Pretty sure that is MY favorite in his stable as well! I haven't looked at Pat Ganahl's article in TRJ in years, but doesn't it start with something like "It was supposed to be purple..." I remember the story being the base goat went down and it was decided that it should stay! Good call. I also remember it having an Olds for power, but the small block is equally cool in my book. I love how this car blurs the line between custom and hot rod without going to far over to either side. That is a major hard thing to do! To much "custom" and the "Hot rod" disappears, to much "hot rod" and there is no way of "custom" working. This one nails it!
Had a chance to see it live at Pete and Jakes's for the 40th anniversary weekend. In fact I was parked next to it Friday afternoon and evening. It's very striking in person.
I love his '40 but then '40 Coupes have been at the top of my list of best looking hot rods since I was a little kid. Glad you're back, Ryan. It will get incrementally easier to deal with as time goes by. Take it a day at a time and remember all of the great memories. The pain never goes away completely, the edges just get a little less sharp as the years go by.
Welcome back, Ryan. It looks like the combination of car, camera, lighting and photographer were perfectly in tune that night, and I'm glad we're able to witness the fruits of that effort.
I think by the approach you are taking, you will have got back on that horse without realizing you did. Perhaps something you didn't need to "try" to do. Great car, write up and pictures
That '40 is the definition of cool, when built and now. Glad to see you back on your horse. {Flowmeister: I didn't mean to borrow your metaphor... I just hunt and peck real slow}
Ditto. Outstanding feature Boss. Like the tormented, hard-drinking writer, your anquish does not affect your work. Great having you back.
your dad lives on in you, and the generations to follow....live on. i always liked cars like this, you called them "casual", i think they have the look of the original car but with custom touches that make you know it is a hot rod. It is the unknown about how "hot rodded" it is......until you line up next to it and wait for the flag to drop that makes me like it and yet it could be put back to stock.
It takes a while to get over (or should I say - "learn to live with") a significant lose of family. I think those WWW w/Olds Fiestas say "hey, look at me"!! Gorgeous car.
Welcome back Keep pluggin' away to take your mind off of it. I really like the 39 Deluxe...Swing out WS, floor shift. I saw one 30 years ago at Hershey that I can't get out of my mind. An un-restored survivor that was a great beater!!!
Welcome back ,Ryan.I've always found that channeling my sorrow into something creative tends to give it more meaning and substance.Keep on keepin' on.
While the car itself is nice, what really gets my attention is the quality of the photographs that was taken with camera setup that's over 50 years old. Amazing!
Very cool. One of the reasons I regretted not being able to make it up to the Pete & Jake's 40th open house.
Great write up.........We met him this past year at the P&J's open house.....it was funny that my father and him 'hit it off', because he might have known about one of his previous cars in small town America in Kansas.......it was pretty cool how humble he was about what he has built over the years and I tried to remember 'word for word' his story's. Legend. I wish that I could have asked for him to sign something stupid, but I didn't have the gut's to be "that guy". RULER! as GERM used to say.......
Oh yea, and his '40 was covered in bugs..........his cars are drivers. @Ryan, didn't you ride with him to Salina a couple of years back.
Glad you're back, Ryan, and your writing is working just fine. Lee is a really nice man, and he builds exceptionally tasty cars. I hope he finishes a new one some day soon.