Foose builds a Doozy

[scooby074]

Chip Foose rebodying a vintage Duesenberg chassis. Body by Marcel. Episode 1 . Love to watch this guy sketch stuff.

 

[djjsr]

He is definitely the guy with the talent and resources. I'm looking forward to following this project.

 

[lilredex]

Would like to hear that run, with that split exhaust manifold. Heard plenty of in line sixes, but never a straight eight.

 

[Rockable]

Luc DeLey is the guy that will make it happen. Chip is a great designer but Luc is a great metal shaper.

 

[nadogail]

The Duzenburg (sp?) was perhaps the premier car of it’s time. It was known for Speed and Power, maybe the Doble was better regarded by history.

 

[Wrench97]

It always amazes me what the guy can draw with a bic pen.

 

[Steve from Socal]

The drawings are very close to Mercedes 500/540K special roadsters. Great lines and it would have been possible to have a body built in Germany at that time

Keeping the design to the period.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Luc DeLay is the guy that will make it happen. Chip is a great designer but Luc is a great metal shaper.

Marcel and his sons never got/get the credit they deserve for making Foose's creations along with some of Boyd's and many other So-Cal builders.

IMO they should be at least equal if not more credit to the Delays given and folks should be much more in awe of them. They just don't get the credit they deserve. Typical though. Flash always wins out over substance to the casual observer.

 

[gte718p]

Marcel and his sons never got/get the credit they deserve for making Foose's creations along with some of Boyd's and many other So-Cal builders.

IMO they should be at least equal if not more credit to the Delays given and folks should be much more in awe of them. They just don't get the credit they deserve. Typical though. Flash always wins out over substance to the casual observer.

I agree that some of their fabricators are amazing and deserve a lot of respect. However, fabrication is not really that is not that rare of a skill. Really anyone with a single trade is not going to rise to the level of success of a Foose, Boyd, George Barris, Jessy James, or insert other famous designer here. To do that you have to have multiple skills.

While most of those folks pale on comparison to the people work for them, they all have some fabrication background and have some pretty impressive skill. They also have to have the design skills. Designers are not that rare either. They are all good, but not the best. The best designers and artists struggle in mediocrity, probably less appreciated than the metal fab folks. They also have to have marketing and business skills. Building a business and an empire doesn't happen by accident, regardless of what "reality" TV wants to portray. To be successful at that level, you have to have all three skill sets in the right proportion as well as the drive to do the work and the personality to support it all. That is pretty rare. Dismissing it as flash, especially when you are observing them in late career running multimillion dollar business is ignorant.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Dismissing it as flash,

Not exactly what I said. Nor what I meant. Foose is talented. No denying that. I like Foose. Foose grew up doing builds. His father Sam was a well known Builder. Foose has skills. But he doesn't have the skills to build bodies.

However, fabrication is not really that is not that rare of a skill.

Firstly it's a branch of fabrication called metal shaping, and if you have an understanding of it you would understand how difficult it is, and that creating some thing like a body from a few full size drawings is a lot harder than many even can comprehend. Why there are so few (in America especially) who can actually do what the DeLays do. If it was easy they all would be doing it. But over the years the DeLays built the majority of Foose's vehicles. Many of Boyds, Rick Dore, and many many others. None of them would be where they are without the skill of Marcel DeLay and what he taught his sons.

I'm just saying they deserve to held up in higher esteem than they are. And like you did in your post, people should not be so dismissive of the skills it takes to be a Craftsman and to build other peoples visions. Craftsman can't just simply be substituted one for another and the same outcome achieved. There are very very few Craftsman around. It takes many years to develop those skills. Marcel DeLay was/is a Craftsman and he passed the skill down to his sons.

My point is even if it's something as "simple" as welding. To become good at a skill takes dedication, perseverance and time. There are far, far, far, fewer guys out there who are truly skilled and truly care about what they do. They are not interchangeable pieces and to be even somewhat dismissive of that bothers me, which is why I originally posted. These men sacrifice their bodies over the years. Often for low to at most middling wages. They do it because they love the Craft. Those who can't do it, seem to think any blue collar loaf can, they just need to be pointed in the correct direction. That is not true in the least. Not in this trade nor in any of the skilled trades, many of which now are essentially lost. It's an attitude that has been prevalent for centuries. Design always trumps execution. The reality should be the opposite IMO. That is a better analogy of what I meant. I should have said that instead of "flash over substance".

I've spent my whole life trying to emulate the great Craftsman I've met and hold in high esteem. Men like Herschel "Junior" Conway, Kent White, Peter Tommasini, Egidio Brandoli and a few others. I've tried to become skilled in every aspect of automotive work or at least the body,paint, metal aspects. Maybe by the time I die I will be what I wanted to be all those years ago.

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Here is a nice story on Mr. Brandoli if anyone is interested.

Ferrari legends don’t die – they’re resurrected at Brandoli’s famous workshop

The Brandoli name is revered in Ferrari circles — for if your precious Prancing Horse has seen better days and is in need of some tender-loving care, there’s no better place to take it than this Modena-based workshop. We recently visited and caught up with the father-son duo that is Brandoli…

www.classicdriver.com

 

[RalphInCA]

Before I moved away from SoCal (thank God) I used to go to the Pomona hot rod show every year.

In a show of hundreds of hot rods, you could always easily pick out the Foose designs.

 

[545_days]

Regarding design vs. execution I am reminded of a saying my father, a chemical engineer had about the design and construction of chemical plants.

"If the construction of a well-designed unit is wrong, it will add cost to the project, but we can always fix it. If the unit design is wrong, it doesn't matter how well it is constructed. It simply doesn't work."

I have great respect for the craftsmanship required to shape sheet metal into body panels, but if the design is mediocre, the end result is still mediocre no matter how well it is executed.

 

[yhprum]

I think they both deserve credit!

 

[545_days]

I think they both deserve credit!

Absolutely!

 

[zimman]

Foose is one of the few Technical Illustrators left out there. I'm sure he can fabricate with the best of them. He's a little busy tho. LOL. I started life as a Draftsman in 1972 and quickly discovered that was super boring. My father told me versatility was very important so paying attention to the processes and actually keeping hands on fabrication and manufacturing processes was paramount. I did that everywhere I worked in every industry including twenty years in the Navy as an Illustrator/Draftsman. Remember if you can see it, it's already been drawn. If it's an idea, someone has to draw it. Conceptual illustration is amazing. Engineers and I would sit down and sketch out processes and then head to the shop and build them. In the mid-late 70's for ARCAIR we designed and built the robot that welded the DANA diff housings together. That was fun. No Autocad, Solidworks, Sketchup. Just some smart guys and some idiot like me to sketch it out. I'm out of the business now because bored with it all. I'll do some side work if needed but the Solidworks guys have this under control. Autocad was okay but not every personable. Turns people into a robot. LOL.
Here's a prime example. How do you sell the Army a process of cleaning up bombs dropped in practice runs on a range? You have to have a picture to sell it.
Zim