[Carl Hungness]

For the past 65 years I have served partial or full apprenticeships in several disciplines including journalism, advertising, sales, race car fabrication, sales, violin making,violin playing welding, machine shop practices, glass blowing, beveling, stained glass, motorcycle and car rebuilding. I have over 8,000 hours in carving Chavant clay, the same material used by the Detroit factories. I have carved a 1910 Mercedes, a 1955 Mercedes, '55 Ferrari, I did a quarter scale of the famed SUMAR Indy 500 car, I did the three Penske cars that sat on the front row, I did a steering wheels with two arms (one o'clock and 7 o'clock). I have a year's experience at the Heron School of Art in their foundry class. I have a BA from the University of Colorado ( real accomplishment for me as I didn't have a high school diploma, left home when I was 15 and became the nation's #2 Stetson hat salesman at Meyer The Hatter in New Orleans.

I was owner and publisher of Carl Hungness' Indianapolis 500 Yearbook for 27 years, I invented the USAC NEWS newspaper, I invented the best selling Ford wall poster(s) of all time: Fabulous Fords, Model A Fords: I am the only man in the world Harley-Davidson has allowed to make a product without a license, my "Happy-Birthday" History of The Harley poster 1903-2003 is the best selling Harley poster in history. I published books on Midgets, Sprint Cars, Indy 500 cars, biographies, histories, wall posters, prints etc. My publishing work can be seen on eBay, Amazon.My books are in every state in the Union and on every continent in the world.

I worked for Indy car builder Grant King for three years and have been around race car shops all my life. I've known some of the nation's finest race car builders.

I raced a flathead D Fuel dragster (304" cubic inch motor out of the Kenz-Leslie streamline, where I worked for 18 months). I have rebuilt my 1954 Vincent Black Shadow and ridden it over 70,000 miles. I have 64 years riding experience on a motorcycle. I raced the King Midget I helped build for about a dozen races, I raced a Kurtis-Kraft V-8 60 Midget for four races and flipped the car clean out of the Danville, IL dirt track and survived.

Ever since I saw Don Fox built Denver's first parachute pack dragster I have wanted to form aluminum into concave, convex shapes, etc. but since I was unable to move my right thumb for 37 years working with my hands was a real challenge. I have had the thumb repaired, twice, and have successfully built two precise copies of a 1707 Stradivarius and now play Second Chair in the Hanover College-Community Symphony. My sculptures have sold for $50,000 and one can be seen at the Penske Museum in Scottsdale, AZ and another in Osaka, Japan.
I also invented the Harley-Rider comic book and owned the trademark, copyright and official Harley-Davidson license to produce the comic. The distributor backed out and I published only one issue. He said the other comic publishers didn't want a newbie in their industry.

I want to put together a complete fabrication shop and turn out, hopefully, a few complete car bodies. That's why I'm joining this forum.
I'm seeking a pair of Burt Weld lenses as my good friend Jerry Weeks-Baker gave me a demonstration with those lenses (and using hydrogen rather than oxygen) to weld aluminum. I have never used an English Wheel or Power Hammer and intend to take lengthy classes in both. I can heliarc and oxy-acetylene weld and have about an hour's experience with a MIG. I am not proficient with a tubing bender and intend to become same as I want to build my own chassis and aluminum-bodied vehicle within the next five years. I have the utmost respect for those who take flat sheets of aluminum and steel and turn them into pieces of art and want to study the discipline and become accomplished.