Astounding story and "find" - isn't it amazing how many cars like this just vanish, instead of being kept by their owners, or sponsors, or their drivers? Gary
The original body was built by Jack Sutton. The amazing part is, just weeks befoer the car was to go to Italy there was a fire in Ak's shop, and the body suffered major damage. Sutton rebuilt it in time to get the car finished, and off to Italy. Another amazing story about that car is that Ak's buddie, and Hot Rod editor, Ray Brock, engineered a deal with Petersen and HR subscribers to have a portion of their subscription money finance the car's construction. Kurtis donated the chassis, Hilborn the injection, and other Hot Rod advertisers donated parts as well. That's the kind of a guy Ak was. His carismatic personality made people want to do what ever they could to help him. Good to see my old friend Jack Lufkin in the pics. Jack was a good friend to me and my Dad when we were racing. Anything in Ak's shop was at our disposal. Dad introduced Jack to Isky, and Jack's accomplishments on the salt with Isky cams is the stuff of ledgends. I need to get by the shop and have a visit with Jack. Thanks for posting the Caballo restoration story.
Jack Sutton (otherwise known as "Willy" to his friends) was one of the best tin-benders ever, yet does not always get the recognition he deserves. He had a shop in Artesia, sort of a non-descript place, but all the right tools inside. He did work for Mickey Thompson and a host of Indy racers. Once, trying to explain why body work was so expensive, he gave me a piece of aluminum and asked me to make a compound curve on an English roller. I would up with a wad of metal, no matter how hard I tried. The work on Ak's car shows his talent.
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing, Ak Miller and that whole group were and are some of our greatest hot rodding pioneers.....Keep posting please!
----------------- Not just a monster - a BEAUTIFUL, SEXY, CURVACEOUS, WONDERFUL monster! It's absolutely GORGEOUS! Mart3406 ==================================
A very awesome car, and a real part of Southern California hot rod/racing history --built by legends. I may be a bigger fan of the original Caballo though --it looked more rough & tumble.
Thanks, though I personally like the lines of the Caballo II better. But just an opinion, I'm sure they were both great cars. BTW, anyone recognize the logo on the hub?
I don't know if the question was tongue-in-cheek or serious, but if the latter: the Summers Brothers designed and built the Goldenrod Bonneville streamliner, a genuine beauty. Look for more with a Google search.
Way cool, I grew up reading about that car. Back when a bunch of hot rodders could build a sports car that could go out and run with the big boys stuff and beat most of them.
Really cool story to go along with a super cool car. THanks. Is he thinking about racing it in any vintage classes like Laguna Seca or ? TP
Very nice story, and great find. The reconstruction looks very careful. Good luck to your brother in law as his finished the work. Please post updates, and thank you for posting.
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