In it's 57th year, the Daryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Show, February 18-20, 2022, is the largest indoor car show in the USA. Darryl Starbird's 1961 Ford Thunderbird - The Star Bird Designed to resemble an airplane cockpit, it came complete with a television, telephone and center tiller steering no steering wheel allowing it to be driven from either seat. Working at Boeing, and working with airplanes, I always wanted to build a futuristic vehicle. Founded in 1992 by "Speedy" Bill and Joyce Smith, the collection results from their personal involvement in racing and hot rodding and their lifelong passion for collecting and preserving racing an automotive history over the past 100 years. In 1995 Darryl founded the National Rod and Custom Car Hall of Fame museum in Oklahoma. He has combined his passion for cars and knack for writing and imagery into a 20-year career in the automotive aftermarket, writing for titles like Super Chevy and Rod & Custom and, more recently, working for respected industry leaders Speedway Motors and Goodguys Rod & Custom Association. The first few years I made more money selling stories than doing the work. The Predicta is a Bubble Top Show Car built by Darryl Starbird of Star Kustom Shop. The Predicta was famous, and so was Starbird. Starbird: That was actually my full ambition, to build custom cars. Click here to check out the auction listing, Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame, Darryl Starbird's Exotic Car Show Wichita, The HAMB - Vintage Hot Rod Shows.picture thread, Les Stockton - 2009.07.08 - Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame - Set on Flickr, Flickr - Darryl Starbirds Custom Car Show. The win swept Darryl into national prominence and made him a definite figure to be reckoned with in future championship shows. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas . Im a confirmed fanatic about Darryl Starbirds famed Predicta show car and a deep fan of Darryl. The three and a half years spent there were shared with a night shift job at Boeing Aircraft's plant as a design draftsman in the engineering department. The Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Show is coming to Tulsa February 17th through the 19th at the SageNet Center at Expo Square Fairgrounds. Im not an artist. Over the past 60 years, Darryl has been producing indoor car shows across the country. Im building a new bubble top for one of them. This car was mind-blowing when it hit the scene in 1960. From 1963 on I just showed as feature cars; I was not in competition. I bought and sold old cars; would paint the fenders and fix em up a little. Close inspection reveals that its not quite right, but the throngs of car crazy kids who gobbled up the magazine didnt seem to care. As acknowledged by Street Rodder and Car Culture Deluxe in 2009, Darryl Starbird's Predicta is not just an icon of the custom car hobby, but its developing design evolution since 1960 has produced a graceful, "space-age" car that knows no era. He added pieces of 59 Buick rear quarters, giving the car its signature fins. Starbird Productions - Bringing you the best car shows in the midwest! Bubble or not, the car was a sensation. Profile Page. Darryl Starbird is an American custom car and hot rod designer and builder, known for his innovative and futuristic space-age car designs, often featuring bubble tops. That whole thing really went big in the late-50s and early-60s. Your email address will not be published. Starbird followed up with new versions of the Predicta in 1961 and 1963, the latter of which was purchased by Monogram to aid in the design of 1/24-scale model cars, for which Starbird received $.02 for each $1.98 model sold. The Predicta was Darryl's first full-blown show car, and the car that established Darryl as a respected custom and show car builder. 974 - module_9361 EventLocationModule moduleLarge. Click here to check it out at The Portal to Texas History. He always has great stories with fantastic history behind them, and the saga of the Fantabula covers at least 3 states, numerous owners, a wreck, and a broken bubble top ! var abkw = window.abkw || ''; The $200 a story, did also come in handy for Darryl who by now was the father of Debra and Cliff.