Lofty travel ideas adorn auto-body shop
Carburetors, calligraphy and the cosmos. The three normally don't go together.
But that alliterative combination is the theme at a northwest-side auto-body shop called Olde English Creations.
For the past several years, owner Ray Guitard has transformed the parking lot of his shop into an homage to space travel and extraterrestrial life, so much so that it's hard not to notice it as you drive past the northeast corner of West Roger and North Romero roads.
"We do get a lot of people drawn to those things," said Guitard, who has owned the shop since 1979.
The name Olde English Creations doesn't fit in with the alien motif, Guitard admits, but it stuck after he was inspired by the calligraphy work his brother Richard was experimenting with.
The out-of-this-world theme didn't come about until 2002, when Guitard was commissioned to work on a drag-racing car. He and the car's driver got to talking about space aliens - a topic Guitard said he's well-versed in - and "the next thing we know, we've got aliens on his car trailer."
Then Guitard started transforming the parking lot.
One steel wall resembles what he said a repair facility would look like in space, while a rocket launcher parked in the lot has aliens painted on the side.
Aliens will soon be landing on Olde English Creations' roof, Guitard said.
"We just acquired a piece of foam that we're going to use to cut out a huge alien to put on the roof," he said.
And if that foam reproduction somehow manages to draw actual otherworldly beings to visit the shop? They're welcome to stick their head in the door, Guitard says.
"We can't be the only ones out here," he said. "They'll show up at some point, say 'nanu, nanu,' and be on their way."
