The Road Rocket – ByThomas Aitken
American power and the race to dominate space propelled us Americans in the cold war. This emotional time was personified in the ultimate driving machine. The 59 Cadillac. As a Monument this massive and elaborately decorated machine just oozed sex, power style and luxury. The last of Harley Earl’s famous run of sculptural forms from the studios at General Motors this machine says America. . When I began to think about which cars belonged in the Nike series as icons to our Boomer experiences this was a must. The distillation process on the Caddie was a no brainer। This was about rocket flight. The fins and fuselage were natural forms for this idea. So the “Road Rocket” was created and added to the group।
As it went from maquette to pewter it got slicker. And the rear view became for me the key to it’s power to move our minds into space and supremacy in the universe. I had a wonderful time creating a clay for the pedestal size version with all it’s cool rockety details. The bronze took forever to get cast and needed a lot of body work once back to the studio. But the finished piece flies with all the power intended.
(those times live in this video link)
I have searched but found no owner of a 59 who would loan it to me for mold making. I’ve heard that there is a guy out west who buys 59s sight unseen and has three guys restoring them full time. No wonder ya can’t find one! If I get a chance to execute this full sized I would gladly carve it in foam and I believe I have a process for polymer modified cement that would work well for a finish material, but alas, this is a huge project and will have to wait for funding.
By the time I got to work at GM on a Cadillac they had lost the top place in the auto pecking order. And the glory of this machine is now a historical land mark. The times of excess, the cold war, the space race, are all footnotes. The form of the Road Rocket is still a favorite of mine. I did one of my first castings of this piece in polymer modified cement. I love this material for it’s ability to carry color, (entire pantone chart) and inclusions of dramatic aggregate. Plus it will withstand a severe climate and is pretty green! More to come on this stuff.
The 59 is now basically a "Nike" statue in our boomer history, a remnant of out conquering days.
Next time: 2 sweet roadsters for zipping around.
Thanks and as always please send feedback
Tj
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