BARTER COLLECTION 40 MERC

Jamie Barter recently added these four old photos of an 1940 Mercury Convertible Custom to his Collection.

 
Jamie Barter loves early style Hot Rod and Custom Car, and has been collecting old photos for many years. Fortunately for us, he loves to share these photos. He is not, like some collectors, keeping them in private files, but he scans the originals and shares them with as many people as possible. Just sharing the things he loves, knowing other people will enjoy them as much as he does, and sometimes to see if somebody else knows more about the subject of the photo. We have recently added a CCC-SECTION for Jamie’s Photo Collection and we will be sharing some more of his collection in the near future.
 
 
Lets take a closer look at the four photos Jamie recently added to his collection.
At first glance these photos have a very much late 1940’s feel, but when I took a closer look I noticed that the License plate on the Mercury was the 1952-55 Style. I could not make out the actual date from the scans so I asked Jamie if he could see it on the original photo. 1953! was his reply. Not really what we both expected, we both had the feeling it was more like 1948. So it appears that this Custom Mercury was already kind of outdated when these snapshots were taken.

So far we also have not been able to identify the car, it is a pretty “generic” Custom with no real details that set it apart from others making it rather hard to identify. The only two items I can see that might help are the 1940 Chevy taillights and the license plate protection bar. The padded top looks to be in a style that the Carson Top Shop was best known for, a little more boxy than what Gaylord or others would do. Most likely made on the special jig the Carson Shop was using for these tops. All the work looks to be done several prior to when these photos where taken, most likely in the mid 1940’s judging the style of the restyling.

This rear 3/4 view is my personal favorite since we cannot see that the hood is actual missing in this photo.

The taillights used on the Mercury appear to originate from a 1940 Chevy, not a taillight that was used a lot. But they do look good. The license plate guard is another unit that is not seen a lot, and is one more thing that makes me believe this is an older custom. The 1937 DeSoto ribbed bumper is a classic touch, that suits any 1940 Mercury really well.

 
 
The interior photo is sadly a bit blurry, but we still can make out the Ford accessory steering wheel, the Appleton Spotlight handles and a pretty plain upholstery, another indication that this is an older Custom. 

 
 
The last photo, the front 3/4 shot shows that the car was driving around with no hood and no grille. We can only speculate why this was done. Perhaps the owner was a racer, perhaps the “old” engine was overheated a lot. We can see a two carb intake, and some chrome goodies on the engine. The left on door handles and the well used character are more signs of the age of this Custom. Notice that that Appleton’s are mounted with the point forward. Something that was done more in the early/mid 1940’s, than in the time this photo was taken.

Thank you Jamie for sharing these great photos with us, and hopefully somebody on the CCC will recognize the car, and can shed some more light on the history of it. We all would love to know more about it, who owned it originally, who restyled it, and where were the photos taken? If you know anything, please leave a comment, or email Rik.
 
 

(this article is sponsored by)

 
 
 
 
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BETTIE BITCH

Sally Phillips from Didcot, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom hated to have to drive in a modern car, so she bought an old Morris Minor. One thing led to the other and now she drives around in what must be one of the most beautiful Morris Minor Custom in the world.

By Sally Phillips

Bettie No.1

It all started when I bought my first Morris Minor (Bettie No.1) back in 2008. It was a gloss black 1966 2 door saloon that I bought off eBay for £700, which was all I could muster at that time. I didn’t care though, I just wanted to be driving a classic car, and having just passed my driving test, I was determined not to be stuck with a modern car that I hated. Bettie No.1 was jacked up at the back, had a red furry interior, racing steering wheel and slot mags. I was didn’t know much about the custom car scene, and had just made some new friends in the UK Kustoms car club. It wasn’t long before I knew I wanted her chopped, so, in my birthday of that year, a few of the members came to help me chop her. After a successful weekend I drove back very happy indeed! But it wasn’t to last…

I loved it, but being young and naive (and bought it without looking on eBay), I had no idea of the extent of the trouble underneath the car. Not until the MOT had expired later that year, and the garage showed me why they wouldn’t be issuing another one, did I realise. The chassis legs were rotten right through (the guy showed me by poking his screwdriver clean through it), sills rotten away, only having the outer sill holding them together, and we found strange lumps of newspaper with grey gunk, being held in place with chicken wire as fixes to these problems. This was pretty much the end for Bettie No.1.
 
 

Bettie No.2

1963 Morris Minor 2 Door Saloon is what Sally’s unique Custom is based on.

 
 
Bettie No.2, ‘Bettie Bitch’ (the one that you see in the pictures before you now) came in 2012. She’s a 1963 Morris Minor 2 Door Saloon and when I bought her, was an absolute mess. There were no panels, it had been sat outside a workshop for 12 years, there was a huge dent in the roof, the floor pans had rusted out, the wheels had seized on and there was no engine, no interior and no glass. Even the back axle had rusted through. Talk about a mammoth project! But I got it for £200.
 

This is how it all started in our small shed beside our house. Stripped from everything and braced with rods to make sure the body would hold its shape when the top would be removed. 5 inches where marked and removed from the A-Pillars.

 
 
However, prior to finding Bettie, I had found love with John ‘Chopper’ Phillips, an amazingly talented and renowned custom car builder in the UK, famed for building the Copper orange Austin A50, ‘Koppa Kruiser.’ It was at this point that I started to discover my love for custom cars in greater depth, and particularly, those of the 1940’s and 1950’s. John and I always talk about cars, even before we got together, so when we did; it was only a matter of time before it was in the pipelines for us to build something together. I’ve always loved British classics, which prompted me to choose the Morris Minor, but even more so, I adore the American customs of the 1940’s and 1950’s. I wanted to bring the two together, and for this car to look like a ‘tail dragger/lead sled’ custom of the early 40’s, but to still be a British car. I wanted to make it appear longer than it actually is, so we jotted down some ideas, which included a hefty chop and coupe.
 

The roof was completely removed, the A-pillars cut and then we put the roof back one, tacked the A-Pillars and looked how much needed to be removed from the rear of the roof for the flow and coupe feel I was looking for. 

With the top cut in the rear we decided to extend the catwalk, for a bit more coupe look. I used a smaller rear window from an older Morris Minor donor car.

New panels were shaped to finish the rear of the roof and the new longer catwalk. With the real fun part of creating the overall shape of the body behind me I was able to get started on the bit less fun stuff… rust repair. The floors were really bad, and needed quite a bit of work. The engine compartment was completely cleaned and repaired where needed. 

Here you can see the unfinished roof/catwalk section next to the near primer ready body. Lots of work to get it all shaped the way I had it in my mind. The B-pillars were angled forward for the instant speed look.

The relatively small body made it easy to put it on its side in the shed so that I could do the work underneath the body. The fenders where going to be molded in to the body, but I widened them almost and inch first. The new floor is nearly finished and the tunnel was raised.

With the top done, the fenders widened and molded into the body it was now time for the full fade-away fender extensions. Here you can see it in the early stages. Every time I had to see how things really looked, like on the chop, or in this case the fade-away fender I pulled the car outside. Our shed is very small and I just cannot stand back far enough to get a good look.

The engine was completely cleaned, worked on and detailed as much as possible, then put back into the engine bay. The flow of the fade-away panels was exactly what I was looking for, to I continued…

MG Midget headlamp rims where extend with one inch and welded to the front fenders. The grille opening was completely reshaped and the hood corners rounded, it all started to look like my dream Custom Car. Very happy with the result so far.

Flush fitted home made skirts fit the full fade away fenders really well. Thats my husbands Austin Custom Convertible in the background.

With all the body work done its time for primer and fine tuning of the body. At this point the door jambs have already been painted gloss paint and was are almost ready for the super gloss black paint. Look at how nice the full fade away fenders work with the overall flow of the car.

A look inside at the dash and banjo steering wheel. The gas filler was relocated in the trunk.

The car has been painted and we are working had putting it all back together. I cannot wait to start driving it. The photo on the right is actually the first time the finished car sees the light of day… yeeeeah!

 
We have spent the past two and a half years building this together, despite me being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in early 2014. I have to say that the main credit has to go to my husband John. He kept on with the build when I haven’t been well, and has shown me what it is like and how, to build a kustom, from start to finish. My fondest memory has to be when we chopped and coupe’d my car, on one autumn weekend together. It was hard work, but was awesome and very satisfying by the end of it.

Finished at last… And it looks so great. with the flowing lines of the fade-away fenders the couped roof, skirted and widened rear fenders. The side trim is a modified Volvo Amazon trim… Just as I had envisioned it to be.

Front 3/4 view looks as good as the rear view. Perfect flowing lines from the fenders and the extended headlights, new grille created from modified Morris Isis grille parts, and rounded hood corners all work very well together.

And then my first night out with the finished car… so proud!

Cruising…..

And the best thing… cruising with my husband John…

More carshows…

The modified Jaguar E-Type side markers look really great being used as taillights. The original trunk of the Morris had a large recess for the license plate. I wanted to have the plate mounted on the rear bumper so we removed the recess and filled it in for a super clean look. The licence plate guard is two stock over-riders and a pair of shelf brackets welded together to fit on top

Low angle profile photo shows the flowing lines of the car.

Together with my husband John’s AustinCustom Convertible with padded top.

This photo really shows the great lines on the car.

 
 
It has been a gigantic project, but has been well worth it for the finished result. She is stunning. We have both worked hard on this project together, and can’t wait to start the next one.

My favourite thing about this awesome hobby is learning about the history of custom and hot rod cars. It fascinates me what the car builders did back in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and I love how it is being kept alive by the cars and those who build them today. I have also met some wonderful, lifelong friends through this hobby. We all have such a passion for the cars and the lifestyle, which is an absolute joy.
John has got a Volvo Amazon which is the next project to finish, and then his 1949 Mercury, which is his dream car, that we want to finish. I would love my next project to be a 1932 Ford Coupe or roadster, something to get on the drag strip with. My absolute dream would be a 1938 Ford Sedan Convertible or 1940 Mercury (as inspired by Nick Matranga’s 1940 Mercury, built by Barris Kustoms).
Other plans include cruising around a lot!
 
 

Sally Phillips’ 1963 Morris Minor 2 Door Saloon

(this article is sponsored by)

(this article is sponsored by)

 
 
 
 
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FEATURE STAR THE GOLDEN SAHARA I

In the mid 1950’s Jim Skonsakes’ Golden Sahara I, was hired by the Seiberling Rubber company to promote their new tire range . The futuristic Golden Sahara was used in an advertising campaign for the company.

 
Jim Skonzakes (Street) has always been a very good business man. When Jim and the Barris shop had created the Golden Sahara I, he realized that the cars futuristic appearance drew a lot of attention. Jim used this knowledge to promote the Golden Sahara the best way he could. And not only that, he also offered the Golden Sahara to companies and Television Networks to help promote their business. In the mid 1950’s, Jim made a business deal with the Ohio based Seiberling Rubber Company. Seiberling would hire the car to help promote their new line of tires, the Sealed-Aire tires, at shows and at dealers throughout the country. The company marketed their tire with the pay-off line the tire of tomorrow – is here today,  and the futuristic appearance of the Golden Sahara I, was an absolutely perfect visual for this. This deal was very welcome to Jim, since the built of the car had cost him a small fortune. Seiberling also used the car for a series of magazine ad’s, both full color ads as well as black and white used on single pages, and full width spreads. As far as we know, the ads were used in magazines like Life magazines, and not in the specific car magazine.
 

For one of the Seiberling ads, the Golden Sahara I was transported to Daytona Beach. The car was driven on the beach for this photo session.

I found this photo on an recent (july, 2015) ebay auction. Very interesting snap shot by somebody who was there when the movie and photo shoot for the Seiberling ad campaign was made.  (photo taken from the ebay ad)

Back side of the photo reports the event as taken place in August 1955. (photo taken from the ebay ad)

This image is part of a two page (spread) ad that was used in 1955. It shows a photo of the Golden Sahara I in combination with an illustrated Seiberling Sealed-Aire tire.

 
 
 
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WHITELEY 51 CHEVY

When Jeff Whiteley bought his 1951 Chevy in 2003, he dreamed about creating a perfectly styled Barris Kustoms inspired full Custom out of it. This Chevy Custom turned out well, very well, for sure one of the most stunning period customs created in the last decade.

 
Jeff “Pan Blanco” Whiteley from Houston, Texas, bought this 1951 Chevy Sedan in 2003 together with his good friend Adrian Arizmendi. The both paid $500.00 each to have this car as their first shop car. They had just started the Los CoChinos car club that same year, and Adrian and Jeff had created a shop in the Houston Heights on 20th street. It was just more of a hobby shop, and hard to tell, but this 1951 Chevy was one of their first projects. The car was created in two phases and finished some time ago, and it turned out just as beautiful as Jeff had dreamed it would be. Another dream come true for Jeff just recently happened when his 1951 Chevy was featured in the latest issue of the Rodders Journal (Issue #67). So now he not only has created his dream custom, but also got rewarded with a full featured in the prestigious Rodders Journal magazine… the icing on the cake. The Jeff Whiteley 51 Chevy.
 

Openings spread from the Rodder’s Journal article on Jeff’s Chevy.

 
 
The Chevy has been finished some time now, and Jeff has enjoyed every minute of creating it, and spending time driving it around as much as he could. But a new dream project, a 1940 Mercury coupe has found its way to Jeff’s shop, so it is time to let the 1951 Chevy go. Time to let somebody else enjoy it, while Jeff can concentrate on his new project and create another masterpiece. But lets first take a look how this wonderful Custom was created.
 

This was how the 1951 Chevy Sedan looked like in 2003. Solid car, but besides needing a lot of work to become the Custom Car Dream Car Jeff had been dreaming about, it also needed some restoration work. But overall the car was pretty nice.

Jeff always loved the way the Marcia Campbell / Carl Abajian 1949 Chevy convertible looked. The car was restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1949-50 with just all the right styling features. Over the years Jeff had studied every single photo he could find on the car.

Phase 1

To make sure the base of the car would be as perfect as possible most of the car was put to bare metal and repaired where needed before the customizing would start.

Jeff’s Chevy was created in two phases. The first phase would take care of the body restoration and the chop, plus a few more Custom Restyling details here and there. The the car would be put in primer and enjoyed for some time. The Step two would add all the period details to bring the car up the Barris Kustoms standards. And make it look like it was just delivered fresh from the Barris Atlantic Blvd Shop. First the paint was removed of the complete car and some rust and dent repair work was done to get a nice solid base. The Frame work was done to get the car at the right stance and then the body was put in primer, and then… it was time for the fun stuff… starting with the chop.

The body is in primer and chopping the top has started. It was decided to lower the top 3.5 inches. The work on the top was done by Adrian Arizmendi, Ty Thomas, and Jeff Whiteley.

Cutting out the B-Pillars and re-aligning them after the top had been lowered. Jeff decided to go for traditional straight B-Pillars.

Then it was time to leaned for ward the rear window and create new sail panels.

With the chop completed the body is fine tuned with s skim coat of filler and a new coat of light gray primer is added. At this point the stock grille and stock taillights are still in place.

After driving it around in primer like this for some time it was time to add some color. Semigloss maroon on the main body and a dark red gloss paint on the top was added.

Phase 2

After having enjoyed the Chevy as “finished’ in phase one for a while, it was time to get back at it, and finish the car as how it was originally planned. Jeff had found the 1950 Chrysler taillights, a 1949 Cadillac grille, and a set of 1950 Oldsmobile bumpers. The same parts that the Barris Kustoms shop added to the Marcia Campbell Chevy in 1949-50. The rear fenders were stretched 4 inches, the rear splash pan extended and reshaped to make the 1950 Oldsmobile bumpers fit. The1950 Chrysler taillights were mounted low on the the rear fender, just above the Oldsmobile bumper. At the front the hood and front of the front fenders were reshaped to allow the 1949 Cadillac grille to fit the body. The Grille ends had to be reshaped quite a bit to work well with the Chevy body. And once this was done the whole unit was send out to be replated. The front splash pan was reshaped and the 1950 Oldsmobile front bumper was added. The whole body was sanded and sanded till it was absolutely perfect for the wonderful House of kolors Brandy Wine paint job.
 

Marco, from J M Autoworks in Houston, Texas did an amazing job on the House of Kolor Brandy Wine paint job. The car came out absolutely stunning.

The freshly painted Chevy back home in Jeff’s Garage ready to be put back together again. Lots of work still to do.

