In the late 80s, Peter bought a car that he completely stripped off the chrome, pulled off the bumpers and replaced them with large wooden planks. He painted the car a black flat paint, and spray painted his own symbols on it. He mounted large bright lights onto the top of it, so if someone dared to put their brights on him from behind, they were blinded by his super bright spots. He installed a truck horn so you knew to get out of his way when he was driving.
The inside of the car was completely gutted. He dismantled the dashboard so you could see the bar bones. He pulled off the inside of the doors, till he exposed only the raw metal. He removed the back seats and rigged the front seats so that you were almost sitting on the floor with the seat locked in a position where the back seats used to be. There was no cushioning on the roof. Only the seats were comfortable. Everything was bare, gray colored, and very Mad Max looking.
The Car went through various stages of decor ... First he painted it Black. Then it became the signature Green. Then it was painted camouflage. Then it was painted black again with Russian symbols. Then it was repainted with the hazard stripes. Whatever color or design it had, everyone recognized Peter in the car and people would point or wave when he drove down the street.
Driving with Peter in the car ... that's another story for another time ...
Perfect for a giant ... Perfect for Mad Max ... Perfect for Pete Steele
Should go on display!
ReplyDeleteL
That car. What a piece of work. I hung around a boy that did that sort of thing to his. I always thought he was just the coolest ever. It's ballsy, unique and well maybe just a tad inspiring. And it pisses off the neighbors, right?
ReplyDeleteLOL, was that thing even street legal? How the heck did he get an inspection sticker ( if he even tried)?? :) I LOVE the creativity
ReplyDelete-Kristen
I have been waiting for a story on Peters car.
ReplyDeleteI love it. A total original, like Peter. It completely represents his creativity, craziness and machoness (if thats a word).It screams "Get the f#ck out of my way or you will die". My car has lots of bare metal also and I love it. Did he still own the car in 2010. Who has it now? What a treasure to have. I read or heard somewhere Peter called it Handsome.
Thank you for this story
Amazing.....PLEASE....more stories about Peter and that one of a kind car!!! I swear, the highlight of each of my days is reading and enjoying these posts. I hope a book is not too far behind so we can have all the stories and pictures for ourselves...and hopefully with some input from Kenny, Josh, Johnny, Sal and bands Peter had toured with throughout the years. This book would be a must read for all!!! Thanks for everything so far.....
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeletehahaha, that's hilarious! Gutted and stripped, made over to fit Peter (perfect for a giant!) Can only imagine all the devious fun he had in that thing, not to mention the fun you all must've had driving with him. Can't wait for THAT story...soon please :)
ReplyDeleteI just had to have my husband read this post--he got quite a laugh out of it and started talking about things that would fit this car, like a semi-truck horn powered by an air pump...MEN! He loved the wooden bumpers too, and the giant tires and especially liked the hazard stripes. Too funny!
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT! Must be cool that he probably did most of the work himself, I'm assuming. I have what I call my Big Green Monster Car, a '49 Hudson, that I've sort of named that in honour of Pete. Sadly i have to sell it now 'cos I can no longer afford to fix it. But I think it looks almost as Mad Maxish as this one.
ReplyDeleteDear Peter...we miss you so much. This car, well it's truly a muscle car. So masculine just like you. To all the Dearly Departed who left us too soon, we honor you we miss you. You changed our lives, you made life worth living just to look forward to the next CD the next song. All of them, well they are diamonds truly gems. Peter you will never be forgotten. I still light those candles each morning and say a prayer for you and all the dearly departed who I honor. You made your mark in a very big way. Peace to you. Thank you again for sharing your stores w/the fans. We truly appreciate it. By the way, I'm ordering my Peter Steele Memorial T shirt this week. I will wear it proudly. Thank you for making them available to the fans.
ReplyDeletethanks so much for sharing. I had seen pictures of this legendary ride but had no idea the inside was so exciting and post-apocalyptic looking. It must have looked fearsome!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you have seen this clip on YT of Peter and Louie Beato working on a car. It's short but funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzA9geJFgnY
Where is that car now?
