Joe Carloni ~ The Fonze pics...

Ant,I thought the 49 Buick was done here in NJ?

 

I don't think anyone would have called Joe a "rat rodder".They would just say he was the 50's.An Original.

 

To this very day.I will never forget him

 

I think it was too. I haven't seen the video in quite a few years and I thought it was a Merc he did. But thinking back it was a Buick.

 

Let's get this party started!!!! Consolidated (if my coding is right) both threads pics.

 

2...

 

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Mas...never knew he owned a 49 or 50! Thought they were all 51s!

 

Wow, it doesn't get any better than that. Its a shame that the real focus on him came after the red Merc. That car IMO was gorgeous, I wish he never wrecked it.

 

I never met Joe either, but growing up on the East Coast, so close to Jersey, you couldn't help but hear his name mentioned in just about any car circle. Whether you like his cars or not is not important, it was the fact that The Fonze lived the life and walked the walk. I have a ton of respect for the guy just for doing that. RIP Fonze!

Spike

 

What I think is described here as his #2 car -the black/purple job- I have always loved it. Even seeing these (great!!) pics of his other rides, that one still 'says it all' to me. It was always my highlight of a show, the purity & individuality of one man's vision, you could pick up the aura of that just walking up to it the first time. I only have 2 photos hanging in my shop- and one is a shot of Fonz's Merc.
I remember pressing one ear to the rough pavement @ Englishtown, squinting to try and see under the car in the rear quarter area; nope, no daylight here. I only spoke briefly with him one time, but spent countless time circling his Merc every show I ever saw it at... often just sitting nearby and watching the car, the man and the gawkers. I was always in awe, trying ernestly to soak in a true glimse from another time out of time. Forever missed...

 

That red Merc was really a cool set of wheels! Too bad it got wrecked. The guys today would shit on the black one though. Yea,it's kinda "Rat Rod" like,but i'm sure he could hold his own and defend it. Seems like he was an original. There aren't very many "REAL" guys like that around anymore. Closest might be VooDoo Larry. But I don't know him either.
As far as the question about him being Fonzi,before Henry Winkler was "The Fonz",Seems Joe was the "FIRST" Fonz! That's cool...

 

wow!! great pics ..

 

Totally Bob, but ya gotta remember that there was nobody glorifying it. Larry has been in Ol Skool and CKD and the likes a ton of times, so there is a HUGE market for it. Plus I think he builds to sell or does customer cars or something...this was just a guy who worked for the police department who HAD to have a chopped Merc and didnt even have a garage! No glory back then, no magazines catering to it.

 

this is a great thread it shows how even in pasting joe touch so many people r.i.p. joe may you be lost in the 50,s forever

 

What trippy thread.

 

If that's the case,he was WAY before his time!

 

new brunswick on top of one of the hotels 198?

 

That's a cool article....I like that the writer was honest about bondo use, but at the same time celebrated him as a good guy.

 

When I took those pics that were posted on here of the nice car,Joe was actually behind the car with a hack saw cuttin a set of exhaust tips for the car!He had been up for two nights puttin those 55 Lincoln taillights in the car before pullin out for Gettysburg.He said it took him 14 hours to get em in prime!At the time I was kinda bumbed cause the 54 Mercs he head in there were the best set of 6 ribs I ever saw in a merc.The wasy he had the top of the 1/4 panel frowning over the headlights was absolutely historical!

 

Anthony, what were those headlites? He had this wierd pattented look of like somehow-flush-fit 52-4 Merc lites. Like he cut the whole thing back to utilize 1/4" of metal and just had the stainless showing. What is that stuff?

 

I've read the article about the Fonz in OSR when it came out over here. I've read the thread on the Hamb about him. Everybody seemed to like him, cause he was a nice guy. For him and his cars my biggest respect.

They will never talk in that way about Mr."know-it-all"Coddington.
My 2cents

 

i remember like it was yesterday seeing that joe and his cars at all the cruise nights. my dad lived in the area so we used to see him all the time. i used to like to just sit there and look at all the crap he had in the car and all the "sculpting" he did. he was always friendly to people, especially kids. i remember walking around at the cruise night at keansburg boardwalk they used to have the flame throwing and muffler rapping in an old abandoned field, but to see his car just sitting there with the plugs burning in the tips, its etched in my mind they were like to bug zappers buzzing away. the coment about the music coming from the grill brought back some memories, that and his wolf whistle. my first time going to lead east was the one after he passed away.

 

Wow! Did this wreck kill him???

 

Nope, it only made him stronger!

 

No he was fine after the wreck and fought with the tow truck drivers!Chris.He definitely cut back the Merc rings and as far as the stainkess rings on the inside ,he cut them in half.

 

What it looks like to me is he made the hole in the fender for the headlight bigger and sunk the Merc ring into and just welded it on the edge. Rather than what most do and just weld on the Merc ring. Still a frenched headlight but it keeps it from getting the bug eyed look. Either that or he just built the fender up around it to meet the edge of the ring. Who knows, this is the Fonz.

 

Well said Bill!Thats probably exactly what he did./

 

Every now and again I get one right. Thats what I'm trying to do with a 47 Ford I'm wokring on. We made small patches to round the headlight into the fender more. I like the look of the entire headlight molded into the fender rather than just being "there."