1950s Santa: Did the Mesh Hold Candy?

 

Closeup shot of a little piece of a 1950s Christmas. This Santa is about 8-inches long and I think came chock full of gold foil-covered chocolate "coins."  He's a bit worse-for-the-wear, but has a certain charm in his face. I leave him hanging around the house all year long.

The background is one of my late mother's scarves. I'm pretty sure it dates to about 1965 and I've always loved the colors and patterns.

U P D A T E :

My friend, Bob A., on Facebook, mentioned that this Santa looks like the European Kris Kringle in ways. Now I'm thinking that it's indeed German. My family lived in Germany from '55-'60 so this could be from their time there. I love the collective knowledge of everyone!

B O N U S   P H O T O :

I used the same silk scarf a few years ago in this photo entitled, "Hurtling Parked" of my 1:18 scale model 1971 Buick Riviera.

They're Watching Me, Part 399.

The top image shows my Buick Skylark hatchback coupe which I posted in this blog last September. The bottom photo shows the just-released photo of the new compact Buick Verano. I'm not pointing out the styling this time, but the color. The photo of the Vauxhall/Opel GTC I started out with for my Skylark was bright red, a common "sports" color these days. I decided to make my car a bit more elegant and mature, and changed it to what I described as a "Mink Brown" meant to evoke the classic 1960s fur fashions. Browns were also quite popular in the 1970s, but mine was a bit more metallic, a bit more elegant than those I remember from the Disco-era Detroit. I was quite amused to see Buick's new compact being shown in its first press release images in a very similar shade of brown I created for my Skylark. I can't remember the last time a new, and important, car was introduced to the world in a brown, but I'm sure my great readers will come up with some. In the meantime, I'm going to assume Buick was reading Peter De Lorenzo's Autoextremist column again, which ran my Skylark last fall, and loved the image I created for them! : )

Two More from the Alternate Universe

Going through one of my hard drives today, I came across two more of my "small large" cars. I did these several years ago, they're quite low-resolution and crude. The top image shows a 1962 Cadillac Coupe de Ville with my lite treatment: shorter overhangs and wheelbases on standard bodies. Above is a  '65 Buick Wildcat, sorely in need of a restoration. I really enjoy creating chops of junked cars. I'd say 99% of the other choppers out there only work on new cars. I enjoy the challenge of reordering the pixels of a beat-up car to make it into one of my creations. Even my signature needs restoration in the Buick chop. : )

My first post of miniaturized domestic cars.

Buick's Large RWD Sport Sedan—Lucerne Reborn

The current Lacrosse is a great car, but isn't the flagship Buick needs. My Lucerne, reborn with RWD and a hybrid performance drivetrain, could be.

C H O P — The flagship Buick luxury sport sedan, the reborn rear-wheel drive Lucerne. I've pushed and pulled the sheetmetal around the larger wheels and tires. The bodysides now feature a subtle "sweepspear" contour and the larger Buick logo on the trunk is anchored by a chrome molding at the sweepspear's height, carrying that line around the rear of the car. The rocker panels have dark argent skirting on them, making the painted body seem lower and longer. A black glass roof finishes the transformation. A twin-charged small displacement, direct-injected V6 with hybrid assist, yields 300hp and 35mpg with 0-60 in the 6 second range.

My Cranky Old Man Andy Rooney Moment

O P I N I O N   P A G E — I just saw a Buick Enclave commercial on TV and was reminded how irritated I am at Buick's B and C pillar treatment. It's a small thing, maybe even a tiny inconsequential thing, but the fact that the B pillar is blacked out and the C pillar is painted really bothers me. They're both surrounded by chrome molding, and my aesthetic sense says they need to be treated equally. With the door surrounds and B pillar painted body color, along with the C pillar, it would work. Conversely if everything inside the chrome molding was blacked out, it would work. Or if the chrome molding stopped at the door, and the C pillar was more a part of the roof, I could see it being painted. But by being surrounded by that bright trim molding, the C pillar becomes part of the 'greenhouse' or window area, and it ends up looking like it's missing the black cover to my eyes. It's even worse on a white vehicle like in the commercial. The fact that both pillars are almost exactly the same width compounds the problem.

Cranky old man diatribe over. For now!

Saturday Night Special—Skylark's Return

You know the drill, slap a Buick grille on every new European Opel that's introduced. This is the recent GTC concept for this month's Paris show, remade into a subcompact Skylark hatchback. I made the rear side window come to a point, like the '68-'69 Skylark coupes did, but other than slight things here and there, this is still the Opel/Vauxhall GTC. The color is supposed to evoke those 'glamorous' mink stoles of the 1960s, with a natural baseball-leather interior. That's my little town in the background, lol.

And Now for Something Completely Different!

