In 1947, Ray Giovannoni took the long drive from Washington D.C. to the west coast. It was a pilgrimage for Ray as he always wanted to see his tastefully done custom rolling along side the cars that inspired it in the custom heartland - California. W... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I have always loved the looks of that car a lot. Lets hope there will be some very good news on this one soon!!!
One of my favorite's also.... I guess "something" has been found.... so even if its not this car.... seems it should be very interesting in any case! Zach
It looks like Ray wasn't just another guy from DC with a custom. I found this with a quick Google search. Giovannoni Cams was the first speed shop in Washington, D.C.. The shop was started by the famous cam grinder Ray Giovannoni. Giovannoni Cams was located at 633 Maine Avenue, S.W, Washington, D.C
Great looking Custom. I would be surprised if that Custom didn't survive. It is amazing how many of these early customs (& hot rods) show up, look at the post not to long ago with the Jimmy Summers built '36 3w sitting in a pasture.
It would have been really great if this car returned to the scene! I really dig this car and its story!!
Spence Murray did a similar one in the 70's that was the feature build car in one of the old mags..might of been Rod and Custom. Looks very similar to the Giovannoni one. My friend Carl has owned it for about 20 years and has only taken it out of his garage maybe three times. I should try to get some pics to post. In fact Rodders Journal did a story on it recently and said that they wonder how it looks today Anyhow..this is a really cool roadster. Jerry
Great looking car! That top is beautiful, the chop and profile are just perfect; wonder if it was done in D.C. or is a genuine Carson top? I'm not wild about the Packard-style grill, it's hard to improve on the original '36 grill ('cept maybe simplify it some).
I like the Grille. 41-42 Packard Clipper. If I had to be picky I'd say it coulda went up into the hood but some have done that already and it would take away it's unique personality. I know the reason it's lower because of the available hgt to work with and really would take two grilles to do that. The rest of the car is just drop dead sexy for a 36 custom. Thanks Ryan even though I too think it's a tease. Then again where else would you ask if more info was wanted?
That one BAD fuckin' car.......... Always been curious....do these cars run a little hot, engine and driver's compartment, with the solid hood sides?
I have my fathers old Hot Rod annual with a copy of the build up of that car, nice article showing all the work they did...
About fifty years ago there was a story floating around the D.C. area that the metal work on the Giovannoni car was done by the ambiguous Ed Unger, a then-retired area metal man who's talent was legendary. Anyone reading this and even barely recognizes the Unger name surely is older than dirt.
I called my buddy ,who has a much better memory than mine to see what he remembered about this car. Only a couple of things. The trip to Cal was to get the Carson top installed. Ray Unger ,from around the Silver Spring, Bethesda area of MD did the body work. I think he is still alive. Sometime around 74-80 heard the car was in a trailer park in Jessup,MD across the street from the State Police barracks.My buddy looked but didn't find it.True about Ray having one of the first speed shops in D.C. I think he moved to Fla. to open the cam business. In the late 50's everyone in the mid -atlantic were running his cams. Even Garlits for a while. I heard his son has a resteruant in Alexandria,VA don't know what the name is. If i run into any of the local ancients I'll see what they remember.