Copyright © Fast Eddy's Hot Rod Art 2005
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| Before any car gets built by an automobile manufacturer, the first thing that has to be laid out is a concept. To do this requires the assistance of many engineers, but once the ideas start turning someone has to lay ink on the paper in order to bring such concepts to life. It takes real talent to put ideas on paper which eventually become the "real thing". With that said, we salute all of the automotive artists out there that are bringing to us, the consumers, the ideas that otherwise would be unimaginable. In particular, we give props to Ed White of Fast Eddy's Hot Rod Art out of Katy, Texas.
As you may know already, Fast Eddy (a.k.a Ed White) is a regular feature here at Elite Streets Magazine and we don't mind it one bit. With no shortage of ink or imagination, Ed has been putting out some of the hottest custom auto concepts that enthusiasts have seen for years! As always, we were impressed with Ed's latest artistic renderings, so we decided to share those concepts with you.
By the way, Ed is a gun for hire, so if you wish to have your project built on paper before you commence to bustin' a few knuckles, you can contact Ed at: 281.455.2883. Also keep in mind that Ed can paint the real deal, too! If you want a wicked paint job on your ride, Ed can "git-er-done!" To catch a glimpse of more examples of Ed's work, go to www.fehrarules.com. Be sure to tell Ed that ESM sent ya! |
Click on the pictures to enlarge!
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This is one of three ideas Ed came up with in a court house waiting room. It is a Ford version of the SSR. Ed based it off the '66 F-100. It sports the hideaway roof , non-separated body and integrated bed cover. The tailgate area is strikingly similar to the '66 in architecture, but the lighting is all new and wraps around the sides. The flexible rear roll pan goes from the wheel lip all the way around to the other wheel lip. The nose is a rounded, updated version of the '66 that even includes a speed grille and composite lights. Add the flush door handles and billet oval gas door and it's done. The color you ask? Old blue jeans blue. |
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The inspiration for this ride comes from the movie Chicago. Ed was going to start with a Prowler then remembered... "The Howler." Ed looked up old police cars on the web and found a '28 that had the rear section and step with the railing. The door with the little glassless window with bars comes straight from the movie. Ed designed the decorative stripes and lighting as well as the wheels. The front portion of the roof is designed to resemble the old C-cab trucks. |
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This is Ed's take on a new Buick design. Being a big fan of Harley Earl and his designs, Ed believes this is what is missing in the contemporary homogenized, invisible car designs. This sketch was actually therapeutic to Ed since it first started out as a simple "stress relief sketch." Eventually, Ed found it cool enough to pursue. This car resembles a '55 only it's new, round, and smooth. The headlights have the monocle thing the new Eclipse has, but the chrome arm that holds it is an extension of the side chrome on the car that appears to pierce the fender to get into the light. It sports a three piece fold down hard top and fins. This car could be built... hint-hint! |
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It's ALIVE... the land yacht lives! This car also has a hideaway hardtop. This is for the movie stars and billionaires who like the old, but with a new flair. The door handle looks like the old GM grab-n-push, but actually it is an oval finger-pull. The shine makes it look the other way. Like the Buick, this rendering says it all. It's simply a retro styled body on an existing stretched V-8 rear wheel chassis. Too kewl! |
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It's MILLER TIME! This truck is an SSR that has been cut behind the cab and stretched back 10 inches. After that, widen the rear fenders to accommodate the 10" wide 8 lug (3/4 ton) wheels (one-offs designed by Ed of course) and add a polished wood flat bed with matching stake bed sides (that match not only the bed but the paint as well) with no tailgate, just a rod with an eye to put a rope through. Rope is used instead of a chain to preserve the paint and wood finishes. topping off the theme are a couple of old school beer kegs. Now, let's have a REAL tailgate party! |
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This truck is the brand new Mitsubishi Raider. Ed changed up the head and taillights, designed the wheels in a three spoke Mitsubishi emblem pattern, frenched the plate into the tailgate, and put three pipes out the bottom of the roll pan. Ed also designed the hood and the billet side view mirrors. The truck is on air and actually draws air from the hood thus making the engine able to use more potential hidden power and sound good from the pipes. The paint color is inspired by a road sign. The sun was beating down on one of those south Texas 97-97 days (97 degrees-97% humidity) and the reflection from the sign caused a candy yellow with a hint of candy red mixed in along with a green pearl in the clear coat to be born! The color may not be the prettiest, but it looks odd enough to have a certain cool factor. |
| Finally, the car at the top of this feature is the bad boy! Ed was inspired to design the car while watching the History Channel about, you guessed it, an F-14 Tomcat. Ed designed it from top to bottom, inside and out. It's designed to top out at 280 mph (!!), 0-60 time of 3.5 with a 1/4 mile time of 12 sec. Which leads me to answer your next question... Supercharged V-10, 5-spd gear box equipped with 3 overdrive gears (thus, 8 spd) with a rear gear of 3:00. Wheels are 20", 24", brakes are 16", 15" vented, and the tires are 315/35, 20 and 355/35, 24 respectively. The body is polished aluminum, with obvious F-14 styling. Starting at the front, the "grille" is for downforce and brake cooling. There's ducting that blows air through the wheels and up through the "hood"...which opens for stowage and the stowage "bucket" is removable to access the chassis from above. The cockpit has a removable targa style roof panel and roll down windows. The door handles are push type located on the reverse side of the large air inlets (so you just pull them open from under the lip). Inside, are two seats, console shifter all normal gauges and monitors. Three monitors, one atop the windshield and one at the base of each A-pillar are reverse image from the cameras locates on the wing to give you a normal driving experience while keeping the body barb-free. Finally, the rear windshield area...yep, more storage. It opens piano style from the left and is separate from the passenger compartment. Where is Maverick and Goose when you need 'em? |
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