Chopping photographs of my scale model cars. There's no end to the madness! Image will open up to 1,100 pixels wide.

C H O P — I was going to wait to post this image until I had completed at least a series of six, but it's going to be a while before I'm really comfortable using my right hand enough to create photoshop art again. I can easily go through 1,000 steps before the 'history palette' resets itself, so who knows how many steps I really use in a chops, and my fingers and wrist will probably need at least a week before I can work like my magic again. In the meantime, behold the first one in the series, my 1971 Buick Riviera Formal Roof.

This is a photograph of one of my 1:18 scale models. This Riviera was the famed 'boattail' fastback iteration of Buick's halo coupe. I've chopped it into a more formal appearing coupe, more like what Oldsmobile fielded with its Toronado that year, a car that shared its E-body platform with the Riviera. I thought about what GM's styling veep of that time, Bill Mitchell, would have done had the boattail been rejected by management. This new pillarless roofline is very GM circa early '70s—it reminds me of the '71 Pontiac Grand Ville coupe which used GM's luxury C-body roof. I think it's pretty spot on! I really like the way it came out.

I'm going to include a different small vintage collectible with each scale model chop. In this case, I photographed the Riv with my Mr. Peanut's pen from the 1950s.

And Now for Something Completely Different!

Gentlemen, start your engines! Not in the future plans for Buick, but that's why I'm here. Click to see this Black Beauty larger.

C H O P — The sophisticated new 2010 Buick Lacrosse is a million light-years away from the snarling Regal Grand Nationals from the 1980s. . . until now, lol. I created this new Grand National last year as a response to a question on a forum as to what one might look like. 

A copy of the original press photo I started with of the 2010 Buick Lacrosse, for those not familiar with this beautiful new domestic car.

I think my fellow forum members were expecting a modern-day 4 door coupe with performance overtones. I re-created this demonic GN in all of its Darth Vader badassness instead. In a perfect example of how far the design game has moved on, I actually had to make the original Lacrosse donor less coupe-like, ie more of a notchback instead of the fastback, to make this car a coupe in the '80s mold.

The original mid-80s Regal Grand National coupe. In black, natch. (Image from Google Images.)

The Family Cars 1931. OK, Turn'em Around.

Some of the family cars taken around 1931-32. Notice that instead of just walking around to the back to take the view of the back of the cars, they actually moved the cars around, and put them in the same order! Just a wild guess, but I'd say my grandmother shot the photos, and had the men in the family move the cars to keep the lighting correct. She would have been 'bossy' like that, lol. But then, when the men got back inside, I'm sure she had strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream or a lemon meringue pie waiting for them. 

The car on the very left I can't ID; maybe it's a 1930-31 Plymouth or Dodge? The second-from-the-right is a Model A Ford, I'm guessing a 1929. The 2 cars on the right are Buicks, most likely a '23 and a '25. I have a couple of bud vases that my aunt Hoohoo told me were from the Buicks. Notice how low the car on the left is, the newest one most likely. The two Buicks on the right tower over their newer garage-mates. A lot of technical development occurred in automobiles from the early-mid Twenties to the early Thirties.

The two same Buick coupes, this being the '23, with Hoohoo age 5-6 at the wheel,  and . . .

. . .  the slightly newer '25 Buick with Uncle Art at the wheel. Collectible Automobile featured a Buick coupe from this era a few years ago. Rather than a 'standard' interior with 2 seats in the front and a bench seat in the back, these Buicks came with only a real driver's seat in the front. It was accepted practice for the 2-3 passengers to sit in the back seat, with a fold-down front jump seat just for occasional use. In the really early days of automobiles, there was so much more individuality in vehicles. for good and bad.

Potpourri Saturday—Random Garden Shots

Petunias, hanging basket. I love the smell of these annuals, and their velvet-like texture.

Squash blossom—vegetable garden (also known as the Ponderosa, lol.) Can't remember what variety they will be!

Ferns—elephant variety. These are about 4 feet tall in the shade garden right next to the Hydrangea posted earlier this week.

Hostas—shot from the ground as these flowers always hang downwards.

Common Day Lily—I can't help but take photos of these. They're almost 6 feet tall and very prolific. I have hundreds of them blooming right now.

B O N U S   P H O T O S  : )

Created from the Sixteen concept, this is my idea of a contemporary Cadillac Series 75, the Formal Sedan, or limousine. I've used several 'old-school' Cadillac cues for this chop, such as the rear fender skirts, the 'halo' vinyl roof, the letter-spaced Cadillac nameplate on the rear quarters, and the full-length side chrome molding. Manhattan skyline superimposed in background signaling the privileged class and captains of industry that once were driven in behemoths like this. Chop done at least 4 years ago, hence the low-resolution and small size. If I did a Seventy Five Limousine today, I would have the doors next to each other and the 'stretch' come behind the rear door, with a separate quarter window, like the factory Caddy limos of the fifties through the seventies. Not sure why I added this space behind the front doors for this chop, but I did, lol.

