#since then straight has been buffed to have around equal value

[fioras-resolve]

i think the really fun thing about balatro for me is the way that like yes it is a skill-based game, you do have to be good at making hands, but with the right combination of modifiers at the shop you can move past the need for skillful hand-building. when you're scoring in the millions from high cards is when you know you're playing balatro

[sortofcaffeinateddoodles]

WHO WANTS TO SEE A SUPER CRINGE-Y AU I CAME UP WITH WHEN I WAS LIKE 13/14 BUT WAS TOO SHY ABOUT MY NON-EXISTENT ARTIST ABILITIES TO POST ANYTHING ABOUT?? well to bad you're gonna see it anyway  : P I was going though some old notebooks, trying to figure out what to keep and toss, because my closest was becoming a maze and I found doodles about this AU. So I decided I should try and redraw it all. But this is more of a "reboot" to the original version.

Perry

Species:

Platypus

Special talent:

No But Seriously Shapeshifting, Multilingual, pretty much immortal i'll talk more about that at a later date

Occupation: Former Bounty Hunter, but does more "legal" odd jobs now

Nickname Perry's too boring for those, but he does let his friends get away with calling him a dumb ass from time to time

Personality:e(s) Stubborn, Reserved, worrywart, softie for his kid

Relationships: He has no romantic relation, but Perry does look after Phineas, with the a little help from his other animal companions. He has an odd relationship with Doof though! Kinda like how they act in the show, but with less fist fighting and more bickering. Will fight Peter the Panda on sight. Don't test him.

Special Facts: Hates when anyone else sings around him, but never complains when Phineas or Doof get into musical numbers. Constantly stealing sweets, and dumb magazines from Doof. But usually replaces it with something of equal or more value. One time he raided the poor mans fridge, and the next day Doof found an gold necklace thrown lazily near one his flowerpots. Doof didn't want it, but Vanessa loved wearing it. When he wants to get out of a conversation, Perry will shapeshift into another animal and just leave. "sorry can't talk doof, i'm a horse now" "perry the platypus are you serious right now? You cant just leave in the midd-" "ah ah ah! i'm a horse."

Phineas

Species: Alary

Special talent: Singing and Dancing. Can fixing almost anything. Toaster always catch on fire for some reason. Loves exploring, and always finds something new. But please for the love of god, watch him. He will climb a tree and get stuck. Heights scare him to much.

Nickname Phinny, Phin, Cheerio and Puggle

Personality:e(s) Optimistic, curious, hyper Relationships: Phineas has had Perry taking care of him since he was baby. He was too young to remember what his parents look like, all he knows is that Perry found him in the Enchanted Woods one day.

Special Facts: This Phineas is a bit more shy around kids his own age. Having grown up around talking animals will mess up a kids social skills. Phineas has never met another Alary in his life, but has always secretly wanted too. Doesn't know how to fly, but he's trying his best!

Ferbs "Ferb" Fletcher

Species: Beast

Special talent: Can fix up anything you put in front of him. Likes to read, and secretly writes his own short stories.   Nickname None. But Buford calls him "skinny jeans" when he's trying to get a reaction out of him

Personality:e(s) Quiet, short tempered when annoyed, blunt, can be patient with younger kids

Relationships: Doesn't have many friends, but he hangs out with Buford the most. Also has a crush on Vanessa, but due to the age difference doesn't act on it.

Special: Ferb lives with his father and grandparents. His cousins live in the same neighborhood as him, their family having moved to Danville when he was a baby. Only reason Ferb acts so serious is because when he isn't hanging around Buford he's with Vanessa and her friends. Who all fit into the mean teenager stereotype.

Isabella Garcia-Shapiro

Species: Alary

Special talent: Since Isabella doesn't grow up with Phineas and Ferb, her summer days are spent at the Fireside cabin. Isabella has earned every patch there is to offer, and now is skilled in almost anything. It's honestly kinda scary.

Occupation:   Does a bit of baby sitting. Helps at her family restaurant Nickname Isa, Pinkie(Buford), heart-string

Personality:e(s) Sweet, Assertive, Romantic Relationships: Isabella spends most of her free time around the other Fireside Girls, but also spends her days hanging out with her next door neighbor. Baljeet. The two are close having grown up together, and she even considers him to be like a little brother.

Special Fact: Isabella may have been able to gain every patch there is to offer, but if there is one thing she struggles with, its magic. Isabella is considered a sweet girl, but every Saturday night she sneaks out to the town square to listen to the people playing music and dancing. Though since she can't risk getting caught, she never joins in on the dancing, even if there are other kids out to.

