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... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
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 .
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?
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.
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
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
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.
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
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!!
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
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.
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.
Probably lots of reasons that the wheel wells don't get raised. Easier to lower one than the raise the wheel wells? looks a little more like something has been done to it with the wheel wells lower than the tire? Supposed to look like a throw together race car rather than a custom? I like the tires to match the wheel wells myself but I think the bottom line is that its all a matter pof personal taste.
Proportionally different because the rear axle is perhaps a full 6 inches rear of where a Model A axle normally is. That's also likely why the wells got filled. Then the forward leaning top adds to the perceived effect.
Just been studying the pics. of George Zaft's chassis and noticed that the Model A behind it has filled wheelwells also. How 'bout the T with the Ardun in the other pic. Neat Old Stuff! Have a great weekend,Cat
My dad was in SF in the mid to late 50s, then moved to Pacifica in 60-61. I'd love to ask him about this, but he's in the very late stages of alzheimers and doesn't even recognize me. He had a Jag when I was born, but didn't have an early Ford before that, except for his high school car, a rotten but cool chopped 34 cabrio. I still need to get the picture of that car from my mom and scan it in.
The car looks 4-6 inches longer after the sway back in the frame is removed and the fender wells are filled. Great looking top! Love those wheels.......hmm hmm hmm
I recently saw a current magazine that was doing a retrospective on the '51 Oakland Roadster Show and had a photo of this car....said it was owned by a doctor from SF. One of my favorite cars....
Those look like Kelsey Hayes hub caps to me. They came smooth with no logo. Sorry I know this is an old post, but I just found it. Really like the roadster........
Sorry, I've no way of knowing any more on the car in question. RE the hijack (LOL), I have a just a very few pix of cars with filled quarters, as they seem to be rare. I like it, as it fills in a fairly useless part of the body now that the fenders have been removed and would also allow you to move the axle to a place the tires looked best with the body, IRT channel, lowering, etc.. The new, award winning Tom Gloy roadster has filled wells, but nobody has mentioned it so far. Keeping the wheel well countours might be a nice thing but the wells themselves are pretty useless unless your car stays high and the wheels and tires are really tucked in. Further, I've always wondered why no one pinches the rear of Model A bodies, so the back end more gracefully matches the inward curve of the lower door and body panels. That and loosing the wheel wells but keeping the contour lines might look kinda nice, eh? Gary
The roof or top makes it look out of proportion. The car was still around in the early '60s after we moved to Potrero Hill but I couldn't tell you a thing about it other than I remember it when I was little. The color and the smooth quarters really make it stick in your head, not a car that is easly forgotten.
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