Aaron Grote - Cerro Gordo, IL, USA

[Faulkner]

Not much survived from the '59 Plymouth donor for “Atomic Punk”. Still, it’s clearly got '59 roots! From the January issue of Hemmings:

@Dan Stoner

If you follow the hot-rod circuit, it’s more than likely that you’re aware of Aaron Grote’s “Atomic Punk”: a handbuilt bubbletop hot rod that harkens back to not only the Atomic Age, but Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Rat Fink cult of personality that ran concurrently, just under the surface of American Pop Culture. At full-tilt, the bubbletopped showcars coming out of Roth Studios in Southern California in the Fifties and Sixties were reaching into the movie houses, hobby shops, record stores, magazines, and anywhere else a red-blooded American kid could throw his lawn-mowing cash: If you couldn’t see the actual car, you could buy something that Roth had put his name and art to. Brilliant six decades of brand marketing, that…

@Dan Stoner

Anyway, 50-plus years later, Aaron Grote–a rabid hot-rodder living and working in the Corn Belt–decided to build his own bubbletop, after trying his hand at custom cars. “I guess it would have been back around 1999 or so after I bought a crappy Model A hot rod and had to constantly work on it,” Aaron explains… A more-door ’59 Plymouth Savoy had followed him home around that time and, as he’s been quoted, Aaron decided to “cut the ugly off” and ended up with its tailfins. And along with a whole bunch of drawer pulls, the body came together over a fabricated frame and behind a radical ’58 Chrysler 392-cu.in. V-8. “I was lazy and called up a plastics place in Canada and had them make me a few (bubbletops).” Lazy. Right.

The whole project took just under two years to complete. The Punk debuted at the Detroit Autorama, proceeded to crush it at every car show field Aaron drove it across (yep, it actually runs and drives), and was even a guest of The Hef at the Playboy Mansion for a “Mopars At The Mansion” event. And we can’t talk about that.

[Faulkner]

After several shows, Aaron decided it was time to sell, and put it up on eBay - although, it wasn’t there that it sold.

@Aaron on eBay

In order for me to get busy building something else this winter, I have to sell my RUNNING, DRIVING, Ed Roth inspired hot rod, the ATOMIC PUNK. Try and find one of these for sale anywhere else! It has been seen in several magazines and is currently the Cover Car on the newest Rod and Custom Magazine. I suggest you go out and purchase one. It has won a several awards like best of show and best Kustom at the Detroit Autorama Extreme, and a bunch of others, but I don’t have to tell you all of that for you to know that it is a nifty unit, now do I? I have been approached by a few different shows requesting that the car make appearances this winter with paid travel expenses and whatnot, I will pass that info along if the car sells. There is a lot of show left in this pony, but I would rather be building my next car than touring the show circuit.

@Aaron on eBay

Motor is a 392 Hemi, it runs and drives great and starts easily since my pals at Harrell Mfg in Rockford, IL (who will soon be making the famous Harrell heads and intakes again) took it and got it tuned in for me. It has a tubo 400 Tranny built by Midtown transmission in Eau Claire, WI. Brand New Johns Industries Posi 9 inch with their Buick style drums that I had polished (not covers) hung with adjustable coil overs and polished stainless hair pins. The front end is a chrome drilled and dropped I beam from Pete and Jakes with Wilwood discs hidden inside Obrien truckers Buick drums and backing plates. If you need to know more read the Rod and Custom magazine article. It wouldn’t matter what I say about the car anyway because some goof will most certainly e-mail me without reading it anyway. Almost every nut and bolt is either chromed or polished stainless. I spent a small fortune on this car so don’t call me up and expect me to end the auction early for half what I spent on the car. I don’t HAVE to sell it. I don’t believe all of this talk about a recession. I am coming out of the biggest recession I have ever seen after building this thing!! I can assure you though, if it sells I promise to blow most of the money on more stupid car stuff! I have contemplated moving into a bigger trailer though, and maybe one with a bon-a-fide crawlspace and foundation under it. That would make me a bit hit with all of my friends come tornado season! I would also be interested in taking partial payment in the form of Pre-war Coupe or truck projects, value to be determined before the end of the auction. I like Zephyrs, 32’s, 33’s, 34’s, and 36’s I am also interested in vintage motor bikes. I don’t mind selling overseas either, but the car is being sold as is, where is and I don’t want to have to transport it. Check out my other auctions and improve your lousy wardrobe with a spiffy new T-shirt!

