Who remembers Bill Carter,Walt Prey, LeMans Ent. (Will Crosby)

Some of the best car painters i know from the 60's-70's. Some still around today (Bill and Walt), and other's whereabouts unknown(Will from LeMans Ent)

 

those guys ruled custom painting ..... they were/ are so influential in the industry ......

 

let's not forget gary baca ....... what an amazing candy painter ... he did all of joe ray' s cars ......

 

YES. I never met him, and i've heard great things about his work. I think he's still at it also. While i'm here, A great guy i know by the name of Steve Stanford should get his props here as well. Worked side by side with Bill Carter (among many others) for years and is one of the best automotive stylists out there. I've got several renderings he's done of my cars going back to 1980 i think. Some he's done after i built my car, and some i've built the car because of.

 

Here's a pic of Steve at a show in Muncie Indiana several years ago.Had the pleasure of working beside him all weekend.A nicer guy I have yet to meet as well as a fantasic artist! He's left-handed too!

 

Was Walt Prey out of Sylmar in the 60's /70's? Where is he at now? I remember a mural he did on a 58 chevy del rey sedan delivery, Beautiful!

 

Van Nuys in the 70's, and these days around Moorpark and Simi Valley area. A friend see's him out there once in a while at some cruise spot

 

How about Joe Anderson from Gardena? Larry Watson has nothing but bad things to say about him, but it looks like he was a heck of a painter.

 

wild bill carter , steve sanford , kenny youngblood...those guys were THE guys when i was growing up...used to see their stuff in the mags....you throw in the circus guys from the east coast and you have some of the best when it came to drag car paint and graphics.....was a guy named nate quick in your area....? a friend of mine talked pretty highly of him .....but said last he heard he had hit bad times ....brandon

 

Hey Groucho. I think you & I have crossed paths. I worked for Wild Bill in 1969. Walt was working with him also at the time doing pin stripping. I was just a grunt sanding cars getting them ready for paint. Only worked there a few months. What year did you work for Bill?
I am now kicking myself in the ass for quitting Bill. At the time my dad had a big influence on me, told me auto paniting was not a good choice to make a living. Boy was he Wrong! I wonder where I would be today if I stayed working for Bill? He & Walt were good people to work with.

It is what it is today...Was what it was yeaterday...Can't turn back time.

 

Wow- I just found this thread; Bill Carter did my first custom job in 1969 ($150.00!!!!) on the '61 Ford at left, when Walt was still his striper. Later on in 1970 I built a '46 Chev, on which Walt and Don did 2 different paint jobs- the 2nd one is shown below. Both of these jobs were enamels.
For quality and price, you couldn't beat these guys; sure hard to beat their "fade-away" pearl/candy work...and their flake tops, vailing, etc. were without equal (remember Walt's Nomad???) ! Glad to hear they're still going!!

 

I had the pleasure of having Bill Carter attend my last "Brush Off" Christmas party that I did for all the custom painters and stripers . He was cool and the truck he drove was awesome ! Kenny Youngblood and I went to HS together and he has remained a great mentor and friend . As for Gary Baca , one of my clients still sees him on occassion .

 

Joe Anderson was a great painter... Painted some beautiful pearl paint jobs on customs back in the 60's. He used to give out a necklace with his face silhouette on a badge to all the guys who had their cars painted by him.

 

Growing up in the Valley and having Family owned Auto parts and paint stores allowed us to meet and do business with a lot of Great Painters of the day. The Baca brothers, Benny and Gary were good but when it came to stripers and Candy guys Walt Prey and Bill Carter were incredible. I have some great stories about Late nights in the booth.When Walt did his Rose Car his shop was next door to Jim Moser's and when Walt painted Jim Thirkettle's "CandyMan" Chevelle stock car it was painted using Mixing clear with Marono pearl over white base and red dye used at the Coca Cola plant for aluminum cans in the mixing clear for the Candy.The red came home in somebodies lunch pail! The car was beautiful!
He also lettered all my race cars and layed out the Flames on my Corvette.
What a Talent!
Dan Ruth
Master Auto Parts

 

BTT Bill Carter thread please!

 

C.C., thanks for posting that pic; last time I saw Walt was 2-3 years after he finished "Rose" (used to hang out and shoot the breeze while he did all them roses), and an old friend (John Thaemert) was working with him. He had finished up his '39 or '40 Ford Coupe(can't remember which year it was) with one of the most stunning candy-red jobs I'd ever seen, and we both entered our cars in a show at Devonshire Downs (my last show). He was expecting to take Best Paint, but I don't recall who ended up getting it.

 

In one of Peterson's old How to do Bodywork books, they showed a little step by step of him painting the roses, it was a big influence.

 

Brandon, I have to agree with you. Being a cousin to Bob Gerdes of Circus custom Paint,And good friends with MrJ And Glen of Glen Designs and always admired their work along with Carter's,Stratton's,Youngblood,Nat Quick's work and designs were a big influence In the Designs and color selection of alot of my paint work.Hangin with Glen and looking thru his photo albums of the work he did with all these Custom Painters is like a tribute to the best race car painters in the 60's,70'sand 80's til they ruined it with all the vinyl......Rich

 

Dan,

when you worked at Master Auto Parts do you remember Rick Sterling (sp), he had an orange 57 Chevy Sedan with NightShift in gold leaf on the quarter panels, I believe he worked at Master's from late 70's to mid to late 80's..... I am trying to get in touch with him or find pictures of his 57, I worked at Miller's Auto Dismantling during the same time....also I worked with Jim Thirkettle's son "Travis" and remember all of Jim's stock cars from the Saugus days....

 

So where are Bill and Walt now ?

 

Man this thread brings back a lot of memories, I lived down the street form Sal owner of allied box, one of Jim's sponsors, i remember that car over their all the time. i used to stop by Gary's house on the way home from H/S and watch him and his brother doing some low rider or other cars all the time. i had my first shop just down the street from carters and would see the cars he did and was amazed at the work.

 

Walt still works. he did several signs for a friend's motorcycle shop recently. And he still has that custom painted Nomad and his tether planes.
But nobody has mentioned Pete Papilli yet.....

 

I talked to Bill a couple of months ago. He's doing good, lives Sagus, Newhall area, still painting. He mentioned he sometimes uses the booth at Galpin Ford.

I use to work for him when I got out of high school 1969.

 

I believe he painted the Orbitron at Galpin .

 

Walt is still around and waiting for a car to do right now! You can see most of his latest stuff on the cover of lowrider. I think His work was on less than 7 covers last year alone.

 

Carter is still painting, he doesn't have a computer but I got email for him. I can relay anything if needed. I have been trying to get a website up for him for a long time, but things get messed up. Steve is working at Santini's shop now.

-Z
[email protected]

 

Gary Baca was a great painter. He did my 56 Belair. He could really paint. He stopped painting about 15 years or so ago.

 

Sad news, guys.

http://losboulevardos.blogspot.com/2011/12/walt-preya-legend-rip.html

 

Damn... Walt painted my '69 Caprice in 1975. One of the sweetest cars I have ever owned.

Rest in Peace Walt..