In June 2010 Palle and I picked up the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford from the Amsterdam Harbor warehouse. On the way back home Palle and I where talking about the car and how great is was to have, and how great it would be to find more history on the car. In that past I have already found a lot of photo material of the car that was both published or never before published snap shots. When Palle go the car to his home in Denmark and was slowely starting to work on the car, we also started to do what ever we could to find out as much as possible about the history of this car. With the help of the HAMB Palle got in contact with Jack Stewart and Bob Drake. And slowely a idea for a research trip started to develop. How great would it be to meet all the former owners of this great historic Custom Car. And collect as much material on the car as possible. Well a month and a half ago it was time. Palle invited me to go on this Jack Stewart 1941 Ford USA Research trip. Plans and appointments made, and tickets where bought. We made arrangements to meet with Jack Stewart, the first owner of the car, Jim Street (Skonzakes) the scond owner of the car. Unfortunately we have not been able to find the third owner (Walter Streckler) of the car... yet. But the fourth owner of the car Bob Drake would love to see us. This will be a teaser posts... since we are still in CA and have an extremely slow working internet, and right now its just impossible to upload all the photos and scans we took and made. So, on Sunday October 31th Palle in I left - packed with camera's, scanner and computers - for Chicago. Where we would rent a car and drive to Dayton Ohio to first meet with Jim Street. I had been talking with Jim Street on the phone a few times. But making an apointment with him was a bit tricky, and when we where driving to Dayton we where not even sure if we would actually meet with Jim. But after some touch driving instructions we met Jim at his office building. The first thing we saw was the Kookie T, fresh out of storage. It was fantastic to see and lay our hands onto the Larry Watson paint job. I even got a paint chip of it... the paint was strating to chip in some places. And before you are going to ask... No we do not have any photos of it, and also we did not see nor took photos of the Golden Sahara. You have to understand that we really would have loved to take photos of the Kookie T, and see the Golden Sahara. But that was not the goal of our trip. We wanted to find out as much about the time Jim owend the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford as possible. And we did not dare to ask about taking photos since we where 'afraid' that we might miss out on the important stuff in case he would not let us. But we did get a LOT of stuff. First of all we got a new friend. It was such a pleasure to spend some time with Jim, and later with his wife Sally. We spend from 12 o clock in the afternone till half past one that night talking to him. First we spend some time in two buildings where Jim has all his collections of boats and cars. We talked about the 1941 Ford, and about the fantastic wooden boats Jim owns and is rebuilding and customizing. Later Sally was coming in and brought some really fantastic photos of the 1941 Ford. Some ABSOLUTELY stunning photos of the car from 1951 some from 1953, and some photos of other custom cars Jim Owned in the late 1940's and early 1950's. Here is a photo of the trailer Jim made to transport the Kookie T All custom made. Palle talking to Jim Street at the back of the trailer. Two of Jims wooden boats. Back at the hotel Palle was showing Jim photos of the restoration precess on the 1941 Ford. Our first meeting was so much better than we had ever anticipated. The next morning we would drive from Dayton Ohio, to Fortville Indiana to meet with Bob Drake. On our way up there we first drove to the small village of Germantown. Since that is the place where Bob Drake found the car in 1956. Bob Drake on the left with a speachless Palle on the right. We had a fantastic day with Bob, who had a LOT of material prepared for us. Photo albums magazine articles, letters etc. Here are some samples of the material we got from Bob. ooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeee and aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! There will be more... but right now I'm tired. Today we met with Jack Stewart in LA, and had an absolutely fantasic day. Jacks Friend Craig and our computer contact person for Jack also joined us and we had a fantastic day. But with all the time traveling and limited amount of sleep... we are just tired.... so more later. Our ultimate goal is to do a book on the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford (and the people and time around the car). So at this moment we will not show all the material we have gatheredm but in time (most likely after we have returned home next week) we will be showing some more of it.
Wow, from what I have read on here Im pretty blown away that Jim talked to you guys. I cant imagine being around all that history. You guys are very lucky!!!
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! The Kookie Kar side trip is MONUMENTAL! My head is going to pop that there is no pictures!
Rickster, If you guys need a place to stay while in So Cal let me know. I sent my cell phone number to you in a PM. Our shop is in Santa Ana, come by if you have time. It would be good to meet you. John
Oh....THAT Jim Street! I can understand why you would stick to your plan to discuss just the 41 Ford only. Can't wait for part 2 (or 3 or 4 or 5) of your travel stories.
