For decades, we enthusiasts were able to enjoy motion pictures that told a story via car chases or races. Alas, such productions are getting fewer by the year (Ford v Ferrari is recent a member of this endangered species). Many modern car flics admittedly showcase amazing builds, but these aren’t cast in the main role anymore, with the box office race now taking center stage (looking at you, F&F). But what if the young generation could, even for a brief moment, bring us a taste of the good old days?
The short animation sitting before us today seems to deliver just such a retro aroma, with this reminding us of the chases we enjoyed in movies such as 1968’s Bullitt or 1971’s Two-Lane Blacktop.
A 16-second scene featuring one car going after another this might be, but, at least to these eyes, it manages to capture the drama of vehicle shenanigans delivered in iconic productions.
And, in keeping with the vehicle standards of modern production, this pixel work involves heavily massaged versions of classic muscle cars, which are partially tied to some of the four-wheeled heroes of the two motion pictures mentioned above.
As you enjoy the work, note that we’re looking at the efforts of Timothy Adry Emmanuel (aka adry53customs), a 26-year old digital artist from Indonesia. Self-taught, this young talent has a thing for American machines old and new, as his sharp 3D work, which usually comes in static form, demonstrates—the gallery below shows he actually brought together two different projects for the animation.
GTO Judge vs. “Resto Snake” Mustang
We’ll start with the 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge, since the one in this rendering looks like it entered the virtual garage straight from Two-Lane Blacktop, right down to the livery. However, after receiving a widebody kit, side pipes, a set of American Racing Wheels, and other vicious goodies of the custom type, the muscle car is ready for action.
As for the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, which has been done in collaboration with the Classic Cars Culture (aka classics_culture) Instagram label, its story is a bit different.
In a way that will most likely antagonize purists, this reminds us of the Highland Green ’68 Mustang GT Fastback Steve McQueen manhandled on the streets of San Francisco for Bullitt. However, while the second kept its (admittedly limited) movie car mods concealed, this digital build does the opposite.
The “Resto Snake” nickname we applied comes thanks to the fact that the restomod creature sports features of the modern Shelby Super Snake, such as the hood and, more importantly, the 825 hp Whipple-supercharged V8 underneath it—for the record, Carroll Shelby’s original Super Snake is based on a 1967 GT500, which this classic is not.
So, as I see the two muscle monsters going at it through the desert, V8 soundtrack and all, I can only hope this artist’s creations will one day make the transition from pixels to metal.
