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THE DAEDALUS: 1 of 1 Handmade Aluminum-Body Roadster Inspired by Vintage European Racing
Nicole Johnson's Detour ^ | October 31, 2022 | Nicole Johnson

Posted on 11/07/2022 10:19:29 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom

From myth to masterpiece, the first street car he ever built will become a legend. The curvaceous Daedalus roadster, hand-built from scratch over a span of 17 years in a two-car garage, is a one-off original design with a hand-formed aluminum body, 302-cubic-inch GMC inline six-cylinder engine, C4 Corvette suspension, Truspoke wire wheels, and custom leather interior.

Inspired by European sports roadsters that ruled Sebring, Le Mans, and high-end tracks around the world in the late 50s and early 60s, owner and builder Kris Heil incorporated styling cues from Aston Martin, Jaguar, Ferrari, and Porsche without copying any particular design. Come along as Nicole Johnson learns the art of the English wheel and takes Kris for a coastal ride across Bixby Creek Bridge in Big Sur, California.

ABOUT KRIS HEIL (the builder/owner): Kris is a retired firefighter from Northern California who serves as crew chief for his brother's Formula Ford race team. He is currently accepting offers to purchase The Daedalus. For more info about The Daedalus and how to reach Kris, please visit his website, www.the-daedalus.com.


(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...


TOPICS: Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Outdoors; Travel
KEYWORDS: auto; automobile; automotive; custom; daedalus
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This is just astonishing. A guy decides to build his own car from scratch inspired by British and Italian race cars. What a magnificent piece of work. I can't believe he found time to build this -- I barely have time to keep up with the house maintenance and garden work!

It's really cool for me because Nicole and Chris take the car on a long cruise from Big Sur up to the San Mateo coast. They were out on a perfect sunny day along the coast. It's a bit amusing because Nicole had never seen that part of the country and was struck by the beauty of it and the sudden change from the coast to the redwoods.

She is really knowledgeable about cars and asks great questions. It's a fun interview and cruise and especially great looking at the construction project and how he built it.

1 posted on 11/07/2022 10:19:30 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: martin_fierro; nickcarraway

Pinging you central coast guys. Add other central coast FReepers (lots of us, but I’m drawing blanks) and auto nuts.


2 posted on 11/07/2022 10:20:45 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (The “I” in Democrat stands for “Integrity.”)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I will be contacting Kris with an offer after I win the PowerBall jackpot tonight.


3 posted on 11/07/2022 10:27:12 AM PST by AF_Blue (My decision-making skills closely resemble those of a squirrel when crossing a road)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Very cool video, and the guy is such a humble patriot.


4 posted on 11/07/2022 10:28:10 AM PST by Obadiah (Calamity Joe Biden)
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To: AF_Blue

LOL...get in line behind me! Did you see his appraised value? You wouldn’t even need the big Jackpot to get it.


5 posted on 11/07/2022 10:28:37 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (The “I” in Democrat stands for “Integrity.”)
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To: Obadiah

Yeah, I saw the Thin Blue Line flag — what a great sign of his beliefs. Not surprising since he is a retired firefighter. He is really humble, isn’t he? Sort of guy you’d like to meet and talk cars with.


6 posted on 11/07/2022 10:29:57 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (The “I” in Democrat stands for “Integrity.”)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
It's all fun and games until somebody wraps it around a tree.

7 posted on 11/07/2022 10:30:37 AM PST by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Gorgeous car.

Made from aluminum.

Wow.

My friend Randy had a Glaspar car.

It’s gorgeous, too.

But it has a fiberglass body.

He passed away and his wife sold it.

It has a Nailhead Buick engine.


8 posted on 11/07/2022 10:37:28 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer” )
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

That’s a 5 Liter engine!....................


9 posted on 11/07/2022 10:37:45 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

apparently someone rear-ended it in a hit-and-run; smashed it into the cement barrier.

I guess if you built it, it’s not much harder to fix it...


10 posted on 11/07/2022 10:38:54 AM PST by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

He got rear-ended in San Jose on the way to a Concours d’Elegance to show the car. All the crush zones worked as designed. The car was almost a total wreck, but he walked away.

Then he took it apart and rebuilt all of it from scratch, improving lots of things in the rebuild.

The crash and rebuild (with photos) is shown about 2/3 of the way through the video.


11 posted on 11/07/2022 10:39:08 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (The “I” in Democrat stands for “Integrity.”)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

An American auto company should hire him to design a car for them. We are building some really ugly unreliable cars these days.


12 posted on 11/07/2022 10:39:27 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

Really.

“ugly unreliable cars” — made so by the insane, all-consuming fetish of our government to make sure you don’t use a fluid ounce more fuel than you are allowed. That’s why every car looks alike — they all have to get to the same low drag coefficient.


13 posted on 11/07/2022 10:41:46 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (The “I” in Democrat stands for “Integrity.”)
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To: Red Badger

Power to weight ratio is probably sick


14 posted on 11/07/2022 10:47:39 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
I watched this over the weekend when YouTube's algorithms suggested it to me. The most astonishing part is that the guy built this car by hand, including learning how to use an english wheel to shape the aluminum body panels, then had to rebuild it after someone rear ended him.
15 posted on 11/07/2022 10:49:37 AM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /Sarc tag really necessary? Pray for President Biden: Psalm 109:8)
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To: 1Old Pro

“We are building some really ugly unreliable cars these days”

You mean like the mustang EV?

I don’t know about reliability.....but looks?.........yeeesh 🤮


16 posted on 11/07/2022 10:50:55 AM PST by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

appraised value? where? what?


17 posted on 11/07/2022 10:51:32 AM PST by G Larry ( When Leftists say "Population Control" it means Killing Billions, not "limiting growth".)
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To: G Larry

Appraised in 2022 at $572,000


18 posted on 11/07/2022 10:52:27 AM PST by G Larry ( When Leftists say "Population Control" it means Killing Billions, not "limiting growth".)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

absoltely georgeous car


19 posted on 11/07/2022 10:53:44 AM PST by Bob434 (question)
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To: V_TWIN
You mean like the mustang EV? I don’t know about reliability.....but looks?.........yeeesh

The Mustang II was more desirable :)

20 posted on 11/07/2022 10:53:45 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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