Have you ever seen a wild, crazy unique Hot Rod? I am sure you have, but have you ever seen one like the Purple People Eater?
Not sure what that is? Well, the Purple People Eater is what scientists have believe is single handedly reasonable for causing the 2011 Virginia Earthquake! Does that tell you something about the car? This car is an uncontrollable beast form another world!
The concept for the Purple People Eater came when Marky, his brother Alex and the rest of the Shifters Car Club wanted to build an early 60s style altered dragster hot rod with a bit of an Ed Roth influence that is actually driven and occasionally raced. A true Hot Rod that was homebuilt, fun, original, and a piece of art compared to the thousands of Trailer Queen street rods that made up most of the hot rod shows at the time.
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What Markey did to the mill next was put a Hampton blower on top of it with eight Stromberg Carburetors on top it! (Yes eight of those things)! The Pontiac mill and the front end was placed higher up for weight transfer during launch on the strip (just like most of the cars in the 60s). After the engine and transmission where installed the car was then giving its famous Purple and White paintjob and it was ready to be shown to the hot rod world!
The Purple People Eater was first shown to the world at the West Coast Nationals Car Show in Paso Robles California and when it arrived at the show full of street rods PEOPLE WENT CRAZY! Some were excited to see it, others were running for their lives because they thought this car was a serious monster going to eat them! Ok maybe no one did that but people loved it!
The car was an instant hit, it was what hot rodding had drifted away from years ago and it was what a hot rod was supposed to be; loud, faster, driven, homebuilt, and one of a kind built to the owners liking!If you happen to bring up the Purple People Eater at shows or online you will hear a lot of people comment about how it can’t make a pass down the strip or it can’t drag race which just isn’t true. Even though the Purple People Eater wasn’t built to be a drag car it has made several passes down the strip over the years! Overall the car wasn’t meant to be a functional hot rod it was meant to be a work of art to inspire builders and get people talking, in which it has done a really great job. The Purple People Eater is one of the most Amazing hot rods I have ever seen, I seriously think there should be a Hot Wheels car of it!
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