| The Improbable Car Company ( @ 2004-05-19 23:12:00 |
Scarification?...
"So I spent a lot of time at work today pondering using the Nova for my 'Scar' artcar concept. This is an artcar I've wanted to build for a few years now. The basic concept is a vaguely mad-max style car. Something that has been living in a harsh and brutal place and which the owner has been forced to modify, reinforce rebuild and repair with whatever he could find just to keep it going. There'll be a lot of harsh edges and battered parts and an overall look of dark brutal functionality. A vehicle where everything is there for a perpose and nothing more. Nothing for pretty, nothing for show.
Large welded steel front and rear bumpers with extra spot and fog lights, pieces of rusty sheetmetal screwed to the body to provide added protection. Jacked up suspension with big tough tires. A spare tire bolted to the trunklid, battered jerry cans for gas and water bolted to the rear fenders. Strengthened roof with grab handles so it can be used as a mobile fighting or firing platform. A tank-style hatch added to the roof to premit access and a better firing position. Everything bent, battered, rusty. A car where a paint job is a pointless luxury, and shooting something quickly with black spraypaint is 'good enough'.
The interior would be loaded with extra gauges to keep tabs on the engine, as an unexpected breakdown could prove fatal. Banks of extra switches to control added features and lights. Cobbled together communications gear slung under an overloaded dashboard. Wire mesh over rear windows to protect from them being smashed in.
The drivetrain would be simple and tough. No turbos, no fuel injection. Just a simple durable engine that can take lots of abuse and keep chugging. Mufflers for when you want a little stealth, and with the pull of a lever exhaust dumping out of straight pipes. Roaring at full volume, all those horses let out to run.
Yeah, that's what I want.
Except...
Well I want the car. But two problems arise.
One I'm not sure that is what I want to have to drive every day. That car is a manifestation of a little of who I am, but not even a large part. And if I drove it every day that is the face I would be constantly presenting to the world. I even worry some that the more I present that tought brutal face, the more that part of my personality would become the primary part. And I don't wanthtat, I don't want to get any less soft than I already am.
The other is my current choice of canvas. The Nova would be a good choice for this, she is old enough to look the part and beat up enough to make a good starting point. She already has many dents and scratches and is otherwise not terribly straight. However she also only has 53K miles on her, and is still in decent shape for her age.
Before I could start 'scarring' her she would have to have other things done, like say rebuilding the suspension with new springs/shocks/leafs/etc. so she goes from super low like she is now to tall enough to look right and to handle the weight of the added stuff.
She would be facinating to build, and to drive. And would for the most part be not that expensive. In fact, to make her seem as realistic as possible I'd almost have to get as much of the parts/raw material used. Either buying it used or scavanging it from interesting places. There is a certain sort of glee in building something where less than perfect is exactly what you are going for. No angsting over something not being good enough or perfect enough.
I don't know, I really don't.
Ponder, ponder, ponder. Angst, angst, angst.
Thoughts? I am very curious of peoples thoughts."
"So I spent a lot of time at work today pondering using the Nova for my 'Scar' artcar concept. This is an artcar I've wanted to build for a few years now. The basic concept is a vaguely mad-max style car. Something that has been living in a harsh and brutal place and which the owner has been forced to modify, reinforce rebuild and repair with whatever he could find just to keep it going. There'll be a lot of harsh edges and battered parts and an overall look of dark brutal functionality. A vehicle where everything is there for a perpose and nothing more. Nothing for pretty, nothing for show.
Large welded steel front and rear bumpers with extra spot and fog lights, pieces of rusty sheetmetal screwed to the body to provide added protection. Jacked up suspension with big tough tires. A spare tire bolted to the trunklid, battered jerry cans for gas and water bolted to the rear fenders. Strengthened roof with grab handles so it can be used as a mobile fighting or firing platform. A tank-style hatch added to the roof to premit access and a better firing position. Everything bent, battered, rusty. A car where a paint job is a pointless luxury, and shooting something quickly with black spraypaint is 'good enough'.
The interior would be loaded with extra gauges to keep tabs on the engine, as an unexpected breakdown could prove fatal. Banks of extra switches to control added features and lights. Cobbled together communications gear slung under an overloaded dashboard. Wire mesh over rear windows to protect from them being smashed in.
The drivetrain would be simple and tough. No turbos, no fuel injection. Just a simple durable engine that can take lots of abuse and keep chugging. Mufflers for when you want a little stealth, and with the pull of a lever exhaust dumping out of straight pipes. Roaring at full volume, all those horses let out to run.
Yeah, that's what I want.
Except...
Well I want the car. But two problems arise.
One I'm not sure that is what I want to have to drive every day. That car is a manifestation of a little of who I am, but not even a large part. And if I drove it every day that is the face I would be constantly presenting to the world. I even worry some that the more I present that tought brutal face, the more that part of my personality would become the primary part. And I don't wanthtat, I don't want to get any less soft than I already am.
The other is my current choice of canvas. The Nova would be a good choice for this, she is old enough to look the part and beat up enough to make a good starting point. She already has many dents and scratches and is otherwise not terribly straight. However she also only has 53K miles on her, and is still in decent shape for her age.
Before I could start 'scarring' her she would have to have other things done, like say rebuilding the suspension with new springs/shocks/leafs/etc. so she goes from super low like she is now to tall enough to look right and to handle the weight of the added stuff.
She would be facinating to build, and to drive. And would for the most part be not that expensive. In fact, to make her seem as realistic as possible I'd almost have to get as much of the parts/raw material used. Either buying it used or scavanging it from interesting places. There is a certain sort of glee in building something where less than perfect is exactly what you are going for. No angsting over something not being good enough or perfect enough.
I don't know, I really don't.
Ponder, ponder, ponder. Angst, angst, angst.
Thoughts? I am very curious of peoples thoughts."