. As such, we sit here and send our regards and good faith to the mighty Coop, who is navigating for Gerie Bledso on the historic side of things, and the awesome Rachel Larratt, who threw a cage in her Elise to run the Unlimited Class. Gerie, Coop, Rachel, Haller and Kevin, we wish you all the best. Come back in once piece. Because as Coop says, "You're not really having an adventure unless knowledge of your blood type is required beforehand." More »

More Coop from El Mirage

Coop packed up with his pal Bobby Green again and headed out to the dusty environs of the historic El Mirage dry lakebed. Bobby's first attempt at running the belly tanker netted him a 93.1, which was apparently limted by a pretty heavy-duty headwind. Coop believes in the magic 100. As one of our common mantras is, "We should be more like Coop," we have no choice but to believe as well. Click over to the noted artists site that carries an index of positive apeness for a plethora of pics from one of the hallowed grounds of speed. More »

Coop Goes to El Mirage

Everyone's favorite Satanic Toulouse-Lautrec made a day of it out on the dry lakes with a group of friends running a belly tanker. And, in typical Coop style, he leaves any trick paraphrasing we could perform mouldering in a steaming pile of can't-say-it-better crap, so just click through and read his take. – Davey G. Johnson More »

Portrait Of The Artist as a Rudimentary Fabricator

...Wherein, Coop gets tired of the grody foam in his oil breather and decides to make something better on his lonesome. And he uses the word "doohickey," which is sorely underutilized these days. Click on, bretheren. More »

Lefty Broke Up the Pow-Wow And We Got Underway: Classic U.S. Nationals Film

Fair enough, at this point, the race was just called "The Nationals," and unlike today's race, it was held in Detroit. But c'mon, this was drag racing on its way to becoming one of the coolest sports ever invented, which it did just a few short years later in the thrall of nitro-huffing guys like Pat Foster, The Surfers crew, Garlits, Prudhomme, McEwen, Landy, Sox & Martin and the rest of the characters that launched a pastime into the big time. Coop's got parts 2 and 3 of the video over at his fine Index of Positive Apes. More »

Mister Jalopy Takes it to the Banks'

While we love us some Coop and some Iowahawk, there are few men on the planet who write about the sheer, shameful/shameless geekery of being an abject car nut than Mister Jalopy. So while we did run a bit about Coop and the mighty 'Hawk's visits to Gale Banks' Gearhead Invitational, we just ran across Mister Jalopy's account of the event, and well, crap. We can't not include Mister Jalopy, right? And besides, despite his denials of such radness, his coverage does not disappoint. More »

We'd Almost Trade The End of Last Week for This

How do you top blasting across the Southwest in a luxo car with a couple of women, scoping all manner of madcap machinery, making new friends and ogling hotties while staying in luxo-type rooms? Well, you really don't. But if we were gonna trade the Bullrun for two days out of somebody else's life, we could do far worse than Iowahawk's weekend out here in California. He hung with Coop, Mister Jalopy, Gale Banks, Ed Iskenderian, Art Chrisman, Bruce Meyer, and a whole host of other hot rod luminaries. If you do not know who these people are, please find out before returning to Jalopnik. Thank you. Plus, Coop's got a honkin' gallery of the goings-on at Banks' spread. More »

Land-O-(Dry) Lakes: Coop On Veda Orr On Early Land Speed Trials

The proprietor of the Postive Ape Index lays it down on pioneering hot rod journalist Veda Orr, with a whole buttload of scans of incredible vintage rods, explaining how what worked on the lakes out of necessity became part of the visual language of speed. Included are a grip of illustrations by a youngster named Dick Teague, who went on to fame and fortune as the designer of the AMC Pacer. If there's one thing we've learned over the last decade, the older one gets, the smaller the world becomes. And nowhere is it more evident to us than in the relationship between Los Angeles, Detroit, San Francisco and New York. More »

Coop to Run La Carrera Panamericana?

We reported earlier today that Gerie Bledso was looking for a co-driver for La Carrera Panamericana. Noted artist, Jalopnik commenter, Plomb tool fetishist and all-around good guy More »

Plaintbloggin' Along With Coop!

Do you like watching Coop make things? We like watching Coop make things because Coop makes things that we like. So if you like watching Coop make things that we like, you can click over and check out his latest paintblog. On the wings of Goodyear! More »

No Pocky for Kitty: Coop's Japanblogging in One Handy Package!

The man we often refer to as Coop just got back from the islands of the Rising Sun, and no, the fool didn't bring us a JDM right-hand-drive Starion A6M. But he sure did take a lot of pictures. So if you, like us, are a fan of the mighty Mister Cooper, click over and check it out. We've provided handy links for your convenience. More »

This Machine Kills Fascists: More Tool Porn With Coop!

Coop riffs on his latest obsession, vintage Plomb Tools, and comes up with the best thing we've read all day: More »

Coop's Hot Wheels Box Art

Even Coop knows that his frequency of posts on his Hot Wheels designs is reaching some measure of self-absorbed critical mass, but hey, we're playing into his hand, aren't we? And besides, when was the last time Satan chomping a cigar appeared on a Mattel product package? More »

Coop Goes Toolin' for Value, Scores

The set of the bearded jaw, the surprising slightness of his figure. The obsession with all that is truly badass in life. The obscene talent with a brush. It could only be one man. And that one man, of course, is none other than Motherfucking Coop. So what's our crosstown pal up on about today? More tools, of course. Because when you snare Bud Metcalf's tools at a garage sale, you don't just score a vintage Kennedy toolbox. You score respect. More »

Making a Poster, With Coop!

In We Jam Econo, Watt said something that really powerfully resonated with us upside-the-head-style: "The whole idea of Minutemen, in a lot of ways, was to make our life into art." And we know a few guys besides Watt who've truly done that: Gearhead's Mike LaVella is one, and Coop is another. He's managed to turn his teenage cartoon/sci-fi/hot-rod fantasies into his world, and well, sometimes we get a little jealous of Mister Cooper's vision and abilities. And the fact that he's got his own Hot Wheels now. Here he gets all Bob Ross on the process of making the screenprint poster for the Hot Wheels Collectors Show in Japan, where he'll stand as the Satano-Hot-Rod-Punk-Rock Coop of honor. More »

Coop Designs Hot Wheels!

We've been a fan of Coop's art since we were a teenager. We've had the pleasure of getting to know the guy over the last few months, and we were pleasantly surprised at the similarity in our attitudes. The guy knows how to build a car, has a very similar fine-art technique to ours (although he's got way more technical skill than we do) and is a damn fine writer. We say this simply because we've met many people we've admired from afar over the years and were sorely disappointed. Not so with Chris Cooper. And now he's fulfilled a lifelong dream — designing a pair of Hot Wheels Mercs. Good onya, Coop. If anyone deserves it, you do. More »

Coop On Tools

We were once engaged to a Luddite; an improviser. She would get mad at us for going out to the workshop to grab the correct tool for a job; scoffed at our propensity toward using a level and a measuring tape. But isn't it easier just to stick a recalcitrant jar lid in a vise and twist the body of said vessel than spend minutes cursing and swearing at said jar? Coop is a man who understands these things. We like the cut of his jib, although we're still profoundly jealous that he gets shop space at Hooptyrides, Inc. Go read his meditation on the pleasure of tools. Go now, pilgrim. Go now and seek wisdom. More »