Page 9 - Issue 36

Looking at the ’31 Chevy coupe they created, we Morris’s bikes and decided that he had to have some of
really should be calling them ‘far above average’ Joes. that. And just what is ‘that’? Morris is a bike builder and an
This build is not any different than many regular hot rod artist who works in mixed media on canvas. He uses more
builds, in that Joe Nagio built the car and Joe Morris than just paint, giving the final product texture and depth
applied the finish. But the fact that we are talking about that cannot be achieved by paint alone.
the finish on a car featured on these pages merits a bit Each panel tells a different story. The trunk, for
of in-depth discussion. Says Morris, “I’ve looked at a lot example is a tribute to Nagio’s Italian heritage, and
of different cars and hot rods out there and I love the the family history that has ties to the Prohibition Era in
rat rod culture, but what can you do artistically that Chicago. This begat the name of the car – ‘Goombah.’
puts a new stamp on it… a new twist?” The driver’s side harkens back to the days of the old
Joe Nagio was wrapping up the build of his ’31 pre-NASCAR jalopy racecars while the passenger side
Chevy coupe and was planning on giving it a black pays tribute to the punk/kustom/pinup kulture. The hood
paint job and calling it good. But a trip into Joe Morris’s is a collage of famous Chicago street names, and is also
shop changed all that. He saw the cool finishes on where Morris went to town with his mixed media mastery.

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