[2]. Maybe the best place to show the revolutionary thinking behind Predicta is the interior. A much-chromed, injected Chrysler Hemi was fitted to an impressively detailed engine compartment. Required fields are marked *. Austin told Darryl to apply for a dealer's floor plan, an agreement between banks and dealers to finance vehicles they sell. We graciously thank Mark for providing much of the information for this article. In 1962, Darryl Starbird was hired as Custom Car Design Consultant for future models on Monogram Models. Back in Wichita, he married his high school sweetheart Donna Gray in 1953. It is our pleasure to introduce Kent to your distinguished group as he presents two of his latest custom creations to the world to enjoy for the first time! So just Read More Darryl Starbird and Gene Howard with the Predicta. var abkw = window.abkw || ''; He installed a Continental kit, a large 1948 Chrysler rear bumper and fenderskirts. A year later another tragedy struck the Starbird family, as Darryl's two year younger brother Larry Dean was killed in a motor scooter accident at the age of 14. A year or so later, they also began caddying at a local country club to make more money for the family. Finding a replacement windshield, back or side glass can be a difficult task when restoring your vintage or custom classic car. A notable car in the museum is the Reactor Mach II which appeared on multiple television programs. Over the years he submitted a lot of featured stories and how-to articles. Copyright 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. As the coupe had no title or sales receipt, it didn't take many weeks before the law showed up and confiscated the coupe. The first real show car to come out of Star Kustom Shop was Darryl's own 1947 Cadillac Sedanette. In my book, and on this site, you can learn about and enjoy this incredible car! Some of his best-known cars include Futurista, Predicta, Electra, Cosma Ray, the Big T, and Lil Coffin. If showing your car indoors for the weekend isn't your bag, and would rather drive-in for a few hours and show off your altered ride, the Cool Car Corral cruise-in is just the ticket. ). Entrepreneur. This beautiful veteran of the early 70's dragster wars was built by three brothers in a one-car garage in small town Iowa. The Museum of American Speed houses vintage racing engines of all shapes and sizes. After a 2-month(!) So, he hit up the local junkyard and found one, or what was left of one. Do you want to see your company here? Starbird: It was a very friendly competition because we all got along really well. Darryl Starbird's National Rod and Custom car show in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the largest indoor car show in the country bringing in hundreds of Hot Rods, Customs. Darryl, known as the "King of the Bubbletop", was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1933. Darryl just had to have it to fulfill his vision of the future. We have to talk about the top. On the other hand, I feel very fortunate. A year later he debuted his Predicta, a radical custom showcasing an innovative new feature: a clear bubble top. Damon Lee began snapping photos at car shows when he was 10, tagging along with his father to events throughout the Midwest. Darryl Starbird has been called many things: Innovator. Located on Highway 85A, an hour northeast of Tulsa, the museum was set up as a national nonprofit foundation to honor and preserve the efforts of the outstanding contributors to the great sport. Help us keep history alive. The Predicta was named Motor Life magazines Custom of the Year winner for 1960, which Starbird has referred to as the biggest thrill of his life. Forking over $800 (a lot of loot in 1959), the two cleaned out the rubble around the car and loaded it up for the haul back for its. The resulting model kit further cemented the Predictas legacy as one of the most famous customs in the world, then and now. Dave Stuckey worked part time at Star Kustom Shop when the Predicta was built, and did a lot of welding, leading and filling on the car. Starbirds creations werent limited to Fords and Chevys. Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jonnie King, Apr 20, 2012. In fact, he currently stands at one hundred fourteen completed top chops, with a future goal of one a month each year, with perhaps an extra one each year just for good measure! I still have that car. Ive held 439 car shows around the country. In the book Darryl Starbird The Bubble Top King Custom Car Creations, Darryl recalls how he in the beginning would spend countless hours on his friend's cars trying to fill Ford and Chevy hoods, and how he after welding, leading, warping and hammering until his arms would give out, would give up in disgust and rather frantically would jump on them until they were a battered mess. Along with customizing odd jobs for friends and projects for himself on weekends, Darryl graduated from high school with the class of 1951. A celebration of the spirit of the traditional Rod and Kustom kulture, as well as the do it yourself attitude that everyone can relate with. Located in Afton, Okla. Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame is the home of over 50 one-of-a-kind full size exotic vehicles, including twenty-five of his own creations on display, as well as automotive artwork, photographs and auto memorabilia displayed throughout the 40,000 square foot facility. Starbird turned a 101mph pass at the dragstrip, steering with the crazy tiller the whole time. He put his Star Kustom shop and his hometown of Wichita, Kansas on the national rod and custom map with his visionary creations, and the little blue bubbletop you see pictured here played a big role. Member. The Predicta could be driven from either seat. We caught up with Starbird who got name-dropped in the movie American Graffiti to quiz him on his history and see what hes up to now. GG: What was the first car you customized? In 1964, automotive restylist Darryl Starbird took a Chevy 1-ton pickup cab, placed it on a 1955 Chevy frame, and turned it into the Ultra Truck show rod. Subscribe to our free newsletter and receive regular updates and stories from Kustomrama. $5 of each pre-sale ticket sold from now . var AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || []; SunTec Auto Glass - Auto Glass Services on Vintage and Classic Cars Email cristy@starbirdcarshows.com. Please get in touch with us at mail@kustomrama.com if you have additional information or photos to share about Darryl Starbird. The car. Some of his best-known cars include Futurista, Predicta, Electra, Cosma Ray, the Big T, and Lil Coffin. Darryl Starbird's Rod & Custom Car Show the Next Generation. Ive collected many dozens of vintage kits over the last thirty years and, in the process, Ive collected not less than eight of the very rare metallic red issue versions of the kit. Check them out for more details! The whole idea on how to do the tooling was out of my head. More Cad bullets were added to the oval-shaped opening in the rear, with the outer six serving as functional lights. They just come to my head. The bubble top didn't quite make it to the car for it's debut, but it didn't really matter. Jonnie King. Located in Afton, Okla. Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame is the home of over 50 one-of-a-kind full size exotic vehicles, including twenty-five of his own creations on display, as well as automotive artwork, photographs and auto memorabilia displayed throughout the 40,000 square foot facility. I found it after many years and bought it back. Like the Predicta, the Forcasta came equipped with bubble top, television and center tiller steering, which was becoming a fixture in Starbirds designs. Starbird drove the car more than 1,000 miles to the NHRA National Car Show in Indianapolis, which was in part an effort to silence critics who were skeptical of the center tiller steering system. Interestingly, that now famous Car Craft cover shows the Predicta with the bubble airbrushed on. National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum, 1957 Chevy Nomad: One for the Sho and Plenty of Go. This was the beginning of a troubled life for Kenny, and he would have many run-ins with the law and his father. Kenny was never attached to the '34 like he was to the Model T, so he only kept it for a short time. This page was last edited on 14 August 2021, at 09:14. According to wikipedia, Darryl Starbird was born on August 15, 1990. YOU HAVE 20,000 FOLLOWERS: $100 per post at a $5/CPM. Then, he continued that prominent line all the way through to the front fenders. Please only use it for a guidance and Darryl Starbird's actual income may vary a lot from the dollar amount shown above. The museum was formed to present a continuous chronology of automotive Racing Engine and Speed Equipment development and to preserve, interpret and display items significant in racing and automotive history. This little black Model T hot rod may appear somewhat humble, but it's anything but. They were all built from my head. His dream was to obtain a job and enjoy the legendary California lifestyle. It was majorly redone and resprayed red before being sold to Monogram in 1962. Every little do-it-yourself story. The Fantabula proved to be another winner, taking home the shows top honor. Starbird continued his bubble designs in 1963 with the Futurista, a three-wheeled concept car in pearl white with red interior, the frame for which was molded by hand from metal tubing. A ton of metalwork followed to create the sleek nose and grille area. Darryl Starbird's 1947 Cadillac Sedanette [5] In 1960, Motor Life also picked the Predicta as the Top Custom of the year. Kustomrama is an encyclopedia dedicated to preserve, share and protect traditional hot rod and custom car history from all over the world. Starbird: It was a very, very important part of my business. 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