The Olds bumpers have been installed, and so is the rear window. The Chrysler taillights and side windows and trim still to go. Take a look at that amazing reflections on the extended rear fenders. Notice how well the one inch extended down flush fit skirts fit the rear fenders.

Installation of the modified 1949 Cadillac grille, which looks absolutely stunning on the car. The headlights till need to be installed in the molded rings. This photo also shows the welded and peaked hood really well.

The Finished Dream Custom

When all the body work and paint done on the car it was time for the upholstery. Jeff choose a very conservative off white and tan Naugahyde to fit perfect with the rest of the conservative theme of the car. The Conservative in this case is not another word for mild custom. Jeff’s Chevy is far from mild, with a lot of body modifications done to create the right effect. Its just that all the modifications and restyling are done with style and taste, with an overall design in mind.The upholstery was done by Victor and Ty Thomas of Saints Rod and Kustom, Houston, Texas. And one of those conservative elements are the painted dash and garnish moldings to match the color and feel of the upholstery.

The car was now finished and it was time to step back and take a good look at the result. Everything Jeff had been planning for years came out just as he had envisioned it. The car really looked like it could have just been finished by the Barris Kustom Shop in the early 1950’s.

The car is now all assembled and parked in front of Jeff’s garage for the first time.

One of the first photo sessions with a wonderful backdrop… The frenshed headlights with stock rings, the modified 1949 Cadillac grille and Oldsmobile bumper all work together in design harmony like they have always belonged there in the first place.

 
 
The longer rear quarters and low mounted Chrysler taillights add class to the rear, and the Olds bumper is the icing on the cake. Looks at the flow of the chopped top, it looks great from every angle.

Cadillac grille, Olds bumper, peaked hood and ribbed rear view mirror.

The dash, windshield molding and window garnish are all painted to match the upholstery.

Master photographer Trent Sherrill captured the look of Jeff’s Chevy really well in these two photos.

For Sale

Jeff’s 1951 Chevy Sedan Custom is for sale. Check out the CCC-Marketplace for more info and photos or contact Jeff by phone: 713-480-7701, or email Jeff
 
Asking price 42K OBO 
 

 
 

The specifications.

• 1951 Chevy 2 door Deluxe
• Stock frame step notched in the rear by Ivan Cruz of Cruz Kustoms
• Chopped 3.5 inche by: Adrian Arizmendi, Ty Thomas, and Jeff Whiteley
• 1949 Cadillac grille reshaped and fitted to reshaped grille opening by Adrian Arizmendi, and Ty Thomas
• Hood made one piece and peaked by Marcos, and Ty Thomas
• Quarter Panels Streched 4 inches and molded rear splash panel by Adrian Arizmendi
• Fender skirts extended 1 inch by Adrian Arizmendi
• Door handles shaved,
• Deck Lid Shaved
• Gas filler shaved and relocated to trunk,
• Shaved trim by Jeff Whiteley
• Headlights are frenched with stock rings by Jeff Whiteley
• Taillights  1950 Chrysler by Adrian Arizmendi
• 1950 Oldsmobile front and rear bumpers by Adrian Arizmendi
• 1950 Chevy side trim shortened 6 inche and moved down by Jeff Whiteley
• Metal fabrication/bodywork by Marco of J M Autoworks, Houston, Texas
• House of Colors Brandy Wine, PPG Clear, painted by Marco, from J M Autoworks, Houston, Texas
• Interior in tan and off white Naugahyde, upholsterer by Victor and Ty Thomas of Saints Rod and Kustom, Houston, Texas
• Carpet Wool Square weave, Dark Brown
• Headliner in tan Naugahyde
• Stock reupholstered seat frames
• Dashboard painted tan and shot Flex and Flat clear over dash and garnish moldings to fit with the upholstery.
• Classic Instruments Gauges.
• Stock Painted off-white Steering wheel
• Firestone 6:70 – 15 /  3.25” Whitewall from Coker Tire
• Cadillac Sombreros hubcaps
• 1966 Chevy 327 Engine
• Edelbrock Intake manifold, 600 CFM carburetor and Edelbrock air cleaner
• Sanderson headers and Flowmaster mufflers
• 350 Chevy Transmission by Steve Exner, Houston , Texas
• Engine built by Hippy Dave Motorworks, Houston, Texas
• Wiring  Painless By Marco of J M Autoworks
• Chrome plating/polishing by Hector of New Age Plating, Houston, Texas
• The finished car was featured in the Rodders Journal (Issue #67), and also in the latest issue of HOP UP Vol 11. No2.

 

 
 
 
 
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MYSTERY 37 FORD SEDAN

In 2008 the AHRF site shared a snapshot of an oddly shaped 1937 Ford Custom from the Tom Davis Collection. In 2015 three more photos surface…

In 2008 I was browsing the American Hot Rod Foundations (AHRF) site. I have always loved their amazing collection of Hot Rod photos and love their philosophy and way they share these collections, and make sure they will be saved for the future generations. As the name says, most of their material is Hot Rod based, but from time to some a few Custom Car photos appear. And there is something else I like to do wathing those Hot Rod photos… spot the Custom Cars in the background. Anyway, in the Tom Davis Collections I came across a snapshot taken at one of the dry lakes in an unknown year of an kind of oddly shaped 1937 Ford. Everything about this snapshot made me believe it was taken in either the late 1930’s or early 1940’s. A lot of the Tom Davis Collection dates to these early years as well.
 

 
The Photo Description on the AHRF site did not really say much about the car, not the location the photo was taken. Just the Dry lakes and that is was a cool Custom 1937 Ford, but that was about it. From the photo I could not even see the body style of the car that the builder had started with. I assumed it was a coupe with a chopped top, radically reshaped door side window openings, and the complete roof removed and replaced with a padded insert. A few other early styling element was the removal of the running boards, the ribbed hubcaps with possibly (hard to tell from the bit fuzzy snapshot) small diameter single bar flipper hubcaps, possibly originating from a mid 1930’s Cadillac, and the single A-Pillar mounted Spotlight. The hood sides are filled in, it looks like the hood has been shaved, and the front fenders have been reshaped at the bottom giving them a nice teardrop shape. At the time I shared the photo on the Hamb asking for more info. Somebody mentioned there might have been a photo showing the complete car in one of the Albert Drake books. Jamie Barter scanned the image from the Flat Out book for us.
 

 
This photo of the 37 appeared in the Albert Drake book Flat Out. The photo is not dated, but it is mentioned that the NEW 1937 was quickly customized, indicating that the photo was taken in the late 1930’s. (thank you for the scan Jamie Barter)

 
 
Then in August of 2015 three more photos (negatives) show up, they are offered on ebay. The car has changed quite a bit since the photo at the dry lakes was taken. The whole front end is replaced with a 1939 Ford front end. But it looks like the main body and top remain the same, although the roof insert, or cover was redone in a light color where it was originally done in dark material. But the side window opening and the oval shaped rear window is undoubtedly identical. Sadly there was again no info with the photos on the ebay auction. (The images seen here are the original scans taken from the ebay auction.)
 
The rear 3/4 view shows the angled forward trunk, the reshaped belt-line, the removed running boards, new 1939 Ford reshaped front fenders and the flowing top with oval rear window. Most likely the proud owner posing with the car parked in a city on a rainy day. Hard to see where the photo was taken, or what state the license plate is from. But the cold weather cloth of the owner and the woman behind the car does not suggest these photos were taken in California. Notice the odd very tall bumper guards.

 
 
These three new photos show that the body the original builder started with was most likely a 1937 Ford Flatback Sedan with the top cut off and the rear of the body canted forward for a more streamlined look. Perhaps the trunk had to be extended a few inches in the process. The beltline was reshaped towards the trunk of the car, and it appears that the rear fenders are molded into the body. The new photos show the shape of the side window much better than the AHRF photo. Perhaps the rear side window opening was used to reshape the door window opening and that is how the teardrop shape was created. It appears that the door frame fits inside a small frame left from the body, which makes the car most likely easier to make weather proof. The top has a nice flowing line to it, but its hard to see if the whole top can come off, like a padded top, or if a reshaped metal roof has been covered with canvas, and is fixed on the car.

It would be really interesting to find out more about this uniquely styled 1937 Ford early Custom Car. Where it came from, who customized it, an what ever happened to it. This car is a great sample of the heavily restyled early Custom Cars, from a time when hourly rates were very low and the amount of work that was needed to create these cars seamed to not matter all that much. It is also an great sample of the wildly restyled Customs from the early days where the restylers perhaps were searching for new styles, or at least styles to set their creations apart from all the others.
 
On the front of this 1937 Ford we can see the use of an odd, very tall set of bumper guards. These happen to be an aftermarket part developed by Van Auken. I found an patent paper that was dated 1942 and that the patent was filed in 1940. 

 
 
 
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36 FORD BOAT TAIL CUSTOM

The concept for this amazing roadster began in the summer of 1942, in Atlantic City. But it would take the owner until the 1980’s to actually create it.

 
 
All words and photos from the Normans Garage website.

1936 Ford Boat Tail Roadster

The concept for this amazing roadster began in the summer of 1942, in Atlantic City. Norman had a friend who owned a 1937 Ford Roadster. That roadster had been in an accident, destroying most everything behind the doors. It true car-guy fashion, Norman’s friend used the damage as an opportunity. Instead of repairing the roadster back to stock, or replacing it all together, he had a custom boat tail fabricated and installed. Also a true car-guy, and a Ford man, Norman appreciated and loved the Ford Boat Tail Roadster that his friend had created. He took a photo of it. And he looked at that photo from time to time, for 40 years.

It was the early 80’s and the wheels began turning. Norman has always loved ’36 Fords (as one can easily see by looking at his collection). His friends ’37 boat tail was interesting, but lacking in style and elegance. And Norman had just found a gentleman who was building ’36 Ford roadster bodies in fiberglass. It was time to start putting all the pieces together.
 

This is how the roadster looked in the 1980’s with a wonderful 1940’s look and feel.

 
 
First line drawings were created to get the proportions of the silhouette correct. Then a wooden plug was sculptured of the boat tail. A fiberglass mold was constructed of the plug, then used to build the boat tail. The tail was then grafted to a sectioned fiberglass ’36 Ford body, and mated to a sectioned grill and hood sides. The front fenders were peaked at the rear, and the rear fenders rolled under at the leading edge, allowing the removal of the running boards. A rocker panel was also constructed to finish off the bottom of the car and cover the frame. The rear fenders were molded from a plug that was built using two pair of ’36 fenders welded together. A duvall windshield was installed, as well as a German canvas folding top. The car was placed on a slightly modified stock frame, as chassis technology was primitive in the 80’s for the hot rod commuity. A Chevy 350 V8 engine and four speed manual transmission were used for motivation. The car was then used and enjoyed for twenty plus years before a complete rebuild and modernizing.
 

 

 
 
Updated version

Street rod chassis technology has taken leaps and bounds in the last 30 years. Having several other cars already utilizing said technology, Norman knew it was time to bring this work of art into the modern times. A brand new boxed frame was constructed with a custom lowered center crossmember. Heidt’s Superide II front suspension system was installed, including power rack and pinion steering, tubular control arms, coil over shocks and Wilwood brakes. A Heidt’s Superide IRS was used in the rear, spec’d with tubular arms, Wilwood brakes and a 9″ Ford Posi differential. The Chevy V8 from the original build was reclaimed, but the transmission was upgraded to a performance built 2004R automatic overdrive unit. A custom polished stainless steel exhaust system was fabricated and installed.
 

 

 
The only major body modifications this time around were made to the floor in the cockpit area. The floor was lowered to allow for more head room, and a new tunnel was built to accommodate the new transmission. The body and all of its panels were repainted in PPG basecoat/clearcoat, and hand rubbed to perfection.

Once the body and chassis were reassembled the car was loaded with the usual, quality components in all of Norman’s builds. Flaming River tilt steering column, Vintage Air heat and A/C, American Autowire wiring system, SPW wipers with intermittent, VDO gauges, Lokar products throughout, etc.
 

 

 

 
The interior was also freshened up, starting with 8 way adjustable power seats. Hand stitched leather covers everything, and custom wooden dash panels compliment the wood rimmed Nardi steering wheel.

Wide white radial tires, fender skirts and custom wind wings are the finishing touches to this gorgeous one of a kind Ford Boat Tail Roadster of Norman’s.
 

 

 

 
 
www.normansgarage.com
 
 

 
 
 
 
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PETERSON PHOTO COLLECTION ONLINE

A small portion of the huge Petersen photo collection has been added to the Getty Stock Photo Archives part of The Enthusiast Network Collection.

 
Some time ago we already reported that the Petersen Collection, then part of the Source Interlink media, now part of The Enthusiast Network (TEN). Since then some more photos have been shared on the online archives of the Getty Stock Photos. Photos (digital files) that can be purchased for any publications, or personal use. There are a number of really interesting Custom Car related photos in the archives now, and if you are into Hot Rods, then there is an even larger number of photos that will appeal to you. At the end of the article there is a link to the complete TEN/Peterson collection on the Getty Images site…. enjoy.
 
Photo captions below are from the Getty Website
 
 

Jim Garrett’s Custom 1952 Oldsmobile Holiday. While the grille is stock, debadging and adding 1955 Olds tilted headlight rims changes the look dramatically. The addition of ’55 Lincoln taillights, installed upside-down, and the body trim from a ’53 Olds make the profile and rear view unique. The car is lowered 3 inches overall. Low front 3/4 view of passenger side. (Photo by Joe Moore/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Earl Bruce’s Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing appearing with trophies garnered. Flamed paint job by Von Dutch. (Photo by Fred Beindorff/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Harry Hoskings Custom 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. A Barris Kustoms restyle using Dodge Lancer trim pieces, shaved door handles, 1955 Lincoln taillights, 1956 Corvette grille. In 1957 it appeared as pictured in Trend Book’s Restyle Your Car publication number 143, written by George Barris and Jim Potter. (Photo by Bob D’Olivo/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

1957 Sacramento Auto Show. Kustomizer George Barris speaks about his latest project, the Kopper Kart pickup, to a correspondent from KCRA TV in Sacramento as the camera rolls. (Photo by Dick Day/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images) George Barris kneels next to his latest automotive custom creation, the Copper Kart pickup truck. (Photo by Al Paloczy/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Painter and customizer Dean Jeffries pinstriping Rod & Custom magazine’s custom project pickup truck. Dream Truck. (Photo by Fred Beindorff/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

1951 Ford Custom (Photo by Bob D’Olivo/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

1957 Autorama Car Show with classics, customs, and new cars. (Photo by Spence Murray/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Dean Jeffries Demostrates Pickup Truck Pinstriping on the Rod & Custom magazine Dream Truck project vehicle. (Photo by Spence Murray/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

1957 Renegades Auto Show – Long Beach. Tail fins were the order of the day with customizers utilizing this styling exercise to great extent on a variety of makes and models. (Photo by Dick Day/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Custom 1957 Plymouth. An example of how the removal of chrome and metal finishes can radically change a car’s appearance. This Plymouth has been lowered, dechromed, and painted in a monochromatic color. Along side a stock model the changes are dramatic. (Photo by Lynn Wineland/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images) Lowering Your Car – Hot Rod Magazine. 1956 Chevrolet and 1956 Mercury are used to illustrate the sleek and sophisticated look that lowering can achieve. (Photo by Ray Brock/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Custom 1954 Plymouth (Photo by Joe Moore/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images) 1951 Chevrolet Custom Car With Tail Fins parked in front of a spanish mission-style building in Southern California. (Photo by Spence Murray/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Customs Corvette (Photo by Pat Brollier/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images) Custom 1954 Ford. Two-tone paint scheme. 1953 Chevrolet grille. (Photo by Lynn Wineland/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

Rod and Custom Dream Truck. After extensive modification that took about 5 years, suggested by staffers and readers, a 1950 Chevrolet pickup, owned by the photographer, Spencer Murray, was nominated to the Motor Life magazine ‘Top Customs of the Year’. It has been worked on by som of the legends of customizing, like Valley Custom, Gates Auto Body, Gene Winfield, Barris Kustoms, Dean Jeffries, and Larry Watson. (Photo by Spence Murray/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

1956 Custom Car Show South Bay. Rear portions of Cadillac and Ford customs displayed in a large parking lot near San Pedro. (Photo by Bob D’Olivo/The Enthusiast Network/Getty Images)

 
 

 
 
 
 
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ART DECO 36 FORD

Billy Powell’s Amazing Art Deco 1936 Ford Coupe is styled like it came from the 1940’s, but with the amazing quality finish of a modern Super Car. And… it could be yours, because it is For Sale.

