Ultimate Tiki Ride and what would you do to it?

I have peroozed old chats where people spoke of their old and future rides...but...What is the ultimate Tiki Car. In about 1994 the whole Art Car Movement boomed to the point of Smithsonian doing pieces on them. Most were garbage...stuff glued on beat up cars...but some were clever and some were glorious. (It think in Houston, San Jose, LA and SF there are still art car shows) Unfortunately...they are not specifically tiki

If you could have any car as a daily driver... (Not counting the Flinstone's car) for an extension of your Tiki lifestyle...what would it be?
I have the most obvious ones...

A Woody, despite actually being horrible (noisy and dangerous in a collision) is swank, but so rare as to be almost unobtainable

The PT Cruiser woodys are pedestrian and common, but still...they are cheap for new cars, they start every time and the heater works.

Jeeps have the war surplus Donovan's Reef look. Jeep just this year sells a WWII knock off that's olive drab with numbers and white stars.

Land Rovers too..the models with the close together lights from the Documentaries we all watched. (Landy enthusiast like the old grills as they pop off and can be used to cook on)

Amphi-Car? Those German Karman Ghia looking convertible that actually could go in water..even ocean? That's swank. I've read when they were first made, some guy drove one to Catalina Island, and almost made it before the engine flooded.

Most stylish foreign cars like a Hillman or a Citroen are not exactly Tiki, but you sure look like you know your cocktails when you pull up in one.
Huge Station Wagon with Fake wood are nice, or even better...the Oldsmobile Vista Cruisers with roof windows. (They just stopped making Oldsmobile's this past month...makes me want one)

IH Scouts, Post war Americana, The roofs come off, and they often came with weird theme options (before the SUV craze) They are like jeeps made by a tractor company.

Gremlins and Pacers are from the era when Tiki was on the decline, however I think because they were iconoclastic and available about the time most of us were learning to drive, they beckoned to counterculture types.

Darts and Lancers (some Ramblers & Studebakers ) were cheap and bullet proof. Also they kinda looked like tropical fish.

Checkers are campy and weird...kind of valuable now too. Not Tiki, but of great props...nodoubt the shuttle of many wasailers to and from the best of the best tiki establishments in their day.

Myers Manx the inventor of the dune buggy, like the ones Kurt Russell drove in films...VW engine, big chrome headlights? (a million knock offs drove Meyers out of business, but...they just began production again because of demand for retro stuff) They were fast cheap and fun. Great So Cal style and what a way to show off your new Prince Albert.

Any thoughts?

Satan's Sin preferred mode of tiki transportation.

I understand your point, but I really, really hate boiled carrots.

You're right, Tiki Bong. I hereby banish my Curtiss-Wright Air Car to the Island of Unloved Toys.

Here is Satan's Sin new mode of tiki transportation:

Satan's Sin makes a memorable entrance to Tiki Oasis V.

Are any of those women wearing Mule Skin from your place of vocation?

Fine work I must say.

Hmmm, how about the Jeepster model Jeep. It seems kind of resort-ish.

VW Thing?

Karmen Gia.

Some of those ultra futuristic American sedans of the late 50's and early 60's.

Shriner Go Karts strike me as Tiki for some reason.

A converted mail delivery truck.

This is tough 'cause Tiki is kind of "non-auto" in an "auto" time.

No, Gigantalope -- I found these costumes in a musty old back bin at Oceanic Arts.

And -- best of all -- there was enough left over to fashion Satan's Sin favorite dinner jacket!

My daily driver

TG

VW thing, yes...Also the first Corvair cars had a strage high bodyline which seemed boatlike.
Nash Metropolitains too had that dashing appeal.

The Shriner vehicles are top notch too. Come to think of it...with a boomerang shaped ashtray, lodge quality fez and a smoking jacket, one can endure almost anything. Strickly uppa crust dontcha know.

Ok nobody has found and posted a pic of Gilligan's bamboo car yet? I know someone here must have one of it.

I'd like to go the Kusomized Hearse route...a hearse or a amulance from the 50's or 60's and fixed up with some cool graphics and such would mke for a cool ride.
A.H.

