In 1990 , Thom Taylor drew a bulletnose Studebaker design dub Frankenstude as a tongue - in - face response to the Larry Erickson - designed CadZZilla ™ . " I was pushing the bulletnose Studebaker matter because it was the most outrageous , ridiculous railway car , " sound out Thom . " I wanted to see it done radically and badly , like CadZZilla ™ . "
figure out alone , Greg built the body . He started with a 1948 Starlight coupe , adding a ' 51 nose and punk , ' 50 front fenders , and ' 47 rearward pilot . Every panel was massage to correspond Thom ’s drafting , and the door skins , doorpost , ceiling , and rock ‘n’ roll musician panels were fabricated from scratch . The desolate - steel body was prove in 1992 , but it would take almost another five years to complete the car .
Much of the hold was make by applied science problem that had to be solve . Greg welded the olfactory organ into a flip - front - close unit , and direct it to lift up , move forward , then pitch loose with the thrust of a button . To make the doors open scissor - elan , he designed them to first move out away from the body , then turn vertically .
Other organic structure components consist ofHarley - Davidsonmirrors , handmade taillights , and custom glass . Town & Country Glass cut down a Pontiac Grand Am windscreen to match and edit out the door meth fromFordvan windshields .
Thom ’s design shout for the Starlight coupe ’s characteristic four - piece of music wraparound rear window to angle forrader . The glass was custom - made in two bit by Glass Pro of Santa Fe Springs , California . A bulletnose was cast in brass to mime the ' 50 ’s design , but it substitute the blood line " Studebaker " relief with " Frankenstude " lettering .
Though Frankenstude exhibited the radical bodywork of a customs , it would have theengineand chassis of a hot rod . Greg completely fabricated a race car - similar 115 - inch - wheelbase electron tube chassis with an integrate peal coop .
Greg design the tube frame to double as the exhaust system , and installed aChevroletL-98 V-8 crate motor . Cotrell Racing Engines of Chaska , Minnesota , tune the tune up - port - put in 350 - Criminal Investigation Command engine to 400horsepower . Greg mate it to a GM 700R4automatic contagion , as well as lintel , exhaust organ pipe , and a driveshaft that he fabricated .
Thom envision all - wheel ride , and Greg made it work by using a GMC Syclone all - wheel - crusade center section up front , an former Corvette inwardness section in the hind end , and a GM all - bicycle - drive transfer shell . Four - wheel independentsuspensionanddisc brakeswere added .
Inside , Greg scratchbuilt the dash , and had it upholstered in osseous tissue - colour leather by Bobby Griffey , who also did the fanny . Keith Nybo upholster the door panel , and add the star and carpeting . Vintage Air air conditioning , gauges by Classic Instruments , and a one - off Boydssteeringwheel on an ididit steering column complete the Department of the Interior .
The final trace include custom - mixed House of Kolor Frankenstude Purple paint spray by Rand Bailey and a set of 17 - inch billet wheels custom - made by Boyd Coddington . Six - and - a - half eld in the industrial plant , several scale replicas made it to market before the full - size of it project was complete .
The finished Frankenstude made its debut in an exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art . Within the elevator car community , its unique plan , complex applied science , and robust performance potentiality made it a hit . Frankenstude , like CadZZilla ™ , helped plunge a young moving ridge of usance believe as a mod take on ' 50s cars .
Steve Anderson kept the machine until 2000 , when he sell it to Steve and Mary Barton of Las Vegas . The Bartons flip out the rearward hanging for strain suspension by Air Ride Technologies . As Steve put it , he and his wife desire the car because " it ’s a magnificent impost with a stark design . "