The 1939 LaSalle grille, Packard headlights, and modified hood side give the Ford a much more exclusive look. The speedboat stance created instant speed. Everything visible gives the impression Billy’s Ford just rolled out of the 1940’s.

 
 
Billy Powell from Texas owned this 3 window since 2007. The plan always was to create an beautiful 1940’s style Art Deco styled custom from it. From a distance the car looked pretty decent, but upon close inspection Billy saw that the car might need some extra care to get up to his standards. When he started to take the body to bare metal he quickly noticed that the car must have had a pretty rough life. A lot of bad body work followed by heavy layers of plastic filler. Especially the top was in bad shaped and the chop needing so much work that Billy figured he needed to find a second ’36 Ford to replace the top. Until he discussed the project with David Martinez, from Martinez Industries Co. in North Palm Springs, California. David assured Billy that he could save the top, as well as the rest of the body. Of course he would need to do a huge amount of metal reshaping, aftermarket and home made replacement panels… but it could be saved. In 2014 Billy send the ’36 Ford to Martinez who would rework all previous bad body work, replace the rotten metal an perform more customizing.

The 1937 Lincoln Zephyre taillights are the perfect units for Billy’s Art Deco Coupe. They echo the shape of the Packard headlights beautiful, and the low mounting position makes the rear of the car look even lower. Notice the perfect reflections!

 
 
Billy had been collecting parts for his dream Art Deco 1936 Ford Coupe for a long time. Hard to find parts like the 1939 LaSalle grille, 1937 Packard headlights, 1937 Lincoln Zephyr taillights, 1936 Chevy hood sides, Single Bar Flipper hubcaps, 1948 Lincoln steering wheel and a set of Foxcraft teardrop shape fender skirts. Inspiration for Billy’s 1936 Ford came for the Jack Calori 1936 Ford, Westergard styled Fords in general, and the John Fisher 1936 Ford. But Billy’s Ford was was going to have many unique details, all based on the rocket / teardrop shaped Art Deco theme. When Billy bought the car the original flathead engine had already been swapped for a 350, and it drove perfect, so there was no need to replace that.
 

New hood sides were created to which two 1936 Chevy hood louvres per side were added. The original grille was replaced with a home made surround to with a 1939 LaSalle grille was added. The stock Packard trim piece on top of the headlights was kept since it fitted the Art Deco theme so well.

David Martinez created the wonderful styled interior in real leather. The dash was hand made with an Oldsmobile gauge cluster an the transparent red 1948 Lincoln steering wheel is the icing on the cake.

Close up of the restored Lincoln Steering wheel by Dennis Crooks at Quality Restorations, who also made the custom dash knobs to match the steering wheel. 

Behind the folding seat backs David Martinez created storage space with Art Deco styled doors giving the interior a very luxurious feeling.

The trunk space was reduced a bit because of the modified frame, but it looks amazing completely upholstered. This used to be a rumble seat.

Before David installed the seat he took this photo showing the perfectly styled upholstery.

 
 
David Martinez did an great job saving as much as possible on Billy’s 1936 Ford, every inch of the body was worked over till perfection. The already chopped top had a lot of bad things going on, which were all redone or replace with fresh sheet metal. When all the body work was done at Martinez Industries, the body was prepped for a super gloss, super smooth black paint-job applied by David. One of Davids other specialities is creating Art Deco interiors, and for Billy’s Ford he created an hand made dash styled around and Oldsmobile gauge cluster and he added wonderful shaped storage compartments behind the folding seat backs. A detail you normally only see in high end coachbuild cars. The upholstery was also done by David in real leather and matching mohair and wool for the headliner and carpets.
 

Billy’s 1936 Art Deco Ford Coupe looks fantastic from any angle, but this rear 3/4 view is perhaps my most favorite of them all. Everything seams to flow so well and the car looks like its going 100 miles an hour standing still.

Metal work and Custom touches

•  3-1/2” chop
• Rumble seat converted to a trunk
• 1939 Lasalle Grill
• 1937 Packard Jr headlights
• 1937 Zephyr taillights
• 1936 Chevy hoodsides
• cut down 1940 Chevy bumpers.
• New HOK black paint – work by Dave Martinez
• New rubber on running boards, all new door seals and hinges
• New glass all around
• New wiring harness, all electrical works great, lights, blinkers, dome light, dash lights, etc- all have been gone through and redone with new wiring
• Yankee 360 turn signal
• Handmade dash with 1939 Oldsmobile gauge cluster and dual glove boxes
• 1948 Lincoln Wheel with knobs that match steering wheel made by Dennis Crooks at Quality Restorations
• Leather interior by Dave Martinez- stunning!
• Mohair headliner to match deep red wool carpet, oxblood

Drivetrain

• SB 350/350 tranny
• 3-1/2” Bell dropped front axle
• Rear of the frame C-notched
• Ford 9” rear
• All new Posie springs, rides like a dream!
• Great running and driving car with no mechanical issues

How the Art Deco Ford Coupe was created

This is how Billy delivered his 1936 Ford coupe to David Martinez in North Palm Springs, California. From a distance it still looks ok, but up close it was evident the car had a very rough life.

When the car was chopped by a previous owner the body was was done very poor with loads of plastic filler covering the poor workmanship. David took it all off and metal finished the complete car as these door photos from before and after show.

The roof and upper sections of the door jambs we so bad it was easier to redo them from scratch.

A lot of work was needed to get the top door jambs and A-pillars up to the standard Billy and David were looking for.

A large section of the A-pillar had to be replaced.

With most of the chopped top reshaped and looking good it was time to create a new filler panel for the top.

All fender s were in pretty bad shape as well as these photos of the passenger rear fenders show. David handmade most of these replacement panels.

Finished rear fender with a reshaped Foxcraft 36-40 Ford teardrop skirt.

The rumble seat was converted to trunk. The trunk panel reshaped to fit much better than it ever did, all gaps adjusted and a complete new inner structure and lip shaped.

A lot of work went into the rear of the car to make it all fit together perfect, and super straight. All poor body work and bad metal was replaced.

The 1939 Oldsmobile gauge cluster was the center point for the interior. David restyled everything around it. 

The complete dash panel was handmade.

Freshly painted Olds Gauge cluster on the left and the finished dash on the right with the two glove boxes and hand made knobs matching the Lincoln steering wheel.

1937 Lincoln Zephyr teardrop shape taillights mounted low on the Ford  rear deck. The cut down 1940 Chevy bumper was mounted on cut down bumper brackets to get them close to the body.

Some nice photos from David showing the work needed on the hood to get the LaSalle grille to fit, and the freshly metal finished body.

Hand shaped body panels to make the bottom of the LaSalle grille with the For front fenders.

Almost done with the body work… getting ready for paint.

Hood sides with 1936 Chevy hood side louvres, and Packard headlights. Everything flows together on Billy’s Ford.

Billy’s Art Deco Ford shortly before it was shipped from California to Billy’s home in Texas. The reflections on this car are stunning.

 
 
 
 
 
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AYALA 1942 FORD COUPE

1942 Ford coupe full custom restyled by the Ayalas in the late 1940’s to showcase the shops abilities and give shop owner Gil Ayala a unique set of wheels to drive and race. The Ayala 1942 Ford Coupe

 
The Ayala’s sure had their own signature style when it came to customs. Well balanced chopped tops and ultra smooth with as much of the body panels blended in, flowing perfectly from front to rear. The 1942 Ford in this story is no exception to this. The car is known as the Gil Ayala 1942 Ford and as far as we have found out Gil created this car before doing his famous 1940 Mercury and it was created as his own personal cruiser, this must have been around 1949. The oldest photos we have come across have 1949 license plate tags. When researching this Ayala Ford I came across several aspects that are a bit of a mystery to me. And when I think about it, there are so many historic Custom Car that have some, or more mystery around them. I guess that this “mystery” aspect is just part of what makes looking into the time line on these cars so interesting.
 

This was the first photo I ever saw of Gil Ayala’s 1942 Ford. It was in Pat Ganahl’s The American Custom Car book. The removal of all exterior trim and the ultra smooth chop are true Ayala trademarks, especially from the early years. The car is parked in front of Garfield High School.

 
 
The photo material I have gathered on this car shows what most likely is the same car with three different license plates in 1949, 1950 and 1951. We also have the name of a possible second owner of the car – in the early 1950’s – appear in at least two publications. The photos also show the car with some changes over time, medium and very dark paint, 1946 Ford bumpers, 1949 Plymouth bumpers, and then these two bumper options mixed on the car in some photos. Some say there might have even been two near identical 1942 Ford’s restyled by the Ayala’s that are mixed up in the photos over the years. Perhaps there are two similar cars… perhaps just one. Doing the research for this article has not really given me a clear answer to this, and at this moment in the research I think there is just one 1942 restyled by the Ayala’s that possibly changed hands not all that long after Gil had finished it. We have not been able to find any material on the car from 1952 till 1959. But we know that Gil Ayala owned the car in the mid to late 1950’s, because Memo Ortega bought the ’42 Ford from Gil in 1959 and hold on to it till 1962.

Before we go more into all the mystery details, lets first take a closer look at this great looking typical Ayala Restyled 1942 Ford.
 
 

The Ayala 1942 Ford in 1949

This photo is part of a digital, kind of fuzzy photo taken from a collage from Bernie Mackey who spend some time at the Ayala shop in the early days. The photo shows Gil’s Coupe shortly after the body work was completed and the car was in primer waiting to be finished and painted.

 
 
The Ayala’s created this 1942 Ford Coupe in the late 1940’s. Business was starting to really boom, and it was during the time the first major Custom Car shows were started. Perhaps Gil restyled his personal 1942 Ford with this in mind, creating it as a showcase for what the shop could do. The Coupe has all the key ingredients for a typical Ayala Custom Car for that era. It starts with the really smooth heavy chopped top. The rear of the top was chopped more than the front creating an very pleasing downwards swoop towards the rear. Most likely the shop ordered pre-shaped panels from the California Metal Shaping company to save time, and to get the transition from the trunk to the top as smooth and flowing as possible. The drip rails were shaved off completely, as most of the customs from the Ayala shop had in these days (including those from the barris and other California based shops). To make the door opening more pleasing to the eye after the drip rails had been removed the top corners were rounded so that the eye flows better from the door towards the rear quarter windows. These rear side windows had to be completely reshape and have the perfect balance compared to the flowing c-pillar and door side window. All four fenders were welded to the body, and nicely integrated with shaped metal and leaded in for that desired one piece look. The lower panels were reshaped and smoothed.

Neil Emory’s (Valley Custom Shop) son Gary Emory shared three snapshots of Gil’s Ford taken at Gil’s Auto Body Works shop in East LA in 1949. The photo shows how perfect the rear window is located in the flowing top.

Side view on this old snapshot shows the really fantastic profile of the roof.

In this photo we can see how well balanced all the shapes are, how the rear fenders were molded, the taillight pods flowing from the rear fender character line and the molded in rear splash pan.

 
 
The hood was smoothed and welded and the stock 1942 Ford grille surround discarded for a hand made molded in surround. The stock grille remained in the car, but the center piece was removed for a much smoother look. The stock headlights rings were molded into the fenders giving the front a very smooth appearance. The splash-pans both front and rear were molded in place with a nice radius which made them look very nice with the molded in fenders. At the rear the trunk was smoothed but the corners were not rounded. A set of stock 1942 Ford taillight buckets was reshaped and molded into the rear fender at a lower than stock position. The new lowere position made the car look lower, and also made the taillight units flow better with the rear fender character line.

A set of long 1941 Ford/Mercury fender skirts was installed and the suspension was lowered all around for a perfect stance. The bumpers on the first version are either the stock 1942 Ford units, or 1946-48 units. The interior garnish moldings were all reshaped to fit and later painted body color. Once all the body work was done Gil painted the car in what is listed as a bronze metallic paint. Most likely a color he mixed himself, since mixing unique deep lacker color was the thing Gil absolutely loved to do. The end result was an ultra smooth 1942 Ford Coupe with a heavy chopped and wonderfully flowing top, showing what the Ayala shop was capable of doing. The finished car had very little bright work. Only the bumpers, grille windshield and rear window surround and the smooth moon disk were plated or polished stainless. The car did not even have a set of Appleton’s mounted.
 

Another photo of the car parked at the Ayala shop in 1949.

The only early publication (as far as I know) that identify’s the coupe as Gil Ayala’s car, is the 1950 Russetta Hot Rod and Motor Sports show program. It shows two very nice photos of the car. 

The 1950 Hot Rod and Motor Sports Show list only two Customized cars to enter the show. Gil Ayala is listed as the owner of the 1942 Sports Coupe. with gold paint.

 
 
The interior of the car was also finished with a full custom upholstery job. As far as I can tell now it first had a custom interior in a dark color (brown?) with a light piping. there is one interior photo in an 1951 Motor Trend Magazine showing an all new light color interior in the car listed as done in honey gold and brown. But if I looks at the photos It does look more like white or off white with the honey gold for the inserts and perhaps the brown for the carpets. There is only one color photo of this car that shows a bit of the interior, but as part of the “mystery” aspect it appears to have the early dark colored interior in this particular photo.
 

New owner for the Ford?

In 2008 Pat Ganahl did an excellent two part article on the Ayala brothers. Included in this article was a great color photo showing an bronze painted 1942-48 Ford coupe. The color slide came from the Ayala family and Lucille Ayala (Gil’s widow). According to Lucille the photo showed a car belonging to Bob Gillum and that is was an 1942 Mercury. Well the photo clearly shows it was not a Mercury but a Ford (shorter hood and front fenders). But perhaps the photo was labeled Mercury somewhere because of the Mercury engine the car had. At first this car being owned by Bob Gillum sounded a bit odd to me. To me it clearly was the Gil Ayala 1942 Ford, and I just could not see why the Ayala’s would create two nearly identical customs in the late 1940’s.

But I was intrigued about this news, and I was also very intrigued about the color photo of the car. It was really amazing, Sadly the front and rear of the car are either cropped off in the magazine, or perhaps missing on the original photo. but the fact that we can see so much of the sides on the rear splash pan indicates that this is the early version of the car when it still had the 1946 Ford bumpers. Another thing I noticed was that the back of the front seat appears to be upholstered in a dark brown, with white piping. Quite different from the Motor Trent interior photo I had seen before. So could this perhaps be an early version with an older interior? None of the 1949 photos show a light colored interior, so it could very well be possible that in late 1949, early 1950, a new light colored interior was added to the car.
 

The Ford looks absolutely stunning in this color photo, and must have caused quite a stir where ever it went. It appears that the car had a very deep scratch in the paint on the rear quarter above the rear fender. (It does not appear to be a scratch in the photo)  The Rodder’s journal article mentioned that Lucile did not know who the guy was standing behind the car. Most likely this is Bob Gillum, who bought the car from Gil Ayala. 

Enlarged section of the color photo shows the dark interior with light piping.

In early 2015 Harley Peters from the Uk is on vacation in the US, and on his trip he visits a speed meet at El Mirage. At this event he meets with an older guy who has a scrapbook full of early Hot Rod, Bike and Custom Car snapshots. Absolutely great material Most of the photos showing custom cars show just one car… the Ayala 1942 Ford. Uniquely there are a few color photos in it as well. Sadly Harley forgets to ask the name of the old guy, and only took small size photos with his cell phone. But it is absolutely unique material and we have added a few from that in this article. In late 2015 this becomes even more interesting when Brian Huck from Sacramento shares an photo with caption from an 1980 Street Rodder magazine article about an photo collection from the 1940’s and early 1950’s. But what is even more exciting is that the one photo in this article shows the Ayala Ford, same photo as Harley shared, and that the caption mentioned the car is owned by Bob Gillam from East Los Angeles. The same name – except for a small misspell in one of them – that Lucille Ayala mentioned as well!

Brian Huck shared this photo with caption from the September 1980 Street Rodder issue. “Pages from a street racer’s scrapbook.” (George Bentley’s) Mostly pictures of Bentley’s ’29 A-V8 and other Vultures club cars. This is the only custom in the article. The caption identifies it as Bob Gillam’s 1942 Merc and shows the 1951 9N 30 226 license plate on the 1946 Ford bumpers.

