Street Rod Nationals presents Back Seat Betty
Behold, the offspring of the Typhoon and Echidna and sister of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. As it approached, everyone turns their gazes. Stopping dead in their tracks. Lost in their thoughts, trying to comprehend what is upon them. With curious eyes and searching thoughts, waiting for it to stop just to have answers to those questions forming in their minds. Though it may not breathe fires off its mouth, but it sure has the making of a chimera. Enter the Back Seat Betty at the 2007 Street Rod Nationals North at the Kalamazoo Country Expo Center & Fairground.
“Everywhere it goes, it’s a sponge,” said Tommy Carroll, Back Seat Betty’s owner. It is captivated with 3,100 rivets, instead of welded steel. The lots of work given for such much rivets made him say, “I’ll never do that again.” But most probably, he would really be that dedicated because the vehicle is from his father, who served in the U.S. Air Force in the 1940s. He said, “It’s a tribute to my father, John T. Carroll II, who was a navigator in the South Pacific during World War II.”
Back Seat Betty won at the 2007 EyesOn Design show in Dearborn. And, Carroll seemingly expects for it to gain more awards, since he gave up so much time and effort for it. Three years has been spent to revamp it and $56,000 was the approximate expense. That much is worth a great brand new car.
It is a WW2 aircraft themed model-a coupe the Back Seat Betty they say. It was creatively furnished to catch eyes.
Exterior-wise, the vehicle is dominated with three features. On the finest, an unusual grille stands as the most obvious. The 1937 Plymouth it is, matched with large torpedo headlights. The body says much. The top and deck lid of each paned are redone in aluminum, painted silver, and outlined with aircraft style rivets. Look over and there you see pretty impressive roof inserts that has protruding soft light that is a reflection from the interior paint, light shade of bluish green.
Inside, a bmw computer chip is of course not expected to be found but rather, a catchy dash molded out of aluminum, housing a huge center mounted speedo flanked by two aircraft accessory gauges and various switches and indicators. It was then after removing the stock gas tank. The dash was stuffed with several aircraft parts, including P47 throttle levers, a Douglas steering wheel, tags, jump lights, and bomber seats. Carroll wanted it to feel like a B25 Mitchell, loading it with green glow, and so it had. It has even gained roof supports from HRCC, using riveted aluminum beam construction (found in aircraft). The gorgeous fabrication comes from those beams together with complimenting aluminum door panels and garnish moldings.
A winner indeed.
