Hungry?
Our pal TheProfessor47 brings news of today’s rather extravagant customized Oldsmobile. The car is said to be rather famous around Santa Monica, California, which is why I’m running this story despite flirtations with similar (if not identical) Oldsmobiles.
That’s a fine piece of tail if I ever saw one.
As the Professor mentioned, the car is famous not just locally but on the teevee as well:
The gigantic bird takes on a rather regal gait as it saunters along the boulevard, don’t you think? I feel ashamed to know I can never hope to be so dignified while heading to the store for dog food for I, alas, have no large animal likenesses on my roof or trunklid.
While at first appearing foreboding, this chicken gradually looks more friendly. Construction materials are unknown, but judging by the size of the fastening hardware used to affix the head to the roof, it must be substantial.
Frankly, I’m surprised I even noticed this damaged filler panel, what with all the other visual commotion going on. As such, I think I may glue a wild boar or zebra’s head to the hood of my car when the vinyl top really starts looking rough in hopes that misdirection trumps materials integrity.
Earlier I had explained to Paul that the Midwest is simply a wasteland for those who enjoy looking at interesting cars. Rust is an issue, but the bigger factor may be that Midwesterners, at least when compared to those from southern California, just aren’t that eccentric. Thus, finding a nut who is also a car nut in this part of the world is much more uncommon here. (It wasn’t until later that I remembered I was talking to a guy who grew up partly in Iowa amongst corn fields and farm equipment and I was therefore preaching to the choir.)
At any rate, I do hope folks around here loosen up someday soon.
This car also showed up in an episode of Storage Wars, driven by Barry Weiss. The implication was that the car belonged to him, but maybe they just rented/borrowed it to shoot the episode?
Not that it matters with all the art car-ization going on, but this is actually a ’73 Olds 98, with its 5-mph bumper in front.
I’ll update it when I get home.
At first I assumed this was a rolling advertisement for some local deep-fried chicken restaurant, till I noticed that there’s no writing on it anywhere. It reminds me of the Plymouth Road Runner ad where there was a giant Roadrunner head coming out of the pop-up hoodscoop.
http://www.musclecarapparel.com/blog/1970-plymouth-road-runner/
That picture is a little disturbing.
Reminds me of this recently restored classic that was once a common sight delivering chicken in Winnipeg Manitoba. Story on it’s restoration here: http://autos.winnipegfreepress.com/news-article/id-2499/
It would really be great to get those two together!
There was a similar chicken affixed to a hearse (or a series of them) around Indianapolis. “The Chicken Limo” was rented out to people of class and good taste for social events, probably the kind that involved a lot of thighs, breasts and drumsticks. Someone set one of the cars on fire. Go figure.
Nothing like a big ….thick…. Oldsmobile to get me craving…. Chicken….
This car, or one just like it, was in Columbus, Ohio some 10+ years ago. It was parked for a while in front of Pace-Hi beer & wine, on North High Street.
If this were a two door, would that make it a chicken coupe?
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Yes, and AWD would make it a Subarooster.
Where’s the +1 button?
Looks like you found it.
Hmm, hard to get a sense of how nice these looked when new…
Given that a recent CC on a Caprice was called a Cadillac Carbon Copy I would simply call the 98 Oldsmobiles of that vintage a “Cadillac Homage.”
Beautiful. Simply Put. One 98 2-Dr Hardtop, 455. Please. Always wanted one!
Well, I think now that we’ve seen a big yellow cock on wheels, it’s time someone does a writeup on the Wienermobile.
The first time I saw the Wienermobile, I was driving in rush-hour traffic on the Virginia side of Washington’s Beltway. I pulled up alongside, expecting to see it being piloted by a smiling, waving Captain Kangaroo-type.
Instead, there was some poor young woman, who looked to be all of 19 years old, clenching the steering wheel with white knuckles. She seemed completely unprepared to drive that barge through five lanes of high speed swerving and merging rush-hour congestion.
Some of the magic of the Wienermobile disappeared for me after that, and I could more clearly see it for what it really is: A truck chassis overburdened with a top-heavy rattling fiberglass top hat.
I love art cars. I think they are a complete WTF? thing as in what possessed you to do that? kind of moment in life.
OTOH, as a confirmed midwesterner, I can’t bring myself to make an art car. What is it I really want to say? (They are a statement, although sometimes I think it’s a statement of flamboyancy only, no real message behind the media.) Hey kids, stay in school? Look what it did for me!?
Then, what medium? What would be my donor platform? Well, this part I have thought out a little. My one idea was to get a car that is worthless, paint it white, and then paint different things on it with tempera or latex paints. Then, when I get tired of looking at it, which will be in about 10 minutes, I can take it to the local high pressure car wash and get back to a clean slate. Kind of like an automotive Etch-a-Sketch, another Ohio invention by the way…
My first choice would be a Yugo, but they have all returned to ferric oxide in this part of the midwest. Other choices would be a Cockroach of the Road™ Cavalier or maybe a Corolla. I guess if I were really trying to make a statement, I could find a BMW or some high dollar Merc, but this thing has to be dirt cheap to run in those parades…
Just what is it that makes you think that bolting a four foot high chicken head to your grandma’s Oldsmobile is a good idea?
“The car is said to be rather famous around Santa Monica, California…”
Yes, see it fairly often in the neighborhood. Along with a car shaped like a shoe and many other interesting automotive creations not uncommon here. Among the joys of living in SoCal.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve also seen this car in a Mcdonalds commercial.
There used to be a chicken place down here in FL that used a 1974 Fleetwood 75 limousine as their “chicken car”, the tail was like 8 ft high, it was even bigger than the Olds 98 featured!
Sadly it was junked like a decade ago, I remember someone telling me they saw it in the local U-pick yard.
This would be a great “zonk” if Let’s Make a Deal” was still on.