Man, Sancho, you are a thread scouring machine! Thanks for posting that link. It has some great information about George's Merc. Shame that a lot of the pictures posted in it are gone now. Speaking of gone now, I sure wish Peter Pan of Chicago, 00 Mack and a lot of other kustom guys that don't come around much anymore would find their way back to the HAMB. Their insight and knowledge are missed! E
Don´t think this car ever came to Sweden. The guy in the article is Kalle Jonasson who moved to California somewhere in the late seventies or early eighties and is still living there. He have worked for Boyd Coddington and Chip Foose but I´ve heard he has retired now. Will look thrue my old magz and see if I can find it. Probbably an old Wheels Magazine and the article is most surten written by Bosse Bertilsson also an longtime California resident.
Good to know. Maybe it is still in the states...... It has been customized further though so it may no longer resemble the earlier version.
October 1980. That particular magazine happened to be my 1st-ever "Wheels magazine", I still have it. The photo and caption was under the regular column of "California Report", that time apparently of a Swedish immigrant living in California, working on a Mercury while living over there, just like You said. The last paragraph states "Thanks to its numerous features in multiple publications, the car is currently one of the most recognized custom builds in the entire US". No mention of said car ever being shipped, or intended to be shipped, to Sweden. Sent from my SM-J500FN using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Did Kalle go by "Karl"? I was thinking that since the inset photo showed it yellow along with the photo of him working on it that the work was performed later. Now I think that photo of him working on it is older. The dip in the door wasn't filled in yet. Can't believe I didn't notice that till now.
Thanks Sauli. Saved me some time now. Yes Kalle is a version for Karl.I was wrong about one thing.Kalle moved to US in mid seventies. Here´s another car he restored in late seventies . An early 50´s Barris car owned then by Jim Etter. http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...stom_cars/39-40_mercury_custo/restored39merc/
This is what 00 Mack said about it back in '05. "Then it went to Ted in Pittsburgh Pa and then to George in Ohio. At any rate the car is now fucked. The last I saw of it was at Gettysburg Pa .It was candy red with ghost flames ,some fuckin shemp ass street rod gut and even a tiny wood grain wheel if my formerly drugged brain recalls that sad day correctly. The guy was also running 1 inch whitewall radials at the time which I think he changed. Ahh fuck it, it wasnt that bad.I just remembered it from when I rode in it when I was 10. It was last seen for 50 grand in the trendsetter." Sounds like it went the way of the street rod. I bet that happened to a good number of them, like Stuckey's King of Mercs winner in 1984.
Searched with that description in mind and found this shot, I know it's a tiny photo. Wonder if this is it?
Also found a picture of the earlier version with different caps and yellow headlights. (from carnut.com)
I've always loved that Merc. I agree with you OG....yellow? Really? But man, it just plain works on this car. I'd love a set of skirts like this on my Merc. When I put the Buick trim on, I might just have to reshape my fiberglass bubbles into nice pointy ones. So many cool cars that haven't been seen in forever. You know bunches of them just have to be sitting in garages as the owners get older. Surely the rest have just been sold, changed by the new owners and the string of owners and changes has just been forgotten or broken. I just can't let myself believe that since the 70's and 80's cars like these would just be gone....some one has to have them somewhere, even if they aren't recognizable anymore.....says the guy totally changing a once finished 90's custom into something unrecognizable from its past. LOL
That's a great photo, Sancho. I've never seen the earlier version of this car. Is it my tired eyes or just my old monitor, are the headlights yellow, too? This is something a lot of the VW and tuner guys are doing everywhere nowadays. Looks kool on this car and goes well with the crazy yellow theme it had going on. Might have been hard on the old eyeballs driving at night though..........E
I had been thinking that George's Merc would be a great subject for this thread! I loved that car ever since the Leadsled in Springfield OH in the 80's. How about John Kouw's sectioned shoebox? Or that wild chopped 55 or 6 Pontiac with the bubble skirts that had burned up and was restored? Or Richard Ratty's Doug Thompson built Packard?
Oh yeah Chopolds, those are some great suggestions! I've got a growing list of cars that I want to post on this thread. The hard part is finding pictures, owner information and show appearance dates on each car, but as the information all gets put together, I'll be sure to post as many as I can. E
I too lost a lot of books and magazines in 07. I feel for anyone that has had the same. That yellow car was so over the top in its color but I dig it.
Yes, the headlights were also yellow! This is from 00 Mack in the '05 post I put up earlier; "When Ted had it , had 53 Cad caps and yellow headlights."
The first time I saw this thread,I accidentally forgot to subscribe.Then I saw it again and subscribed to it post haste.That being said,I pondered this for quite a while and one of my conclusions was money.Whether it be the lack of it or too much of it,it usually comes down to money.When there isn't much money in a particular hobby,folks generally pool their resources,share labor and ideas,and this makes it a much more personal venture.As something becomes more popular,the money flows.Suddenly,the sky is the limit.Then people start to fight over it as greed sets in.Money is like power,it doesn't change people,it just brings out the real person.Some people leave the hobby for good,others withdraw to their garage and their close friends in the hobby.I've been guilty of withdrawing,but in the end,I stick to the hobby I love.
