No foreword nescessary.
Richard Peters' Ala Kart
As famous hot rods go this is probably top of the list. Built by Richard Peters, George Barris and Blackie Gejeian in 1957, the sole aim of this car was to win the AMBR award. And win it did, twice infact, in 1958 and 1959.
The car was based on a Model A frame. The front suspension was rather trick, using a dropped beam on hairpins, with suspension provided by coil springs with air bags inside them. The rear axle was out of a '40 Ford, once again mounted with springs over airbags. The engine was a Dodge Red Ram hemi which ran Hillborn injection. The wheels were chrome reverse steels with whitewalls. The chassis work was done by Peters and Gejeian.
The body used a Model A cowl section, with the rear half of the body from a '27 T. The bed was hand made from sheet steel with a mixture of '58 Impala and '56 Desoto bits used to form the rear lights. The unique grille shell was hand made using tubing and sheet steel, and used '57 Chrysler Imperial light units. The bonnet was hand rolled from aluminium. The floorpan and fenders were from a Model A but heavily customised. The sides of the floorpan were punched with louvres, with the fenders being bobbed all round. The running boards were also cut short to allow clearance for the side pipes.
The body was finished perfectly on both the top and underside. The car was painted with 40 coats of mother of pearl diamond dust by Junior Conway, whilst George Barris laid the scallops in Candy Cerise and Gold Leaf, and Dean Jeffries did the pinstriping.
The interior featured wrap around seats and a hand formed dash. The trim work was something else, white pearl naugahyde with black velvet inserts which featured chrome trim inbetween each pleat. The dash had Stewart Warner instruments and a Lincoln Continental wheel.
The car reputedly cost over $15,000 to build. Just months before the 1958 AMBR competition the Barris' workshop burnt down. Luckily the car was in a separate room and escaped major damage. As I mentioned the car won the AMBR trophy 2 years running.
In 1960 Peters' dad told him to stop playing with those pesky hot rods. Unbeknowst to Peters George Barris had signed a deal with AMT to make a 1/25 kit of the car. Peters sold the car to AMT for use as a promotional vehicle in 1961, with the model being released later in the year. This made it the first show rod to be reproduced as a kit.
In 1963 the car was being driven by a AMT representative when a short in the wiring caused a fire in the engine bay. The car was heavily damaged as the leadwork melted in the blaze.
The car was stored for a year along with the 200+ trophies it had collected. However after a concerted effort from Ala Kart fans AMT sent the car back to Barris to be rebuilt. The car was then sent to the AMT shop in Phoenix, Arizona.
In 1966 the car was sold to a Goodyear Tyre Dealer who used it as an advertisement outside his shop. The car then passed through a number of owners before being bought by Nic Vacarro in 1973. He then began building a new chassis with Jag IRS but luckily never got it finished. The car was sold twice more, coming into the hands of John Mumford in 2001. He has since had it restored by Roy Brizio's shop.
to
Some excellent photos of the restoration can be found here
www.roybriziostreetrods.com/progress/mumford_ak/index.htm
Matt
Richard Peters' Ala Kart
As famous hot rods go this is probably top of the list. Built by Richard Peters, George Barris and Blackie Gejeian in 1957, the sole aim of this car was to win the AMBR award. And win it did, twice infact, in 1958 and 1959.
The car was based on a Model A frame. The front suspension was rather trick, using a dropped beam on hairpins, with suspension provided by coil springs with air bags inside them. The rear axle was out of a '40 Ford, once again mounted with springs over airbags. The engine was a Dodge Red Ram hemi which ran Hillborn injection. The wheels were chrome reverse steels with whitewalls. The chassis work was done by Peters and Gejeian.
The body used a Model A cowl section, with the rear half of the body from a '27 T. The bed was hand made from sheet steel with a mixture of '58 Impala and '56 Desoto bits used to form the rear lights. The unique grille shell was hand made using tubing and sheet steel, and used '57 Chrysler Imperial light units. The bonnet was hand rolled from aluminium. The floorpan and fenders were from a Model A but heavily customised. The sides of the floorpan were punched with louvres, with the fenders being bobbed all round. The running boards were also cut short to allow clearance for the side pipes.
The body was finished perfectly on both the top and underside. The car was painted with 40 coats of mother of pearl diamond dust by Junior Conway, whilst George Barris laid the scallops in Candy Cerise and Gold Leaf, and Dean Jeffries did the pinstriping.
The interior featured wrap around seats and a hand formed dash. The trim work was something else, white pearl naugahyde with black velvet inserts which featured chrome trim inbetween each pleat. The dash had Stewart Warner instruments and a Lincoln Continental wheel.
The car reputedly cost over $15,000 to build. Just months before the 1958 AMBR competition the Barris' workshop burnt down. Luckily the car was in a separate room and escaped major damage. As I mentioned the car won the AMBR trophy 2 years running.
In 1960 Peters' dad told him to stop playing with those pesky hot rods. Unbeknowst to Peters George Barris had signed a deal with AMT to make a 1/25 kit of the car. Peters sold the car to AMT for use as a promotional vehicle in 1961, with the model being released later in the year. This made it the first show rod to be reproduced as a kit.
In 1963 the car was being driven by a AMT representative when a short in the wiring caused a fire in the engine bay. The car was heavily damaged as the leadwork melted in the blaze.
The car was stored for a year along with the 200+ trophies it had collected. However after a concerted effort from Ala Kart fans AMT sent the car back to Barris to be rebuilt. The car was then sent to the AMT shop in Phoenix, Arizona.
In 1966 the car was sold to a Goodyear Tyre Dealer who used it as an advertisement outside his shop. The car then passed through a number of owners before being bought by Nic Vacarro in 1973. He then began building a new chassis with Jag IRS but luckily never got it finished. The car was sold twice more, coming into the hands of John Mumford in 2001. He has since had it restored by Roy Brizio's shop.
to
Some excellent photos of the restoration can be found here
www.roybriziostreetrods.com/progress/mumford_ak/index.htm
Matt
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