Buccialli of Tishman | FerrariChat

Buccialli of Tishman

Discussion in 'Special Projects & Concept Cars' started by bitzman, Dec 13, 2013.

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  1. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #1 bitzman, Dec 13, 2013
    This was a tribute car of sorts. Looked like a prototype of a car that never made production, the original company built several prototypes pior to WWII and displayed them at the Paris Motor Show but apparently never offered them for sale. The builder of the replica was William Tishman who had 3 guys working two years on building it atop a Blazer. For some reason it was natural gas.I was wondering what his total expenditure was and why he apparently sold it cheaply. For a while it was owned by a Mr. Moore of Texas. Has anybody ridden in it? Was it a quality build? Was it copying any particular model of Buccialli?
     
  2. Tcar

    Tcar F1 Rookie

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    #2 Tcar, Dec 13, 2013
  3. vectorfiles

    vectorfiles Formula Junior

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    #3 vectorfiles, Nov 7, 2014
    some articles on the Tishman Bucciali:

    Popular Mechanics - Google Books


    Bucciali Replica - Museum of American Speed
     
  4. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #4 bitzman, Nov 25, 2014
    I know he went on a trip across the US and showed it at several events. I was wondering if he was demoralized by any comments like "Why did you spend so much on a replica?"
    At any rate he sold it to a man who owned a faux French chateau (well, maybe the chateau was really real; he imported it from France stone by stone but it was in Dallas) Or maybe he was fulfilled by the building of it and then didn't need it anymore. Anyway like to hear why a guy spent over a million dollars creating a car and then sells it.
     
  5. JimDromi

    JimDromi Rookie

    Feb 3, 2015
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    #5 JimDromi, Feb 3, 2015
    As a young man, I was the project manager (one of many) for the Buccialli. Tishman's shop was located in Marina Del Rey, CA.

    There was a guy named Scotty who could do magical things with wood and metal. I recall telling Bill that we need a safety override on the hood. The ram should not be allowed to lift the hood, unless and until, the the hood latch released. Bill said no we did not to change the design. I said OK. About a month later, Bill went to raise the hood and the latch did not release. The screw jack did not care! It kept pushing the hood up until it bowed it. Scotty took the hood off, straightened it and repainted it. Good as new. The hood circuit was modified the next day.

    His hood ornament was a large gem stone (a ruby?). Push the rocker switch one way and a light would illuminate the ruby. Push it the other way and the ruby could be removed, before Bill turned the car over to valet parking. He would put the ruby in his pocket, while at dinner.

    I may have some of the electrical prints and the show brochure, some where.

    The car was absolutely beautiful. It rode like a tank.
     
  6. bitzman

    bitzman F1 Rookie
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    #6 bitzman, Feb 12, 2015
    Jim Dromi--maybe you can confirm this. I have a theory that in his drive across the country he got a couple of remarks like "it's a fake" or "it's a replica" and those stung.

    Also the Museum says it uses Chevy chassis parts but doesn't say it was an S10 but when photographer Marc Madow went there he was told it was an S-10 chassis. He went there on assignment from me.
     
  7. TimKeyes

    TimKeyes Guest

    #7 TimKeyes, Mar 1, 2015
    I met Bill Tishman when he was building his car, probably 1980 or so. At that time I was the shop manager for Drive Line Service's Signal Hill location. Bill came in the shop asking us to build some custom drive shafts. Because I was curious he invited me down to his shop to see what he was building. It contained a pretty nice collection of machine tools. The chassis is based on a full size K-10, not the smaller S-10. Bill was very enthusiastic about his project and described how he was building his car based on the one photograph, how the cast wheels were custom made, etc. I asked him why he was doing this and basically his answer was that the project gave him a reason to learn how to build it. He taught himself how to use all of the tools in his shop. He struck me as a very intelligent and curious person, unassuming in his manners. If you met him you would have never known he was a wealthy man.
     
  8. JimDromi

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    #8 JimDromi, May 10, 2015
     

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