@Aaron on eBay

Let me answer the most common questions to save myself some e-mail grief:
1: “Where’d you get the bubble?” If you think that was the hardest part of building this car, let me tell you that is the least of your concerns. If you want an answer though, I will tell you that it involved a lot of hair dryers, oven mitts, and a disco ball.
2: “Doesn’t it get hot in there?”…why yes it does, that is why it has an Air Conditioning system in it. It is really quite comfy in there though.
3: “It looks cramped in there”…it is. But it is not any more cramped than a chopped and channelled Model A, trust me, I had one. You couldn’t even fit into Roth’s best looking cars. That is why they look so crazy. If you wanted comfort you’d be searching “coupe DeVille” now wouldn’t you?
4: “is it fiberglass?” heck no, sailor! The body started as a 1959 Plymouth sedan and some Chevy farm truck parts. The rest was rolled out from sheet steel on my English wheel. It sounds easy and all but everyone that has ever told me how they were going to build a car similarly has given up because of the work involved. It ain’t easy kids, if it was, everyone would have one. It won Fay Butler’s “Best Metal” Pick at the Detroit Autorama. He wouldn’t give that to a glass car, now would he? I couldn’t tell you how many hundreds of hours (maybe over a Thousand? I’d rather not think about it) I have in cutting, welding, grinding, and hammering on this car. Even if you could afford the hourly rate, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who would build you one.

@Aaron on eBay

Now, for those of you that only think about practical things and have to run things by your wife, there are things that you can do with this car that wouldn’t be remotely as cool as with her Toyota Camry, I know, my wife has one. Also, Roth’s Orbitron has some interesting history that is tough to beat, but here are a few things that you can do to make this car come in a close second.
10. Fill it with popcorn and butter and take it to the drive in. You’ll be a huge hit.
9. Fill it with gumballs and park it outside of the mall (a sure fire way to make the purchase price back if you ask me)
8. Fill with styrofoam packing peanuts, a squirrel cage fan, and a Santa Claus dummy. Plug in that fan and you will have a life sized snow globe. If you put it in your front yard, you will win the neighborhood Christmas decorating contest hands down, especially if you live in Florida!
7. Fill it with lizards, plastic plants, and a log and let your kid park it in his room and use it as his terrarrium.
6. Your kid’s arch nemesis gets dropped off at school every day in a General Lee clone? Even the score and earn yourself the “coolest dad ever” title.
5. If you roll up to the Star Trek convention in this thing you will most likely have your choice of EITHER of the chicks that are there (or possibly both of them if you play your cards right, it depends on your Wookie).
4. So your wife is whining about your car collection getting too big?? Park this baby in the living room and fill it with all of her stupid “Precious Moments” figurines.
3. Park it in the Kitchen and use it to keep your cake/pies/doughnuts fresh.
2. Install a hydroponics system and grow your favorite vegetables, flowers, or herbs in it. Remember it IS climate controlled.

1. My Favorite, Do big Smoky Burnouts in it and drive it!!!

[Faulkner]

Back to Hemmings:

@Dan Stoner

In the end, the car went across the ramp at a Barrett-Jackson auction. Enter the mighty gamer brand, Microsoft Studios: Ten years later, the designers of its heavy driving game, Forza Motorsport 7, developed its Barrett-Jackson Pack–a collection of seven cars that were sold at Barrett-Jackson auctions over the past several years. As they were looking for unique machines, they stumbled across the Punk. “I got a call out of the blue one day asking if I would be okay with them using the car for the video game,” Aaron continues. “Somehow, they tracked me down at my real job at the fertilizer company (United Prairie–shameless plug) where I have been employed for the past 23 years. They were hooked up with Barrett-Jackson and were looking at past sales for interesting cars to use. I guess I should thank Richard Rawlings at Gas Monkey, because he was the one who sold it there, not me. This was way back in 2011, before he had the TV show.”

Was Aaron hoodwinked on a street corner and spirited away to an underground bunker where he masterminded the digital incarnation of his bubbletop? “I wasn’t involved at all. I have no idea how they created it, although I did send them a link to the YouTube video of me driving it around after work one day. I guess we will see how loud it is in the game!”

Barrett-Jackson Seven Car Pack

Atomic Punk in Forza Motorsport 7

@Dan Stoner

While the Atomic Punk is digitally immortalized, where is it, these days? “As far as I know, Ernie Moody from VideoPoker.com still has it out in Vegas. He also bought Robosaurus at one of the Barrett-Jackson auctions. I thought it would be cool if he got a wild hair and fed the Punk to Robosaurus out in the desert somewhere. I’m going to be out in Vegas soon and am trying to see if I can pay the car a visit.” And what’s next for the guy who has a penchant for naming his cars after Van Halen songs? “Currently, I have a 1934 Ford three-window coupe that is about 75 percent done sitting in the corner, while I have focused my efforts on a 1937 Lincoln Zephyr three-window coupe. I don’t seem to hit it as hard as I used to, so it takes me a little longer to finish my projects now.” Sheesh.

Some pix from Rod and Custom…