Baljeet Tjinder

Species: Alary

Special talent: Can finish reading any book in an hour, no matter the size. Has photogenic memory, and will bring up old crap from 6 months ago so don't try and get on his bad side.

Occupation:   Helps tutor kids at school for extra credit.

Nickname Nerd, but only Buford call him that.

Personality:e(s) Nervous, shy, prideful

Relationships: Only friend he has is Isabella. Him and Buford don't really interact outside of school.

Special Fact: Specializes in water type magic, but Baleet hopes to master fire type magic. Bajeet just really wants to specialize in all types of magic.

Buford Van Stoorm

Species: Beast

Special talent: Buford likes playing the drums at the Saturday Festivals.

Nickname No nicknames for The Buf'. he'll hurt you.

Personality:e(s) This version is 10x more violent than cannon Buford. He used to just make you cry, but now he'll make your momma cry, yo daddy cry, yo grandma, even your dog. Nothings off limit.

Relationships: Buford hangs around other sketchy kids. The only person who he enjoys spending time with is Ferb. Special Fact: Loves graffiti art, and has been caught a million times spray painting walls.

Canadace Flynn Garcia-Shapiro

Species: Alary

Special talent: Singing, can master almost any instrument in a day.

Occupation:   Studying to become a music teacher, but helps at her families restaurant.

Nickname Candy

Personality:e(s) Focused, cynical

Relationships: Candace is still friends with Stacy, and his dating Jeremy. Was adopted into the Garcia-Shapiro household at 9/10 years old. Any special facts about Candace would be too spoiler y

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to the sketch Version Here goes the colored version to my AU. I'm not too happy with Isabella's color palette so I might be changing it later, but for now deal with the pink okay. Originally Candace had a type of mesh robe, and she still does! But for simplicity I'll just be drawing her base outfit, Her robe is too complicated anyway, it is supposed to be covered in red roses. Also tell me if I should keep Phineas' hair curly. My sister looked over at what I was doing and straight up said it looked ugly. So yeah, I need an honest second opinion. The bio's are super basic because I really don't want to give away too much of the story. And most of the story revolves around how the kids think and act. AU (c) Me

[dippedanddripped]

Why ‘Made in Italy’ has such appealBY AMANDA RUGGERIMade On Earth

The story of the world's trading networks told through eight everyday products.

The luxury handbag is a symbol of style and craft like no other.

As Italian artisans face competition from emerging markets, the traditional model of design has been thrown into flux.

Ever since humans have needed to cart around their belongings – particularly tools – they’ve carried bags. Prehistoric rock art in northern Australia, for example, shows a warrior-like figure with a satchel over his arm. The 5,300-year-old mummy of Otzi the Ice Man, carried a backpack – and wore a pouch attached to a leather belt – on his journey through what are now called the Tyrolean Alps. Ancient Roman soldiers carried satchels made from leather or goat’s hide that look almost exactly like the kind of messenger bag you might see in a shop today.

In some ways, these bags are a far cry from the expensive “it” bags you see being carried today. In other ways, they’re not so different at all – each of those early bags will have been skilfully crafted by hand, an approach that still underpins many modern luxury handbags.

One of the main threads that runs through the history of handbags – and persists even in today’s industrialised economy – is the power of craftsmanship. This belief in the value of a bag made by experts steeped in experience has held sway ever since handbags became more than a practical necessity. Today, the heart of this artisanal trade in handbags, as it has been for decades, is Italy.

Looking over the colourful harbour of Palermo, Sicily, Studio Sarta is one of some 4,500 leather businesses in the country. Established in 2017 by siblings Giorgia and Fabio Gaeta, it is also one of the country’s newer handbag companies. Much of the studio’s approach is modern, too. Studio Sarta’s handbags are chic and elegant, featuring clean lines and a contemporary aesthetic. Their business sense is equally up-to-date. Their Instagram account, which features striking shots of their products modelled against moody landscapes and industrial-chic interiors, is one main aspect of their marketing strategy.

But the foundation of that Sarta style is traditional Italian craftsmanship. Their creations use Vienna straw, a traditional material used in Sicilian bag-making, handwoven by local artisans in Palermo, as well as leather sourced from Tuscan tanneries.

“Studio Sarta was born from the idea of developing contemporary design objects both for the person and the house – not just bags – that use the know-how of our local artisans,” says Giorgia. “The Italian tradition of tailoring and craftsmanship is one of the fundamental elements.”

