They say that everyone
has a look-alike somewhere else in the world, and the same
apparently applies to cartoon logos! If you are a member
of the BMC then you'll know what I'm talking about, otherwise
you'd better have a look at the BMC T-Shirt logo here.
Owner & builder, Paul
Lopus, from New York, USA, has built himself a Minor that
is as close to a Bastardised Rating of 10 as I've yet seen.
I can't give it a ten because the bodyshell is still predominantly
Minor-like, but that is small beans compared to the changes
the rest of the car has undergone.
It started out as a
1960 Morris Minor 1000. Four years work (so far) have got
it to this stage. And what is it made of? Well, it starts
with a 2" x 3" tube chassis with a 10 point roll cage on
top. Then there's the Chevy 350cid V8 with Weiand blower
pushing in the air. Behind that there's a Turbo 350 auto
'box with a 2800rpm Stahl converter and, further back still,
the rear end is a Ford 9" with 3.70 gear ratio and a 4 bar
suspension to hold it in place.
And that's just the
running gear. Then there's the stainless steel gas tank,
wheelie bars (which I'm sure they will be needed!),
front independent suspension, engine mounts, transmission
mount, and too many other parts to mention, all fabricated
and built by Paul Lopus, who is also part owner of Metal
Parts Manufacturing in Remsen, New York (that's handy).
It doesn't stop there either. Add to all that the tilt steering
column, race style bucket seats and a Simpson 5 point seat
harness and you've got yourself a bonafide Pro-Street Rod
Minor.
And you thought the
logo was just an artist's wet dream .... :)
|