Saturday, December 16, 2006

Coop's Old Crow

Thanks to Coop for painting up a logo for the Bellytank.
I really think it captures all the elements of this car.
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Here is a quick mock up of what were going to paint on the tank

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Some people have asked where the name "Old Crow" came from, so here is the official story. On a trip to Connecticut last year to look at a Sprint car, I stopped into a local antique store, and came across this vintage bar display for Old Crow Whiskey.
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Now being a bar owner, I am always looking for cool old bar stuff, and this guy really stuck out. The Old Crow has a simple yet strong aesthetic to it, similar in my opinion to the Western Exterminator man, my favorite promotional character of all time.
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So naturally I had to buy him. But the thought had not crossed my mind to name a race car after the old whiskey until I was watching the History channel one night. The show was about the p-51 Mustangs of WWII, and what do I see flying through the beautiful black and white grainyness of 1940's film??? A famous P-51 Mustang called the "Old Crow" !! How cool is that.

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So then it hit me, what a perfect blend of Booze, character and WWII aviation. A match made in heaven for an old Bellytank turned race car. After talking to friends about the concept, Coop had a great idea of taking the crow and giving him a Clay Smith cams feel. Clay Smith was a cam maker in the 50's and many a hot rod/race car donned the famous woodpecker logo.
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I think Coop gave the Old Crow a lot more life than he originally had.
So there ya have it.

1 comment:

sweete224 said...

Hi, I was left an "Old Crow" by my grandfather. He displayed it in his insurance office for years. I'm having trouble finding out it's worth but would like to sell it. Then I saw the statue you have and though you might be interested. It is quite old, older than yours, and has a bit of damage where the paint has peeled off. If you would like to see it please feel free to email me and I'll gladly send you a picture.