In fact, every step of the process – from design to prototype to production – is done by hand. At the Tuscan tannery, workers clean the raw hides, then tumble them in a giant tanning barrel with vegetable-based dyes – a process that can be as much as five times more time-consuming than industrial tanning, but which cuts out many chemicals and toxins.

“It is hand-dried and buffed entirely by hand to obtain the characteristic aged effect,” Giorgia says. “The ‘vegetable tanning’, which has origins in prehistory and in Tuscany is at its maximum splendour, is a traditional and widely recognised technique.”

When the leather arrives at Studio Sarta, it is cut and sewn together with Vienna straw, according to Giorgia’s designs.

This blend of craftsmanship and contemporary style has resonated with buyers. In the company’s first year, Studio Sarta sold 200 bags. Now, they sell 1,000 a year. Most of their clients are in Italy, France and the UK. In the next few years, they hope to expand to China.

Made In Italy

Across Italy, the tradition of leather-making has such deep roots that even many of the country’s major fashion houses got their start with leather, despite being known for a plethora of different products today.

Prada began as a leather goods store in Milan in 1913; Gucci, a leather goods store in Florence in 1921; Ferragamo, a leather shoe store in Florence in 1927; Bottega Veneta, a leather goods store in Vicenza in 1966. In the 1970s, even Roberto Cavalli, best known today for his sand-blasted jeans and vibrant, wild prints, first made a name for himself by inventing and patenting a procedure for printing on leather.

“You think about the story of the handbag, and you think about Gucci 100 years ago,” says Riccardo Braccialini, chief executive of the international bags and leather goods fair Mipel. “We have a tradition.”

“But,” he adds, “the real movement came after the Second World War.”

Before that, handbags were manufactured in several areas: around Frankfurt, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Paris, France; and parts of England. But after the war, as fashion became industrialised, there was a need to make products at scale. And to do that, it was best to have all of the necessary components – from fabric manufacturers to designers to distributors – in one place. Italy was that place.

By the 1960s, benefiting from their booming economy and from the fact that their goods were cheaper than those made in other parts of Europe, Italians had become “the most powerful force in the market”, says New York Times European style correspondent Elizabeth Paton.

That was boosted by the Italian tradition of artisanship – one that continues today.

“‘Made in Italy’ is one of the most powerful brand names in the world. It has a global cachet,” Paton says. “That reputation for high-quality craftsmanship and design has made Italy, until now, the beating heart of luxury manufacturing.”

But in today’s industrialised world, can that tradition continue?

Industrialisation

“It is certainly not easy, but we like to think that it is possible to make the artisan tradition coexist [with industrial manufacturing] in the global market,” says Giorgia of Studio Sarta. In fact, she notes, e-commerce and social networks mean it’s possible for artisans to sell straight to consumers, reducing the distribution and resale costs of traditional retail via high-street shops.

The internet also means a brand can communicate directly to its consumers – and in as little as a single Instagram post, can tell a story about “what only artisan products can offer: the humanity that there is behind the entire production chain, from the procurement of raw materials, to the realisation of the product”, says Giorgia.

On a larger scale, research collected for Assopellettieri, Italy’s national leather-goods association, paints a complex picture of the Italian industry. Italy is far and away the biggest exporter of leather goods in Europe, selling €6.8 billion (£6bn) of them in the first 10 months of 2018 alone. France, which exported €5.7bn (£5bn) of leather goods over the same period, is the only other EU country that comes close. Italy’s industry also is growing: from 2017 to 2018, Italy’s leather exports increased by 10.3%. And the majority are handbags, which make up more than 60% of Italy’s leather exports by value.

But that growth wasn’t evenly spread – while sales grew, the number of businesses fell. Italy saw 45 leather goods companies become inactive, a 1% drop in overall business numbers from the previous year. Meanwhile, the most growth has not been in traditional leather-made bags, but those made from alternative materials like plastic, cloth or straw. While leather handbag exports rose 6.2% in value compared with 2017, exports of bags made from substitute materials rose by 19.4%.

Italy’s workforce also is ageing. “The next generation in Italy are just not proving that interested in learning a lot of the craft of their parents and grandparents,” Paton says. “So, a big task for luxury brands and artisans is, how do we convince the youth that there’s something worthwhile about maintaining this reputation for the country and learning these skills, when so many want to move to cities and work on computers?”

Underlying all of these challenges, of course, is the economic reality of artisanship: making bags by hand is far more laborious and expensive than it would be in a factory.

Even Braccialini admits that some of these pressures are taking a toll.