Hey all, time for #3. What Ever Happened To..........? 1950 Ford Owner: Dean Bordner Ft. Wayne, Indiana The first two cars I posted were pretty straight forward to research and post, but this one--man, what a confusing story it's had. The further I researched it, the more confusing it became--at least as far as the pictures are concerned. So, bear with me and let's try to get the story straight. Dean's shoebox was built around 1959. It was sectioned, had a custom grille opening, Vette grille and bumperettes, and '55 Chevy style hooded headlights. The wind splits that were on the side of the quarters that go to the taillights were shaved and super looking '49 Buick taillights were frenched into the top of the rear fenders. Lots of work to do this modification, but the results were awesome, and it gave this car a unique taillight treatment that makes it easy to identify. It changed hands several times and somehow ended up in northern Indiana. That's when Dean found it and purchased it in 1979. The car was in pretty sad shape when Dean bought it, and to make things worse, on the way home with the car they had a fire and the nose of the car burned up. Eventually, it was painted green with flames and lots of pinstriping. At that point, Dean had it three years. During that time, it was at the first two Leadsled Spectaculars in '81 and '82 and at the 3rd annual James Dean Run in Fairmont, Indiana in 1982. This show was covered in the Classic and Custom May '83 issue, and the shoebox was on page 33. There was also a great color picture of it in the "Leadsleds" article in Custom Cars by Hot Rod #1 on page 52. After the '82 show season, Dean decided to repaint it after his buddies kept giving him grief about a green car. I can't really understand that, as the green version is my favorite one. Over the winter it was stripped down and in the spring of '83 it emerged in a beautiful kandy tangerine. Also, the hubcaps were changed. The car hit the show circuit hard and it was seen in a lot of places. It was at the third annual Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. It was in the event coverage of the show in Custom Cars by Hot Rod volume 2 #2 on page 29. Dean was also interviewed on the '83 Leadsled Spectacular video, and that's where a lot of the information about the car from '79-'83 came from. I can't say for sure if it was at the show in '84, but it was at the '85 show as it is spotted in the '85 video. After that, I can't find it in any of the later videos I have. I thought that is where the story of the car ended in mystery, but my research just this morning found more pictures. Unfortunately, I only found the pictures, no more information. On Rikster's photo archive site, I found a picture that I'm not quite sure if it is Bordner's car. According to the picture file, it was taken in '88 at Gettysburg. Would that be Sled Scene East '88? If it is the car, it was repainted lavender, possibly in two-tone, but it is hard to tell in the picture. It also looks to have '57 Buick side chrome, but in the picture it looks like it may be airbrushed on. Also, a really clumsy looking door mounted rear view mirror was installed. The lake pipes, Vette bumpers and dummy spots are gone. A new bumper was installed, and the grille opening was enlarged and the grille was changed out to a two bar tube grille. Also, the hubcaps were changed again. The one thing that makes me think this isn't Bordner's car is the front suspension has a weird offset like it was 'nubbed with a subframe that was too wide. The picture is very shadowy and it's really hard to tell if it is the car. In my opinion, if this is it, this version really took away from the stunning looks of the car. Again, I thought this is where the trail ends, but more looking found more pictures of the car. More searching on Rikster's site produced more pictures. If I've decoded the pictures correctly, the car was at a Goodguys Show in '05. This is pretty much a guess. In the last pictures, it was painted black with turquoise steelies and Ford dog dish hubcaps, and has Florida plates on it. The Corvette grill and bumperettes are back, and the front turn signals were mounted below the headlights. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it looks like molded lake pipes were installed, and the pipes were painted black. Why do people paint parts that should be chrome? I don't get it. Well, I think that's where the trail ends. This car might not end as mysteriously as the first two, since the car seems to have been around as recently as about ten years ago. But, I felt this car needed to be here because it made a big impact on me as a kid. Man, I love sectioned shoebox Fords! E
I don't think the Lavender one is the same, the hood corners are not rounded and nobody would undo that would they?
I'm with you, Slopok. If it is the same car, a lot of work went into changing the car just for the sake of change. We'll see if anybody has any more information. E
Could all be the same car. I'd have to think the black car is the same one, and if it is, it appears to have the same enlarged grille opening as the lavender one. The lavender one also looks to have the same bucket seats as well. Maybe yes, maybe no? I remember seeing the black one in some coverage somewhere, but I'll be dipped if I can remember where.....only a million magazines to look through to find it. LOL Maybe it was in like the Buckaroo Publishing version of American Rodder?
The lavender car appears to be a sedan. This is most apparent looking through the interior to the size of the passenger side rear window.
Good point 'Mo, but there are still so many coincidences with the lavender car and the other pictures. Hard to believe there would be two sectioned shoeboxes that close in style. It doesn't help that it's such a terrible picture--weird angle, bad lighting and lots of shadows. E
I don't think the lavender one is the same car. Here are my observations, and I relaize that these could all be done and redone again but that doesn't seem likely to me. Like 'Mo I think it is a sedan, tough call from the one photo but it does appear to have longer quarter windows. The front fenders in front of the wheel openings are a lot further down (closer to the ground) on this one. The front tires on the lavender one seem out too far. It appears to be subframed. On the Bordner car (even the black version) the rear wheel openings are "flat" across the top. On the lavender car they are round which would coincide with the Buick trim.
Jackpot! I believe this is the lavender car posted above. The similarities to the Bordner car are crazy! http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/0911sr-1949-ford-coupe/
I believe Bob Nitti owned the Lavender one for a time. Thats him in the pic upper right with cowboy hat on. Then i think Lou Cinque had it and might still own it.And now i clicked on the article.
The Thread Scouring Machine does it again! You are quite the detective, Sancho. Nice work! Now I think it can be said that the lavender car is definitely a different one. That being said, I like the purple version you posted better than the lavender one I posted above. I'd definitely cruise it with pride! E
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