History San Francisco Hot Rod... 1951

[Jive-Bomber]

I used to help run a few hot rod shows in Northern California, and one of my favorite jobs was receiving cool pictures with entry forms. Sometimes I would score an old photo of a family car, thrown in just for kicks. This image came in an envelope wi...

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[38zephyr]

I remember a baby blue A roadster with filled quarters like that in one of my hot rod books , I'll see if I can dig it up .

[HEMI32]

Jay (Jive-Bomber) ... cool find ... thanks for sharing.

That roadster reminds me a bit (i.e., sans the filled wheel wells) of Billy B's Ol' Blue '29 hiboy:


Burnham's grandson at the wheel ... Crusin' the fairgrounds Saturday night @ the '06 GG WCN ... (photo by 49ratfink)


Anyway ...

Here's a couple photos of the "RAMBLERS - S.F." Club display at the 1949 Oakland show:





The display chassis pictured above was for George Zaft's channeled Model A roadster (which he ran @ B'ville in '51) ... perhaps George (or his cousin Fred) would remember the subject San Francisco based roadster? ... I've been meaning to contact the Zaft's anyway ... and could certainly ask them about this roadster as well ... Do you happen to have the (circa '51 light-blue version) owner's last name?

[SUHRsc]

looks like the hubcaps have the logos hammered out?

[Rolleiflex]

That is a good looking little car. I really like the light-blue and the (tacoma cream?) wheels, although I could do without the filled fender wells.

[60'shotrod]

Damn clean lookin' Roadster with GREAT details too!

Nick.

[STEPHEN FIELDS]

Kool, thats a clean little roadster

[hansboomer]

Does that car look out of proportion? It looks to me like the rear part of the body is way too long. Maybe that body was made from a coupe or sedan, or is it just the filled wheel wells?

john

[catdad49]

Thanks Ryan, just added another pic to my photo collection. The wife's always crabbin' about me filling up the hard drive with all those car pics!!! My first thought was "Did this cat know Bill B? What do you think, Cat

[Jimmy B]

Great hot rod.

Originally Posted by hansboomer

or is it just the filled wheel wells?

Yep the filled wheel wells visually lengthen the quarters.

[poofus1929]

That car is awesome. It's clean, simple, and perfect.

[4t64rd]

Aren't filled quarters also called a "Coffin tail"?

[Dubbzilla]

Originally Posted by hansboomer

Does that car look out of proportion? It looks to me like the rear part of the body is way too long. Maybe that body was made from a coupe or sedan, or is it just the filled wheel wells?

john

If the car is set up on a true deuce rails and is using a hood that is the stock length for the model a, it would put the wheel wells ahead of the rear wheels....might be a reason for filling the wheel wells and could also make it look shorter up front. You can see what I'm talking about on the Tony Nancy car.

[Dubbzilla]

Not to hi-jack this thread and turn it into a fill or not to fill thread...but I found this drag roadster on the same thread that has alot of the tony nancy pics.

Photo credit for this one.... Rodney Bohls photos

[flamingokid]

I don't know this car but I'd like to.

[Deuce Daddy Don]

Can't believe all you new guys don't recognize ol' Billy Burnhams '29 hiboy!!!!(with the exception of HEMI 32). Bill was one great street rodder that loved to chase the lines in his 429 Ford powered hiboy!!---Lots of good stories about Billy B.---& Lucy!!

[Paul/CA]

Originally Posted by 38zephyr

I remember a baby blue A roadster with filled quarters like that in one of my hot rod books , I'll see if I can dig it up .

I recall seeing a color photo of a baby blue roadster with filled quarters like this in one of my books, too, but couldn't find it.

I did find, however, in Hop Up Volume 6, the story of the Gil Schirmeister roadster, built in 1947 and which saw lakes duty. At the time the story was written, it was owned by Richard Loe, who researched its history, but its whereabouts 1949-1971 were unknown.

Several features are different between the two cars, though, such as Gil's car did not have outside door handles and was a darker color in the old photos ('48). According to the story, Gil rolled the rear pan, filled the quarters, painted the car maroon and installed outside headers before he sold it in '49.

Paul/CA

[Mr Haney]

refreshing.....inspiration for my next hotrod. Timeless

[shmoozo]

Originally Posted by Rolleiflex

That is a good looking little car. I really like the light-blue and the (tacoma cream?) wheels, although I could do without the filled fender wells.

I suppose that filled wheel wells are a matter of taste, but on a related topic I sometimes wonder why guys who really lower their cars so rarely raise the wheel wells on the quarter panels to match the height of where the tires now sit.

Or maybe they sometimes do but I just haven't seen the pictures of the right cars.

[porknbeaner]

Originally Posted by Jive-Bomber

I used to help run a few hot rod shows in Northern California, and one of my favorite jobs was receiving cool pictures with entry forms. Sometimes I would score an old photo of a family car, thrown in just for kicks. This image came in an envelope wi...

To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

Actually there was a roadster that resembled that one in Pacifica in the later '50s and later it was on Portrero Hill. belonged to a fella that grew up in Oakland but it probably isn't or wasn't the same car.

Pretty sure he wouldn't have been hte fella from '51, he didn't like Jags at all. Although the man did have an afinity for sports cars as long as they didn't have a roof.