I have known about this car being up for sale for a while now and last week the owner listed it on craigslist with a real resonable price tag. After looking at it ,and some phone negotiations, the Panther was mine. With some help from Paul and Sam, we picked it up yesterday and hauled her home. Its in need of some extensive rust repair, but luckily i have a decent parts car to cut up. As far as the cars history goes all i know is that it was built by Chuck Rogers who was Joe Bailons chief bodyman and it was featured in the Aug 1956 issue of Rod and Custom and the 1957 Custom Cars Annual. I am downloading some pics right now, if anybody has any more pics or info please share.
The sideways car behind it looks like a Caddy Sedanette 49 or so So what was this car originally ?? Looks pretty neat
it was a 49 or 50 buick that some one started to chop (poorly)but couldn't figure out the back window/trunk area so they quit. It was a complete piece of shit!!
The Panther is totally tasteful and worth the effort to save. Good Luck. I also have a question. The yellow car in front of it? For old model building guys, it looks a lot like the first issue AMT 50 Ford conv't. With the chopped windshield, and the Crestliner top. I can tell the C pillars are not Crestliner, still the whole thing looks removable and very familiar. What about it old model car dudes?? Thanks Steve.
If i was to guess i would say small body, but i m not a buick guy, so i cant say for sure. the car is in the seattle area.
Gup, Cool man! If anyone will do that car justice it will be you. Keep us updated and make it happen. Do you have my phone number here in Tucson? Any pics of it in it glory days?Was the car black? You gonna start a new civil rights movement? Dale
From the 1957 Custom Cars annual: BLACK PANTHER '49 CHEVY Chuck Rodgers of Gridley, Calif is owner of the Black Panther Chevycustom on this page. Modified completely the jet black and dechromed coupe featurs a chopped top, a frenched, rolld front grille opening with a rather unusual grille consisting of a molded grille shell, two Olds bumper guards fitted into a rolled panel of the grille and two short pieces of chrome running from the grille opening to the directional lights. The rear view shows the elimination of a bumper bar and the vertical guards in it's place. Other fearures include rear fender scoops, frenched taillights, bucket seats and complete bar setup. Sorry, no scanner and my computer was just rebuilt and for now I cannot load pictures. The front seat looks like a wrap-around bucket similar to the seats on a standard 37 Chevy. Ol Blue
Gup, Looks pretty cool, would like to see some pics of it back in the day....Did you find this in Sumner (looks like that area) or up north by you??? Keep us updated, Alan
cool looking car glad you saved it and hope you post some redo pictures as you progress that 4th picture down the front end shot made me chuckle the grill hole is puckered like the car ate a giant sour lemon
I was wondering when someone was going to buy that car. I seen it on craigslist for a week or so now and was hoping a HAMBer would buy it. how were the other cars he had listed for sale. looks like he about a half dozen or so..
Is that yard local, is it just some guy thats hording stuff or are the toys forsale, what else is in there? Were you at Arlington this year? I think I saw your car there but I didn't get a pic for some reason. http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k199/360scamp/Arlington drag reunion 2008/?start=all
The car was kept in a private storage yard. Yes, most everything in there was for sale. The only car worth getting would be that chopped and sectioned shoebox ford, every thing else was absolute junk!!!!
Would the guy let someone cut parts like headlite buckets or tail light buckets off cars or does he want to sell them whole? There has to be some useable parts for a full custom connected to the junk.
Good to see this one is still around. It was one of the first full customs I remember seeing on the street.The owner was driving it into Douglas Samuels Used Cars on N. Main St. here in Salinas. I think what he did was take it to different businesses as an attraction. He probably had it for sale then too. It was all black and was kind of out of place at the time because custom painting and candy colors were just coming into play. The guy was primarily a bodyman and back then a Black lacquer was noted as a way to show off your body skills. The dark color hid a lot of the detail but the work was good and the basic style is not bad for that time. I think it was 1956????? I remember it being painted Yellow Pearl but I only saw pictures of that and it did not look good. I may have them somewhere I will have to take a look. In my opinion it would be a real shame to see it get restyled from the original version that was in Car Craft or Rod & Custom back in the mid fifties. This would be a great car to restore authentically. Examples of work from Bailon's shop are fairly rare. Straighten up the body, paint it back black lacquer and redo the interior. It was fairly simple black & white with no pleats. There were Panther head designs sewed into the door panels and a very basic console with a wet bar. The motor was a six with some speed equipment and a bit of chrome. I remember it had a nice set of pipes. Thanks for bringing back some memories. RodP
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