1948 Norman Timbs Buick streamliner - photo

[Altair]

1948 Norman Timbs Buick streamliner designed built by American engineer Norman E. Timbs who also designed several Indy 500 winning cars.




Previously:

1917 Golden Submarine racecar - photo
Golden Arrow land speed racer - photo
Onboard camera Indy race crash - GIF
108-year-old core sample from Indianapolis Motor Speedway track - photo
Invisible methanol fire in 1981 Indy 500

[Frank S]

just add a couple of curb whiskers to the front fenders and it would look like a catfish

[NortonDommi]

That is drop dead gorgeous!

[bruce.desertrat]

Yes, gorgeous, even more so from the side:



It burned during the Malibu Woolsey fire in 2018, but may yet live:

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/202...t-destroyed-it

[bruce.desertrat]

Also, maybe I'm just not tuned in to the scene like when I was a young kid with my Revell models and Hot Wheels :-), (and more than likely it's Old Fart Syndrome) but it seems that they don't do this kind of thing anymore, as much.

There was a couple 'Golden Ages' of custom cars, the 30's with the custom coachbuilders and the 50's with things like this and the Customs craze of the 60's like Chuck Barris and the like, that seem to be in the past..

There seem to be a lot of performance builders but customs weren't hot rods (and vice versa, though they overlap).

[mwmkravchenko]

Back when cars actually had some style. Wow!

[Frank S]

I'm the type of person who looks more at the workmanship when it comes to these highly customized altered vehicles. cars have never truly been my thing. Trucks now that is a different story. However even with altered trucks once they lose their functionality for use I'm off of them as well no matter the amount of bling.
Rats are a different story. Nothing about a rat stands out for practicality, for them to me it is all about trying to figure out what the designer had in mind and why they would have gone the route they did or the story the vehicle tells. The ugliest rat in the world often times will often as not draw a larger crowd than the most beautiful customized exotic car.