Photo: adry53customs/instagram
Time hasn't been kind to America's drive-in restaurants, at least not in their original form, as such locations now make for an endangered species. However, their glory days will forever light up an enthusiast's inner fire, which is how we end up with fictional universes such as the small one portrayed in this rendering.
The country got its first drive-in restaurants about a century ago (hey, we are in the new 20s!), but these didn't grow into crowd magnets until after the end of World War II.
From waitresses gliding on roller skates to the clean-as-a-whistle automobiles populating the parking lot and the glowing smiles of their occupants, drive-in restaurants offered a mélange of appealing ingredients.
Sure, the birth of the muscle car genre added even more spice to those places, but they eventually evolved into drive-thrus, whose operation has been made even easier by modern technology. And the screen-staring that threatens live conversations in all possible scenarios these days hasn't left such locations unaffected. Mind you, the situation is different with drive-in movie theaters since the pandemic has led to a resurgence, but this is another story for another time.
Fortunately, the world hasn't lost its appetite for nutrition-themed, high-horsepower get-togethers, as the growing Cars & Culture comes to show.
However, the pixel portrait that now hangs on your screens comes to add to the culture of the few remaining drive-ins in the U.S. - the work imagines such a restaurant, whose parking lot partially resembles a performance car museum.
Aptly called Glory's Drive-In, this pixel place brings together classic hot rods, muscle cars old and new, sports cars (the 'Vette obviously gets one of the good spots), and even the mechanical monster that is a Hot Wheels-like BMW Isetta-based dragster.
Now, while the people here are something new, those of you who follow our Speed Shot tales (there's a tag for that below) might be familiar with many of the virtual builds, including the one hiding behind the link above and this recent Challenger.
And that's because digital artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel, who pixel-painted the entire scene, used the occasion to bring together some of his most impressive renderings. See that couple sitting on the Mopar machine in one of the shots, black cat and all? That's a depiction of the digital master and his SO, while the scene is loaded with such Easter eggs.
As the 25-year-old aficionado mentions in the description of the Insta post below, this is a nod to the work of Bruce Kaiser. We're talking about an American artist whose visual delights have adorned street rod and muscle car magazine covers for decades; his graphics can also be seen on race cars and bikes (his first exhibit took place at the 1986 edition of the SEMA show).
We'll now let you swipe your way through the carousel post below, but be aware that we can't be held responsible for the amount of time you end up spending in this fantasy realm.
Update: You'll find a trio of high-res images in the final part of the gallery.
From waitresses gliding on roller skates to the clean-as-a-whistle automobiles populating the parking lot and the glowing smiles of their occupants, drive-in restaurants offered a mélange of appealing ingredients.
Sure, the birth of the muscle car genre added even more spice to those places, but they eventually evolved into drive-thrus, whose operation has been made even easier by modern technology. And the screen-staring that threatens live conversations in all possible scenarios these days hasn't left such locations unaffected. Mind you, the situation is different with drive-in movie theaters since the pandemic has led to a resurgence, but this is another story for another time.
Fortunately, the world hasn't lost its appetite for nutrition-themed, high-horsepower get-togethers, as the growing Cars & Culture comes to show.
However, the pixel portrait that now hangs on your screens comes to add to the culture of the few remaining drive-ins in the U.S. - the work imagines such a restaurant, whose parking lot partially resembles a performance car museum.
Aptly called Glory's Drive-In, this pixel place brings together classic hot rods, muscle cars old and new, sports cars (the 'Vette obviously gets one of the good spots), and even the mechanical monster that is a Hot Wheels-like BMW Isetta-based dragster.
Now, while the people here are something new, those of you who follow our Speed Shot tales (there's a tag for that below) might be familiar with many of the virtual builds, including the one hiding behind the link above and this recent Challenger.
And that's because digital artist Timothy Adry Emmanuel, who pixel-painted the entire scene, used the occasion to bring together some of his most impressive renderings. See that couple sitting on the Mopar machine in one of the shots, black cat and all? That's a depiction of the digital master and his SO, while the scene is loaded with such Easter eggs.
As the 25-year-old aficionado mentions in the description of the Insta post below, this is a nod to the work of Bruce Kaiser. We're talking about an American artist whose visual delights have adorned street rod and muscle car magazine covers for decades; his graphics can also be seen on race cars and bikes (his first exhibit took place at the 1986 edition of the SEMA show).
We'll now let you swipe your way through the carousel post below, but be aware that we can't be held responsible for the amount of time you end up spending in this fantasy realm.
Update: You'll find a trio of high-res images in the final part of the gallery.
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