Trader Woody

Bodysntacher, yes, that's indeed "oldschool" makes me think of The Monkey's old ride...I think it was a customised Pontiac stationwagon...or Ambulance.

[ Edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 18:44 ]

On 2004-08-08 16:51, Gigantalope wrote:

Myers Manx the inventor of the dune buggy, like the ones Kurt Russell drove in films...VW engine, big chrome headlights? (a million knock offs drove Meyers out of business, but...they just began production again because of demand for retro stuff) They were fast cheap and fun. Great So Cal style and what a way to show off your new Prince Albert.

Any thoughts?

This is what I drive. Not a Meyer's Manx, but a version of it. Even belong to the Manx Dune Buggy Club, where you can see every variety of these kooky kars that were ever made.

Of course, I use mine mostly for surf transpo and it does look pretty cool with the 10.0 longboard strapped to the top!

Domain Name, http://www.houseoftiki.com for sale!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5714542259

[ Edited by: dirtbag_surfer on 2004-08-10 16:50 ]

Dirtbag_Surfer

You Rule!
I have a Tourista in my collections of worthless debris. The one they wish they never produced? It's fugly...but none the less...swank.

You akshully LIVE on Shelter Island? Wow! I was just at Mort's trying to convince the owner what he really has there. (maybe get some nice shirts or stickers)

Nice rig!

On 2004-08-10 18:49, Gigantalope wrote:
Dirtbag_Surfer

You Rule!
I have a Tourista in my collections of worthless debris. The one they wish they never produced? It's fugly...but none the less...swank.

You akshully LIVE on Shelter Island? Wow! I was just at Mort's trying to convince the owner what he really has there. (maybe get some nice shirts or stickers)

Nice rig!

eh, thanks! I have to say that The Tourista was the butt ugliest of the Meyer's line. But you are right, they do have that swankiness to them...sort of that riding along the beach in the Caribbean type of vibe. I tell ya though, they are really rare and the kooky dune buggy folks would pay top dollar for one (if'n it's a gen_u_wine Meyer's Manx, that is).

I actually don't live on Shelter Island, I live across the street, half a block away. And, I am proud to say, I have been a customer of Trader Mort's for something like 25 years...shit, I am gettin' old!

[ Edited by: dirtbag_surfer on 2004-08-10 20:40 ]

Here is the platform for my ultimate tiki wagon...the 1967 Morris Minor Traveler

Of course it would need a bit of work to make it a daily driver...I'm imagining a chassis swap with a later model American car...I'm imagining a Mustang would probably be appropriate. I'd use all the modern suspension (except for aftermarket drop spindles), power steering, disc brakes and the 5.0 V-8...I would love to hear that innocent looking Brit import with a beefy powerplant under the hood!

Now that the car is sound and suitable for highway driving it would need some body modifications...shave the door handles and remove all of the stock trim, hood embellishments, the stock grill and fender mounted mirrors. French the headlights, recess the front turn signals, french the tail lights and last but not least chop the top about 3 inches. Custom size a '54 Desoto "tooth" grill to fit inside the existing gap.

Now it's time to tikify this baby! Replace all the gauges in the dash with custom faces that include tiki style fonts and numbers and backlight them with blue bulbs. Recover all the seats inside with...

Door panels would be covered in a combo of the above mentioned fabric and bacbac matting. Install a lauhala headliner with bamboo stringers. Now I'd replace the courtesy lamps inside with a mini fish float cluster and even a mini pufferfish. In the back the third brakelight would be suspended in the back window - a mini red fish float! The shift knob and all door lock pulls would be carved custom knobs! Finally, I'd cover the floor with matting - something that could withstand daily use.

Exterior - I'd go with a mintier green for the exterior color. Inside the stock woody features on the rear panels I'd affix lauhala matting to fit. On the roof of the rear panel I'd have a ghost tapa job - kinda like a ghost flame (where only visible in certain lights) but with an authentic looking tapa design. Finally, I'd get two custom made dummy spotlights for the front of the car, done to look like hollowed out coconuts but finished in chrome.