“It’s becoming more industrialised and less artisanal,” Braccialini says of Italy’s handbag industry. “In one way, it’s what globalisation is: the smaller disappear and the bigger take over.”

But, he points out, “That is not an Italian story – that is a world story.”

Demand

Even so, artisanship isn’t likely to disappear from Italy’s handbag industry anytime soon.

Some of that is thanks to Italy’s big brands themselves, many of whom depend on handbags and accessories to keep their profit margins high: one report by Deloitte found that handbags and accessories were the fastest-growing part of the luxury market aside from perfumes and makeup. It’s no surprise that these same brands have popularised the concept of the “it” bag.

In the 1950s, major fashion houses like Chanel began to make what are now iconic bespoke handbags. It wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s, though, that the trend exploded. In the 1980s, Hermès introduced the Birkin bag and Prada its nylon backpack; in the 1990s came the Fendi Baguette, Christian Dior’s Lady Dior, Balenciaga’s The City, and a relaunch of Gucci’s Jackie bag. And compared with other trends, the values of some of these “it” bags have endured: in 2017, an Hermès Birkin bag sold at auction for HKD2.9 million (£284,000).

But many labels recognise that it isn’t just the branding that is important to consumers, but the craftsmanship too. In fact, in some cases, people want something more than an “it” bag. “The truly wealthy, the real millionaires, they will not want to buy LV Louis Vuitton or Gucci because they are too commonplace,” Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, told CNBC back in 2012. “Rich people are getting richer and they want exclusiveness and more self-indulgence.”

And few products are more exclusive, of course, than something hand-crafted or bespoke.

As a result, some major fashion houses are investing in manufacturing schools in Italy to help train new generations to craft bags by hand. This is also a necessity so that they can keep up with growing demand. By value, the biggest importers of Italian leather goods are Switzerland (an international hub that then ships many products out to other countries), France and the US – followed by Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan.

China is ninth. But its demand for Italian leather goods is growing fastest of all. The country’s market for these products has increased in value by 21.3% and in quantity by 18.8% year-on-year. Already, the country is the world’s second-biggest market for luxury goods worldwide.

But there’s an irony at the centre of Asia’s demand: despite its appetite for Italian handbags, it produces an extraordinary number of its own. The difference? Asia’s tend to be mass-produced… and far more affordable.

In fact, there are so many Asian handbags, at such seductive prices, that even Italians buy them – lots of them. From January to October 2018, 123 million kg of leather goods entered Italy from abroad. Almost 60% were from China.

In terms of value, these goods paled in comparison to what Italy was sending out. The average price of the imports was €21.42 (£18.74) per kg; Italy’s outgoing goods cost €134.19 (£117.37) per kg. Still, the convenience and cost of these imports are yet another challenge for Italy’s handbag makers.

“Globalisation has really put pressure on the traditional Italian market, particularly that boom in cheap foreign labour from close by, like eastern Europe, to further afield – India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam. That’s lured many companies, including luxury brands, into moving abroad,” Paton says. “Luxury is still a really big deal for Italy – it’s 5% of GDP and employs half a million people – but these changes have really put a lot of pressure on the country.”

Still, it seems unlikely that the power of the luxury handbag is going away anytime soon. Part of its pull is how it combines function with status. “Obviously, a handbag has a utility. It has a purpose. We all need to carry phones and wallets from A to B. But it’s also value for money,” Paton says. “A thousand pounds is a huge amount to spend on a bag. But if it goes with everything, and you wear it for the next 10 years – you feel like you own a piece of that heritage or brand or culture.”

Unlike some clothing patterns, a handbag is also something that can appeal to people of all shapes, sizes and ages. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what size you are or what shape you are. Any woman can hold a handbag,” says Paton. “Much like jewellery, a luxury handbag for lots of people is associated with a moment in their lives – an anniversary, or a work cheque. That’s what makes it so powerful.”

Even as the price gap between hand-crafted bags and their mass-produced counterparts grows ever larger, people are increasingly seeing value in owning a unique product not quite like any other.

As long as we continue to see a handbag as an investment worth making – and while the most high-end brands, and customers, continue to see artisanship as the heart and soul of a luxury product – we will, much like our ancestors, be carrying our belongings in artisanal, hand-made bags for some time to come.

Image credits: Lion TV

Graphics sources: Assopellettieri, Observatory of Economic Complexity

--

The world’s trading routes have been crafted over centuries and yet remain in a constant state of flux. Made on Earth looks at eight everyday products – from bicycles to whisky, spices to semiconductors – and explores the people, countries and intricate global networks that go into making and bringing these goods to market.

