Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor Cylons, nor old Jimi Hendrix songs…
It’s been done before, countless times; people with more time and money on their hands than they know what do do with turning cars into iconic movie props. Sometimes the results are spectacular; sometimes, not so much.
This latest contender is from Dean Shorey, the master ride mechanic for Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, NY. This too-cool-for-words homage to Starbuck’s weapon of choice, made from an old mail truck, is also road-worthy, so it’s not only sporty, but practical, too. …right?
Some more pix, as well as a story about the creator from a guy who knew him, after the break.
“The car was built by Dean Shorey, the master ride mechanic for Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, NY. I worked there as a systems engineer for one season on a custom pump house control system for their waterpark. Dean and his crew have that park in such good working order, that he has a lot of free time on his hands, especially in the off seasons (when the park isn’t building custom antique style carousels for other parks). So he restores and collects cars. Last I talked with him, he had over 20 something vehicles in various states of restoration. He’s a big fan of the original BSG, so he decided to build himself a STREET LEGAL Viper Starfighter. From what I remember, the front end is off of an old postal Jeep, it has chevy small block engine (cause Dean is a GM guy and he has lots of small blocks lying around the shop). It seats one person and has a cassette deck. No A/C.
The Viper is seen here parked near the rides maintenance shop during the spring of 2006. The lift hill for the historic 1924 “Jack Rabbit” wooden roller coaster can be seen in the background.
He’s currently in the process of restoring four ’57 Chevys: sedan, coupe, station wagon and a delivery sedan.
Dean is a great guy who helped teach me welding and many other metal skills, which I will forever be thankful for.” (via Jalopnik)
