Monday, December 13, 2010

"Seen Better Days." But Then, Who Hasn't?

1962 Dodge Lancer the artandcolour way…  Lily Munster meets Fred Sanford.

C H O P — This is one of my "classic" mash-up chops. The car was sampled from an article in The New York Times last year, and the background is a forlorn mansion for sale found in a Washington state newspaper. 

I changed the roofline and window shapes on this 1962 Dodge Lancer, Dodge's version the Plymouth Valiant. Both the Valiant and the Lancer sedans and coupes had a slim body contour line just under the windows, that wrapped upwards at the back of the rear doors and just ended abruptly, with no corresponding uptick in the window line. Their wagon equivalents used a "sixth" window behind the doors that slanted upwards, but the other body styles didn't, something I always thought looked like a mistake. I "fixed" it on this sedan, adding a wraparound rear window as well and both changes add a lot of character to the car and make "sense" of the original body contour. 

These cars were always described as "European" looking, so I added suicide doors, something I'm ready to do on almost any car, lol. I also changed the wheel covers from some aftermarket items on the original photograph to more original looking "steelies" with dog dish hubcaps, mismatched of course. I added a bit more rust and wear and tear to the car also, deliberately mismatching the rear door as well. I think as a composition, this mash-up works well. I know if I saw this scene on a street, I would have stopped to take this photo!

18 comments:

  1. I'D LOVED TO BUY THAT HOUSE AND LIVE THERE. THE CAR LOOKS PERFECT FOR THE PICTURES. GOES WELL.

    JUST ME PEEKING IN.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is great Casey!
    These Valiant/Lancer's have always had a quirky appeal to me. I remember seeing them on the road well into the 70's - seems no one ever got rid of them. I love all of your updates. I particularly like how you incorporated "Art and Colour" into the sign! I agree with Granny, if I came across this house for sale, I'd definitely be interested in it - great porch!

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of the things I liked about the first generation Valiant and only generation Lancer was the six-window two-door sedan and two-door hardtop! You don't see too many other cars in that configuration. I would be very happy to have a 60 or 61 station wagon or a 61 two-door sedan or hardtop. I never understood why they did what they did with the 62 Valiant tailights. It made no sense to me at all -- but I did like the way they dressed up the hardtop to be the Signet 200!

    Paul, NYC

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's odd they went from a perfectly lovely designed tailight that fit the rear fenders perfectly, to a generic round taillight. Change for the sake of change! I also really liked Exner's spare tire impressions on the trunklids. When I was a kid I would point out every car I saw with those trunks, i loved them!

    I would totally LOVE to live in a broken down old mansion like that. And it would have my 'artandcolour' sign in front of it, lol.

    ReplyDelete
  5. THIS HOME WOULD BE A GREAT HOUSE TO BE FIX UP FOR THE ELDERLY. THEY COULD SIT ON THAT PORCH AND HAVE THEIR OWN ROCKING CHAIR AND EVEN ENJOY A GLASS OF WINE.IF I HAD BIG MONEY,I ALWAYS WANTED TO HAVE A PLACE LIKE THIS FOR OLD FOLK THAT HAD NO PLACE TO GO. I'D JUST GIVE THEM LOVE AND MORE LOVE. THEY WOULD BE KEPT CLEAN AND HAVE PLENTY TO EAT. IT WOULD HAVE TO BE LIMITED BECAUSE I COULD ONLY SPREAD MYSELF JUST SO FAR. YES GUYS, GAYS WOULD BE WELCOME.I MAY BE A STRAIGHT CHRISTIAN LADY BUT I HAVE A BIG HEART WITH PLENTY OF HUGS AND FOREHEAD KISSES TO GIVE.THERE WOULD BE NO MORE TEARS. JUST LAUGHTER. MAYBE I COULD HAVE HIRED ANNIE AND MARE TO HELP.EVEN KATIE.BACKRUBS FOR SURE. MY PROPERTY I HAD IN N.Y. WAS BIG ENOUGH FOR A HOME LIKE THIS ONE . JUST NEVER HAD THAT KIND OF MONEY. I HAVE A COUSIN THAT'S A RN AND SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THE SAME THING. TO LATE NOW BUT A WONDERFUL THOUGHT. DON'T YOU THINK?

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Casey,

    What great changes to an already charming car ! I love looking at the Valiant/Lancer . There always seems something new to discover in their lines and architecture .

    I always thought it was a pity they didn't produce the Imperial from this era.I know one was planned and I have seen a few photos. Now wouldn't that have looked spectacular with suicide doors !?


    AP
    Malibu

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Casey, Granny, X, Paul in NYC and AP in Malibu..... just wanted to say "hi" it's a bit nippy here.

    Love that house as well......

    Peace everyone.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LONG DAY, GOOD NIGHT CASEY GOOD NIGHT

    ReplyDelete
  9. You took the words right out of my mother, loved Sanford & Son especially the fake heart attack scenes.
    "Elizabeth, I'm going to take a 747 to see you"

    ReplyDelete
  10. and "I'm coming Elizabeth, It's the big one, it's the big one!" I love that show. I still watch it on TVLand.

    ReplyDelete
  11. greetings Casey!
    I have been enjoying your writings for a while now and I had to laugh when I saw this post!

    My parents had a 1962 Valiant wagon, baby blue, slant 6, etc etc. Unlike you, I must say that car offended my rapidly developing 10 year old gay sensibilities.
    I hated that car with a passion because my father traded his 1957 Thunderbird for it. I was hard pressed to forgive him, but baby brother's arrival meant we had to "go practical".

    best regards,
    Jim
    Sebastopol, CA

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Jim!
    Welcome to the comments section. I'm glad you weighed in today. I can see why your attitude towards the Valiant wagon formed! Have you ever forgiven your baby brother, lol? The 2 seater Tbird has always been one of my favorite cars of all time.
    -casey

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Jim...welcome. I hope you will grab a cup of coffee and join this eclectic little group in enjoying all that Casey has to offer on his wonderful blog!
    mare

    ReplyDelete
  14. Norman Lear was a one of my favorite TV's producesof the day. He's 88 years old and from your part of the world. This explains why he's so creative and pushed the enevelope by mixing blacks and whites together.

    - All in the Family (Awesome)
    -The Jeffersons (Pretty good)
    -Sandord and Son (Awesome)
    -Good Times (never watched much of)
    -Maude (never heard)

    Aaron Spellings also rocked with Fantasy Island

    ReplyDelete
  15. Those shows ROCKED when they were first on. All in the Family changed the course of TV around the world. Maude was pretty awesome too, I think she had the first legal abortion written into a script, just groundbreaking stuff. I never watched Good Times much either, but I met the star Esther Rolle once at Limelight!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lenny Kravitz's mother was in Good Times. She was one of the few to show the world what interracial realtionships were about, while J.J. (think that is actor's name) turned out to be a big time bigot.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Actually his mother was on The Jeffersons. She was the upstairs neighbor that was in an interracial marriage. That show had some really funny lines in it, I loved their maid!

    ReplyDelete