[itsworn]

John Lyons’ hand-built Buick is Loud, Fast and…Whimsical

John Lyons has courage, and he has respect for what has gone before. Call him traditional. That he makes a livelihood by joining his fabrication skills and artistic talent may have a lot to do with a philosophy that urges him to build something from scratch rather than use much of anything that was ready-made or store bought. To him, that’s underlying theme of hot rodding, the roots from which it grew. And as some of you well know he’s in a distinct minority. He lists his occupation as fabricator/artist.

Look at what he likes; not any of those Brand-X critters that draw people like sleep walkers, but instead a load as unlikely as a Buick. His Riviera, shaped like a torpedo, seemed an excellent platform to go against convention and show the neighbors just how well he could car craft. At 47, he’s not starry-eyed and anxious. He’s owned the thing for 26 years, straight from Aunt Rosalie after her husband’s passing. This was a dream deal: the Riviera had been stored clean and dry for fifteen years before John got it.

A few of the things that make this car a stand-alone hero is that its Flint motor thrives and that its transmission is bound to a clutch. The back axle isn’t a 9-inch, a 12-bolt or even a 60 Dana whopper, nah; John wanted something as weird as the rest of his project: a Winters Performance quick-change (originally developed for down and dirty racing and circle track tantrums) would fit the puzzle nicely.

Throughout the journey, John wanted to surprise folks and be surprised himself. He had no blueprint for doing this except the one he made up in his head. He built the engine, the fuel injection, oiling system, the headers and exhaust tract. He built the crossmember for the transmission. He amended the suspension with adjustable weight jacks. He built the control arms. He converted the drive shaft to a one-piece design and modified the floor and frame to accommodate. He piled it with carbon fiber panels (a big reason why John was able to eliminate 1,000 pounds of curb weight, which is now approximately 3,400 pounds), and then he had to build the wings and foils critical to its visual menace. He did the clean-up bodywork. He painted the thing. Then he reclined, had a long, cool draught and looked lovingly at his progress, knowing full well that he’d never be finished with it.

John has never had the car officially timed at doing anything. It’s much more important that he can drive it sparingly on weekends, racking maybe 1,500 miles in a year. They’ve seen the car in the Syracuse Nationals Designer’s Dozen three times. They’ve seen the Riviera as an award winner at GoodGuys. John figures he’s got four years in this stage. He paid Aunt Rosalie $2,500 for it, but when we asked how much he’d invested so far, he crinkled. “Will my wife see this?”

Tech Notes

Who: John Lyons What: 1968 Buick Riviera Where: Tillson, New York

Engine John eschewed modern notions and kept the motor “original.” He plucked the factory iron, got a 1973 455, and cleaned it up with a minimal 0.038-inch overbore to yield a displacement of 464 cubic inches. (As an aside, the thin-wall 455 weighs 150 pounds less than a comparably dressed Chevrolet 454.) The forged crankshaft, H-beam connecting rods, and JE flat-top pistons contribute to produce a snappy-throttle 13.0:1 compression ratio. He sent the block and rotating assembly to Turco’s Machine Shop in Rosendale, New York. The cats up there internally balanced the parts and executed a slew of oiling modifications, including drilling the oil galleys and feeding oil from the front and the rear of the block, as well as preparation for the custom delivery system John built. It features a dry sump pan and a Dailey Engineering pump. For a majority of the hard parts, he turned to Buick-builder mainstay T/A Performance. John completed the short-block with a Stage II solid roller camshaft (he wouldn’t tell us the specs) and installed it with a double-row Tru-Roller chain. Meanwhile, the T/A cylinder heads were CNC-ported by Heads Up Machine in High Falls, New York. John equipped them with stainless steel valves, 1.6:1 roller rocker arms, T/A retainers and valvesprings and crafted a girdle for the crankshaft. While he could have adapted a forced-air system of some sort, that would have been too easy. No, he’d rather build a one-off electronic fuel injection for it instead. He based it on a T/A SP1 intake manifold, FiTech 1,200 HP throttle body and a Bosch wide-band oxygen sensor. He sourced fuel from an Aeromotive Eliminator in-tank sender and AN -10 feed and return lines and pinned the fuel regulator at 58psi. A FiTech controller commands the EFI system. Spark jumps from MSD Pro Billet distributor and a Blaster coil. The Big Brain is an MSD CDI Digital ignition box equipped with a rev limiter. John handled waste management with long-tube headers. He built equal-length 2¼-inch primaries and merged them with 3½-inch collectors, exhaust cut-outs, and a 3½-inch system interrupted by rowdy Flowmaster 40 “silencers”. Though not known for especially fierce summers, upstate New York does swelter in August. John countered the environment with a T/A water pump, an aluminum core, and dual electronically-controlled Derale fans. He attached Poston rocker covers and a K&N element. He made all the brackets to support the accessory drive and stuck a 160-amp, 1-wire alternator in there, too. He put the bullet on the Landesman Performance dynamometer in Kingston, New York, where it shredded his expectations and rang out a chilling normally-aspirated 788hp at 6,800 rpm and 728 lb-ft of twist at 5,200 rpm. These values were enabled by straight Sunoco 110 octane. Ahhoogah!