Im glad the car is in the hands of someone who is working so hard to restore it and gather all the history will Jack stewart is still around! Awesome thread.
Excellent!!! you guys are hardcore! The 41 is definitely in the right hands! I cant believe the Kookie T is finally out of hibernation after all these years! WOW! Hey, I've got plenty of room out here in Riverside if you guy's need a place to stay.
Rik (Rikster) & Palle (emiliedk) - I'm really glad to read that you are doing this "Research Trip"! Although magazine articles (and threads on the HAMB) are a great source of restoration info, they're definitely no substitute for face-to-face meetings with previous owners of the vehicle being restored. It appears your visits with Jim Street & Bob Drake have been fruitful ... and I'm sure your visit with Jack "Deuce" Stewart proved to be very beneficial as well. Thanks for sharing your trip with us ... and please keep the updates (& pics) coming!
Rik...great read...keep us informed about your trip ok? And thanks for what you do in keeping the history of our hobby so alive...
Sounds like an amazing trip you guys are on! Halfway down the post I was thinking that you should do a book...so reading about that in the last part of the post made me happy! Can't wait to see the rest of this journey!
Thanks Rik & Palle. You guys amaze me. I am subscribed to your restoration thread. I just read you article in Kustoms Illustrated. Great effort. Have a safe trip and look forward to see you in January. Slim
Man! what a trip Palle! I'm looking forward to hear more about it! The fact that you were able to meet with Jim and get a new friend is amazing! That's a big step for the custom movement! Sign me up for a book!! See you soon! Klaus
Well we are having all kinds of upload problems over here... but apart from that everything is absolutely perfect. As far as photos showing the damage to the car. No those where not among the stuff Bob had for us. Nad most likely they do not excist. It looks like the train wreck sounded a lot more worse than it realy was. There are a few photos showing some damage and repair work done to the drivers side of the car, where it was hit by the train. And a slightly damaged front bumper. Apperently the train was just driving very slowely at the time of the accident and most likely the car was more like pushed forward by the train. Below is another nice photo from Bob Drakes collection. We also scanned it but for that you will have to wait for the book. This photo was found at an antique store, and the guy who found it recognized is from a magazine article on Bob's car a couple of month later. He looked up Bobs address and send him the photo with a nice note. The photo looks to be taken somewhere in LA. The building behind it looks to have LA..... ltd written on top it. When Bob restored the car he smoothed the dash, and removed the original Mercury dash script and ribbed panel. The panel is gone (possibley was not on the car anymore when bob got it) but the Mercury script and head survived... and Bob handed them over to Palle. In 1956 and 1957 Bob did a lot of work on the car. And becuase he did not have time for it to do it at his home, he used a barn from a friend. The barn still stands today... a couple of miles from where Bob now lives. Jack Stewart gave us a tour thru his colelction of car stuff. Jack still has several awards he won with the 1941 Ford. This smiles belongs to a very happy man Jack had some great photos of the car Luke Karosi (Kustoms Illustrator) had send a couple of copies of the new issue to Jacks friend Craig Wise. We wanted to hand over a copy to Jack showing the article on the car I did for Kustoms Illustrator. Perfect planning. Jack loved it. AUTOBUTCHERS!
Whenever I see something from Rikster, I know it will be something that I will enjoy. The dedication to Kustoms is apparent and the meeting with Jim Street was something that I never thought would happen. I don't think I could get through the meeting without mentioning the Golden Sahara, but I can understand the reasoning. Hopefully Jim Street will do see how much interest there is in the Stewart car and let us see the Golden Sahara once again. These cars were built to show. Absolutely great work, Rikster.
thanks for the nice comments..this is for sure a very speciel trip. the people we met, has been so great and helpful. and the pictures we have is unbelievable! you might have to wait for more till we get home, as Rik says, the upload would take like a week. stay tuned on this adventure..more to come! heres Rik and Jack when we hooked up with him! and we did talk to Jim about the golden sahara..Jim is not ready to show the car..but i am sure he will. he has plans no doubt. and he showed much more than we could ever dream about, he is a super nice guy! palle
I've known Craig Wise for about 40 yrs! He's on the HAMB you know! He goes by CW's40tpu. Jack has all kinds of great stuff...you can stay there and talk to him forever! Just ask Chris Casny,haha! He's got lots of stories....
The Jalopy Journal
