AirDave's Kool Wheelz Collection

[airdave]

Interest in Koolwheelz models seemed to have dropped off drastically.
Which is a shame since I have so many more in the works.

But for now, I continuing creating Koolwheelz for my own enjoyment,
and so it continues....

In the 70s designer George Barris introduced the Lil Redd Wrecker
...a custom show car intended as a tribute to Comedian and TV Actor Redd Foxx, the star of Sanford & Son.
This "George Barris showcar" was suggested to me (for a Koolwheelz model) by a forum member quite some time ago.

While I was familiar with the Lil Redd Wrecker, I had never seen it in person, or owned a model of it, or had any personal connection to it,
so I stored it away for future consideration.
As it happened, I was aware that this "Barris kreation" was another one of George Barris' misappropriations, but I didn't know all the details until this year.

Originally this custom Tow Truck Show Truck was named the Turnpike Hauler.
And it turns out it was designed by Ed Newton (responsible for the Panthermobile and some Ed Roth customs)
and was built by the great Dick Dean, the Sultan of Chop, known for 50 years of custom car and movie/tv work.

Originally it was a shaded blue with fancy gold leaf accents, very reminscent of Gene Winfields and Ed Roth's custom paint jobs.
Dick Dean had also worked with Winfield on many customs.

Dean, as it happens, also did a lot of work for yes, you guessed it, George Barris, including the customizing of the Ford Futura into the 1966 Batmobile
...another vehicle Barris took full credit for until his death.
It is important to note that Dean at one point, managed Barris' kustom shop and was Barris' faithful and respected pseudo partner.

Barris was often criticized for purchasing old customs and repairing, restoring and sometimes modifying them into new kreations and then taking full credit for their design.
The Monkeemobile was one such car that Barris bought, restored, and then put his own name on (literally) and toured it as a Barris Kreation.
Ironically, Dick Dean worked with Dean Jeffries on the design and building of the original Monkee car!

In this case, Barris bought the Turnpike Hauler years after it had made the show circuit rounds
and did very little to the vehicle other than repainting it red, and renaming it as the Lil Redd Wrecker.

So, while I have never seen the Turnpike Hauler or had any previous connection to the car...
it is a wild custom showcar built by Dick Dean, and thats enough of a connection to make it a Koolwheelz model!
And its very kool looking.



I had difficulty finding much technical info about the actual vehicle...it is speculated that the original vehicle did not drive,
and was only built for show. Not all customs were built to run or drive, or be at all practical.
Stories of show cars with chromed blown engines, but no interior mechanical parts, were quite common.
Showcars were never required to start and/or run...and builders didnt want to run them since it would discolour chrome engine parts and exhaust pipes.

Turnpike Hauler did not originally have a Steering Wheel, but did appear to have a hand lever possibly for steering
Its possible the lever allowed for basic steering just to move the vehicle around, but not for actual street driving.
Even if it did drive, it would have been a tough drive with an awkward driving position and poor handling.

This model is a bit tricky to build, and thats why I also created an assembly sheet for it (which can be downloaded from the Koolwheelz Assembly Diagrams section of my forum).

Find the Turnpike Hauler model in the ShowCarz section of Koolwheelz.

[rickstef]

very cool design, maybe the first build in the new abode

[airdave]

Originally Posted by rickstef

very cool design, maybe the first build in the new abode

then hopefully (once you get settled and sorted) we see photos of the build in the new abode.
obviously, focus on my model
...but if something of your surroundings should happened to fall into the photos, we won't be unhappy.

[sgoti]

Originally Posted by airdave

Interest in Koolwheelz models seemed to have dropped off drastically...

Still following, Dave!

Unfortunately, my own "real life" projects keep soaking up my free time...

The most recent involves an Outback, some Rustoleum, and a LOT of sanding!

The last few have all looked great (at least when I had time to glance their direction).

[yukonjohn]

I was going to guess a MB Toe Joe. Wrong again.


John

[gotham]

Interest in Koolwheelz dropping 🙀🙀🙀
Can 2020 get any worse. Dave, Please keep designing.

[Don Boose]

Still interested, just not building much these days. Someday, I will finish my ten or eleven Koolwheelz works-in-progress.

Don

[airdave]

Originally Posted by gotham

Interest in Koolwheelz dropping ������
Can 2020 get any worse. Dave, Please keep designing.

yup still working on them.
I said this year was going to be "only Koolwheelz" and it has been.

Koolwheelz factoids for 2020:

Koolwheelz models have been my only focus this entire year.

From January 2020 to now, I have created and published 15 new Koolwheelz models!
Granted, the first three of those were remods/redesigns of older Koolwheelz models.

My list has grown throughout the year, but I have decided (for various reasons) to set aside or postpone five planned designs,
including the remodel of the Bloodhound SSC.

I am currently working on another new Koolwheelz design (which is almost completed).

There are still ten more Koolwheelz models already finished and ready for publication!
With another eight* planned for this year!

*I had hoped to complete a set of Koolwheelz models for the Christmas Holidays,
but obviously, I am running out of time...

so, thats why I am going to speed up the releases for the next couple of models!
Expect a new teaser Monday!
and another model next Friday!

[Michael Mash]

Your Kool Wheelz Collection thread is fun to watch and read.
I'm looking forward to the next piece of Vintage Armor . . . perhaps in 2021?

[airdave]

As promised, you get a teaser on a Monday...and a new Koolwheelz model the following Friday!

In fact, we're gonna do this for the next three weeks!
Call it the Koolwheelz Fall Spectakoolar!

Here we go...