That's really cool. Now if they taught this kind of history in school, I may have paid attention. Thanks for sharing.
Killer! Was Lee running tinted primer in 1982 on his Chevy??? I've seen and followed a lot of Lee's work and his cars but I've never seen this Chevy. Do you have anymore pictures of it?
Thanks Ryan for posting this, one day I'll have to learn how to scan and post photos. I wish I had taken more photos but the excitement of seeing all the cars, talking to old friends and meeting new ones was too much of a distraction. Regarding the Chevy, I drove it as a stocker as my everyday driver for several years before customizing it. There were several how to do it articles in Classic and Custom magazine showing the modifications. Thanks again.
wow cool seeing that old picture of Sam Harmans convert brings back some memories he still has is and it looks exactly the same super nice north seattle guy thanks B
Great story and pics. Looks like it started out as most shows did back then. Just a small gathering of great cars. The car show in St Ignace Mi was the same way. I went the first 2 years and haven't been back since. Thanks for posting. Torchie
Being a young hipster, Ryan, you may not have recognised who Lee was talking to in that shot...... I didn`t make it to Paso until `86......It`s been a while ......
Rich and Penny kept the Kustom flame alive during the dark times. We have lost Rich, but Penny keeps it going along. True I miss 'Paso' but WKC did not leave easily. It was no longer a show of twenty cars having fun. We all say "Paso" this and "Paso" that but give credit where it is due, it was major work by Rich and Penny and West Coast Kustoms. Paso changed, just like LSR has changed. Once word of Kool gets out, everyone what to be part of the scene and when that happens the scene changes.
I remember that light blue '55 Nomad from a magazine feature, maybe in Custom Rodder? Back then I had it bad for that car. Still do.
As I recall Kustom Kemps used to do a show at the Iowa state Fairgrounds in those years and Lee would be there. Got any pics if those shows Lee ?
IIRC, @R&C RON (Ron Brooks) also has some cool pics from "The First Paso" ... Perhaps he will post them here? ... hint, hint
The 70`s were dark times for Customs, the the 80`s were some of the best. In the Midwest, the custom car movement grew by leaps and bounds. As did the customs only shows as well. The KKOA grew to over 1200 cars by the late 80`s. No street rods were allowed. Only 1935 to 1965 customs only. Paso was one of the shows I always wanted to go to. A hometown native gave me all his movies from the early days of Paso when he lived on the west coast before he passed away. Everybody knew who Lee was in the Midwest. It took the the rest of the country a little longer to figure it out. Classic and Custom magazine helped a lot. God I miss the 80`s.
Awesome! I've spent many hours on the road with Lee (and Rod) and I can say between the 2 they have some neat stories. Thanks for sharing these pictures Ryan!
Amazing stuff! what a great little gathering of customs - so cool to see the roots of the show that influenced us so much with the Round Up. I feel like there could be a great book of the Lee Pratt Archives - I'd like to pre-order a couple already.
So, Lee is over here right now delivering some more photos to scan... I will do a feature on his old Chevrolet on Wednesday. Until then though, here's a teaser of another car of his. No bags. No juice. Static.
I remember reading about the early Paso meets as well as the first few Leadsleds in Classic and Custom magazine as well as the occasional write up in Hot Rod, Car Craft and even Lowrider. At the time, I wasn't old enough to drive, but it lit the custom fire that still burns in me. Those early, simple days seemed to be the best--after the 50's and 60's of course. It's great looking at all those pictures. No PT Cruisers with white walls, rat rods, or anything else that didn't belong at custom runs. Yep, those were good days, too bad we didn't realize it back then.........E
Great stuff and thanks for sharing, @Ryan and @El Pratt! I'm definitely looking forward to the Wednesday feature!
I recognize that black primer '51 Merc, as a local bodyman named Steve Wymore had something to do with it. I don't remember much but maybe he did the inset doorhandle notches. I can picture it at the Vet's Auditorium Car Show in maybe the early 80's. That's probably Butterly pinstriping on there.
Butterly... there's a name I haven't heard in awhile. I think there is some Butterly/Roger Kilborn work on my car. I was pretty young when we left Iowa, but I do remember the 51 Chevy and the 41 Buick. I think the purple on those cars was an influence on my dad, which is why my 38 is purple.
So Lee has dropped by a couple of more times to shoot the shit and brought some more photographs with him. I was planning on doing another feature of those photos today, but this project is a little larger in scale than I first though. Point being, good shit coming next week!
The Jalopy Journal
