Billy Gibbons ZZ Top

carchaeologist

Dontcha just hate him!:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW6SMW8AXOI

Some lovely motors there...

manta mad

:cool:

would love to see his collection !!!!!!!!!!!
even better to have half his money !!!!!! :rolleyes:

carchaeologist

Cars and guitars, nothin like it!
Funny thing about ZZ Top is the drummers name is Frank Beard, and he's the only guy in the band that hasn't one....:D

Ali Babba

carchaeologist wrote: »

Cars and guitars, nothin like it!

.........and women!! Another good reason to watch their videos.:)

Sids Not

..."$200,000...no problem to get one of these".............maybe not for you Gibbo.......;)

carchaeologist

Ali Babba wrote: »

.........and women!! Another good reason to watch their videos.:)

Yep! That and the slighly un PC humour!:D

(probably the only time id get away with posting a ZZ Top video here on Classic Cars..theres plenty of footage of the '33 Ford 'Eliminator' to justify it....



The ZZ Top Eliminator hot rod became a legend by appearing in several rock music videos. Rock 'n' roll and hot rodding have a lot in common. Both inject old forms (say, blues music or antique Fords) with power and flamboyance. It's no surprise, then, that many rock stars are also hot rod enthusiasts. ZZ Top frontman Billy F. Gibbons is probably the best-known roddin' rocker.

Heavily influenced by Pete Chapouris' the California kid, Billy had Don Thelan's Buffalo Motor Cars shop build him a chopped 1933 Ford in the early '80s that would soon be known as the Eliminator coupe. Underneath was a straightforward Pete and Jake's chassis with a dropped tube axle and four-bar suspension up front and a Ford nine-inch out back.

Thelan chopped the steel three-window body three inches, Steve Davis made the three-piece hood with unique "scooped" side panels, and Kenny Youngblood designed the "ZZ" graphics. Additional body details included the filled rear splash pan with recessed license plate, '39 Ford teardrop taillights, and lowered '34 Ford headlights.

Finicky hi-po motors have never been Billy's scene, so the emphasis was on reliability. Power was provided by a simple but capable 350-cid Chevy V-8 with a Camaro Z-28 hydraulic cam, a polished intake manifold with a single four-barrel carb, and a Turbo 350 traansmission. As a finishing touch, Eric Vaughn milled the ZZ Top logo into the valve covers.

A painting of the coupe was featured on the cover of ZZ Top's multiplatinum 1983 album Eliminator, and the real car was immortalized on the small screen in four music videos that were run in heavy rotation on MTV.

Each video featured a Cinderella-story vignette in which an earnest but unfairly downtrodden teen is swept away and "saved" by the arrival of beautiful girls in the Eliminator. The members of ZZ Top granted the protagonist a magical set of keys with a stylized ZZ key chain, and the hot rod appeared as a magical fantasy object.

Gibbons' Eliminator gave rodding immeasurable exposure and spurred the interest of an MTV gener­ation of teenagers who hadn't before seen a real hot rod in motion.

Billy had always been a rodder, but the Eliminator was his first car to gain international fame. Demand for public appearances was so high that Billy had California Street Rods construct an Eliminator clone to go on tour. He still owns both cars today, along with several other high-profile rods and customs. Billy has done almost as much for rodding as he has for rock 'n' roll.

The above was lifted from a hotrod site.

Dord

Billy is the man! along with an amazing collection of cars he has an amazing collection of vintage guitars... many of which cost as much or more than the cars! :cool:

sid131

zztop car is pure class

DarenO

Grew up with a poster of one of Pete Chapouris' 32 roadsters on my bedroom door. It was metallic lime green and orange flames. I would have sold my soul to even see the car in the flesh. I've a few Hot Rod posters to get framed when the box room is vacated by my eldest baby daughter and my two baby girls share the big room. Then daddy's automobilia can finally be taken out of the boxes and given an airing

ZZ top wasn't the start of being into Hot Rodding for me, but you wouldn't believe the jump in standard of finish Eliminator caused on both sides of the water. Billy Gibbons was even at the forefront of Cal Look VWs, back in 87 he had a black convertible built (he could and can afford it) which was fantastic. Still have the Volksworld mag it was in alongside 1000s of other mags

-Chris-

I bought this when it comes out, and it's probably one of my favourite coffee table books. He's got some fantastic cars.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Billy-Gibbons-Rock-Roll-Gearhead/dp/0760322694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296861036&sr=8-1