With the information I have gathered on the Ayala 1942 Ford so far, I think that all the photos used in this article are from one car, and not two nearly identical 1942 Ford customs. Gil Ayala originally created the car for himself, but most likely not all that long after he finished it he sold it to Bob Gillum (or Gillam) who owned the car till at least 1951. Memo Ortega, who would buy this Ford form Gil Ayala in 1959, recently remembered that Gil had mentioned to him that he had his old Ford coupe back and that he was freshening it up with quad headlights. At the time Memo did not really pay much attention to it, but now it all seams to all in place. Gil sold the car and later in the mid/late 1950 he was able to get it back.

The Ayala 1942 Ford in 1950

Based on the idea that the car changed hands in early 1950 it makes sense that the new owner Bob Gillum wanted to change a few things on the car to make it really his own personal Custom. As far as we can tell right now it appears that Bob replaced the the 1946 Ford bumpers with a set of 1949 Plymouth bumpers front and rear. All the photos with the 1950 License plate on it also show that the car now has a news light colored interior. The suspension of the car is also modified and the car sits a lot lower now, especially in the rear, but also the front appears to be lowered a bit more. It looks like nothing else changed at this time.
 

The Ford parked at a drag race meet. The paint number on the rear quarter passenger side window indicates that the was raced at this event. Spectators admire the custom interior. The license plate is 1950 and the bumpers are both 1949 Plymouth.

Another old magazine clipping marks the car as a 1941 Ford with a 270 cu. in. Mercury engine.

Snapshot from the George Bentley’s album shows the car at the dray lakes with 1950 plates and 1946 Ford front bumper. Perhaps the tall guy in this photo is the same guy, Bob Gillum, as the one in the color photo?

The Ayala 1942 Ford in 1951

I think this is my all time favorite photo of the Ayala Ford, low angle, perfect stance, with its nose up in the air and the tail close to the ground. perfection. Sadly the photo is rather dark due to the fact it was copied, perhaps even several times. Its hard to tell if the car has been repainted here or if it just looks dark from the bad photo quality. Notice the race number painted on the rear quarter window.

Another snapshot from the George Bentley’s album shows the Ford with the hood open and a guy and girl checking it out. This is the same photo that was used in the 1980 Street Rodder magazine article.

A few more of the snapshots from the George Bentley’s album show two more badly faded color photos of the car at the dry lakes. The bottom left photo is very interesting showing the engine and the full custom light colored interior.

The Ayala coupe with the hood removed in 1951 parked behind a mildly customized 1949 Chevy convertible. 

This interior photo appeared in the July 1951 issue of Motor Trend Magazine, it shows the great looking interior of the Ayala Ford. According the caption it was upholstered in honey gold and brown. But judging this and other photos I have a feeling the light color might be white, or off white, the inserts honey gold, and the carpets brown.

David E, Zivot shared three nice snapshots of the Ayala Ford taken at an 1950? dry lake event. These photos gives us a good look at how beautiful the car was restyled and how everything was shaped to flow at its very best.

One of the unique things about the chopped top on the Ayala 1942 Ford coupe is that the top flows all the way into the trunk. On most similar chopped 41-48 Ford and Mercury’s there is a bit of a “flat” spot just behind the trunk before the bulge of the top starts.

Lot of dust and dirt on the car. Custom Cars back then were meant to be driven, and in this case even raced, although it looks like the Coupe was parked in the spectator section on this particular event.

I added these small photos of the Ford because they show the car at a nice angle and you can see how much lower the car not sits, compared to the early stages of the car.

The Ayala Ford drag racing at an official drag strip. It look so great in this photo, low, and even lower in the back due to the powerful engine. Rob Radcliffe came across this great photo years ago at a car show where a guy was sharing his mostly Hot Rod photo-Collection. He took this snapshot of the photo. Glad he did, its one of my favorites of the car.

 
 
It also seems that during this period the car was repainted, possibly from its original bronze metallic color to very dark blue. This article shows three photos that shows the car most likely all three with the 1951 plates with a new much darker paint job.

The Ford at the Tent show in Montebello California held somewhere in 1951. Notice that the license plate at the rear was removed. This photo also shows the light upholstery in the car well.

The Ayala Ford at the Hot Rod show in the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles held at April 24-27, 1952. The car was most likely painted deep, dark blue at this time. The light brown color of the sand on the floor and unknown velvet carpets behind it most likely all made this a stand out presentation. Notice that the car now has two 1949 Plymouth bumpers again.

One thing that I noticed is that even though the car has changed a bit over the years 49-51, including a new paint-job and bumper swap the hubcaps remain the same, and were not updated to for instance the very popular – at the time – Cadillac Sombrero hubcaps. The photo taken at the 1952 Hot Rod show is the last material we have been able to find of the car for the 1950’s. We have no idea what happened to the car from 1952 to the late 1950’s.

Memo Ortega buys the Ford in 1959

Memo Ortega had told us stories how he became good friends with Gil in the 1950’s and eventually was able to buy Gil’s old 1942 Ford Coupe in 1959. Memo had seen the Ford at Gil’s place for some time, although he was not sure for how long. But Memo always liked the Ford and Gil knew that. In one of the many conversation Memo had with Gil about the Ford Gil mentioned that he had the car back and had some plans for it to update it. Some time after that Gil started to update the car with quad headlights (Ford units) but never finished the work. Memo had seen it sitting unfinished like that a few time and then asked Gil if he wanted to sell the Ford to him. Gil said if I sell my car it will be to you because I know you will fix it up nice like your 1937 chevy with the  ’40 Ford headlights. If you get it you will be getting a one of a kind car. Not long after that Memo was able to buy the car from Gil.

One thing that really gets me is that apparently Gil had a real soft spot for this 1942 Ford. He sold it in 1950, and several years later, after having had several other cars, including his magazine cover 1955 T-Bird, he decided to get back his old 1942 Ford and even update it even though the base car could be considered old by then. Gil still decided he wanted to spend time and money on it.
 

One of the photos showing the car with the quad headlight taken in 1961 at the Pomona Drag Races. Memo remembers going to this event and the guy from back east must have taken the snapshot, we are glad he did. So far this has been the only photo showing this version of the car. 

 
 
After Memo had taken the car back home to Pomona he finished the work on the Ford quad headlights that Gil had started. When Memo got the car it was painted in a dark blue metallic. The paint was faded quite a bit, most likely from being parked outside in the bright sun for a longer period. Memo decided to take off the paint and get the car back to bare metal. He remembers finding black primer underneath, but could not remember if there was any other colors underneath. When he got it the car had a dark blue and a off white vanilla interior. It still was in very good condition a he liked the color combination so he left it alone. He repainted the car in a color close to the color that was one the car when he got it. Memo also added a set of  dummy spots to the car. You know something most customs had back in the late 1950’s.

Memo enjoyed the Ford for a few years, had a really great time with it, but in 1962 he decided to sell it and move on with other cars. Memo does not remember who he sold it to, or where the car went. This is the last we know about the car. Memo remembers that a friend took photos during the time Memo worked on the car, and most likely also after it was completed. But the friend has since then passed away, and the photos are long lost. Memo never had a photo of his version of the car until 2013.

When I was visiting the US for the 2013 GNRS with Palle Johansen to show the Jack Stewart Ford in bare metal and promote the Jack Stewart Ford book I was talking to a guy at the show who said he had a nice photo album with great photos. Unfortunately I misplaced the name of the photographer who took the photo and the guy who shared the album with us. But among the photos there were two photos of Gil’s old 1942 Ford with the quad headlights on it. The photos were taken on a trip the photographer took from the east coast – where he lived – to California, where he took the photo at a drag strip. At this show I also met Memo Ortega for the first time in person, and I was very happy to be able to show him this photo of his old car he had not seen since 1962. Memo was visible touched when he looked at the photo, brining back a lot of memories for sure.
 
 

 
 
One of the other “mystery’s” about this Ayala coupe is the actual year of the car. In most publications it is listed as a 1942, including the Hot Rod show program from 1950. But Memo Ortega remembered that car being registered as a 1946 Ford. Memo was not sure if the registration year had been changed and if so for what reason. But it does not really make sense for the car to be a 1946 Ford, and then replace the front of the car with an older 1942 grille. Especially not in the late 1940’s when one of the major ideas for custom restyling was to make your old car look newer.

The few big questions left are what ever happened to the car in the period from 1952 to 1958, who was Bob Gillum? and what happened to it after memo Ortega sold the car in 1962. Is it still around today? As always I hope this Custom Car Chronicle article will brighten up some memories of those guys that were there back when this car was driven and at the shows. An possibly remember a few more things about it. If you have any more info on the history of the Ayala 1942 Ford, or know about its current whereabouts, please let us know, Email Rik and we will add the info to the article.
 
 

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WATSON INDOOR SHOW PHOTOS

From the late 1950s to the 1970s the indoor Custom Car and Hot Rod shows were very big. Larry Watson painted many cars during this period, and many competed at these car shows. A look at Watson Indoor Show Photos.

Most of the photos in the Larry Watson Personal Collection are photos of the cars, bikes and boat painted by Larry taken outside, in front of one of Larry’s Paint shops, or on other interesting or convenient locations. But there are also a small number of photos taken at several indoor car shows in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. The highlight for Larry’s Custom Paint career must have been in 1965 and 1966 when a huge amount of Watson painted cars were displayed at two local Car shows. It must have been amazing to see over 40 Larry Watson painted cars in one location. For the public this must have been spectacular, but for Larry this really must have been the icing on the cake from his decade of hard work before these shows.

Most of these indoor show photos and snapshots from Larry’s Collection are perhaps not as brilliant in color, contrast and quality as some of the outdoor photos, but they are very interesting none the less. It is very nice to see how these colorful cars were displayed at the shows, and how Larry displayed his business cards around the cars to promote his business. Always trying to get more clients to bring their cars and bikes to the shop. I wonder how much impact the Larry Watson big shows from 1965 and 66 had on his business. And if he gained a lot more new clients from it.

There is only one photo of this wonderfully painted purple and lavender mildly restyled 1958 Chevy in the collection. Mercurygrille, smoothed body and replace front section of the side trim, plus and all white tuck & roll interior. The snapshot was taken at the 1961 Renegades Rod & Custom Motorama in Long Beach California. Angel hair and aluminum foil must have been the theme. 

Larry’s own 1957 Cadillac Brougham was also displayed at the 1961 Renegades  Rod & Custom Motorama in Long Beach California. Larry’s Caddy was also displayed with aluminum foil and angle hair.

John Busman’s 1956 Chevy in an early purple and lavender version in the late 1950’s. A lot of work went into the club display on the floor. A small section of the door of Del Mar McCutcheon’s 1955 Buick can be seen on the far left of the photo, and George Teixeira’s T-Bird on the far right

This photo comes actually from a section photographed at Larry’s Museum, hence the poor quality. But since there are not to many overview photos known from the Larry Watson overview Cars shows from 1965 and 66, I wanted to include this one here anyway. This one was taken at the 1965 Tridents Car Show in Long Beach.

On the left we can see Larry’s 1961 Ford Econoline at the 1965 Tridents Car Show in Long Beach California. Larry Watson was the main attraction at this Car Show and had over 40 cars on display on the main floor. 40 cars that Larry had painted, and all were spectacular. This much have been such a great sight with all those wonderful colors and special paint effects all parked together. And it must have been like heaven for Larry, a milestone in his career.

This overview photo wast taken at the 1966 L.A. Sports Arena Custom Car Show. Larry had no less than 54 cars he had painted displayed on the main floor and as if that was not enough, there were also 25 bikes he had painted in the higher floor.

Larry Watson painted the House of Rim’s ’59 Chevy shop truck for Genes Muffler’s shop in pearl yellow and subtile flame striping. This shop was located next to Larry’s shop at the time. The car was displayed with a selection of the latest rims placed on white rock salt. Larry placed his colorful business cards from his Lakewood Blvd shop in Paramount around the car.

Unidentified flame 1955 Pontiac Hard-Top in candy red and lavender flames outlined in black.  The car was displayed with angel hair and rock salt.

Roy Abendroth’s 1955 Buick Busonic painted lime gold by Larry in a sea of angel hair and Colorful Watson business cards.

Larry painted the restyled Buick for Bill DeCarr’s daughters Carol & Lana DeCarr. 

Unidentified Watson painted Pontiac.

Another unidentified Pontiac with some more great cars in the background including Ed Roth his Surfite. Notice the creative us of white and colored rock salt, the colorful Watson business cards and the Watson Paint sign. 

Don Riselings 1963 Oldsmobile painted in lavender pearl by Larry. Notice how the showcard makes special mention to Bill Hines for doing his signature double antenna’s on the rear quarter panel.

Dan Woods “Milk Truck” with the special Larry Watson Paint-job at the 1965 Tridents Car Show at the L.A. Sports Arena. The Milk Truck wins the Grand Sweepstakes and several other awards at this show. Larry created a 5-headedpaint gun especially for this car so that he could paint the graphics in the the car in two strokes. The cowl and roof has white veiling added. 

The 5-headed-paint-gun Larry developed for his special paint on the Milk Wagon, and later on a few other cars as well.

Charles Kuhl’s 1957 Ford Ranchero.

Larry’s personal 1962 Cadillac.

Larry painted this beetle in silver with cob-webbing on the fenders, hood and trunk as well as the roof over a slightly lighter silver base. This was a show done a little later than the others in this article. The very elaborate display was typical for the shows in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. 

Enlarged section shows the neatly covered up colored light, the Harly Wax sign, most likely sponsored and the chrome Larry Watson Business Cards on the edge of the display.

The Chrome paper  Watson Business cards used at this show above are from Larry’s Firestone Blvd, Downey, California shop in 1968.

Art Anderson’s Aston Martin painted by Larry. This photo was taken in the mid 1970’s when Larry had his shop on Melrose in Holywood.

Close up of the Watson’s flyers and cards displayed with the Aston Martin

 

 
 
 
 
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SAM CLIMO SECTIONED SHOEBOX

Uncovering an old custom and sharing it with the public is always very exciting, but in this case it is even more exciting since the sectioned 1949 Ford of Sam Climo is is such fantastic condition. Sam Climo Uncovered Custom, lets take a closer look.

 
Thom Metz has known about the Sam Climo Sectiond 1949 Ford since the early 2000’s. But it was not unit early December 2015 before he was able to take some photos of the car and share them with the world on his Facebook.
 

Thom wanted to just show a sneak peek at first, but after getting many request he went back and took a few more photos with a little more of the sheets removed. But the first photos only showed details of the car. 

The use of the 56 DeSoto grille, sectioned body and lipped wheel openings quickly gave away which car it was. I was very excited to see how great the car still looked.

The dash still holds its original Barris custom mixed Moon Glow Copper paint applied in 1953.

Raised tunnel was needed after the body drop and sectioning. The interior was originally done in yellow, and later spray-died.

In the 1960s a set of Cragar S/S and a set of wonderful Goodyear Double Eagles were mounted. Those are still on the car today.

 
 
The Sectioned Shoebox was created by Sam & John Climo started in 1950 completed it 1953, and later mildly updated several times. The Custom was shown extensively in the 50’s… The family has clippings & trophys, and they kept a scrap book which includes a list of components written out on the back of a Pall Mall carton. Thom has known about the car since the early 2000’s… He is actually talking about getting it running. Thom is now talking to the family to see if they feel like having the car brought to the Autorama show. Hopefully that will happen, and we can see the car in its full glory.

The sectioned shoebox was completed in 1953 and Moon Glow Copper paint was ordered from Barris Kustoms… Two years later in 1955 it was repainted black, but they never really cared for that. The dash always remained the original Barris mixed paint. And later they used the dash to color mix some new paint and repainted the car again.
 

Steering universal joints along with a power unit… was needed after the engine was replaced with the Oldsmobile Rocket engine. Notice the reshape inner wheel panels. 

The rear bumper is the stock 1949 Ford unit with the guards removed and replaice with a Kaiser guard/bar. The taillights are replaced with 1951 Ford units, including the chrome wind-splits.

The stock bumpers where modified with thru-bumper exhaust tips.

The Sectioned Shoebox was named “The Quivira” which was etched on the C-pillar stainless.

 
 
Thom also mentioned another another neat story that was shared about the car. After a car show, Ford sent a rep out to look at the steering… because of the body/frame position & the Olds engine his Dad used a small universal joints work the steering / a common practise today but not in 1953.
 
