Rikster has posted pictures and history of the Lellis car before in another post, but the recently-restored car is now up for sale, and worth another look. Its a fairly tasteful custom that has managed to survive 60+ years, and fortunate enough to be... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
BOY! That 396" Flathead Merc would be a sight to see. And in the midst of all that text, no where did I see any reference to the '40 DeLuxe front clip with raised fenders.
Very tastefully done.Original builder had good design sense. I'm guessing the color changes a bit through the whole digital thru to pc process. Probably looks much better in person. Definitely different.
Can't help but wonder why it wasn't restored to what it looked like back when it was built. Seems like one would want to get it as close as possible to that... I watched the Moffett car being restored by Scott Guildner, (it still had the original Runyon upholstery tag in it,) in that case the owner insisted on medium whitewalls, candy apple red, gold gauges, etc. If Guildner had been given free reign with that he would have nailed the original look. It still is a great car though! I'd love to have either one of them. Imagine seeing the the Lellis and Moffett cars correctly restored side by side! I'd buy a ticket.
I've always liked this car. But, I like it much better in black & white photos...too bad it had to be restored with the original color scheme. And I guess since I'm picking it apart, what's up with the huge gap between the Caddie caps and the wheels? I could stick all four fingers in there. And the '60's era tires... Did I mention I liked the car?
I have a friend who grew up with these two cars and knows the history. Both cars are now restored and for sale. I think it would be nice for the Petersen to purchase them and put them on display for all to enjoy. Bob O thinks the color was darker on the green car but can't tell from the photos for sure. Here are some photos of Moffatt's car after Scott restored it. Too me these cars are priceless and should be a museum.
I've been to Pebble the last two years.In 2009 it was in the Quail show: I later saw it driving on 17 mile drive. I commented "Nice forty" and the woman corrected me telling me it was a 1939. This year it was in the Bonham's sale at the Quail.As I remember the "estimate" was 150K roughly (which means they wanted 150K). It is a nice piece.
I'm thinking they meant 296". If it was even possible to get 396" out of a stock Ford block it would be a gernade. What a great car though, it's got a lot of things going on like grille guard, bumper tips, light color/dark top, fog lights, lake pipes, no running boards, all things that I don't usually like but somehow brings it all together really nicely. I love the craftsmanship in that dash!