Transmission/Drivetrain The last stick-shift Buick we can remember was schoolmate Bill Peery’s ’56 Special that would lay 100 feet of scorched cords if you just thought about it. A normal, sensible person would likely gravitate to a self-shifting transmission, too, but abnormal John couldn’t abide it. Unless he hadda a pedal for his left foot he wouldn’t be able to sleep right, so he got a Tremec TKO-600 five-speed, made a custom crossmember to hold it up and converted the center-bearing driveshaft to an aluminum one-piece construction. He swapped in a T/A aluminum flywheel and covered it with a McLeod dual disc clutch assembly abetted by a McLeod hydraulic clutch release. The drive axle is a revelation: a Winters Performance quick-change sports a 3.64:1 ratio, a limited-slip differential and full-floating axle ends.

Chassis / Suspension Before the chassis rehab began, John set the engine rearward nearly a foot. Displacing mass would enhance weight distribution for a much more neutral handling attitude. This was not possible unless John put a up new firewall. A good start to be sure, but he marched on with ideas of his own. He built the suspension from Grand National stock car spindle pins, hand-made aluminum control arms, Jeg’s double-adjustable coilovers with 1,000 lb-in springs, an Addco 1¼-inch anti-sway bar, and a big bag of Heim joints. To accommodate the Flaming River power steering rack, John modified the big crossmember. Currently, alignment settings are -2-deg. camber, 9-deg. caster and -1/16- to +1/16-inch toe. The back half of the big Bu’ is held up by Jeg’s adjustable coilovers with a 450 lb-in springs. An Addco 1-inch diameter bar attends. John didn’t quit the job until he’d posted a pinion-mounted Panhard bar. These particular changes have pulled the Buick five inches closer to Mother Earth.

Body Since the car had been stored high and dry for centuries, beyond an odd door ding or two, its body was pristine. John assumed responsibility. He shaved the door handles, brushed the trim, and built a carbon fiber hood, deck lid and front bumper along with those craaazy splitters/struts and rear spoiler. Well, somebody had to paint it. John looked around, flicked his eyes left and right and said there’s only me here now. He liked the Kirker Automotive Finishes Carbon Fiber Gray and applied it as base/clear that he color sanded and buffed out. This just in: the irrepressible John sent images, “I’m currently working on carbon fenders and quarter panels to fit my new 19×13.5 wheels and 355/30 tires.” You gotta love this guy.

Interior Yeah, it’s not pretty but it’s a little dirty and a lot functional. Seats don’t match? Who needs two expensive Sparco buckets when the original leather-covered passenger chair will do? The mood is subdued; color is banished for the reluctant sheen of metal. John built an aluminum gauge panel and underscored it with a lower car-wide stripe. He arranged custom Arctic White Auto Meter gauges. He slicked out the console, made a notch for the Tremec shifter. He didn’t include air conditioning or a sound system (“couldn’t hear it anyway”). He’s captured by Sparco 5-point harness; he centers on the NRG carbon fiber steering wheel and does that lovely dance on pedals that he built from stainless steel.

Brakes / Wheels / Tires Big ol’ nasty beast Buick needs big ol’ nasty beast wheels. John found LB 288 hoops at L&B Forged. They’re three-piece giants that spread 20×11 (6.5-inch backspacing, front; 6.0-inch backspacing, rear) and carry Bridgestone 295/30 RE 71R treads. Energy burners are modest: John applied drilled Wilwood 12-3/8-inch rotors and Grand National Stock Car six-piston calipers to the front and followed them up with Wilwood four-piston, 12-inch discs. They are attended by a Wilwood master cylinder and proportioning valve.

The post John Lyons’ hand-built Buick is Loud, Fast and…Whimsical appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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