“The wheels and tires that are on the car were obviously added later… Tires from the 50’s didn’t last as long as they do today… After 57 14’s were predominate… I’m sure by the mid 60’s it was easier to change wheels than to find narrow WW15’sOther than dyed seats & repainted twice… It’s still family owned since 1950.”
 
 

Using 1952 Ford wheel lips back in 1952-53 was pretty unique as well. 

The bumper guards were replaced with 1954 Chevy units, the grille opening cut down and later filled with a 1956 DeSoto grille. The headlights were later also replaced with 1955 Buick units which are all still on the car today.

The seats and side panels were spry-died copper at one point, but the headliner is still the original yellow unit installed in the early/mid 1950’s.

 
 
The magazine back in the 1950’s have always listed the car as a 1951 Ford, due to the 1951 Ford parts used thru-out, But the car caem from the factory as an 1949 convertible The dash is still the original 1949 unit.

This is how the Sam Climo sectioned shoebox looked like in 1956. Wide white wall tires and skirts, change the look of this car completely with how it looks today.

This is how the car looked in 1958, painted black. The yellow interior can be seen really well in this great color picture from the Jim Aemon collection in the Rodder’s Journal Scrapbook.

We hope to be able to share you more on the Sam Climo Sectioned Shoebox in the near future. Hopefully the family decides to have the car at the Autorama show and share it with the public in all its glory. We will keep you posted here on the Custom Car Chronicle. Stay tuned…

Many thanks to Thom Metz for sharing the photos and stories and Mick Fairlane for the link.
 
 

 
 
 
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DON DOBBINS SHOEBOX

In 1955 Don Dobbins from was starting his career as body-man, his 1949 Ford Coupe would be his canvas for a lot of successful restyling experiments.

 
In 1955 Don Dobbins had just come back to the US for serving in the Army stationed in Germany when he found a nice $350.- 1949 Ford coupe at a local Junk Yard. While still in the army he used the car as daily transportation and slowly started to transform it into his dream custom in his spare time at a local body show he was working spare time. Don wanted to become a body man and he figured that he could best practice on his own project while building his dream custom. He experimented a lot on the car and tried many new things just to practice and to see if he could do the work. 
 

Photo taken not to long after the Ford was bought from a car lot in july 1955 after Don had returned from service in Germany.

Don spend his spare time reworking the Ford at a local body shop where he had a part time job while still in the army. The hood had been shortened in the front, new grille opening created, 52 Mercury headlights molded into the fender, shaved body and Oldsmobile rear fenders.

The Humble beginnings

At first the car transformed into a mild custom, with a shaved body and custom front and rear. Don welded the front end of the hood to the front fenders, and cut a new line a bit higher to make the hood look thinner. He used some spare parts, round rod and sheet metal to create a new grille opening. He molded in a set of 1952 Mercury headlights and cut of the Ford rear fender tops and replaced them with 1951 Oldsmobile units. The splash-pan front and rear were molded to the body and at the rear the lower trunk corners where rounded with a large radius. Don cut a 1955 Ford rear bumper in half and made it to fit the narrower 1949 Ford body. He also cut holes for the exhausts in the new rear bumpers. At this time Don also removed the tired original flathead engine and replaced it with an 1953 Oldsmobile engine. The car would use a grille made from 1950 DeSoto grille bars, sadly there are no photos of this.

 

1951 Oldsmobile rear fender sections were added including the tail lights, the Ford wind-splits were deleted and the trunk corners rounded. The rear bumper is a narrowed 1955 Ford unit with exhaust tips thru the bumper.

The Ford flathead engine was replaced with an 1953 olds engine in 1957 while Don lived in Junction City Kansas.

From 1957 to 1961 work on the Shoebox continued and the car went from a mild Custom to a full radical Custom. Don had chopped to top 4.5 inches, not wanting the rear of the top angle forward as the early 1950’s customizers did most of the time, Don added almost a foot of metal to the top above the doors to get the shape he was looking for. Remember that the Shoebox was the experimental project for Don, well he wanted to try something else on his car to create some more interesting shapes. He recessed the center section of the roof 3/8 inch and created a wonderful peak where the recess ended. This made the top look a lot longer and very interesting. Don created a very small rear window for this version of the car and used plexiglass for it. He would later reshape the trunk and hood to mimic this shape as well, but we will get to that later.

1961, More body changes including a chopped top, rear wheel opening change and a molded in lake-pipe. Work was done while Don lived in Independence Mo.

1962, getting the car ready for its first car Show in KCMO. The car now has 1955 Chrysler Grills and a front bumper based on a 1962 plymouth bumper an 1954 Mercury front bumper guards crafted in at the ends.

1962 First full Custom Version

First car show 1962 unfinish inside interior was hidden by white painted glass. Kansas City Mo. This side view photo also shows the very small rear window very well.

In 1963 the car was completely finished in its first version and showed in KCMO.

Don added a mostly molded in lake pipe running from the top of the front wheel opening to the rear of the doors. There the molded in pipe was cut open and filled with a hand made chrome plated double opening lake pipe. The rear wheel opening was lipped an the lip was extended toward the rear bumper. At the rear the lower edge of the trunk was cut off and welded to the body. A second set of Oldsmobile taillights was molded into the rear of the body creating a very interesting new rear of the car. The car was lowered all around and the drive shaft tunnel was raised for clearance. Don painted the car in a nice medium blue metallic, added steel wheels with baby moon hubcaps and narrow white wall tires.

For the interior Don hand made a dash-board and installed a large number of gauges in a custom made dash wide panel. The steering wheel was replaced with an 1961 Chevy unit and the seats where replaced with four bucket seats he found in an early 1960’s Volvo PV. The interior was finished in white and blue tuck & roll, the garnish moldings were painted body color. Don finished the car like this in 1963.

Close up shows the 1950 Chrysler grille and home made bumper. This close up also shows the peaked lower edge of the hood, and gives a good look at the scoop Don created below the bumper to allow for more air to cool the Olds engine. The scoop is peaked in a similar way as the hood has been. 

The 1953 Oldsmobile engine was nicely detailed with a four carburator intake and lots of chrome plated parts.

More changes.

Later in 1963 it was time for more updates on the car Don decided to change the grille one more time. The 1955 Chrysler units were removed and a new larger grille opening was created using sheet metal and shaped round rod. The new larger grille opening was filled with hand shaped chrome plated thin round bars giving the car a completely different look and feel again. Then on June 19, 1964 disaster happened. After Don was asked to bring his Shoebox to the St Joseph Mo Car show to be shown as feature car at the show an engine fire destroyed the engine bay and damaged the hood and front fenders.
 

Then in 1964 before the St Joseph Mo car show disaster happened. The engine caught fire on june 19 1964 damaging the engine compartment, the hood and front fenders. The car had chosen to be the Feature Car at the show, so Don was not only devastated by the damage, but also missing out of the opportunity to be the feature car.

Outside damage after the fire. It took Don a while to get back to the car and redo it. Notice that Don had already changed the front end of the car before the fire. 

After the devastating fire it took Don a bit of time to get back to feel good about the car. Before the fire he never minded cutting into the car to make more changes, but that fire really hurt him. But he did get back on the car and decided to not only fix the damage, but make more changes/improvements at the same time. Don really liked the shape of the new grille opening and how it mimicked the lower hood peak, the below the front bumper scoop and even the roof recessed panel. But the hood and trunk still looked to flat compared with the rest. So Don designed a wonderfully shape scoop to be used on the hood as well as the trunk. Don did not want the scoops to sit on top of the hood and trunk like most others he had seen did. Instead he cut out the panels and recessed them into the hood and trunk. Using sheet metal and round rod to make them look really nice. All work was done metal finished, like the rest of the body work Don performed on the Shoebox.

Later in 1964 Don had fixed all the fire damage and updated the car with a wonderful styled hood scoop that fits the below the bumper scoop an new grille opening perfectly. The rear window was also changed at this time and enlarged for a better rear view. This photo also shows the wonderful recessed center section of the roof.

Don created a completely new dash board with a custom made gauge panel covering the complete width of the dash. The Volvo PV seats and the door panels were covered in white and medium blue tuck & roll upholstery.

To be able to get all the damage repaired and clean up the engine and engine bay he removed the engine and decided to make it cleaner and more beautiful than before.

At the back the new scoop and recessed panel would flow all the way to the rear splash pan. In the lower section Don cut a panel and made another recess for the license plate to sit into. Don wanted the plate to sit at the same level as the splash pane,and to be able to do that he had to cut the 1955 Ford rear bumper and made a recess in there as well. This time around Don also enlarged the rear window by cutting it up around 4 inches into the top. The new larger rear window balanced out the top a lot better now as well. With all the work done Don prayed the car medium blue metallic once more. It was like this when the car was featured in the January 1966 issue of Popular Customs Magazine. Don even got an inset color photo on the cover of the magazine.

Color photo from the cover of the January 1966 issue of Popular Customs magazine shows the wonderful designed rear of Don’s shoebox. The Recessed center section mimics the hood of the car, and so is the scoop added to the trunk. Notice that the trunk has been shortened considerably allowing for the custom quad Oldsmobile taillights.

Besides having a color photo on the cover of the Jan 1966 issue of Popular Customs, Don’s Shoebox was featured on four pages inside. 

1969 Selling the Shoebox

Towards the end of the 1960’s Don made a few more changes to the car. He opened up the rear wheel opening and added a lip around it which would flow into the wind-split he had added previously. He repainted the car in a dark blue and added lighter blue outline flames to it. The painted wheels with baby moons were replaced with chrome reverse wheels. In late 1969 Don sold the car and it ended up in California at the Movie World Cars of the Stars. Until then Don had showed the car at many cars shows in the Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska area winning many awards.

This is how Don’s Shoebox look like in 1969 with a new dark blue and flame paint job. Snapshot taken when the car was showed in KCMO. This was the last time Don showed it before he sold the car.

The car ended up at Movie World Cars of the Stars.

 
 
In the early 1970’s Don was told the car was still in California, and in 1976 Don went to California and during his trip he went to the Cars of the Stars to find out the car was not part of the collection anymore but was not at the Harrah’s Museum in Reno Nevada.  In 1986 a lot of the cars in the harrah’s Collection where auctioned, including Don’s Shoebox. The car was bought by a guy from Salem Orgeon. The new owner was able to find Don, and send him some photos how the car looked now. And asked for more information on the car. Sadly the contact information has since been lost and Don also could not remember the owners name. the car is now repainted in a light pearl blue with darker blue flames and scallops. The car is named My blue Angel.

 

In the mid 1970’s the car ended up in the Harrah’s Automobile Collection in Reno Nevada. It stayed there until 1986 when it was auctioned and found a new owner.

The new owner contacted Don and send him a few photos of how his old Shoebox the way it looked then. Sadly Don has lost the contact information and could not remember the name of the new owner. He does remember that the car was now in Salem Oregon.

This is how the car looked a couple of years ago. Still in very good shape with some very minor changes. 

Don has no idea what happened to the car after that. There are some more recent photos of the car from several car shows, and the car is still looking very good. But Don has not been able to find out who owns the car now, and where it is located. So if you know who owns Don’s old Shoebox Custom now, please let us know.

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LES POPO NEW CARETAKER

The famous sectioned 1940 Ford Coupe Custom Les PoPo, created for Bob Crespo in the late 1950’s has found a new Caretaker in late 2015.

 
In Early November 2015 Mikey Miranda made a deal with Mark Moriarity and became the new caretaker of the Hal Hutchins/Bill Cushenbery/Barris Kustoms sectioned 1940 For Coupe better known as the Les PoPo. The car was originally created for Bob Crespo in the late 1950’s. Sectioned by Hal Hitchins, and further restyling performed by Bill Cushenbery and the front end done by Barris Kustoms. (A full story on the car can be read in Kustoms illustrated Issue #32.)
 

This is how the Les-Popo looked in the late 1950’s early 1960’s, and this is also the way the car will look after the restoration.

 
 
Bob Crespo was working on restoring his old car himself, but passed away before he could finish the project. His son Tony Crespo eventually decided the car needed to be finished and offered it for sale. Gary Aragon decided to buy it and had plans to finish the restoration to the cars to its original early 1960’s specs, but found out soon that it would need more work than he could handle. The car was offered for sale again, an with the help of Rik Hoving Kustoms, Mark Moriarity was able to buy the car in January 2012.
 

This is how the car was sitting when it was for sale in 2012. It looked to be in pretty good condition, but up close it was obvious it needed a lot of work.

Photo taken at Mark Moriarity’s shop. The body was taken down to bare metal and Mark had started to do the needed body work. 

Skim coats of filler were added to get the body smooth before the prier was added.

This is how the car looked when it changed hands again in November 2015. Most of the body work was done and the car is now completely in primer, but still needing more fine tune work.

 
 
Mark set out to do a full restoration on the car and take it all back to bare metal. Mark has done a great deal of work on the car, found some of the missing parts. In October 2015 Mark Moriarity was offered to buy the Alexander Brothers / Jack Florence created 1955 Chevy “The Astorian” which was originally created for Rodney Rice. Mark had always admired this car a lot, so he decided to buy it. But now something else in his amazing collection had to go to make space for the Astorian. Mark decided the les Popo had to go. We will pay some more attention to the Astorian in a seperate CCC-Article soon. Mikey Miranda found out about this and after Mikey had sold another historic custom, The Clarkaiser 1953 Ford Victoria for Frank and Charles Gilardone, he had room for another historic custom. Together with his brother he made the 20 hour trip from Bloomfield New-Jersey, to Mark Moriarity’s house in Minnesota to pick up the 1940 Ford Les Popo.
 

The Alexander Brothers / Jack Florence created 1955 Chevy “The Astorian” shortly after it arrived at Mark Moriarity’s home in Monnesota.

Les Pop on the trailer waiting for its 20 hour trip behind Mikey Miranda’s car to its new home in New Jersey.

Parked save in Mike Miranda’s Bloomfield New-Jersey’s garage waiting to be finished over the next coupe of month. (photo courtesy of Richard Toonkel)

Mikey mentioned that all the parts first need to be trial fitted an more fine tuning on the body needs to be done before more primer coats and finally the Metalflake paint can be applied. (photo courtesy of Richard Toonkel)

Mark Moriarity already has done a lot of work to get he modified dash back into the first version. But as this photo shows, it still needs more work. (photo courtesy of Richard Toonkel)

 
 
A lot of the hard work already has been done by Mark and Mikey plans to continue the work and restore it to the well know metalflake blue with candy dark blue fades version. The car still needs some fine tuning, sanding and more coats of primer before it is ready for final paint. We at the Custom Car Chronicle are looking forward to see any progress on this typical 1960’s historic custom. And really look forward to see it all finished and at the car shows and on the road again. Some more photos of how the car looked in the early 1960’s can be seen in this CCC-Article. We will keep you posted about the progress. Stay tuned…
 
 

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PERFECT RESTYLED 1937 CHEVY

So every now and then you see a Custom Car that looks so good, it makes you wonder why there are not many more done just like it. Keith Goettlich’s 1937 Chevy Custom Coupe is a prime sample.

Lets build a Gasser…

If things have gone the way it was originally planned, concerning this 1937 Chevy Coupe, then it would have never been featured here on the Custom Car Chronicle. You see, Keith’s original plan was to build the Chevy as a vintage style drag car. The far from finished project Keith bought had started out just like that, a Gasser project from California, bought from a parts guy closer to home in Massachusetts.
 

 
After Keith had brought the project home he started to look at it for some time, figuring out what to do with it. After some time he really fell in love with the wonderful Art-Deco details and teardrop shapes on the Chevy, and started to wonder how it would look as a tail-dragging custom. Starting with some internet browsing to see how a 37 Chevy would look as full Custom he discovered that there were very few… nearly no 37-38 Chevy coupes done as full Customs. Not from the 40’s and 50’s, and also not in more recent years… and you can wonder why? Every shape on these cars is just right for that wonderful teardrop shaped tail-dragging custom. One of the few sample Keith found was a very nicely proportioned 1938 Chevy coupe created by Dick Bertolucci in the late 1940’s. It also used a Packard grille, which Keith had been thinking about getting for his Car. He later decided otherwise.
 