Also very much an 'old school' chop, this could be your grandfather's next Buick. Saving the Electra nameplate for a hybrid model, this chop from 3 years ago stretched the Lucerne into a full luxury sedan. I've referenced GM's severe notchback sedans of the late '70s and early 80s, which began with the '75 Cadillac Seville. Signaling it's top-of-the-line status, the Lucerne 225 sports quad Ventiports on each front fender. The '225' is, of course, referring back to the classic Buick "Deuce and a Quarter" of yore. How I wish we could get back to this front-axle-to-steering wheel proportion of grand old rear-wheel-drive automobiles. I don't remember which city skyline I added in this rendering—maybe Boston?

Strange Brew

C H O P S — Sometimes the pure joy of photoshopping fake cars is creating absolute oddballs—tongue-in-cheek funmobiles, with no eye towards any sort of production reality or statements. I've  mentioned in this blog before that I use my car chops for honing my Photoshop skills for use in my professional life, ie designing books and creating art to hang on walls. Sometimes, I just wanna have fun—cue Cyndi Lauper, "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun," rofl. I hope you have fun thinking of these awesome machines driving around YOUR town. Most of these were done 3-4 years ago, and are rendered in somewhat lower resolution than I use now, but are still fun to peruse. : )

Buick Electra Hybrid Sedanet, with AeroSpats® (once known as fender skirts...) I think this Lexus LS-sized luxury car would truly shake up the segment, and give mileage in the 40s. 

Buick Centurion AWD crossover sedan. British Leyland's "Landcrab" FTW! Click all photos, as usual, to enlarge and see in detail.

1959 Cadillac Coupe de Monofin—world's first CHMSL? : )

How about a Lincoln Cosmopolitan woody wagon. In this case, the wood would be a sliver-like micro-veneer layered under several clearcoats, and would be confined to the doors. Brushed stainless steel would comprise the rest of the body. Copper-anodized wheels round out the 'wtf' design of this mid-next century modern Lincoln.

For more crazy goodness, jump to next page.

Fewer Doors, Part 2 Today. Regal GS coupe

The new German-built Buick Regal GS could be made into an attractive coupe with very few new pieces. I'd love to see a more aggressive coupe with its own styling and tighter platform, and might try my hand at one, but this one utilizes as many of the original pieces as possible for economy of production. Click to see larger.

C H O P — At first I didn't care for the 'swoosh' on the front door of the new Opel/Buick sport sedans, seemingly random as it was, but it has really grown on me the more I look at it. It evokes the fender graphic of the classic period, without being retro in any way. With front overhang length seemingly stuck at huge meeting all of today's pedestrian safety regulations and bumper standards, that indented panel creates the illusion of a longer wheelbase. It visually pushes the front wheels forward by moving one's eye backwards into the door, much as the flowing fenders of the 1930s did. It's a deft touch, worthy of Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell—which current GM VP of design Ed Welburn proves fully capable of producing with each new car introduced under his aegis. Who knows what we have in store for us with Ed Welburn's leadership and design staff? The best just might be still to come. Welburn's the real fucking deal, excuse my French, lol!

Art of the Chop, Part II

Vintage Saab Sonett III in production form, below, and my proper notchback coupe version, above.

C H O P — The vintage burgundy Saab Sonett III above is one of my very simple chops, shown with the original press photo for comparison. In this rendering, I've left everything in the photo pretty much the same, with the exception of the car. I liked the background, and the '70s fashions on the couple, so I left them. You'll notice besides the roof, I've shortened the front overhang, pushing the front wheels forward about six inches in relation to the windshield. I've changed some of the trim slightly as well. The original is a fastback with a glass hatchback. I've made mine into a proper coupe, with a notchback roofline and a short trunklid, a bodystyle I prefer usually to hatches.

The second chop posted here, below, based on the new BMW 5 series GT hatchback, takes the chop a few steps further. I've made the chunky (fugly?) BMW into a svelte Buick sport sedan. Once again, I've kept the background the same, but have changed the car totally, including the lines, the color, the marque. I began publishing this blog with the Riviera chop, here, but now you can see the base photo I started with, Some of my chops go much further by changing the background etc, and I'll continue to post "The Art of the Chop" in future entries, but I think you can see the amount of Photoshop work that goes into these creations.