To finish it off I'd have to go with a nice set of Torque Thrust 2 wheels...like these...

...and a set of these...

I could go on for hours about the little details...like the custom tiki plaque for the tailgate, the portable tiki bar in the trunk, the customizations inside the engine compartment...blah, blah, blah...

As you can tell, I've put in many hours daydreaming about this! Great topic!

Sorry it's such a huge file, but it's hosted elsewhere at this size.

I think this one is owned by a couple that sell tiki books and mugs at Hotrod shows in the UK.

[ Edited by: Artiki on 2004-08-11 04:34 ]

Here's a shot of my buggy deep down in Baja from a surf adventure a few winters ago.

On 2004-08-11 06:34, dirtbag_surfer wrote:
Here's a shot of my buggy deep down in Baja from a surf adventure a few winters ago.

I'm sorry. But I don't believe you when you say this picture was taken in winter. Where's the 4 feet of snow? And why can't you see me screaming and swearing while I kick my garage door that has frozen to the cement? And where's the smashed backyard fence that the smowplow guy hits every damn time he plows the alley? No, I don't believe that's a winter pic.

On 2004-08-11 07:00, finkdaddy wrote:

On 2004-08-11 06:34, dirtbag_surfer wrote:
Here's a shot of my buggy deep down in Baja from a surf adventure a few winters ago.

I'm sorry. But I don't believe you when you say this picture was taken in winter. Where's the 4 feet of snow? And why can't you see me screaming and swearing while I kick my garage door that has frozen to the cement? And where's the smashed backyard fence that the smowplow guy hits every damn time he plows the alley? No, I don't believe that's a winter pic.

there, I fixed it :)

there, I fixed it

Yes! That's great! I'm sorry for ever doubting you. You just made my day. That's about as 'tiki' as my winters could ever get. That's hilarious!

On 2004-08-10 22:27, johntiki wrote:
Here is the platform for my ultimate tiki wagon...the 1967 Morris Minor Traveler

I like your style! It was indeed a minor (geddit?) classic. A friend of mine had one that he saved from 'death by mushrooms' (they took a liking to the wood). After doing it up, it promptly got stolen by joy-riders and burnt in a field. :(

Are they easy to get hold of in the US? I could always try to source one over here if it's difficult to find them. They aren't exactly common, but there's probably a few more over here than over there!

Trader Woody

Woody - surprisingly they can be found in the states if you look hard enough but they aren't common. I had the opportunity to buy one about 15 years ago and it was in perfect shape but I went after my '51 Ford Custom which I've had ever since. I found one online located in San Francisco and they only wanted $2800 for it but I figured by the time I spent the money to get it shipped to the east coast and invested in getting the thing road worthy I'd be out a considerable chunk of change! When I win the lotto and have tons of money to throw around I'll take you up on the offer - until then, my tiki leadsled Morris Minor will remain a dream.

Ya never know where you will find a cashet of such things. Though never common here, they stand a better chance of being kept from being scrapped somplace like the western US than almost anyplace.

There is some bloke along Route 66 around Amboy (a very odd place it'self) that has what appears to be a hundred or so Citroens.

If that can happen there...the lotto and your fine ride seen like a shoe-in

Someday I hope to find a Divco

[ Edited by: Gigantalope on 2004-08-11 23:42 ]

it's so funny - but when i first saw the name of this thread - i thought theme park ride... so here goes...

it would be a cross between the tiki room, the jungle cruise, splash mountain and the old busch gardens boat cruise... and underwritten by dole pineapple and meyer's rum.

the cue would be like the tiki room - wandering through thatched roof shacks and tiki gardens
the ride itself would have to be a water ride with a couple of shoot the shoots.
halfway through the ride you get off and go to a tiki bar where they have live exotic bird performancea and free meyer's mai tai samples and ice cold pineapple skewers. (hey, busch gardens used to give away free beer samples)
after you have sample the sponsor's offerings you get back on the boat ride and do one last waterfall back to civilization.

[ Edited by: Futura Girl on 2004-08-13 03:26 ]

Futura Girl, it took me this long to check this thread out because I thought the exact same thing!

