Darryl Starbird
Encyclopedia
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. Some of his best-known cars include the Predicta, the Electra, the Cosma Ray, the Big T, and the Lil Coffin.
, George Barris
, Norm Grabowski
, Dean Jeffries
, Bill Cushenberry and the great pinstripe artist Kenny Howard
(nicknamed Von Dutch), who presided over one of the most productive and creative periods of American custom car and hot rod design.
Starbird currently owns and operates Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum in Afton, Oklahoma
, which features many of his cars as well as other notable examples from the history of custom car and hot rod culture. A notable car in the museum is the Reactor Mach II which appeared on multiple television programs.
George Lucas
included a tip of the hat to Starbird in his 1973 film "American Graffiti
" in which a character named Toad comments about his friend's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
, "This may even be better than Darryl Starbird's superfleck moonbird!" In reality, there is no such car, however Starbird's creation, "Predicta", has taken to the "Superfleck Moonbird" name.
and Tulsa, Oklahoma
to show his and others' Kustom Creations, hotrods, and classic cars.
Custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been modified in either of the following two ways. First, a custom car may be altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. Second, a custom car may be a personal "styling" statement, making the car look...
and hot rod
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
designer and builder, known for his innovative and futuristic space-age car designs, often featuring bubble tops. Some of his best-known cars include the Predicta, the Electra, the Cosma Ray, the Big T, and the Lil Coffin.
History
Creating many of his most influential designs in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Starbird served as a design consultant for the Monogram hobby corporation which reproduced many of his cars as plastic model kits. He is one of a group of designers and artists including Ed RothEd Roth
"Big Daddy" Ed Roth was an artist, cartoonist, custom car painter, and pinstriper who created the hot-rod icon Rat Fink and other extreme characters. As a custom car builder, Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot-rod movement of the late 50's and 1960's...
, George Barris
George Barris (auto customizer)
George Barris is a designer of custom cars.-Early history:George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. After the deaths of their parents, they moved to Roseville, California as children to live with relatives. Both were good students, interested in drama, music, and design...
, Norm Grabowski
Norm Grabowski
Norm Grabowski is an American hot rod builder and actor. The heavy set crew cut wearing Grabowski appeared in minor roles in many films produced by Albert Zugsmith and Walt Disney....
, Dean Jeffries
Dean Jeffries
Dean Jeffries is an American custom vehicle designer, fabricator, stuntman and stunt coordinator for motion pictures and television programs based in Los Angeles, California....
, Bill Cushenberry and the great pinstripe artist Kenny Howard
Kenny Howard
Kenneth Robert Howard , also known as Dutch, Von Dutch, or J. L. Bachs , was a motorcycle mechanic, artist, pinstriper, metal fabricator, knifemaker and gunsmith...
(nicknamed Von Dutch), who presided over one of the most productive and creative periods of American custom car and hot rod design.
Starbird currently owns and operates Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum in Afton, Oklahoma
Afton, Oklahoma
Afton is a town in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,118 at the 2000 census, most of the recent population growth was from the near abandonment of nearby towns of Cardin and Picher from ground contamination sites by local mining quarries.-Geography:Afton is located at ...
, which features many of his cars as well as other notable examples from the history of custom car and hot rod culture. A notable car in the museum is the Reactor Mach II which appeared on multiple television programs.
George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
included a tip of the hat to Starbird in his 1973 film "American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
" in which a character named Toad comments about his friend's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Impala
The Chevrolet Impala is a full-size automobile built by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced for the 1958 model year. Deriving its name from the southern African antelope, Chevrolet's most expensive passenger model through 1965 had become the best-selling automobile in the United...
, "This may even be better than Darryl Starbird's superfleck moonbird!" In reality, there is no such car, however Starbird's creation, "Predicta", has taken to the "Superfleck Moonbird" name.
Indoor Car Shows
Starbird also has annual indoor car shows in Wichita, KansasWichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
and Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
to show his and others' Kustom Creations, hotrods, and classic cars.