Dick Bertolucci’s 1938 Chevy at an early 1950’s dry lake meeting. This is one of the few 37-38 Chevy coupes keith could find that was restyled as a full custom back in the day. It has the Packard grille, that Keith thought about using in the early stages.

Change of plans… 40s Style Custom

Keith had fallen in love with the wonderful double body moldings at the belt-line, the way they ended at the back, and how they merged into three small louvre shaped elements towards the grille surround. The tall, elegantly shaped grille, perfect teardrop shaped fenders, the lip around the rear fenders, the fade away fender shape flowing from the lower edge of the hood side over the cowl fading into the doors. And then that long trunk flowing all the way to the bottom of the rear body. Everything on this body was perfect for a full custom. But why did we not see more customs based on this Chevy from 1937-38?

This front 3/4 view shows the classic speed-boat stance, thanks to the air ride suspension. 

Perhaps my personal favorite view of the car. From this angle everything works together for that tail-dragging flow. Also notice how the lowered hood side louvres now mimic the shape of the headlights. The small lip on the Foxcraft skirts picks up the shape of the running board and leads the eye to the rear of the car.



Keith decided to go the full Custom route, with the Harry Westergard style as big motivator. He just knew that using this perfectly maintained rot free California based car would one day become a stunning Custom Car that people would talk about for a long time. Keith did not only want to have a pretty car, he also wanted to use it and drive it as much as he could. So even though the style for the cosmetics was set to the late 1940’s early 1950’s, the techniques used underneath would be a bit more modern, comfortable and reliable. Keith is a fine craftsman and decided to do the majority of the work himself in his home garage, but he knew when it came to chopping the top, he would ask the help for his good friend and custom car builder, Dave Paras of Paras Rod & Custom.

The project started with the frame work. Installing the 1964 401 Buick Nailhead engine, 700R4 transmission and the 9” Ford rear with 4-link and sleeve air ride suspension and the Heidts Mustang II front end also with bagged air ride. Then it was time to get the body back on and send it off to Dave Paras’ shop in Peabody, Massachusetts for the 3 inch chop. Keith decided to keep the drip-rails on the car and to keep the side window shapes as close to stock shape as possible. To be able to do this, Dave had to stretch the top over the doors a little over an inch. The new top shape is now perfectly balanced and flows nicely into the trunk. After having the chopped top in primer, the car went back to Keith’s garage where he would do the rest of the body work.
 

The lowered 1938 Chevy headlights, hood sides with peaked centers flowing from the headlights, smooth bumpers, and aftermarket grille make for an absolutely perfect dead of Custom Car front view. The wonderful stock Chevy body belt line and  fake louvres toward the grille can be seen very well in this photo.

Trent Sherrill has a way with getting a car the best way possible in a photo. His series on Keith’s 1937 Chevy is no exception to this. This photo shows why Keith chose the slightly longer 1938 Chevy headlights and why the hood louvres were dropped and flipped from side to side. 

The interior was done by veteran Paul Letourneau of Acushnet, MA using Maroon and Bone Naugahyde with black carpets outlined with bone colored piping. The door jambs and garnish molding are all beautifully finished.



When the project started, Keith researched the Westergard Style thoroughly and figured that a Packard grille might work really well for his Chevy, but the more he looked at the stock grille, and especially all the Art-Deco styling elements on the body, he decided it would be best to keep the original style grille. So, he settled for a smoothed aftermarket 1937 Chevy grille. He found a pair of longer 1938 Chevy headlights and mounted those lower than stock on the grille sides. With the lower teardrop shaped headlights the stock hood side louvered bulge panels seemed out of place. So Keith decided to lower them to fit in line with the light. And later he decided they would look even better if he would flip them upside down… and switch them from side to side. The end result is beautiful, and makes you wonder why the factory did not create it like this in the first place.

The rear of the car was cleaned and Keith create a set in license plate behind glass low in the long trunk. He shaved the original taillights and tunneled a set of 1941 Studebaker taillights into the fenders. A set of Foxcraft teardrop lipped fender skirts were perfect for the Chevy. The lip on the bottom visually extended the running board line. With all the body work done it was time to choose a paint color. Keith decided to use a 1970 Mercedes Dark red color and painted the 2-stage acrylic urethane paint together with his friend, Dave Paras.

The headliner was done in bone colored with maroon piping. Behind the folding seat there is a custom made storage space, upholstered to match. Notice the well detailed garnish moldings.

The Air ride and heat controls are all very cleverly hidden in the restored Chevy heater box.

The trunk was also completely upholstered and details. Plus it holds the high end stereo system for those comfortable long rides Keith made with his Chevy.

For the interior Keith had already incorporated a 1953 Oldsmobile gauge cluster into the smoothed Chevy dash. All the garnish moldings had been cut and fitted the chopped windows and painted body color. Upholstery was done in bone with maroon tuck & roll panels outlined in maroon by Paul Letourneau of Acushnet, MA. Paul was 85 years when he did the upholstery in the Chevy. He had done mostly boats in his long career, but as the Chevy shows he can do a super fine job in cars as well. Paul also did the black cut-pile carpet outlined with bone colored piping. And the headliner was done in bone with maroon piping. Keith had installed a storage compartment behind the folding seat. The air ride tank and new huge gas tank was also located here. Since Keith planned to drive his Chevy a lot he installed a 12-CD player and other state of the art stereo equipment. All the controls for this as well as the air ride were hidden in a carefully restored Chevy heater shell placed under the dash.

The 1964 Dual Quad Buick Nailhead engine is well detailed and updated for more reliability. The now one piece hood opened to the front with a hinge system Keith created himself.

Keith’s intention for his Chevy was not only good looks, but also drivability. He planned to cruise it as much as he could, which he did. And he even created a hidden hitch so that he would pull his 1963 Scotty Camper trailer. And to be totally legal and safe he uses the clamp-on side view mirrors. What a perfect combination.

Rodder’s Journal’s Steve Coonan shooting the Chevy for a full Rodder’s Journal feature .

The Chevy was featured in the Rodder’s Journal issue #53 with a story by Pat Ganahl and photos taken on location by Steve Coonan. A dream come true for any car guy.

Building the 1937 Chevy Coupe

Keith documented the project from the beginning to the end. Just to keep track of the whole project, but also to share his build with Custom Car enthusiast from around the globe. He shared the complete build on the HAMB and on the Custom Car Photo Archive. The good thing about sharing a project like this is that there is never a shortage of people willing to sharing ideas, giving suggestions etc.
 

Photos of the chop in progress at Dave Paras his shop. If you look hard you can see how the top was extended to be able to line up the windshield pillars and the rear of the top and B-pillars at about the same angle. The rear quarter windows needed some extra reshaping to get the perfect look.

A lot of work was done on the frame to make it road worthy and a comfortable drive. A whole new trunk floor was created and the air-ride tank and gas tank are place between the trunk and seat. 

Things are starting to look good. If you look careful, you can see that the hood sides are already changed, but that the louvered section has not yet been flipped from side to side. That decision was made after these photos were taken. The 1953 Oldsmobile gauge cluster fits the car really well.

Street Rodder magazine spend three full pages on the building stages of the Chevy in the Garage Scene series.

With fresh paint and half way putting it back together at Dave Paras’ his shop. Keith’s original plan was to run single bar flipper hubcaps, but later decided to go for the Cadillac Sombrero caps. 

 







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NEW PANORAMIC FORD

Andreas Åberg from Sweden has re-create the Panoramic Ford and in the progress improved on its original design. Lets take a closer look at the New Panoramic Ford in the last article in this series, the Panoramic Ford Part Three.

Andreas posing with his New Panoramic Ford at the 2014 Old Style Weekend event.

Andreas Åberg’s recreation of a Classic Custom

After having worked on several car project since he was in his young teens, Andreas from Sweden has developed a passion for classic customs in the early 200o’s. One car in particular sparks his interest. The Barris/Cerny created Panoramic Ford created for Buster Litton. When you view part One and Two on this car, you can understand why. The Buster Litton Panoramic Ford is – for many Custom Car enthusiast – one of the most beautiful Customs ever created. In 2005 Andreas is able to buy an unassembled, but complete 1950 Ford Sedan at a car auction not to far from where he lives. He is able to buy the car for a very low price, which is perfect since the plan to recreate the Panoramic Ford means he will have to find and buy a lot of rare car parts from the US and have them shipped to his home in Sweden, not cheap.

First thing to do for Andreas is to put together the Ford parts he had bought at the auction and makes it a rolling project. While at it Andreas mildly customized the car using 1952 Ford headlights and nosed and decked the car before painting it with black primer. In the winter of 2007-2008 Anreas starts its major project of recreating the Panoramic Ford. After doing research on the Buster Litton Ford collecting every photo and info he could find he made a list of parts he would need and noticed a few things on the original car he thought could be improved upon. So he decided to not create a perfect replica of the original Panoramic Ford, but rather a refined version of it. The New Panoramic Ford.

The first time I saw Andreas’ Shoebox was at the 2007 Old Style Weekend in Sweden. I did not know Andreas at that time and came across this nice looking mildly customized 1950 Ford, and had to take a photo.

The restyling started with chopping the top. The windshield was cut around 3 inches and the rear of the top was dropped in between the rear quarters enough to get the perfect profile. During this initial process the car was taken outside several times and compared to photos of the original Panoramic Ford, until the profile of the lowered top look just right. The flow of the top is crucial for this car, and Andreas decided to reshape the rear portion of the top to make it flow better, and to reposition the rear window in the top, again for a better flow. The lowered top was now much shorter, creating a gap from the trunk to the top, the catwalk.

Andreas created a new panel for this and also shaped new sail panels to make the whole unit flow as perfect as possible. With the basic top shape finished it was time to create the new hard-topped side windows. Not completely happy with the way these looked on the original car. Andreas asked Illustrator Janne Kutje, and Designer Rik Hoving along with input from good friend Wolf Christiansson for help to improve this on his car. Several Digital Restyling versions were created using styling elements from Wolf’s 1951 Mercury Hard-Top, which Andreas really liked.

 
Not to long after the OSW show in the summer of 2007, Andreas started to further customize his Ford. Chopping the top about 3 inches at the a-pillars and some more , until it looked right, at the back. These photos show how much catwalk needed to be added to fill the gap, how the bulge above the rear window was “flattened” for a better flow, and how Andreas  reshaped the side window openings completely.

With most of the hard work done Andreas made some photos and asked for some design help from Janne Kutja, Wolf Christiansson and me (Rik Hoving Kustoms). I “finished” the side view image in Photoshop and helped reshaping the side window opening and other details till Andreas was happy with it and he could transfer the changes into metal.

The A-pillar width, the corner shapes on the front top, and the rear corners were all reshaped from their original shape to improve the overall look. In the design process it was also made clear that the section from the belt-line to the bottom of the window opening on the Fords is less than on the Mercury’s from the same year. And that the Mercury has a very nice balance between the lower edge of the windshield and side windows. It was decided to match the Mercury lines on this, and now the bottom of the side window openings is in line with the bottom of the windshield, and also with the lowered rear window. It is details like this what makes looking at Andreas New Panoramic Ford such a pleasure for the eye. A large portion of the new side window opening was hand made for the perfect flow. The rear corner of the side window opening was created using the corner of a 4-door Ford donor car. Andreas worked with Wolf Christiansson on reshaping the stainless trim around the new window opening.

In 2008, Andreas “finished” the hard-topped car in black primer and enjoyed it for the summer. The front and rear of the car remain mostly stock at this time.

When the chopped top was handled the car was painted black primer again and enjoyed for the summer. Next winter it was time to add the 1951 Oldsmobile rear fenders that Andreas had found in the US and had arrived in Sweden. The Ford rear fenders were marked and sections removed to be replaced with the Olds sections. The Olds units had to be shaped a bit to match the Ford quarter panel contours. The radius on top of the Olds rear fenders is much larger than on the Ford so Andreas decided to replace most of the Ford top portion of the fender with the Olds unit to make them blend in with the body much nicer. Once the Olds fenders were mounted Andreas decided that the slight off vertical line of the taillights should be corrected and he cut off the taillight bezel surrounds and repositioned them. At the same tome Andreas also re-routed the gas filler to the back of the drivers side rear fender. He modified the lower portion of the 1951 Olds taillight and hinged it on the side so he could use it as a gas cap. The splash pan was reshaped and welded and molded to the body. A narrowed 1953 Ford rear bumper was added, and for this version Andreas reshaped 1950 Mercury bumper guards.

1951 Oldsmobile rear fenders were found online in the US and shipped to Sweden. During the winter of 2008-2009 Andreas reshaped the Olds fender sections to fit the Ford rear quarters.

Andreas had been able to find a set of 1952 Studebaker headlights, but not the actual fenders. In He decides to mock up the 1952 headlights and places them several inches in front of the Ford fenders to where he thinks they need to be. He makes some photos and asked me to make more Digital Finishing images to see how the whole car now looks. At this point it is decided that the front fenders are extended to much. But then January 2009 Andreas finally finds a set of 1951 Studebaker front fenders, which will save him a lot of work on the front, and makes the front the same as the original Panoramic Ford. The stock 1950 Ford splash pan is molded to the front fenders.

More Photoshop help was needed to blend in and digitally finish the fresh body work to see if everything was looking good. In this phase Andreas had found the Studebaker headlights, but not the actual fenders, and was considering shaping the front fenders by hand. The top photo shows the headlights mocked up using welding rod in the right location.

Andreas was not quite happy with the slight angled inwards look the Olds taillights had once the fenders were welded to the Ford. So he cut off the taillight mounting section and slightly rotated it so the light would sit perfectly vertical when viewed from behind. The splash pan was modified and molded to the body to make the narrowed 1953 Ford rear bumper fit perfectly. 

Andreas finally found a set of 1951 Studebaker front fenders in the US in January 2009. When they arrived home in Sweden he grafted them onto the Ford front fenders. It required quite a bit of metal work to make them fit perfectly.

The original Panoramic Ford used the Studebaker front fender lip which oddly disappears halfway the wheel opening. Andreas never cared for that look, so he decided to change this detail. His first thought was using the popular 1952-54 Ford/Mercury units, but felt the lip would be a bit to wide for the looks he wanted. He looked at the lip on the cut down 1951 Mercury fender skirts he had for the car and decided to use those as a template. He cut the wheel opening from the fender at about half an inch from the opening, leaving only the bottom section attached to the fender. Then he pushed this section outwards until he had the look he was after. He welded some pieces of rod to hold the thin sections in place and shaped up pieces of sheet metal to fill in the gap and blend it in with the rest of the fender. The result is a very elegant wheel lip styled similar to the 1951 Mercury fender skirt for the perfect balance. The car was lowered with dropped spindles in the front and de-arched springs and lowering blocks in the back.

The front wheel opening lip was created by making a cut just above the wheel opening, pushing the opening out a bit, and filling the gap with shaped pieces of sheet metal. The new lip is more elegant than the Studebaker unit, and fits the lip on the skirt perfectly.

Once again the car was pushed out for a good view of the new profile of the car. The Olds rear fenders and Studebaker front units make all the difference and the car was not looking very close, but more refined as the original Panoramic Ford. The 1950 Buick side trim has now also been installed.

With the Studebaker front fenders now in place its time to get things wrapped up at the front. The Studebaker fender body crease is removed and everything metal finished. The original Panoramic Ford uses a 1951 Mercury lip on the lower hood section. But Andreas figured it would be far to hard for him to locate that part in Sweden, so he instead shaped a similar lip from sheet metal and made it fit the hood and front fenders perfectly. The hole in the hood from the original Ford grille was filled at this point as well.

Now things at the front were almost done. He found an 1953 Chevy grille bar with three teeth, and the 1951 Ford grille end bullets were also located and adapted to the Chevy bar. A new construction was created to make the bar float in the new grille opening. A window frame was created for the door glass, and separate units where made for the slide-in rear quarter windows. Time for another round of black primer. After that Andreas enjoyed the car for a few years while building a house and spend time with his young family.

 The lower hood section was hand shaped. The grille was created from a 1953 Chevy unit with 1951 Ford bullets at the end.

In the summer of 2009 Andreas once again painted the car in black primer. No all the body work was done, and the car looked stunning. Notice that the dash already has been painted body color. Andreas had heard George Barris would be visiting Sweden, and he wanted George to sign the dash on his Ford, so the dash had to be finished before the rest of the car.

