George Poteet has always had...
George Poteet has always had a soft spot for the '61 Starliner, and although he loved the design, he still thought there was room for improvement. He enlisted the aid of automotive artist Eric Brockmeyer to bring those subtle changes to life on paper, and then he went to the Alloway's Hot Rod Shop crew to make them a reality.
Whenever we get the chance, we like to stick our noses into various hot rod shops around the country to see what's cookin', and one shop we can always count on to showcase a plethora of cool projects is Alloway's Hot Rod Shop.
Bobby and the crew never cease to amaze us with their awesome ideas and great craftsmanship. Unless you've been livin' under a rock or have spent the better part of the last decade locked away in your garage, you're more than likely familiar with the slew of beautiful street rods they've created over the years. Another cool thing about Alloway's is they're just as comfortable, and equally creative, with crafting later-model hot rods as they are SpeedStars and Deuce roadsters-like George Lang's '56 Skyliner, Chuck Row's '59 Impala, and Doyle Thomas' '55, for example.
This time around, we caught 'em in the throes of a cool build they were doing, one among many in various stages of completion at the time, and what do ya know, it's another of those post-'48 cars again-this time a '61 Ford Starliner for consummate rodder George Poteet.
The early '60s Galaxies were all-new in style, swapping the flamboyant trimming of the 1950s for an even more futuristic look. There were still fins, but smaller, with the focus of Ford's designers progressing from the airplane-inspired influence of the previous decade to the burgeoning world of space exploration. The Starliner, with its huge, curving rear window, hardtop design, and large circular taillights glowing like the engines of a spaceship, sure did the trick. Mr. Poteet loved the styling but wished to take it to the next level. With that in mind, he commissioned Bobby Alloway to basically dissect the Starliner and rebuild it from the ground up, incorporating his personal tastes in the process.
Here's a sneak peek at the '61 in progress, and keep your eyes peeled, as the finished product should be prowling the blacktop by the time you read this.
A pretty darn straight Starliner...
A pretty darn straight Starliner was delivered to Alloway's one afternoon, and Bobby gave it the once-over before rollin' it into the shop.
A quartet of five-spoke rollers...
A quartet of five-spoke rollers and some tinkering with the stock suspension gave the guys an idea of the projected stance the finished car would sport. The real-time preview quickly gave way to some serious thrashin' with the car totally stripped down to its sheetmetal.
With the new Morrison chassis...
With the new Morrison chassis in place, and both it and the body shell set at the car's desired ride height, a new floor and body mounts began to come together. As you can see here, the guys started in the passenger compartment, fabricating the first section from the trans tunnel to the right rocker area first.
With every removable component...
With every removable component stripped from the body, they loaded up the sheetmetal body parts and sent them off to the stripper.
As is usually the case with...
As is usually the case with old cars, the body wasn't quite as nice as first thought, but in this case it was better than most. Besides, Alloway's figured on re-fabricating a large portion of the Starliner, regardless.
As with any and all of George's...
As with any and all of George's cars and trucks, the Starliner was going to get the best of the best. A custom-made Art Morrison rectangular-tube chassis was already in the works (as were an early 427 SOHC Ford motor and a Tremec five-speed), so the crew wasted no time tearing right into that baby. The Starliner's floor had to go, since they were going with the Morrison custom chassis, and a new one was fabricated in its place.
They then worked their way...
They then worked their way rearward, fabricating mounts, supports, and wheelhouses as they went.
The basic flooring was finished...
The basic flooring was finished off with the fabrication and installation of the trunk floor. The trans tunnel would follow once the five-speed was in place, so there would be no wasted space.
With the new floors complete,...
With the new floors complete, the body was bolted up to the frame and the suspension components and rolling stock added to get an idea of the car's new stance. It was getting there, but there was still a lot of work to do.
This is one of the last mock-ups...
This is one of the last mock-ups we witnessed-this one's going to be (or more than likely, by now is) one heck of a cool Starliner. In fact, we'll bet if ya check out Mr. Poteet's Web site, www.cameltoe.net, you'll find some fresh images of the Starliner, and the rest of his to-die-for fleet of hot rods and race cars, as well.
Though Morrison custom-made...
Though Morrison custom-made the chassis to everyone's specs, car guys can't ever leave anything untouched, so they massaged the front 'rails to get the Starliner's nose a bit farther into the dirt by giving 'em a bit more of an arch.
Some of that yet-to-have-been-done...
Some of that yet-to-have-been-done work was George's idea of using the interior out of a '64 Galaxie XL along with a '63 Mercury dash. This Eric Brockmeyer rendering will give you an idea of what they were thinking.