A Tropical Breeze: Voss Bel Air

Here’s a quick recap: about a month ago, I bought a Voss De Luxe in terrible cosmetic condition but in good mechanical condition.  My daughter had requested a “project” typewriter that we could paint.

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No regrets

I wanted a machine that I wouldn’t feel guilty about repainting.

I sandblasted the lower shell of the machine at a local community workshop called TechShop:

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Also at TechShop, I powder coated the lower shell in a color my daughter picked out: Tropical Breeze.

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The result: a typewriter with a strong resemblance to a 1957 Chevy Bel Air:

By GTHO (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

By GTHO (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Pearl of the Antilles

Now that it’s all back together, this Voss brings to mind the Yank Tanks of Cuba, those carefully maintained classic American cars that prowl the streets of Havana to this day. My daughter is (mathematically speaking) a quarter Cuban. Her grandfather left Havana around the time this Voss rolled off the assembly line in Wuppertal. Perhaps my daughter’s genes are calling out for the Tropical Breezes of Cuba.

I leave you with the tropical sounds, colors, and cars of Cuba:

 

13 thoughts on “A Tropical Breeze: Voss Bel Air”

  5. Nick Merritt says:

    Good luck with the zipper — I have a busted one for my Remington Fleetwing and there seem to be no tailors or cobblers around here who want to tackle it. (What’s mackling?) Beautiful job on the Voss!

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