Jalopnik
Some of our favorite Project Car Hell cars have been those that we heard about from readers who emailed us tips, and we want to encourage even more of you to become PCH Tipsters. That's why I've spent next to nothing spared no expense to make these fine handcrafted T-shirts for our beloved Tipster Crew. Yes, starting with the crappiest thrift-store shirts imaginable the highest-quality shirts I could obtain, each color of clearance sale spray paint garment-grade dye was applied using only the most hacked-together cardboard stencils finest silk-screen gear.
Actually, these things were way more work than I bargained for- I ended up using 7 stencils in the design.
You get the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand logo (thanks to Ecurie Ecrappe for the idea) on the back; the photos below show how the MMLB logo was applied:
First, the Murilee Martin text goes on.
That green high-temp paint stays on pretty well in the wash.
Next, the skull's outline.
Maybe I should have used a darker color, but it's what I had.
Then the eyes, nose, and teeth get applied.
This is genuine gray primer, for the discerning PCH-er.
And, finally, the wrench-through-the-eyeholes treatment. I was scouring the internet for a nice wrench image when I realized all I needed to do was to grab a real wrench out of the toolbox and trace it. Funny how teh internets makes us forget reality.
And, there we have it!
So, you want to show off your Project Car Hell Tipster credentials, do you? Well, here's how you get a shirt:
1. You must email valid URLs for two potential PCH cars to me (murilee at jalopnik dot com). The cars don't need to have a common theme, but it's always fun if you can find a good theme to tie them together. Bonus points for finding car ads in obscure (i.e., non-Craigslist, non-eBay) sources. You do not need to write any copy for the PCH post, as that's my job (but feel free to do so if you're highly motivated to do some keyboard pounding).
2. I must use your tips in a Project Car Hell post. If I use just one of the cars I might send you a shirt anyway, but to be one the safe side you should try to find two really good ones.
3. If I use your tips, you must send me a shipping address. Outside of the US is fine. Shipping will be via the cheapest method possible, and I'll get to it when I get to it, so be patient.
OK? Tipsters, attempt to start your Hell Projects' seized engines!
Comments
Does an ebay auction have to be current? I sent one to y'all awhile back for a 1911 Olds that the auction had expired for but thought the car was interesting enough anyway.
Memo to Murrilee: In many cases, one size does not in fact fit all.
Could be my depth perception, but it looks like the sample came from the Fruit of the Loom Plus Size Husky collection.
Still, it's the thought that counts. The wife could use a new nightgown.
@TinaChow: Hooray for me then!
You do realize these things are going to sell for $50 on eBay, right?
Dang, Murilee, you really are a Renaissance Man. Now you can add Fashion Designer to your résumé...!
Dang, that's exactly how I used to make t-shirts for my old band back in the 80's. If you see someone walking about the Seattle area in a tattered, vaguely mid-eastern looking T that says "Noon Moon" on it, I can guarantee you it was personally spraypainted by the Caveman himself. I'm pretty sure I still have the stencils somewhere.
That shirt is big enough to eat me, and looks angry enough to even.
Regardless, it has inspired me to send some ideas I've had for a while now!
@TinaChow: @EricMerrill: I got several different shirt sizes, and all shirts are made of fabric guaranteed to shrink to greyhound size the first time it touches hot water.
@Murilee Martin: Is the offer retroactive? You used "You could live in it" Edition and the electromagnetic interference MG.
If not, then ready thy email account...I search craigslist <1200 for fun.
@Mad_Science: Sadly, I can't make it retroactive- didn't make enough shirts. But you've got an eye for PCH cars, so I'm sure you'll qualify soon.
@Murilee Martin: No worries.
This should be fun....
@Charles_Barrett: It's the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™!
I'm guessing the PCH [X 2] I already own don't count since I wouldn't part with either of them for TWO tee shirts, a three hundred dollar bill and a long weekend in Fresno with Slut Machine.
OK, the south has lots of old cars for sale.
I'll see what i can dig up.
Do we have to send URLs? There's a decent PCH candidate that's been rusting away a few blocks down from my house for years with a printed for sale sign/option list in the window. I've been waiting to find a second local candidate to put up against it.
@biminitwst:
If you could only work 'minos, Bruce, and the Transformers into that, you would have won COTD.
---
Murilee sure has hairy arms for a woman....speaking of which, where the hell is Laura Burstein? She debuts with a hundred comment post, then.....
@Schweppes: A photograph of the car and FOR SALE sign also counts.
@Al Navarro: ...posts a relatively non-comprehensive list of automotive events across the globe.
This place seems to have become The Murilee Martin and Matt Hardigree Show as of late.
(no problem with that, BTW)
@Mad_Science: Don't forget Ray Wert (once in a while)
@UDMAN: Sorry...how could I have forgotten? There've been a few days where it's been a WertGasm
@UDMAN:
Though Jonny has carved out a niche for himself with QOTD (the post that launched a hundred comments!), Fantasmal Garage, and others...
I met Laura very briefly at SEMA...she does exist.
Maybe it's just my pre-cocktail cocktails, but now I'm seeing a vaguely "South Park" / Kenny imagery in the Murilee Martin Lifetyle Brand™: "Oh my God, they've killed Kenny! You Bastards...!"
I suck at finding stuff. How much to buy one?
@Murilee Martin: By the way, your comment about scouring for a graphic of a wrench before realizing you could more easily just trace one, reminds me of a EE prof. I had freshman year at Caltech. His favorite phrase was "don't eat the menu..." it wasn't until the end of the term that he explained his meaning. If we go to Denny's for a hamburger, we don't whip out scissors, cut up the menu, and eat the glossy photo. We must always remember that models and simulations are only just that. Don't rely on a representation of a wrench when you have easy access to the genuine article (and to think, this was taught to me LONG before the WWW took off in all its graphical glory...)
@Mad_Science: Wow, I didn't realize you found those two PCHs--brilliant. They should put you on retainer AND give you a couple of T shirts.
I have two true text ones, no pix, from 30 years ago. One was "67 Mustang. Transmission in trunk. Some assembly required. Buy now and get a quart of homemade soup. It's really good soup."
And the other, from a rural electric coop mag was "Ford car made into a Buzz Saw. Asking 300, will take 200." We were too scared to call this looney, but speculated a lot on whether the "saw" rolled up to your work, or was some hideous high HP beast protruding through the hood, or a little of both.
Any way I could get retroactive credit for my Morgan or Ford Capri powered MGTC with Alfa Romeo Wheels? I'll pick it up myself in my Morgan...if I can get the new brake cylinder in it.
[jalopnik.com]
Start a discussion:
Login with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?