Seattle, WA
When we took these photos of the American Graffiti Coupe's undercarriage, we were shooting blind. Not able to actually get under the car, we set the articulating lens at a 45 degree angle and shoved our camera under as far as we could. Clicking pictures in a sweeping 'second hand' motion, we hoped to get as much visual information as possible. We had to work from the drivers side as that was our only access without violating the roped off boundaries. We rationalized that as long as our feet did not enter the area, we were still playing by the rules. Upper appendages didn't count. A slight liberty? Yes, but we could live with it.
Once the pixels were uploaded on the 'ol computer, we were pretty surprised (horrified) how cruddy it all was. Sure it was dirty. That wasn't unexpected seeing as how unpolished the engine had been. But the loose bolts, leaky seals, ragged cuts and popcorn welding took us back a bit. We knew the Coupe was no trailer queen. Owner Rick Figari had used it as a daily driver for years. That's cool, but show or no show, this car was seriously un-babied. And this characteristic brought up new questions as to how close were we going to build our tribute. I mean, where do you get that green gunk dripping off the tranny?