Time to finish the New Panoramic Ford

in late 2012 it was time to get back on the New Panoramic Ford project again. In the meantime Andreas had been looking for and found the last missing pieces for his project. The 1950 Ford Crestliner steering wheel, the Appleton S-552 Spotlights, convertible and victoria garnish moldings and a few more odds and ends. The car was taken apart, and finished where needed. Then it was time for paint. Andreas already had picked the color for his car a few years earlier when he had heard George Barris would visit a Swedish Car Show. To top of his creation he wanted George Barris to sign the ash in his car. So well before the rest of the car was ready he had detailed, finished and painted the 1949 Ford dash in a DuPont custom mixed Cocoa Rust-Red metallic paint. Johnny Ernflykt added the perfect color for the car.
 

In the winter of 2012-2013 Andreas took the car apart for the last time, did the final body work and prepped the car for paint. The finished car debuted at the Elmia Custom Car and Hot Rod show in early 2013.



After the car was painted it as a race against time to get the car finished for the 2013 Custom Motor show in Elmia, Sweden. where Andreas wanted to debut the car. The interior was done by USA Trading Upholstery Shop, who normally do not do vintage car interiors. Andreas wanted an little less busy interior in his car than Bill Gaylord had created for the original car in the early 1950’s. With as much photos of samples he could find, especially of the Jay Johnston Shoebox he had instructed the upholstery shop. The shop handled the tuck & roll interior in the Ford really well. The already finished dash wan installed and the stock steering column cleaned and detailed then painted body color before  the restored 1950 Ford Crestliner steering wheel was added. The car was actually finished on the show floor at the Elmia show, but Andreas made it, and the car was finished when the show opened for the public.

The New Panoramic Ford in 2015 in Uddevalla Sweden. The angled Olds rear fenders give instand movement to the car. The lowered rear window flows perfect together with the bottom line of the side windows.

Most cars have a preferred perfect angle, with The New Panoramic Ford I have come to the conclusion that it looks perfect from any angle.

This low rear quarter view shows how great the angled fender lines on the front and rear work together and create instant speed. The flow of the top and the continues line of the side window and rear window helps with this flow. The lower door corners were rounded to echo the round lines used on the rest of the car.

Front view shows the great looking grille from 1953 Chevy and 1951 Ford components, the peaked hood and the continues line of the bottom of the windshield and the side windows.

Side view photo taken while Andreas drives his car to a photo-shoot location in 2014. Notice how great the home made lip on the front wheel opening matches the lip on the cut down 1951 Mercury skirts in the back.

The restored 1950 Ford Crestliner accessory steering wheel looks absolutely stunning in the car. The dash is as perfectly finished as the outside of the car.

Andreas demonstrating how the slide-in rear quarter windows work. Just like on the original Panoramic Ford the rear quarter windows are stored in the back, while cruising with all windows open.

A few more details. Rounded rear hood corners and restored Appleton S-552 Spotlights and the home made hinged lower section of the 1951 Oldsmobile taillights to access the gas filler.

Andreas loves to engineer and build his cars in such a way that he can also enjoy driving them. Just like back in the 1940’s and 50’s Andreas drives his New Panoramic Ford as much as he can, and to every car show he is entering the car in.

Andreas filling up the car with more gas, for more cruising. The home built 1951 Oldsmobile hinged taillight gas filler cap works perfect.

The New Panoramic Ford was build with the Custom Cars from the early 1950’s in mind. Back then most Custom Car owners used their cars on the road a lot, often the car was their only transporrtation. Andreas drives his Ford as much as he can… and is not afraid to use it in less than perfect weather.

It does not get any better than this. Andreas perfect, improved Panoramic Ford parked with the Dick Dean created Lee Lucero 1951 Mercury. (The 1951 Mercury was owned by Palle Johansen in 2014 when this photo was taken.)

(this article is sponsored by)





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An Appeal To You!

Share with us! Your Custom Car Memories. We aren’t looking for letter-perfect. Photos, or not. Just help us preserve the past and grow the future of the beauty of customizing, through the CCC.



By Larry Pointer & Rik Hoving


The Holiday Season is a time for sharing, for counting our blessings, and for reaching out to friends and family.
You are our family. CCC would like for you, too, to share your stories with all of us who enjoy the beauty of customizing.
We have lost some icons of customizing over the passing year. It reminds us how quickly we can lose HUGE pieces of our rich past. People. Stories. Photos. How fleeting they are, as the business of Life carries us beyond return. “If only” are words too often heard when someone or something passes beyond retrieval.



Besides the stories we are of course also always interested if you have any old Custom Car related photos or other material to share. Your shared material is enjoyed by thousands of enthusiast from all around the globe.



Passing it on is what connects us. It is how we grow in our Lives. CCC would like for you to pass along your own stories, with or without photos. As Scott Stalick recently pointed out, whole new generations of enthusiasts are eager to learn and to more fully appreciate the rich traditional customizing legacy that is theirs through the CCC.



Memo Ortega has been sharing from his many albums and amazing stories with the Custom Car Chronicle readers. The readers love his authentic stories, and the shared storied helped Memo reconnected with several of his long lost friends.

It’s hard to think what we might have missed if Memo Ortega had not sat down with us and told us his stories. We’ve all come to love him. It’s like we just walked up his drive, to watch him work his old school magic. And on top of all, Memo got reconnected with a lot of his old friends who read his stories on the CCC.



Memo Ortega on the left, with one of his old friends, “Papitas”.



And Tom Nielsen. How lucky we are, that he and teenagers like him captured their car passions through the lenses of their cameras. When Bob Prill generously opened his personal albums to us this past year, already over 16,000 of us have clicked onto his snapshots of a car life of the Fifties.


Larry Pointer recently shared how blest he has been in connecting and rekindling friendships of the past. The Conquistadors, the daughters of the home-schooled genius Cecil Wentz, the Benths and the brothers Schwartz.
In going through his own “40 years’ gatherings”, Larry stumbled across slides of a very special 1938 Chevy coupe he had from a life, literally, as a chicken coop. He knew the year, 1965, because he sold the coupe to pay for the birth of his daughter Nicole.
The car was bought by the Sheridan College basketball center, who drove it home to Indiana. Fifty years ago, that was, but Larry was able to contact that very man, Dale Phillips, and discover “the rest of the story”. Now a retired professional pilot, restoring a pre-WWII biplane, Dale told of driving that 38 Chevy for several years. “I know where that car is,” Dale added, and not long later Larry received an email: “Look what I found!” with photos of that very car in its present condition today.



Larry Pointer’s 1938 Chevy Coupe back in the 1960’s and the inset photos show that his old car is still around today. Without the CCC Larry would have never known his old car was still around.



Soon Larry was sharing stories with Dale and with the car’s present caretaker, Gregory Prosser. For awhile, nostalgia got the best of Larry and had him scrambling to find ways to retrieve the coupe. But the penciled out realities (and actuary tables on Septegenarians) soon set his feet solidly on terra firma.He may not have the coupe back, but friendships old and new have been ignited. Who knows, someone younger may soon give this car with a documented pedigree a new home and a new life…like the perfectly restyled 37 coupe of Keith Gottlichs…as a traditional custom car.



Dick Read shared his memories and photo albums with the CCC in the hope he would be reunited with his old car… It worked Dick was reunited, and the CCC readers got an great story.



We have received many email and comments of people who loved the stories we share, the personal details we add in our historic Custom Car features, and the many added snapshots shared by our readers. Our older readers who have been there in the past reliving their history again after reading the shared stories on the CCC. And the younger generation who gets a much better view how it really was back in time, getting inspired to create fantastic new Custom Cars. Our shared stories have also helped relocate old cars that are still around. A great sample is the Show Rod Dick Read created in the 1960’s. He had been looking for his old car for 15 years, then stumbled onto the Custom Car Chronicle, liked it so much he decided to share his story. And with the help of the Custom Car Chronicle, thousands of people where able to enjoy his story, and even better Dick was reunited for the first time since 1970, with his old Show Rod the T-Era in 2013.
A lot of this and much more, might not have happened if the stories, information and photos had not been shared with the Custom Car Chronicle.

So, we appeal to each and every one of you. Share with us! We aren’t looking for letter-perfect. Photos, or not. Just help us preserve the past and grow the future of the beauty of customizing, through the CCC. Email us and will help you share your Custom Car Memories and photos on the Custom Car Chronicle.



From us to you, Happy Holidays.





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WATSON PAINTED 59 CHEVIES

Larry Watson painted quite a few 1959 Chevies in his career. Among those were these two nearly identical painted pearl pink hard-tops. Lets take a closer look at these two Watson Painted 59 Chevies.



We are not sure how many 1959 Chevy’s Larry has painted, but his archived photos show quite a few. Mostly hard-top models, but also a number of El Camino’s. In this article we like to focus on two rather similar painted hard top models. They are not identical, one is more pink and the other is more like a rosemist. But they both have a similar feeling.



Rosemist pearl and Candy Red

The first of the two is actually the car owned by Larry’s brother Dave Watson. There were several photos of Dave’s 1959 Chevy in Larry’s Collection. All the photos were taken at the Artesia Blvd shop were Larry rented the paint booth from his friend Bill DeCarr. Larry did not stay very long in this shop, a little over a year, most of 1960 and some time in 1961 before he went to Paramount. Larry was very productive in the short time he was at the Artesia shop though. The situation was just perfect. His friend Bill DeCarr would get the cars in his shop, do his magic on the restyling of the body, shaving trim and handles, or do more extensive body work. Then Bill would spot prime the cars and they would be driven into Larry’s shop. No time was waisted.
 

 
There are two photos of Dave Watson’s Chevy with freshly done body work in the Watson Personal Collection. Parked in front of the Artesia Blvd shop, and most likely they body work was done by Bill DeCarr. The car has is handles removed, the hood was shaved and most likely the trunk was done the same way. All emblems were removed and the stock grille was replaced with an aftermarket tubular grille. The cars was lowered a little and a bit more in the front for the popular California rake. Larry painted his brother’s Chevy in a glowing rosemist pearl on the main body and candy red on the top and inside the side trim on the rear of the car.
 

Dave’s Chevy was original white from the factory with a red interior. Parked in front of the Artesia Blvd shop it shows the fresh black primer spots from the Bill DeCarr body-work. Take also a good look at the work trucks in the background.

This snapshot shows the slight rake and the tubular grille. The structure in the background would later become the Hobby Shop next to the Bill DeCarr Shop.

And here we can see Dave’s Chevy with the fresh rosemist pearl and candy red top. The combination works really great, and the factory red interior fitted the colors just fine. In the background we can see two more of Bill DeCarr/Larry Watson projects. Jerry Preston’s 1959 Chevy ElCamino and Dick Gonzales his 1955 Studebaker. 

Dave’s Chevy looks really good with the shaved body, tubular grille, mild rake and custom hubcaps on medium white wall tires. Larry’s pearl rosemist paint-job seams to really glow.

Dave Watson with his 1959 Chevy painted by his brother Larry Watson.

Pink pearl and Candy Fuchsia.

The second 1959 Chevy hard-top painted similar to Dave’s Chevy is from an unknown lady. Larry has only three photos of her car. One photo taken next to the Artesia shop with the owner of the car inside, with fresh body work, and two photos of the finished car taken in a new neighborhood. This Chevy is painted a similar but brighter color combination. This time the main body is done is a bright pearl pink and the top and inside the side trim is done in a candy Fuchsia. The Chevy was also shaved, but the owner decided to keep the door handles. A 1960 Mercury grille was modified to fit the reshaped Chevy grille opening. The stock wheels were replaced with a set of chrome reversed rims and dressed up with thin wall white wall tires. The car was lowered a little less than Dave’s Chevy. If any of our readers recognizes this pink and fuchsia 19959 Chevy, and knowns who the lady was who owned the car in 1961-61. Please let us know. We would love to put a name with the car.
 

Parked next to the DeCarr/Watson Artesia Blvd Show looking down Artesia Blvd. The reflections in the rear window show the interior was already redone in white tuck & roll and the body has been cleaned up with all emblems removed. Notice the different colors of primer used on the car. Indicating perhaps multiple people worked on this car, prior the Watson paint job.

Finished Chevy looked stunning in bright pearl pink with the fuchsia candy on the top and inside the side trim. The 1960 Mercury grille looks like it belongs on a ’59 Chevy. The owner also decided to use a set of Dummy Spotlights, which fitted perfectly with the chromed cone centers on the reversed rims.

I really love this photo showing the bright paint on the Chevy with the older cars in the back ground in this new build neighborhood with the recent planted trees. Possibly the owner of the Chevy lived here. The Chevy must have had quite an impact in a neighborhood like this.

Bill DeCarr having fun on a mini-bike in front of his Artesia Blvd. shop.

(this article is made posible by)

 
 
 
 
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BILL SHANK 56 CHEVY

In late 2015 Dick Swain send us some photos of his old friend Bill Shanks 1956 Chevy Custom. And asked if we could help locate his old friend Bill Shank for him…

Dick Swain and Bill Shank were good friend back in the late 1950 and 1960’s in California. They were both into cars, and Bill had a wonderful mildly restyled 1956 Chevy that even made it into the magazine. They kept contact up until 1970 when Bill took on a job for the FBI or CIA (Dick could not remember which of the two it was) and by that time Dick had relocated on the East Coats. They lost sight of each other, and never had contact since. On a recent search for some old photos Dick came across an envelope with four color photos of Bill Shank’s old 1956 Chevy and a copy of the October 1958 issue of Car Craft Magazine in which Bill’s chevy had a two page feature. This brought back a lot of memories, and Dick tried to find his old friend… no luck. One one of his searched he came across the 1956 Chevy’s on the Custom Car Chronicle site and decided to give it a try and as us to help him find his old friend. So if any of the CCC readers know about the current whereabouts of Bill Shank from California who had a Car Craft featured 1956 Chevy in the late 1950’s…. please let us know. Dick Swain would love to get back in touch with him.

Dick send us some digital photos of the old photos Bill had taken of his 1956 Chevy. Two of the photo’s were taken in front of Bill’s father’ Mac’s T.V. shop in Duarte California. Very interesting is that the Chevy is parked next to the Barris Kopper Kart shop truck. At this moment we do not know the connection between Barris and Bill’s Chevy. Dick thought that perhaps the Barris shop had been doing some work on Bill’s Chevy, but the Car Craft Article list all the work done on Bill’s Chevy by Virgil’s Body Shop of Monrovia Ca.



Bill’s Chevy parked next to the Barris Kopper Kart with the Mac’s T.V. Shop owned by Bill’s father in the background. The photo was taken in 1957-58 in Duarte California.

Bill took the photos,and was of course very proud the famous Barris Kopper Kart Shop Truck was parked next to his ’56 Chevy at his fathers shop.

Bill’s 1956 Chevy was restyled mildly restyled in late 1956-early 1957, when the car was still nearly new. The stock grille was removed and replaced with a 1956 Chrysler grille that was modified to fit the Chevy opening. The hood was nosed and the trunk decked for that desired smooth look. But the door handles and side trim remained on the car. The rear fenders were modified with a new molded taillight opening to accept 1956 Buick taillight lenses. The rear bumper ends were modified to accept new exhaust tips, a very popular trend at any mild custom at the time. The car spend about one month in the body shop and was painted a wonderful Titian Red. The two color photos of the car show it in its first version with no pin striping and with a set of aftermarket custom hubcaps mounted on medium white wall tires. The car was lowered with a bit more on the front for that nice California rake. The Car Craft article mentioned the car was dropped a full 5 inch, but the reality was a little less. Bill had the interior redone in white and maroon tuck & roll. Bill was a member of the Strokers Car Club of San Gabriel Ca.



The Chrysler grille really changed the whole look of the car, it is a subtile touch, but very effective. 

The mild California rake and molded in 1956 Buick taillights make Bill’s 1956 Chevy a real head turner.



Dick Day, the well know Custom Car and Hot Rod photographer shot Bill’s 1956 Chevy for a two page feature in the October 1958 issue of Car Craft Magazine. By then the car has changed a bit for its first clean version. Bill had added header plugs below the front rockers, and replaced the hubcaps with a set of 1956 Oldsmobile three bar units. By then he belonged to the Sirchers Car Club and he mounted a club plaque on the rear bumper. The Script on the front fender was removed and he asked famous Pin-Striper Tom Kelly to tripe the car in white pin-stripes.
 