Vehicle Tiki Ride:(don't really care for trucks, but it has a tiki in the picture!)

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2004-08-12 18:26 ]

I too, thought this was a discussion of imaginary theme parks!

The best tiki ride would be a recreation of a trip down the Sepik river on a boat - and 'natives' would come out and try to shoot blow darts at you! Spooky drums would be beating in the background... and your boat would have no lights, just torches on the front and back.

On 2004-08-11 04:33, Artiki wrote:
Sorry it's such a huge file, but it's hosted elsewhere at this size.

I think this one is owned by a couple that sell tiki books and mugs at Hotrod shows in the UK.

[ Edited by: Artiki on 2004-08-11 04:34 ]

THAT is my car!! (the second one) we have the non wagon version, it's a 59 Biscayne sedan.. we are broke at the moment so it's not as pretty as that yet, but it runs! ..mostly.. here she is after her brake line snapped getting towed

and here she is at our friend's place getting fixed (he collects the 59 wagons haha)

killing threads with every post..

[ Edited by: Velvet Ruby on 2004-08-13 01:25 ]

Oh, golly-I don't know how to post pics, but here's a link to our gruvy tikified "Sledsel".

http://www.ckdeluxemag.com/showcase/post.php?post_id=594

Taboo Tiki and Kustom Kulture Art
http://www.jamio.com
http://www.chambergallery.com

[ Edited by: Mystiki on 2004-08-13 03:26 ]

Sweet car, Mystiki!

I took the liberty of linking your photo....

And I thought we were a weird bunch.
This is what a search for " tiki chopper" brought up:

http://www.zoobomb.org/image/slideshow.php?set_albumName=ToeClip-TailGate

Like wow,

Funny this topic came up. I came across this website in an effort to tikify my ride. I have a 70's VW Camper that I have dubbed the "TIKIBUS". Although its about to get a restoration / rebuilding this fall, I have started the proccess of tiki decor. I am adorning the inside with functional tikis, space saving tikis, and tiki themed pieces. I am also doing my best to stay away from tacky tiki. My goal is pull into a campsite, throw up a thatched awning, lite some tiki torches, sip a Mai Tai, and wait for the wind to switch off shore.

By the way I need a 18"h x 12"w wooden tiki to use as a step /camp stool. It also needs to be lightweight.

Neal

Here is my ride! (I too thought this was a theme park thread)

Wow Mystiki, cool Edsel.
I've always fancied a '58 wagon. They are just awesome and stop the traffic wherever they go.
I'm driving around in a '31 Ford Coupe hotrod at the moment. The trunk is pretty big, so I can haul my tikis around.

[ Edited by: Artiki on 2004-08-18 05:03 ]

[ Edited by: Artiki on 2004-08-18 05:04 ]

velvetruby, what beautiful cars you have.

That particular model with the swooping wings is stunning. The following model was a bit more angular, and lost it's breathtaking looks.

I have read that those angles in sheet metal were difficult to produce.

Sweetfleet!

Good for you!

let's not forget filipino jeepneys

On 2004-08-18 08:28, Gigantalope wrote:
velvetruby, what beautiful cars you have.

That particular model with the swooping wings is stunning. The following model was a bit more angular, and lost it's breathtaking looks.

I have read that those angles in sheet metal were difficult to produce.

Sweetfleet!

Good for you!

Thanks! I can't take credit for them both unfortunately, the red one (the wagon) belongs to a friend of ours who is helping us out with parts. But I LOVE our car, it's positively EVIL at night with the tail lights glowing..

On 2004-08-18 05:02, Artiki wrote:
I'm driving around in a '31 Ford Coupe hotrod at the moment. The trunk is pretty big, so I can haul my tikis around.

Artiki you lucky bastard! That's a sweet '31!

The ultimate tiki ride? I don't know what you guys are thinking with all these cars, but here's my ultimate ride:

What would I do to it? I would ride it, of course!

EsQui.
http://www.waitingchairgallery.com

[ Edited by: EsQui on 2004-08-20 19:29 ]