The BMW 5 GT, below, was changed into a mythical top-of-the-line Buick Riviera, above, in this chop. Click all images to enlarge

Reflective Side Graphics NOT Optional This Time Around: Skyhawk Reenters Compact Arena

Twin-charged Direct-Injected Inline 4 with Hybrid-assisted drivetrain standard on this new hatchback by Buick that seats 4 on individual Recaro buckets. Hatchback does not equal cheap, basic transportation at premium division of GM. Click image to see it's gorgeousness in greater detail, lol.

C H O P — This sporty Buick hatchback coupe is based on a profile photo of the Maserati GranTurismo coupe. The Skyhawk from the 1980s was based on the Vega/Monza platform, and anchored the bottom of the Buick lineup back then. Over-the-top options included a full-length decal along the sides that reflected at night when lights shined on it. Four cylinder and V6 engines were offered, but the car never fooled anyone—it was cheap transportation in its lowliest '80s guise.

My chop would give Buick a very economical, very aggressive entry in the small coupe market. Befitting Buick's place in GM's lineup this time around, the interior would be upscale, featuring Recaro leather buckets for all 4 passengers. The drivetrain would be a brand new 4 cylinder, with both a turbocharger and a supercharger, in addition to a mild hybrid-assisted transmission. Economy could be in the high 40s city, with acceleration times in the 6 second range from 0-60. Yes, the best of both worlds, economy and rapidity will be offered in this hot new GM sport coupe.

All In A Night's Work

Enclave Wildcat 4 door pickup would use the divisions most powerful drivetrains, and feature a powered rear tonneau cover.

C H O P — The Buick Enclave was introduced in May of 2007, so these chops probably date to the summer of that year. I was routinely posting at Motor Trend's forums at that time, posting my chops and disagreeing with posters in most of the other topics most of the time, lol. 

The question came up of what an Enclave pickup would look like, and I took an hour between posts and made the gray 2 door 'El Camino' type vehicle below. Then someone else said a 4 door version would make more sense. Rather than modify the chop I had just finished, which I hate to do, I started with a different view and was just going to rough it out. The more I got into it though, the more I liked it, shown above in green. You'll notice a 3 piece rear tonneau cover on this chop. The three pieces would be powered, and would roll back onto themselves and fold near the rear window. I found tri-colored Buick shields for the wheels, and added built-in grab handles on the rear C pillars. I went a bit crazy with the hood ventiports, placing 5 of them. We all know that 4 is the most Buick has ever used. Let's chalk it up to the quickness of the chop, and perhaps the third Stella . . . As far as these vehicles go, I think either of these Buicks would look right at home at the garden center or the home-improvement store.

2 door Enclave SUT, er, picks up where the El Camino left off.

Don't Blame "Texting While Driving"

V I N T A G E   O O P S — There was no date on the back of these snapshots, but i'd guess 1939-40. The crashed car is a '37 Buick Convertible-quite the collectible today. The shiny black car in the background of the top photo and at the left in the bottom photo, is my uncle's '35 Ford V8 coupe (also collectible today), which I know he drove before the war. Click to enlarge. The vintage detail is cool, including some slight dents in the Fords trunk. You'll also see signs for indoor parking, groceries, liquor-the more things change, the more they stay the same.

B T W :

A  B E T T E R  V I E W — The '35 Ford Coupe from the scenes above. There is only 1 windshield wiper, above the chrome-framed windshield, and there are two horns. I'm not sure if this is a Standard or a Deluxe coupe-I think it's a Deluxe with a missing wiper. This example is a 3-window coupe, a 2-3 seater with only a front bench seat. It was one of the most streamlined of the '35s, really a beautiful car, imo. Flathead V8, mechanical brakes and buggy springs as they say in the biz. One of Henry's finest.

New small CUV for Buick-revives "Special" nameplate

C H O P — This little Buick was created using a Seat Ibiza estate image. The Seat's swage line is so Buick looking to this American's eyes, it was a natural to turn it into a new Buick Special. I love the woody effect, lol, and have used it here. My idea for 21st century wood trim on cars, would be created with a laser-thin veneer of actual wood, and be incorporated under the clear coats in an almost seamless appearance. I've used brushed aluminum border trim on the top portion of this little Buick. The wood is applied above the swage like Buick did on the glass-roofed '69 Sportwagon, Buick's last version of the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser.

The Next Riviera-luxury hatchback

C H O P — The Riviera nameplate has been used on Buicks since midway through 1949, first used to denote the new pillarless coupe bodystyle. It went on to be used on several Buick 2 and 4 door pillarless card in the mid '50s, finally becoming a personal luxury coupe in 1963. Though the nameplate has not been used since the mid '90s, my Riviera would become, once again, a unique top-of-the-line flagship for Buick, a 5 door sport hatch. Powertrains would be top-shelf hybrids with AWD. This chop began as a photo of the less than svelte BMW 5GT.