Gray Baskerville got it right back in 1975 when he wrote, “Seth Hammond is slightly eccentric…”
Running a Pinto four-cylinder he set his first-ever Bonneville record at 140 mph in 1976 and has managed to keep his name in the record book every year since then.
In 1981, Seth bought a Lakester that was built in his hometown of Santa Barbara, California, by Tim Rochlitzer and that was on the cover of HOT ROD in 1962. He ran it until 2003, putting nine people in the 200 MPH Club and three in the 300 MPH Club, including his wife, Tanis (at 305, the first woman above 300 mph)
What's the connection with Chip Foose? Chip's dad Sam had a shop next to Seth, and Chip learned from Seth how to use a lathe and a mill. He's been painting Seth's race cars for decades.
I met Chip at the Boise Roadster Show after he signed about a thousand autographs and drew hundreds of pictures for fans. I introduced myself and he said, "I know who you are. Let's check out your stuff."
He stepped into our booth and security immediately closed off our booth to about a hundred people following him. He asked lots of art questions and was genuinely interested. I asked for a picture and he said "Sure." I said, "With Mrs BOMONSTER?" He said "Sure." We exchanged numbers, shook hands and he left with one of my tees.
The crowd followed and the booth was empty again. Then my tee made an appearance on a couple of his shows this month. He's a nice guy with lots of talent, good taste
Barris, the customs builder, started from the front by extending the front fenders and installing stacked quad headlights. A ’58 Ford truck quad-headlight assembly was flipped 90 degrees to have the lamps one on top of the other, and the front fenders were sheared, split, and stretched to accommodate the Ford ‘lift cab’ parts.
The car was recently discovered by noted designer and customizer Chip Foose while browsing a classic car sales website. He immediately noticed the "Barris Kustom" badges on the front fenders and called the owner to learn more about the Olds. When he got confirmation that it was a true-blue Barris car, Foose traveled to see the convertible and offered to revive it so the original owner's sons could sell it at auction.
Although it's nowhere near as spectacular as the 1966 Batmobile, this Olds still retains the original paint job and features applied by Barris many decades ago. This makes it pretty special among early custom rigs, which have been altered and updated over the years. "This is the real deal, exactly the way it was built," said Foose upon finishing the inspection.
He further concludes that the Oldsmobile shouldn't be restored but cleaned up and preserved in its current condition. And that's precisely what he's planning to do when the drop-top is hauled to his shop. Of course, the car will undergo a mechanical restoration to become drivable and road-worthy again.
Grundy and Carmona have created original pieces of art that were woven into signage throughout the Las Vegas Convention Center and in marketing materials for the Show to help reflect each segment of the industry in a special and authentic way.
I'm looking forward to seeing how Foose will put his art into the same uses
this one on the bottom was at a local San Diego car cruise some years ago, in 2007, and is a beautiful car that shows what an obscure Plymouth Savoy can look like with blank check financing and extremely talented design.
