Lost In Hawaii

I’ve spent much of this summer searching for a couple of hot rods lost to Hawaii. The first was a shoebox Ford that was last seen on Kauai and the second, a Corvette race car last seen on Oahu. I’ve yet to hear anything back from my calls on the Shoebox, but I have a made a little progress on the Corvette. From what I’ve been told, its last known Hawaiian owner was actually a Russian immigrant named Victor Peroff.

Victor was a policeman in Honolulu for over a decade and then left the profession to start a chrome plating business in the early 1950s. That business then parlayed into a life of hot rods and customs and finally, a family racing business. In fact, the Peroff’s were once know as “the fastest clan” on the island. Here’s a few clippings for shits-n-giggles:

Cool, right? But does this family still own Old Yeller V? I’d say the chances are slim, but my hopes are one of them might be able to point me in the right direction for my next clue. I’ve got a number of different feelers out there and lots of phone calls to make. Aloha makes these kinds of investigations both time consuming and incredibly fun.

***

But these two cars aren’t the only lost to Hawaii. It seems like every time I turn around, there’s another mystery.

Tommy Henderson bought a bone stock 1932 sedan in 1960. He then spent every waking moment he had turning it into a perfect 1960’s hot rod. By 1978, he was done with the dream and sold the car. Eventually it ended up with a collector in Honolulu, but Tommy hasn’t seen or heard from it since. And now, he’s curious and on the hunt… And, as a result, I have another car on my search list. Check it out:

***

I’m starting to think that once I make the move full-time to the islands, I’m gonna have a full-time job hunting down long lost hot rods. Not a bad gig man. But until then, I’d love a little help with this trio of misplaced heroes. If you’ve seen or heard of any of these car’s whereabouts, holler at me because I’m all ears.