Deichkraft: Tri-Axle Two-Stroke Diesel Godzilla
I am not quite sure when I first have had heard of "Deichkraft", but it must be some years ago. A good friend of mine sent me a shaky video of a tri-axle Dimond T 980 N20 truck, which has been converted into a roadster. But it was not only the fact the basis of Deichkraft is a tri-axle truck which is for that reason alone kinda odd — the steampunked hot rod comes with a GM two-stroke diesel.
From that day on I wanted to meet Carsten Plötner, who is one of the blokes behind that project. Last weekend the moment has finally arrived — we met each other at a birthday celebration. I am sure all others guests were a little unhinged by us, because we chatted the entire time about cars, the narrowmindedness of some German hot rodders and possible Deichkraft destinations.
Carsten, what about bringing your little Chromjuwel to the Race 61 and Rust 'N' Roll? But before you do that I will pop in to have a ride!
E Bodies
If you ever wanted to know what a Mopar E-Body (Plymouth Barracuda/'Cuda, Dodge Challgenger) would look like as a beam axle gasser, as a bōsōzoku-ride or even as a lowrider—just visit Aaron Beck's E-Bodies blog. He presents tons of great photochopped E-Bodies.
Via Motoraver.
Rusty, the most iconic BMW, is dead
Rusty, "The Godfather", which we presented several times before, is dead. Destroyed in a fire. We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mike Brroughs. Visit stanceworks.com for more details.
Via Jalopnik and Lowered.eu.
Guy Kawasaki: Enchantment
Tenshun—this is offtopic. Sorry for the interruption. It hasn't to do either with cars, nor with Motorkultur. But it has do with media. And this is at least our other passion.
A few weeks ago Guy Kawasaki sent me his latest book: Enchantment. If you are into (internet) media, you'll probably know Guy Kawasaki. Guy is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and best known for his marketing campaigns in the early days of Apple. We got in contact over Guy's Alltop.com, where we contribute our Chromjuwelen articles.
I am just reading Enchantment, and I think it's a must read for everyone who tries to set up so called "Social Media" campaigns. Btw, I think in the meantime everyone is sick of hearing the expression "Social Media", but unfortunately it describes this Twitter-Facebook-Tumblr community clutter best (for the moment). Especially in Germany. Where still a lot people try to sell "Social Media" concepts to agencies and companies.
Guy is noted for "having brought the concept of evangelism" (Wikipedia). And this is exactly, where are lot of modern campaigns lack. In an automotive industry, where not uncommonly ideas are driven by the (private) interests of marketing decision makers and don't reflect customer needs or product visions.
To keep it short, here's a movie.
Deluxe Restomod: 1973 Dodge Challenger
Yeop. I have done everything right. Absolutely. Check out this restomodded Mopar and you will understand why I am thrilled Style Deluxe/Kustom City is overhauling my Pontiac LeSupra. Why you haven't heard from the LeSupra for a while? Because I simply had to park it to get other things done first. "Other things" like rolling out our agency. But now it is time to bring that project back.
If you are thinking of a german engineered custom project, you should pay Style Deluxe a visit. I know a lot of brilliant engineers, but I don't know too much which are so stylistically confident as those fellas are. My assumption? They won't be an insiders' tip any longer as more people will see their stunning work.
All photos: Jo Fischer.
formfreu.de: Autostolz
Our friends from formfreu.de just joined our Chromjuwelen-Network with a wonderful new project: autostolz.formfreu.de. "Autostolz" presents old flea market and clear-out photo finds. We knew about their neat little idea for some time now, and we are delighted that they finally brought their idea online. Here you find a little more about Autostolz.
Oh, btw, you think we forgot an importend blog in our "Chromjuwelen Contributing Blogs" network? Just shoot us an e-mail!
Dirk Pixeleye Behlau: Kool Fellas, Ltd.
Dirk Behlau, better known as "The Pixeleye", just released his third book: "Kool Fellas. Ltd.". Dirk is a member of our Chromjuwelen family since the early days and we are proud to see that there are some more people out there who love his work as much as we do. It is too bad I haven't had the time to write the prologue so Dirk had to ask Jesse James ...
Jo Fischer, Heliumcowboy
Jo Fischer, one of my favorite photographers, will present his work at my favorite gallery, Heliumcowboy Artspace.
Via Heliumcowboy Artspace: "We are happy to present Jo Fisher's project "Character" which is the first solo exhibition of the Berlin based photographer in Hamburg. Jo Fischer's photography can be considered as a medium of interpretation and expression, and not as a mere documentary record of visual facts.
Reminding on Richard Avedons "In the American West", Fischer's project "Character" may be understood as a platform of a disremembered society. The photographer himself becomes the mediator between marginal people and the masses, as he depicts people whose normality seems unreal to most of us.
Legend has it that Jo Fischer has decided to become a photographer by drawing lots. After a long and turbulent career in the music business he bought his first camera on e-bay in 2007. In a short period of time he became one of the much asked for commercial photographers up to date, and he assembled a striking body of work including straight-forward portraits which become timeless in black and white.
"Herr Fischer bittet zu Tisch" is another running project by Jo Fischer, one which is known to a wider public. In only a few seconds he depicts his vis-à-vis bringing to view the unique character of the person he just met. 1000 people are invited to sit on his table: the housewife, the children from next door, the rock musician or the burlesque dancer. Altogether they reflect a combination of honesty and a zest of the wicked – a portrait of urban society.
"Character" is as well a hommage to the people: to the people living on the margine."
P.S.: I am still absolutely stoked about the portraits of B.J. Baldwin, Ken Block and Jesse James Jo Fischer did for us during the Baja 300 Powerdays ...