A few month ago I was contacted by Charles Gilbert. He had visited my website and after looking at some of the historic custom car photo on my site he thought it was a good idear to ask me a few questions about an old custom cr that has been in his family at some point. Here is his email... Good Morning Mr. Hoving, In the early/mid '50s my father bought a custom Caddy convertible, "The Californian" built by a Mr Lon Hurley. Very low,(allegedly 36" to the top of the windshield, which sounds far fetched to me) very long, custom made, curved plastic/plexi windshield, no top, no wipers, etc, and with no rear seat, only a small package tray, essentially configuring the car as a two seater. Dad later sold the car to entertainer Martha Raye. My 94 year old step mother has apologized for "misplacing" the photos..... Any possibility there is a Lon Hurley 'archive' out there somewhere that might just contain some pictures of that beautiful car? Thanks for reading this. Best regards, Charles Gilbert Ofcoars I knew excactly which car he talked about. I had seen photos of it in the Dan Post Blue Book of Custom Restyling. And later also in one or two other magazines. And I even had a special folder for it on my site (Which Charles clearly had not found... but then there are quite a few photo folders on my site... I wrote a few emails with him one of theem is below.And two weeks ago he send me an email with some photos he had found... Mr. Hoving. THANK YOU most sincerely for your response. Yeah, that's the ride. When Dad had it it was white/cream. He told me that the car had "aircraft instruments", and that it had been on on the Bonneville salt flats, where it allegedly toped out at 147mph. I do not know if he was at the wheel for that event. My stepmother told me that when driving in the rain, (you will recall the car had no top) the interior stayed dry IF she was driving about 40 mph. In one such instance of driving in the rain, she was pulled over by a police officer for going to fast, wherein, of course, she and the car got soaked while waiting for the traffic ticket. I am sure she will enjoy these, and if we find the other photos, I will make certain you receive copies of them. Dad was a chef, and ALWAYS drove Eldos, he liked them a bit flashy, but the stepmother toned him down a bit. He was working in either New Orleans or Pensacola when he sold the car to Martha Raye. Very kind of you to send these. Rik, attached are some photos of my Dad's car, 'The Californian' I found recently. The large photo is stamped with a Maine photographer's logo. My Dad lived in Maine for a time thru the 50s. According to the captions on the reverse, most of the other photos were taken in Long Beach California in 1952. The couple sitting on the seatbacks under the "Sims Auto Sales" sign is my Dad and stepmother. (Dad was always a sucker for a Caddy and/or a blonde) The photo with my stepmother and the three 'gentlemen', indicates these were the "Sims Auto Sales" sales staff. A note that accompanies the photos, written by my stepmother reads: "Gil (my Dad) and I traded his Buick convertible and my Ford convertible for this 1951 custom made convertible with a 1949 Caddy engine. 36 inches high, aeroplane windshield, no top, 2 seater, leather interior. 6 inches from the ground with a steel plate for protection. Sold to Martha Raye in 1954 in Massachusetts". Sure would like to know where that car went. Hope you enjoy the photos. Here are the photos he send. I guess this Custom Caddy which is said to be bades on a 1946 Caddy with 1949 Caddy fenders and grille can be described as a Sports Customs and there for might not be liked by the pure Custom Car enthusiast. But I have always loved the shape of it, and looking at the photos is was built by a very good body shop, that had a very good eye for design as well. The big question is... does anybody have more info on this Custom Caddy... and know if it is still around.
That car looks great in that light color.You can really see the modifications and that the windshield has been moved way back and that the cowl and rear edge of the front fenders have been extended. TOO COOl. I hope that it is hiding in a garage somewhere waiting to be discovered someday.
I was going to suggest trying to track down Martha Raye's family....but (according to Wikipedia) there were 7 husbands in her time! Thankfully, there was only one child...but she was barred from seeing her mother when she died in LA in 1994 after she set up a conservatorship to protect her mother's estate. It appears the last husband has spent up what was left to him by Martha Raye so best bet might be to see if the daughter (now 61) might have any knowledge of the car....???
I think this car may at one time may have belonged to Mr. George Wong of Riverside CA. Mr Wong was somewhat of a local legend in the area. He was known for being the last resident of Chinatown in Riverside. He was also known for the large collection of "stuff" he had collected on his property. Among that "stuff" was a large number of 20's 30's & 40's cars. Nothing on his property was for sale and he was not open to people visiting his property and looking around. Mr Wong died in 1974 and shortly thereafter the cars on his were auctioned off. I did not attend the auction but on the day it was held I saw what I belive to be this car on a (in quite decrepid condition) trailer a couple of blocks from where the auction was held. A couple of months later there was an article in Street Rodder or Rod & Custom about Mr Wong, his car collection and the auction. Lo and behold in the article there was a picture with a caption of that Cadillac. I never saw the car again. What happened to it after that is anybodies guess.
Damm, that's one fine looking auto-mo-bile... Love the tiny trunk opening, maybe it was for golf clubs, like some Packard's had in the 1930's? Stunning pics tho, wonder whatever happened to the car?
I'm betting that opening is just big enough for the spare tire. There was recently a thread about a cut down '40 Hudson conversion, circa 1950. The sedan top became the roadster trunk, with the original window opening (covered) providing access for the spare. O.T. (If the guy that was asking about that car is on here, you'd better jump on it!!!)
I dunno about that Caddy, whilst the pics and history are important the execution and design are not quite up to standard. Look at how poor the metalwork is on the bottom of the fenders and rockers.
Rikster, Very interesting article a great read. I like all the custom work on the Cadillac, but as a pure custom Cadillac enthusiast its too classic or sporty for me. Overall the workmanship could be better. It would fit right in with the sport car crowd. Thanks for posting it......... CRUISER
The picture with the stock convertible really shows how low that car really was and you have to love the one with the vintage trailer homes, too cool!
I love this car. I thought it deserved to be brought back to the top! Thanks Rik for that very interesting story.
Agreed! Rik, you never cease to amaze us. This car is way cool. I totally dig the windshield. Great story. Thanks! BloodyKnuckles
Was it shortened? Sectioned? It looks so small for a Cad. Very cool car. One of a kind with perfect proportions.
Well not sure if you can call it sectioned. What I think was done was that they used the 1946 Cadillac front fenders and put the 1949 Cadillac hood on top of that. The '46 Front fenders are shorter in height than the '49 units. So this combination of '46 fender and '49 hood is lower than if they where to use 46 fenders and hood, or 49 fenders and hood. But they did not actually remove any metal doing this... so can you call it sectioning? I'm not sure what was used for the body part for the doors, and if that was cut/sectioned to make it for the lower front parts.
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