Not all the artists in my favourite magazines were cartoony. Some of them could produce impressive detail and realistic rendering... especially of chromed engine parts. Whether or not this has something to do with *my* obsession with chrome I don't know. This particular drawing was an attempt to master the same high technical proficiency, with mixed results.

Part of the problem was that everything I knew about cars was from reading Hot Rod Cartoons or building AMT model kits. I had no practical experiecne at all. (For that matter I still don't. I've never owned a car.) The other problem I was up against was that I was probably further ahead in my mechanical mastery than I was in human anatomy. Yet another problem. I was rendering with a blue ball point pen. That's right. The original of this is dark blue on yellowing manilla paper. It isn't dated but mostly likely this was penned the same year as the following two pieces -- 1967.

What's a "wheelie" a few of you are bound to ask. The power put out by a massive 440 cubic inche fueld injected supercharged block was incredible, and its torque could literally jerk the car up in the air rather than turn the rear slicks! The driver normally avoided this -- flipping the front end up in the air lost split seconds while your competitor was leaping ahead down the quarter mile. You avoided a wheelie by easing up a little when you first hit the gas. An overanxious driver would tromp too hard and suddenly find himself looking at blue sky instead of the end of the track. And then he'd fall back on the asphault with a bang that could easily damange suspension or steering. In this case, you can see the axle has distorted the wire front wheels as well as destroyed his engine.