Are you looking to add some flair to your car collection? Here’s one auction that you’ll definitely want to keep your eye on.
Later this month, Historics Auctioneers will take bids for Steve Tansy’s “The Pool Hustler.” The custom hot rod has more in common with a fanciful Hot Wheels toy than it does with the cars of today, including the feature that it is named for—a full-size billiards table.
Even if you’re not familiar with Tansy’s name, you’ve probably seen some of his work. The hot rod visionary had a hand in crafting some of the more wild-looking vehicles to grace both the small and big screen last century, including the Batmobile, the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty, and the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1. The Pool Hustler may not be his most absurd creation—that title belongs to his mashup of a Coca-Cola vending machine and a 1962 Chevy Corvette—but it’s pretty close.
Steve Tansy’s “The Pool Hustler”
Historics Auctioneers
Names don’t come more apt than the Pool Hustler. That’s because the wedge-shaped hot rod is topped with an actual pool table, believed to be over 100 years old and still in “fairly good condition,” according to the auction house. That’s far from the only visual reference to the centuries-old game. An array of pool six sticks—three on each side—is worked into the side of the vehicle’s body. The hubcabs also look just like giant pool balls, while smaller half balls decorate the front of the single-seater. Rounding things out is a bold green-and-gold paint job that we’re going to go out on a limb and say was inspired by the felt of the table.
Mechanical details are, unsurprisingly, short in the auction listing. Historics does say that engine sitting beneath the pool table is a Hemi V-8. The auction house notes that the mill is “currently not running,” which suggests to us that the car could be returned to working order. Tansy did specialize in show cars, though, and we imagine that’s the fate that likely lays ahead of this car.
The pool table is said to be in “fairly good condition”
Historics Auctioneers
Has your interest been piqued by Tansy’s fanciful hot rod? The Pool Hustler, like John Dodd’s “Beast” station wagon, will be sold during a sale Historic is overseeing at Mercedes-Benz World at the Brooklands motor racing circuit in Surrey, England, on Saturday, Nov. 29. No pre-sale estimate is listed for the vehicle, which is being sold without reserve, but The Drive reports that its expected to fetch around $33,000.
Click here for more photos of Steve Tansy’s “The Pool Hustler.”
Historics Auctioneers