After the car was featured in Car Craft magazine Bill installed a 1959 Corvette Fuel Injected engine. That is the last info we have on Bill’s 1956 Chevy. We are not looking to find out what happened with Bill’s old Chevy, although if somebody has any info on that we would really welcome that as well. But we are looking to find the owner of the car, Bill Shank who lived in Duarte California in 1970’s. If anybody knows anything about Bill from after 1970. Please email Rik so that we can pass it on to his old friend Dick Swain who now lives in Hagerstown MD.

Special thanks to Joe Weddles who shared the material with us on behalf of Dick Swain.

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MEMOS SUNDAY KRUIZIN

Kruzin is what Memo and Terry do on Sundays. Vondolero As Memo named his 1953 Chevy kustom must get out and kruzzzze all over the LA and Harbor areas… otherwise she just aint happy. Memo Ortega Stories Part 27

But before we go cruising lets take a moment to remember Memo’s cousin and car buddy Panya who recently passed away.

R.I.P. Panya

On December 16, 2015 Memo’s cousin Frank aka “Panya” passed away at age 85. You have probably read about Panya in some of the other Memo Ortega Stories. Panya was another original Vagabond Car Club member to which Memo also belongs to from very early on. Today there are very few original members left. After Panya’s funeral, Memo went over to his old house and talked to his son Michael about the good old time with his father. On the coffee table there was this old photo album, so Memo asked if it was on with photos of Panya and if he could take a look. It was and when Memo looked inside he saw many old photos he had never seen before. Photos of Panya’s old 1941 Chevy taken around 1948 or 49. And pictures of him with his 1950 merc. Both cars were nice mild customs with a really nice stance, and both had motorcylcle taillights which was really big back then. Memo hopes he can have the other photos scanned from the album as well, so that we can do a nice tribute to Panya article here on the CCC. Untill then here are two of the photos from Panya’s photo album.
 

Panya with his tail dragging 1941 Chevy four-door with motor cycle taillights and single bar flipper hubcaps in 1948-49. A few years later Panya owned a very cool mildly restyled 1950 Mercury which we can see on the right photo.

Sunday Cruise

Memo and his wife Terry have been cruising Memo’s customs on Sundays for as long as they can remember. They love going out on the road with their customs, checking out known and unknown places, going for a bite to eat, and getting together with friends if they bump into them on their  way. Memo always says that his cars are not happy if they do not get their weekly cruise…

On the first Sunday in 2016 Memo and Terry took out their 1953 Chevy “Vondolero” for another cruise, and this time Memo took his camera with him to shoot some photos along the cruise. Lets sit down and listen to Memo’s Sunday Cruise story.

We got up today, got ready and took off. After a little bit we stopped for a bite to eat and after that we headed west on Arrow Highway, kruzin past the dam to Al Monte went down Rosemead blvd to Whittier Blvd and stopped by Montebello Park. Pit stop park was dead, nobody around, so we left heading West. We went under the big Whittier blvd sign on the corner of S. Arizona Ave. then went on towards the 6th bridge. We stopped there to take a picture of Vondolero on the bridge with the city in the background.

The big Whittier Blvd. sign on the corner of S. Arizona Ave.

Terry in our Chevy at Montebello Park before we left towards the back of the park.

We parked the car and quickly took this pic of the famous 6th Street bridge.

Next we went up Alameda to the Placita. We checked it out and headed towards Hollywood Blvd. When we got there, the place was packed with tourist, we made one pass and left. It took us a little time to get to La Brea Blvd. becuase of the heavy traffic, but we were having fun krusin through there. We do not come there too often, but every once and a while we like to check out Hollywood Blvd. and go krusin there.

Hollywood Blvd… it’s real neat seeing whats going on around there with all kinds of characters dressed in different costumes.

On Hollywood blvd heading west towards grauman’s chinese theater. Lots of traffic stopped at Highland Av. signal.



We got to La Brea Blvd. an headed south, we wanted a famous Pinkys Hot Dog, but when we got there the place was over crowded… I guess like always, so we decided to keep on krusin down to Santa Monica. The place was so packed with traffic, so we left and headed down the Pacific Coast Highway towards LAX Airport. We went to this spot where our good friend Howard Gribble likes to take photos of planes taking off on the runway. We love to kruze there, just having fun all over. We left there rappin pipes… Let me tell you… Vondolero never lets us down “nock on wood“, and it also jams when I step on the gas, one mighty fine kruzer. We headed towards Redondo Beach, it was a cool day, but who cares, were out there kruzin… mabe I should change my name to kruzer haha… Cuase thats what every car I’ve had have run the wheels off them kruzin after all thats what I’m build them for. Since I was a teen I have been krusing my rides, just to have fun and I haven’t stopped krusin since back then… Every Sunday, just ask anybody that knows me. Anyway lots of people at the beach, walking the beach, having fun.
 

Terry with LAX in the background with a plane just taking off. You never have to wait long for that to happen… busy airport.

We left and headed down to San Pedro, we went down pacific to where it ends and headed right to Point Fermin where we always end up on Sundays, its just one of our favorite places to go to. We headed all the way to where the road ends, and made a u-turn and parked the car. This is where the Legends Car Club parks on Sundays. Its such a great place with great views over the ocean looking out at Cattalina Island. We took a couple of photos there and then some guys in a station wagon pulled next to us. They told us they had seen us in Boil Heights ealier in the day by the 6th Street Bridge. I told them “yeah we were there, we are just kruzin all over having fun”. They gave us a hight five an left. We also left there, and made a pass at the Ports of Call a very famous spot for tourist, its a couple of miles from Point Fermin. We  got there and it also turned out to be packed with people. We kruzed through there, very slow with our Chuck Berry oldies music blarring out of Vondolero’s speakers… we turned many heads, and people where checking out Vondolero.

San Pedro, California close to the Angels Gate Park.

We parked the car at Point Fermin and walked around for a bit, taking a few photos from the view.

Point Fermin with a great view over the pacific looking out at Cattalina Island.



Next we headed to Long Beach on The Pacific Coast Highway, again lots of tourist there as well, still for the holidays I suppose. We turned up on Atlantic Blvd and headed North towards East LA, again kruzin all the towns. We drove past the old Barris shop on Atlantic Blvd in Lynnwood… it was closed. Atlantic looks so much different now then how I remember it from back in the early 1950’s, and from all the famous photos. It has a center divider in the road now… We went back to LA, to Broadway and then back to 6th St. over the bridge and headed east on Whittier Blvd. We made another pit stop at the park, but still nobody around… odd. Then we decided to go back home, where we got at about 7,30. Another great kruze and lots of fun with my wife Terry in our “Vonderlero” 1953 Chevy. All throught the day we did not see any old cars at all… How Weird!!!
 

Some of the places we went to this Sunday… we did good.

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CAR SHOWS IN THE 80’s

In the early 1980’s Memo heard about these all Kustom Car Shows in the Paso Robles area. He had to check it out himself… he could not believe what he saw.

By Memo Ortega

Before we go cruising to the Paso Robles shows with Memo, we first like to share another Memo Ortega flashback with you…

Movie Flashback

Back in around 1946 or ’47, in the little town of LaVerne Ca, I remember on Sundays a lot of the guys and girls used to go to the movies to Pomona. Our little town did not have a theater back then, so a lot of us kids had to take the bus to Pomona to see a movie. Me and my friend Manuel aka Papitas, which means potato chips, that was his nick-name, we all had a nick names. Anyway, it would cost us 10 cents for the bus, a quarter for the show and 5 and 10 cents for a coke and popcorn, and another ten cents for the bus to get back home. So we had to have at least 75 cents. Sometimes I did not have any money at all, it was sad for me to see the other guys and girls go to the show, while I could not go.  Some time when I had some money and I could go, we would go to wait for the bus, sometimes we had just missed the bus from LA. Then we would go to the other bus it was called the Victory bus, by the little park in town, the bus was always packed and we sometime we could not get on it because it was full. A lot of times if we didn’t have enought money for the bus, we would walk all the way to Pomona. A walk between the orange groves, or go all the way down E-street, that is the one by the Pomona drags, there was no drag track there back then. By the time we got to the show we were all tired but we made it everytime and when we got out of the show we had to start walking back again… but it was always worth it.

I remember one time me and Papitas missed the victory bus and we decided to hitch-hike. We were only about 10 years old, let me tell you it was a BIG mistake!!! We were walking and waving our arms for a ride, lots of cars passed by and nothing. Then one car stopped, it was an lady, she said you kids, go home before you get in trouble! And she took off. Well finally this man in a 1941 Ford 4-door sedan stopped, and asked us where we where going? We told him we are going to the show in Pomona. He said get in the back seat, so we did. Me and Manuel looked at each other and said all-right we got a ride! Well we got going, we were still in LaVerne and this guy ran a stop sign! Oh did you see that I told Manuel!!! We keep going, the guy was singing and we went down LaVerne Avenue. At that time it was a single-lane road not to many cars. Well this guy was swerving all over the road, from one side to the other. We soon figured out that he was drunk, very drunk!



The Fox Theatre on Garey Ave in Pomona.



I don’t know how he could be driving this car! When we got to Garey Avenue, it turned into four-lanes, then we really got scared! We told him he could drop us off right there…. on Garey. The street had curbs and we were going from one curb to the other. On the other side of the road missing on-coming cars, it was really scary. Anway he said No I’ll take you there… all the way. Finally we got to Holt Avenue and he had to stop, we jumped out, and thanked him, and ran to the Movies and got to the first theatre. It was the Sunkist, one of the four theaters we looked to see what was playing. We did not like what was plying and started walking to the other ones, all the time looking to see if the guy in the Ford was not following us. We got to the State theater and did not like it. We seen some of the kruzers from our town kruzing by and we waved at them. We got to the Fox Theater and we went in. Good movies, thats when the theaters showed two movies the news and a couple of cartoons. When we got out it was allready late in the day and if we missed the bus we had to walk home again.

On Sunday’s there was this roadster that was always parked across the the street on Garey, by the bus station. It was low had a Duvall windshield and a sprint car front, painted dark blue, purple. Let me tell you I fell in love with that roadster. I have allways wondered if it was the one the Ayala’s did… the one for Eddie Dye.

The 1980’s Paso Robles Kustom Car Shows

In the early 1980’s I heard about Kustom Cars getting together at lake Nacimiento, up north. I thought a kustoms only gathering, how kool… WOW.  I have to find out more about this… I want to go there.  This is when I had just finished my 1954 GMC Kustom truck, and loved the idea to drive it up there and show it with nothing but Kustoms. So I did some checking and found out more about the Kustoms Show organized by the West Coast Kustoms. I found out they were going to have the new shows at Sherwood Park, just outside of Paso Robles just weeks from then. I got so excited… we just had to go. Well the weekend of the show, my wife Terry, our young grandson Will and me decided to go and took off early Friday morning.

When we got to Paso Robles we got us a room, which you could still get easy in the early days. The ext day we got up early, got us a bite to eat and headed for the park. When we got at the park there was a long line of kustoms, they were everywhere, all wainting to get in… That just blew my mind, I had not seen so many kustoms in one place since way back in 1958 at the Coachmen’s car show. This is gonna be a fantastic day, I told Terry and Will. They also liked all the cars waiting to get in. Finally we made it into the park, even more kustoms there… they were all over the place, it was WILD. The guy from the show organization told us to park anywhere we wanted as long as there was room to park. We parked where it was good open spot and made sure the car looks good.

Will and me… looking kind of lost. So many great Kustoms, we just did not know where to start looking.



Then we went looking around, we saw this this guy taking many photos of nice cars, and I asked him by any chance if he knew or had heard of a guy named Dick Crawford. The guy looked funny at me for a few seconds and said “i’m him, I’m Dick Crawford” I almost fell backwards, it was Crawford (now he is best known as aka.. Thinman). I told him remember me I’am Memo from down in Los Angeles, you stripped my 1937 Chevy way back in the late 1960’s. Back then you had as shop with you partner Glendora. Now he remembered! That was so kool it made our day even kooler than it already was. He told him we would see him latter, after checking out the cars… there was so much to see. He said ok see you latter.



I took this photo of Dick Crawford aka “thinman” and his lowrider ’55 Chevy panel… real nice car.

Dick Crawford also had a display for his paintings at the show at the park my grandson Will on the side.

Will and me behind Frank DeRosa’s King Of Mercs… this one was WILD. Thats Frank on the far right of the photo.



You know there were so many fantastic looking cars we did not know where to start. Then we spotted the DeRosa’s “King of Mercs”. That Merc sure has a lot of kustom work on it I had Terry take a photo of me and Will looking it over. We saw this suede blue Merc, I think it had Canada plates on it, I really liked that one. There were so many Kustom Mercs and Chevies and Shoeboxes… you name it they were there. This was kustom heaven… we were in Kustom Heaven. We got to meet a lot of great people that day. West Coast Kustoms sure had a great show going on here. We also got a lot of compliments on our GMC Kustom truck. One complement was special it was one of the guys from the old Valley Custom Shop, Clayton Jensen.  He was checking out my truck, and told me he could not find any flaws in the body work and the black paint job. That of course made me happy coming from him, one of the guys I had read about for decades.

On Sunday we got up early to make it to the park early, but it was again already packed with many cars and people. Some guys came over and asked if they could do an interview with me and our truck. I thought that would be nice, so I told them ok. They had me park where there was not to manny cars on the grass. It was a great interview I was a little shy, but it went ok. I forgot who did the interview… I thought it was O’Brien Truckers, but I recently talked to Dennis O’Brien and asked him about the interview, He told me it was not him. Well it was some company from back East that did that video of this show. I have never found out who did it… would still love to see what they did to it, and if they used it.

This 1951 Mercury was really sweet, great chop by Dick Dean. 



Me in the blue shirt with video camera, checking out this suede blue 1951 Mercury which came from Canada I think… it was real pretty. Terry took the picture.

I took a photo this yellow hamerd down Merc with Will kneeling next to it. Think it was the lowest chop on a Merc I have ever seen.

Great looking lime green Ford convertible, it had a nice padded top and quad headlights. Sorry, something bad happened to the photo.

Paul Bragg comes from Paso Robles… he had just done this real fine 1951 Mercury convertible with padded top. I started at it for some time… super nice.

Will and Mercs.

I met a lot of car owners that day, and since we had such a great time I decided to join West Coast Kustoms… so kool. Some time latter the show was moved into a little park in downtown Paso Robles. It also was really great in the new location, when we went up there again I took my 1937 Chevy. It was odd because my 37 was a Chevy Bomb… it did not go with the kustoms. It was also the first time my friend Richard Mandez went with us. You should have seen his face when we got there. He could not believe his eyes seeing so manny kustoms in one place. Richard is also a Kustom guy… the rest is history so much to tell…







One more thing I cannot forget. At one of the shows I think it was the 1990 show, they were going to get my old friend Gil Ayala into the Hall of Fame. I had not seen Gil in a long time. I was looking at a distance and then I saw them bringing him in a wheel chair. It broke my heart seeing him like that. I had to sit down, and could not watch. I did not want to remember Gil like that, that was a sad day for me. To this day I still remember Gil the was he was in the 1950’s 60’s and 70’s, alway in for a talk, full of energy.

Thanks for the great years shows in Paso Robles… there will never be anything like this again.

I hope you all will enjoy the story and the photos.

An Joe Bailon worked on Mercury and behind it is the “Mini Merc” Volvo with flames.

My black GMC truck and an other wild kustom painted truck beside it.

Mike Shelley took this nice photo of my GMC at one of these early shows, I think this one was in 1988.

This candy red merc looking so kool, this is the one that went to San Bernardino to a little car show at the Dodge dealer in one of the Memo Ortega Stories, Jerry Schlemmer owned this 1950 Merc.

I ran into this going throught the rows a very nice 1941 Ford coupe, full kustom in unusual white paint. it looked really great, and so did the 51 Merc next to it. Bill Reasoner did the work on them. Photo is a bit blurry… sorry about that.

This red 1951 Ford Shoebox looked like it just rolled out of the late 1950’s. Bill McGarity was the owner.

Walter Leeman drove up with his very nice green 1954 kustom chevy so kool looking.

The red merc was parked outside i went out there for this nice photo very kool merc allways liked it.

1941 full kustom with fade away fenders brought me back in time, I really liked it. The car is still around, only it now has a fixed padded top, quad headlights and painted ice green. 

Will with a pearl pink mild 1959 Custom 1959 Cadillac.

There were so many Custom Merc’s at these 1980’s shows.. they were everywhere.

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