Chipman & Taylor: Kuckle Skraper's Rat Rod

Air Pumps is a site dedicated to documenting and showcasing the best and most attention grabbing forcers of Air that I or any future editors on this site cross paths with. Any particular Air Pump need only have a very limited set of criteria to be showcased on this site. They need to, in some way pump air, and do it in a way that grabs attention, and shows some sort of dedication, and handiwork that went in to its conception. Whether that be in a factory, in a garage, or in some cases, a backyard.

 This Pump, with some argumentation could easily be of the latter conception location, but with no less hard work and dedication than other Pumps documented on this site.

 The thing I loved most about this Rat Rod is the contrast that is seen throughout. This is shown quite well in the patina red bodywork, and the stainless louvered trunk. This particular piece is completely unnecessary, unless you have a barbecue in the back and need vent the smoke from the tasty roasting steaks. In this case there was no barbecue and therefore no need for the louvers, but, they are very, very cool. It adds so much more interest to the rear section of the car. I have always loved louvers and took a different mindset to them after seeing the 2015 Speedhunters Scion Tuner Challenge Scion frs, and I have to say adding them on this rod is only for the better.

 The contrast continues to every corner of the car, the pin-striping, on a weathered and battered headlight housing. It just shows the level of artistic appeal this car has, and I don't think you can walk by this car without appreciating that at least a little bit.

 This Rod and the few others that were with it were put together by a group of Rat Rodders called Knuckle Scrapers based out of Palouse Washington. They are a pretty low key group, that make some pretty special rigs. I know one of the members who also owns a company that specializes in hot rod header flanges pretty close to where I live, I'm thinking about contacting him if I ever decide to do anything with an exhaust manifold on any of my cars. Here's his neat website. Website

 Anyways, back to the Rod, the thing I love about these types of builds is how just about anything goes, as long as it reflects the creativity of the builder and stays true to "never quite finished on a low budget" unwritten build guidelines for Rat Rodders.

Another thing I loved about this car was the very subtle throwback to the fighter plane of a similar vintage as the chassis. This is easily seen here and even in the jackets the crew wears, to the accents on the engine, the interior accents, again more pin striping, stylistic contrast just oozes from this build.

 It continues from the interior to the engine, the quartet of bell stacks with independent throttle bodies on the Offenhauser engine. Both the stacks and the engine were something I had never seen before and loved researching. Turns out this is an American company with a rich vintage racing history, real neat stuff.

This type of thing is what brings the level of the build up to more than just a creative level but a historic and nostalgic one. One of the most interesting items about these cars is how they interest a wide range of people, the contrast in the types of people that take interest in these cars is almost as interesting as the cars themselves. From a late teens blond hooligan with a camera, to an older looking gentleman in a red shirt. Fascinating these connections..

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo

Chipman & Taylor: Porsche 928s

Here's the first installment of the cars I found at the Chipman & Taylor car show. Although this 928 may not represent the majority of cars at the show, that is far from my goal in covering this show. The Porsche 928 is one of my all time favorites, not only is it, or was it, a revolutionary car for its time but moreover the revolutionary car of the time.

The 928 is one of those cars that, like the Karmann Ghia or the first gen BMW M3 has timeless styling. It looked good back in the eighties, it looks great now and it will still look good fifteen years from now.

As I was shooting this car at the show I heard someone compliment the owner on his nice "new" Porsche, and I quote (hence the finely placed quotation marks). In response the owner said something along the lines of heh yeah 1981 like new alabaster...

I'm not sure if he really said alabaster but is sure sounded like it. Anyways that goes to show how modern these cars are, and how ahead of their time they were. They were the the fastest production car in 1987, able to reach speeds of 184 miles per hour. Very fast for 1987, and today for that matter. Something that Jeremy Clarkson appreciated very much in one instance.

These cars are something more than just another Porsche, they are the new age of Porsche we are seeing right now, the Panemera is a front engined rear wheel drive, albeit four door Porsche, just like the 928, Porsche knew what it was doing with its cars before it knew what it was going to do with its cars in the future, and this car is one of the best examples I have seen to date.

 The owner made sure to point out the original miles on the odometer, which I found astounding, considering this is a gt car made for extensive long trips. Also he pointed out the comedy of how Porsche fitted a speedometer that read only 85 miles per hour considering the top speed is double that. I believe this is the same cluster that was used in the 924, a much slower and more fitting car for this speedometer.

It's as if Porsche was trying to build something that resembled the slow 924 for the insurance companies and concerned mothers, but then stuff a 300hp V8 and an LSD for when the owner needed a rush or had an emergency much like Jeremy Clarkson in the above link.

These cars, were made to be an escape for the white collar, something they could take out looking like they were driving something tame and boring but really be driving a monster in a sheepskin, these cars changed the way people looked at the Porsche. It was so civilized and refined it changed the way people looked at there cars in general, from modes of transportation to something with a soul.

I personally find the first generation cars to be pretty ugly but the facelift in the mid/late eighties makes all the difference for me, but if I hadn't seen the face lifted version of the car I would still like this car very much. Here is another commercial for you to enjoy, these are some of the commercials that sold me on the car initially.

Joshua Sewell

Instagram: josh_sewell_photo