ELWOOD
1963 PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE
This is my friend John Hammond's car. He was searching for a 1963 2-door post car, and had this 4 door as a parts car for the one he wanted to build. He finally decided this car was too straight and nice to waste, so he took a cue from the Blues Brothers and created Elwood.
Notice the red lens. Those are NOS! He found them in a dust covered box in a forgotten store room. The lights and siren work, and get him in trouble. Also notice the fake RADAR. It's not an uncommon site to see this cop car pulled over by the Man. You can't really see it here, but on the back right side of the car is a "D.A.R.E." decal, only John, the professional graphics man, changed it to "Just DARE me". He gets hassled by the man, even though he is a Deputy Sheriff himself!
Here's the power plant. A nice loud 400.
This is a black and white of the door decal. It is a reproduction of the original 70's vintage door decals of the Mount Prospect Illinois Police Department. It's even reflective!
These images came from the Mopar Collector's Guide in which John's car was featured. It's also been in Car Craft's reader's rides recently.
John is a real motor head and a die-hard Mopar man. He's an officer in the East Tennessee Mopar Association, and is always at the Mopar Nationals East. He just got that 2-door post. A 1963 max wedge car. No glass, no steering column, no nothing. A bare shell. One day it will be a tubbed and narrowed pro street machine. He also has a 1965 Pontiac Star Chief, a low mileage original, and a very modified dune buggy. The buggy has ladder bars, and needs them!
John sold Elwood a few years ago to finance other projects. He says it was fun, but a huge hassle. He was pulled over by police about every other time he hit the road. He went out of his way to make the car legal. He is a Deputy Sheriff himself. But, he'd be getting ice cream with his wife and kid and they would pull him over swearing he had turned the lights on. Well, there are no lights in there! It was a pain.