ReplyDeleteHi Darcie--
ReplyDeleteFINALLY! I've read about "THE CAR" a few times and tried to picture it in my head; it's neat to see what it actually looks like. A man of many talents, for sure. :) I'm looking forward to the stories of you guys riding around with Peter--I'll bet that was a blast! Thanks for sharing.
Love & Gratitude--Patty P
where is the car at this time?
ReplyDeleteOh God we Miss you, We Really Miss you.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there’s a God above
ReplyDeleteBut all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
...lyrics by Leonard Cohen
Love can be so beautiful. A dear friend of mine recently lost her only son said this:
I will never stop missing you my son. Sometimes I wonder why God gave us hearts that can be broken..but in the end, if it had to be, I am glad God gave me a heart so I could love you. Damn I wish you were here. Damn
we have all felt this way when someone amazing leaves us. My friend lost her son almost 4 yrs ago..she still misses him every day. It's coming on that day 4 yrs ago 7/14/11 when David left us. We miss him every day.
Peter we miss you every day and will for eternity. Thank you for all you left us. We won't forget you.
so, where is the car now?
ReplyDelete...and then I heard the chirping of crickets... LOL! Almost nobody knows what to say, and that would've made him so, so happy!
ReplyDeleteThat car is not only SO Pete it's so practical for its environment. New York gets heavy snow and salts its roads accordingly. The lack of chrome, heavy paint and big wheels counter corrosion and clearance issues, and Pontiac's '85 Grand Prix's had powerful engines. I don't know whether the 'Steele-mobile' had the standard V6 or the optional V8, but both had what it took to efficiently get out of a jam if needbe. The stripes and added lights counter the problems associated with severe weather visibility. I would like to know if there was a significance to the letters/symbols just below the rear driver's side blind-spot. The chains look like they're mounted to keep the extra-sturdy wooden bumper system from flying back in the event that the bolts holding them in place should fail. Safety first! Removing the dash and interior panels prevents summer heat damage, and altering the position of those comfortable seats, bravo! It's unlikely that any other seating area or furniture was made to handle his frame. At least he got to finally be comfortable in his car. From an anthropometrics and engineering standpoint it's marvelous, and from an aesthetic standpoint, it isn't a low profile, fly-under-the-radar car, just like Pete wasn't a low profile, fly-under-the-radar man. As a manner of self-expression and scientific use of practical features it was perfect for him, and the duct-tape gives it that one last bit of added charm and individual signature. Duct-tape fixes anything!
Thank you for sharing this, and I look forward to hearing about adventures of riding shotgun with Pete in the future.
If it's to go to a museum, and I think it's worthy, this one may have a celebrity wing http://saratogaautomuseum.org/, but if they're too snobbish and if the family is willing to tolerate having the car on the west coast I recommend the Petersen Museum (petersen.org). They know how to take fanstastic care of it and would likely display it in their currenly 1/2-full celebrity-car wing.
ReplyDeletelol..reminds of when my brother bought his first car to fix it up and found out it wasnt as easy as he thought it was.they could never get it to run for very long..lol it was a pontiac convertable which was green at first in which Peter would have loved that..lol.but he had it colored a metallic blue color..was kool looking after they finally got it finished. didnt get to take it out much though. cause they didnt know when it would stall again or not...lol. I have a pic of him driving it into my parents driveway with his bandana on his head..lol. and my son who was little at the time peeking out the passenger side door. he had the hood and windows down too. luckly it was a nice sunny summer day that day.
