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'Arachnid' for sale

Holliston man rebuilds '77 Pontiac Grand Prix into lighter, two-seat sports car

Zane Razzaq
zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com
Larry Brody checks the radiator of his hand-built car, which he calls an "Arachnid," Friday at his Holliston home. Brody is selling the vehicle for $6,000.

HOLLISTON — At a recent auto show, a 9-year-old once exclaimed that Larry Brody's hand-built sports car was "all crinkly-looking."

"Like that's a bad thing," said Brody, laughing.

Brody's deep blue "Arachnid" began life as a 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix. His now ex-wife bought it from a used car lot in the mid-1980s, and when the smell became too irritating for her, he seized the opportunity. He tore it apart in his garage, tinkering with it whenever he had free time. Over the years, he's hammered together a shortened, lightened two-door, two-seat sports car. Through it, he had two children and remarried.

The car is a scavenger hunt of scraps from other vehicles cobbled together. The side-view mirrors and headlights are borrowed from a motorcycle. The driver's seat is a Recaro, while the passenger's is homemade. The inner door handle is from a Toyota Corolla. On the rear, the original Pontiac taillights are intact.

Other parts are Brody's own creations, including the emergency brake.

The dash is covered in scrawls labeling buttons ("windshield spray" and "horn"). In a nod to its name, the back is decorated with a painted spider.

And now he's looking for its next driver.

Through his son, Brody recently posted to Craigslist advertising the car as "a bit Rat Rod, a bit Mad Max" that "turns heads everywhere." The price is set at $6,000 or best reasonable offer.

"It's been a lot of fun. It's good to be artistic, get it out of my system," said Brody.

The Arachnid is Brody's third auto-related project. When he lived in Texas, his first was shortening a car with no body on it. His second was welding two cars together. 

"I've always been interested in cars since I was a little kid," said Brody. "I don't know, it was just something I had to do. It wasn't a choice."

His current creation weighs about 3,000 pounds, when the original clocked in at 4,200, said Brody. He knocked off more than 1,000 pounds to help lighten it and improve its handling.

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When he was deep into its transformation, Brody kept a log on his computer of tasks he needed to complete. As he accomplished each one, he'd erase it. He remembers working on it for hours and hours over weekends, before suddenly "hitting a stone wall."

"I'd leave it, maybe for months, and then suddenly I'd wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning and have a solution. And that would get me to the next thing. It was just hopping along that way," said Brody. "It was a good lesson in how to do projects."

The car first became legal to drive on the road in 2012, with the vehicle identification number affixed to the inside of the car. He took the car to different inspection stations, before finding a spot in Medway that did not have qualms about giving the car a look-over.

"If I had to do it all over again, I could probably do it in half the time," said Brody. "But you know — life gets in the way."

Brody's next undertaking is still up in the air. If he has free rein, he'd like to pursue an all-aluminum car. He can see himself starting with a 20-year-old 4-cylinder Toyota Corolla, lightening its weight like he did with the Pontiac. It'd be environmentally friendly and a nice challenge, said Brody.

But he still has to wait for the right buyer.

"If no one buys it, I'll have it for another 50 years," he said.

Zane Razzaq writes about education. Reach her at 508-626-3919 or zrazzaq@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.

Online

[For Milford]

To see more photos of Larry Brody's "Arachnid," visit our gallery at milforddailynews.com.

 

[For MetroWest]

To see more photos of Larry Brody's "Arachnid," visit our gallery at metrowestdailynews.com.

Larry Brody's hand-built car, which he calls "Arachnid," is on the market.