2 door wagons : post em up

I post these drawings with a caveat, they're not that good... More specifically, The 2 door
Chevrolet Nomad Sportsman is a rough concept drawing which will be redone some time
in the future and has been created in 1/25th scale.



... this Buick was drawn in 1981 when I was a junior in High School. I add it as a joke and
to show how wagons have impacted my brain for some time:

 

Nicely done. This would also look good with the 56 Nomad side trim IMO.

 

When I was in junior high school, I learned about the Art Center College of Design, in Southern California. It was my dream then to attend there and then go on to be a designer for one of the big 3. Sadly, my talent didn't live up to my dreams (in addition to taking all the wrong classes in high school....)

Mark, what you were drawing in jr. high was waaaay beyond anything I had. I mean, wow...........

 

Thanks guys....I was just scribbling away...
I was considering Art Center as well but I didn't here about it until several years after graduation and I was worried my poor math skills would work against me. I'm trying to break into the rare air of automotive art all on my wits now.

Here's another 2 door wagon, A 1956 Pontiac Safari once driven by that jolly little elf...

 

As a Buick guy I can't help but question one part of it.

The leaf springs and traction bars...

Buicks came with a 4 link set up factory, just add adjustable bars.
No pro races would go backwards in design to a leaf n traction bar setup

Someone else must of read allot of CarToons too.

 

Easily explained.... I said I was in High School.
I actually pointed this out when I posted it on another car sight so that everyone knew how
badly I'd blown that but, since it's old art I left it as is,
flaws and all. I don't know how possible this car would be to build anyway,
just wanted to tweak my dad's '76 Estate but never bothered to crawl under it.
Pretty sure I don't make that mistake any more, having owned and worked on a few cars since.

 

As long as folks are conceptualizing... thought I'd jump into the mix too...



It may be a bit of work, but do-able... it all depends on how deep your wallet is.

 

All of the '71-'76 GM clamshell wagons came with rear leaf springs, unlike the regular sedans.



David

 

Here is my old '56 Plymouth Suburban two-door wagon. I was going to put a 440 in it, but sold it to a local guy that is putting in a 5.7L HEMI and a five-speed manual trans:

Also pictured is a '57 Ford two-door and another '56 Plymouth:

 

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12739

There, see? Vindication. I guess I did crawl under the car...
I'm sure I must have, I cleaned the car often enough.

I seem to recall the leaf springs being used because of the weight of the gate mechanism. I know many GM based Hearse, dating back to the 50s, were also converted for the same reason. In fact, one of the big criticisms the El Camino got over the years was the low carry weight due to the limitations of the trailing arm/spring suspensions but they chose comfort over gross pay-load.

Thanks David!

 

Believe it or not, the tailgate set-up is incredibly lightweight, and the regulator to raise it weighs no more than a car door's window regulator.
I bet if the weight of a tail/doorgate to a conventional FoMoCo or Mopar wagon was compared to the weight of the GM tailgate and window set-up, the GM would be quite a bit lighter.
I think the leafsprings were chosen for cargo and towing considerations.

David

 

You've definitely got skillz... I was essentially in your situation, way back, about 45 years ago. (Gawd, it's been that long ago...)

I took my "portfolio" and approached a small screen printing shop (only 2 or 3 employees_). I started working there, part time, learning all the facets of the business, from the design phase to printing, in this case, T shirts.

Over time and as the company grew, I ended up as the primary artist, with an art department of 5.

Of course, that was then, this is now... we didn't have a need for computer skills and such in the '70's.

Basically, you gotta go beat on doors and show your stuff. Do some illustrations on "spec" of some popular vehicles and set up a booth a a local car show, maybe set up a web site... let folks see what you can do. A huge part of being a professional artist is self promotion...

Don't limit yourself to automotive art exclusively... starving artists gotta be willing to draw, paint, whatever, anything to eat.

I eventually developed a reputation and had folks coming to me... I was an overnight success, that took 20 years to acheive.

In the end, I gaved it up and became a cop.... go figure.

 

Here's some pics of cars I used to own.The 60 sedan delivery was my first,"long roof" purchased in 1968.It met an untimely end in a head-on with some idiot who was late for a softball game.I only got a few broken ribs from that one.
The Mini Cooper Estate had an all out 1340cc race motor with a full synchro 4 speed and could hit 110 mph with the 3.44 final drive.The tires were Yokohama A008R's and would last about 3,000 miles of regular driving,but it cornered like a slot car.
The green Pinto Cruisin' Van was the last of several I owned and had a pretty warm V-6 in it.
The blue Mercury Bobcat had Cruisin' Van panels installed along with a 71 302 V-8 and would keep up with traffic pretty well.

 

1956 Chevy Wagon

Here is a picture of my 1956 2door chevy wagon project car that I trying to sell for 3500. I have replacement quarter panels and floor along with all of the trim.

 

i just got it blasted to not as many repairs as i thought is there any one in houston that has parts for this car