ReplyDeletedid Peter ever have a stereo in there? and if he did,did he ever have it so loud your ears would be ringing when ya got out of there? cause my brother did...lol..now I like loud music but his stereo at the time sounded like crap and I was about half deaf whenever I got out of his car..lol. it was back when there wasnt many big bass sounding speakers that some people have now days...in which my son has in his car and I dont mind unless hes playing that gangsta rap crap..I have to keep telling him that Im more of a hardcore rock n roller kind of woman. ahhh kids now days..anyways thought Id share on this story cause I can so relate to you on that stuff. hope you all are doing ok over there and making sure Petes animals and other stuff he had are being taken care of.Peter was one of those very special one in a million kind of guys that is and will always be missed. god bless you for this site and sharing your stories with the pics.and thanks for letting us who still miss him and are curious to know what life was like with him, into what yours was when growing up.ya all sounded like you had alot of fun, good, happy times back then.keep up all the good stuff your doing over there.everybody take care. and know that Peter will always be watching over you to protect when needed like he did when he was alive.thats the impression I got when reading some of your stories and which I also can relate to somewhat. but anyways another good story..looking forward to whatever the next one is gonna be.
What a crazy car! It fits him perfectly :-)
ReplyDeleteLove to read the stories about terrorizing the neighborhood in that hahaha
I love that Car!!! It´s so dirty...
ReplyDeletethis is a very cool car!!! i am kind of into cars so i found this intersesting!! i guess he never lost his car in the parking lot!! with all the custom work i guess that is one way to make sure nobody else drives your car.would be kind of hard to steal too!!!lol.
ReplyDeleteThank you for another great story ;-) This car is just awesome - you could never do that in Europe - well you could but you would not get a permission to drive on the streets ;-) I like these awesome styled cars like you have in the US - unique. I can imagine very well the different colors of the car and for sure it was a special trip to drive with Pete in this MadMax car ;-) As you said:
ReplyDeletePerfect for a giant - Perfect for Pete Steele
Much love & respect
-Sabine-
Thanks for the blog, been a fan of Pete's since Carnivore. Read all of the posts so far. Great work memorializing this man's relationship with his family.
ReplyDeleteFound this video looking for more about this car, so I can do something similar to my Ford Explorer in an attempt to piss off my entire family/friends. This video has little to do with this car, but it's cool, but short, nonetheless...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzA9geJFgnY
Bill
What a cool car! I have seen pictures of Peter in the past with that car. I really hope the family can get that car in a museum or something with other Peter memoribila! On my car on the back windshield I have an RIP Peter Steele with his birth/death date on it. Sometimes I got honks and I wonder is that for Peter or my bad driving. Just kidding I am not that bad. This story shows that everything Peter did he made his own and did it like no one else and in a super cool way. Miss you so much Peter! Thank you again to the family for keeping this blog rolling! We have some art to share that I will email soon.---Jessica (Black Number 1)
ReplyDeleteThat beast was just as badass as the giant who was driving it!!! Tell me, whatever happened to this machine of doom??? was it sold or stay with the family?
ReplyDeleteThe green mans car ...Awesome! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have ride in the muscle car of Peter's. To me that's very masculine to have a powerful piece of metal under you. He knew how to impress the ladies and he didn't even have to try. He was just so handsome and rugged. Exactly the kind of man I would have loved to be with. I love men who take life by the balls and live it, really live it. Peter will never be forgotten for so many reasons. Thank you Ratajczyk family again for sharing these beautiful stories with us. I say a prayer for you daily and light those candles for Peter each morning for him and for all the dearly departed. God Bless you all. Peace and Love.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I hear T.O.N.'s hyperbolic version of "Highway Star", I now envision Peter with his pedal to the metal in his car!
ReplyDeleteThought of Pete and the Ratajczyk family Sunday morning while using one hand to turn both wrenches in opposite directions in order to adjust the racing clutch. Grinned a little, thinking of Pete, chatted with a neighbor, synched the timing, cleaned up & went for a spin. Theorizing the wolf-whistles were for the car, which was only mildly disappointing. Sending "less miserable" thoughts to all of you.
ReplyDeleteSo... Where is this car now? It belongs to a museum!
ReplyDeleteI hear the car is being sold now by one of his friends is that true?
ReplyDeleteMy husband is building me a replica. I love it.
ReplyDeleteMarc Allen and Johnny Kelly have listed the car on their Facebook for sell as of yesterday
ReplyDelete