Hand Painted Vintage Race Cars - very few left

[Stacey K]

I went to the Elkhart Lake Vintage Night Friday. They have about 120 vintage race cars that line up in the downtown area then they "start their engines" and drive around the town and back out. It's really a cool thing, thousands of people and the ground shakes.

Anyway, I touched almost all the cars even though it's frowned upon. I don't hand letter, but it was SO disappointing that I only found a couple cars that were hand lettered! They all had vinyl on them!!! Here is one nice one I found and took a photo especially for my for all of you!

Here's a link to my very bad video...don't mind my friends rear end.

 

[mfatty500]

No video, great now I can't look at your friends rear end, hopefully your friend is female, I don't swing that way

 

[Johnny Best]

Had a pair of Cragar mags like in the picture on my 1961 Chevy Nomad in high school in 1965-66. Had a giddy giddy up 409.

 

[somcalmetim]

Meh, if it isnt under the hood race teams are pretty cheap...lot of times back in the day it was just some guy on the team or a local guy painting it for beer/tickets to the race...now hand painting is a specialty thing in most places so race guys and/or their sponsors would not likely pay extra for it...that is IF you can even find someone who is good at hand painting anymore, let alone specifically race cars...

 

[Scootershooter]

They always wanted me to paint 'em in exchange for putting my name on the car....

 

[Billct2]

I've done a few, mostly stock cars, reproducing the original from old photos. Those are usually not too difficult because the quality of lettering wasn't always professional
But this one was a real challenge, engine turn gold leaf meatball with lettering on top of it and it had to be done in a week to get to one of the biggest national shows.

 

[Stacey K]

I've done a few, mostly stock cars, reproducing the original from old photos. Those are usually not too difficult because the quality of lettering wasn't always professional
But this one was a real challenge, engine turn gold leaf meatball with lettering on top of it and it had to be done in a week to get to one of the biggest national shows.

That's awesome! Until recently I didn't even know engine turn was ever hand painted. It seems like one of the more difficult things to paint!

 

[Billct2]

Gold leaf is a bit tricky and engine turning adds to the fun. I use a piece of velvet on a padded dowel and spin by hand. Some do it with a drill but I'd be worried I'd burn thru it.
The worst issue with this one was not having time to clear the gold before I lettered on top of it, there is no fixing an error on gold leaf.