I left a message with Georges son on his ebay which he is active on asking him to check out the thread and bring us up to date. He goes by mgcbus65. Black one would'nt be georges since the son posted on that thread.
That's cool 62hotcat! Hope he stops by and fills us in on what his Dad has been up to, and what the story is on his '53. E
62hotcat, thank you for pointing out that post from George's son. I totally missed that. The original builder of the black one must have been emulating George's car to some extent with the Merc rear window, grille surround, no skirts, Olds taillights.........
Hi, Thanks for the recognition on my dads car. My dad is still going strong at 69. He still has his garage and works 10-11 hrs a day. My father bought the Ford from a junkyard in 1979 bone stock. Every modification was done by himself by gas welding, he didn't own a mig welder until much later. Originally he was going to paint it maroon and even had the interior done in maroon and white. He put it on the road in primer on June 25, 1983 on my 16th birthday. He decided on yellow and painted it later that year. We went on may trips in the Ford to KKOA in Des Moines, Springfield, Michigan, And all over the East Coast putting well over 40,000 miles on it back then. I even drove it to my senior prom. The 56 Pontiac "Party Doll" was owned by George (Teddy) Coffeen, My fathers cousin who took it with him when he moved to Florida. The Pontiac was sold and supposedly changed colors. My Father still owns the 53 Ford and has it tucked away in his garage and talks about maybe bringing it back out. I even bought him all new brakes and parts for Christmas a few years ago. The Ford has not been changed at all since He put it on the road in 83. Back in 2010 the Ford was up on a lift in the garage and we had a flood. The garage had 8 feet of water in it for 3 days. The Ford luckily only had water just over the rockers. That is why I bought all new brake parts for him. The rugs were removed and it hasn't been touched since. The Ford was in a few small magazine articles but all the ones we had were destroyed in the flood. My father also had a 52 Chevy ht but sold that years ago. He did alot of custom work back then for local guys but mostly mechanical work. He was the go to guy for getting the chop to look right. I hope the pictures work. He still has the BSA last rode in1978 before he started the Ford. Again, Thanks for remembering my Dad and the Ford and maybe it will be seen soon George Jr.
Thank you so much for posting MGCBUS65! Glad to hear that your Dad is well and that the Ford is still waiting in the wings. Great story of the history of the car. At the '83 Leadsled when your Dad was interviewed, I watched the driver (who looked like a young kid) move the shift lever around a few times to try and find neutral to sit and talk to the gal doing the interview. That must have been you, huh? You are lucky to have a Dad that loved(s) kustoms and took you on a lot of great runs. Priceless memories I'm sure. Thanks again for the info, and my best to you and your Dad! E
I just wanted to second what E said. Awesome to know that it still exists and even better still with the builder! Here's to it reemerging someday, that would be the icing on the cake. I can only imagine the reactions to some of these cars making a comeback. Thanks for checking in and giving us the update MGCBUS65! And BTW, I really dig this shot:
What Ever Happened To..........? number 11. 1950 Ford Business Coupe Owner: Jon Gullett Peoria, Illinois 4:00 p.m July 2nd, 1985, Peoria, Illinois. That's the way the 1985 Leadsled Video starts. Jon Gullett walks into his garage and gets into his sweet little '50 Ford business coupe. He starts it up and slowly backs out of the garage and up to a gas pump that is on an elevated stand. He gets out of the car, un-hitches the gas pump handle and starts to put gas in. He calls for "Don", and tells him to "get the dining canopy and the club banner." In the next shot, 5:15 p.m. July 2nd, 1985, scrolls across the bottom of the screen and an awesome pink and white, two tone '55 Ford two door hardtop turns into the driveway and heads towards the camera. It has "Sugar Daddy" lettered on the side just past the door under the quarter window. The car parks and a few guys get out. They chit chat for a few minutes and then decide it's time to head out to the hotel. Both cars start up and pull out of the driveway and disappear in the thick trees. In the next shot, 8:30 p.m. July 2nd, 1985 scrolls across the screen, and there is a shot of someone's great house with a super long driveway. There are customs parked from the garage door all the way to the road--about 7 in all. Some cars gathered were Harold Olsen's Buick, Gary Minor's "Minor Miracles" '57 Mercury wagon turned Ranchero, Rowdie's Panel truck as well as "Sugar Daddy" and Jon's '50 business coupe. It is an awesome beginning to a great video. Probably my favorite of all my Leadsled Videos. It looks like the '85 Leadsled was great! Jon's car was a re-do of a car he had as a sixteen year old kid. He sold it and once he got older, he regretted it. He tried to find the car and buy it back, but it wasn't to be found. He ended up buying another one and re-created his teen cruiser. This car is the epitome of what a kid would have been driving in the 50's. Very, very mild, but still a stunner. No chop or wild paint. Just a few minor modifications and cruise, cruise, cruise. The only thing on Jon's car that would have been expensive and maybe a little beyond a kid's ability is the molded grille shell. Everything else a young guy could have pulled off in his driveway with a minimum of experience and very little money. As nice as this car was, I found very little on it (seeing a trend here, huh guys?). It was featured on the beginning of the '85 video, and can be seen cruising around the fairgrounds in a few shots. Also, towards the end of the video, Lincoln Land Kustoms car club was interviewed as they had won the coolest club award. Jon is in the group, as well as other custom owners Ed Lepold and George West (W.E.H.T. #7), and a few others. A top notch club with an incredible collection of sleds in the membership. Jon's '50 was featured in Classic and Custom Magazine, March 1984, Vol. 5 number 2. That is where the pictures I'm posting of Jon's car came from. I did see a brief glimpse of the car during the "lot cruise" on the '87 Leadsled video, so '85 and '87 are the only views of it on tape. I found no more magazine coverage. I also couldn't find any pictures of it on the internet, so the article I scanned is it. Maybe somebody else out there has more (and better and hopefully in color) pictures than I was able to come up with. I sure hope so, cause black and white just doesn't do this car justice. E What Ever Happened To..........? number 12. 1957 Ford 4 door sedan "The Wanderer" Owner: Wayne LaPuglia Stratford, Connecticut A lot of you guys that visit this thread often are right about now saying to yourself, "Hey there's two What Ever Happened To..........? posts this week". Well, you guys are right. In honor of our great nation's upcoming birthday, I decided that this week's post would be a "Two fer Tuesday". The only difference on this post (#12) is that I have no owner or town information where the car hails from. So, I'm hoping you folks out there can help fill in the blanks--especially you East Coasters. All that being said, this is a car I've been crazy about for many years. I know it's a four door, and a sedan, but none the less, a cool ride. I first saw it way back in about 1996 when my long awaited first little book style Night Prowlers catalog showed up in the mail. It was pictured in the listing for '57-'58 ford fender skirts. It was in every catalog I had up until 2007 when Gary and Molly sold Night Prowlers and the new owners changed the catalog format. The car also appeared in a number of my videos including the '86 and '87 Leadsled Spectacular as well as the 1986 Sled Scene East video. I have never seen it in a magazine as a feature or in show coverage. I would definitely say the owner of this sled is a "little guy". I did however, find quite a few pictures of it online through Rikster's site, as it seemed this car made the rounds to a lot of KKOA shows in the mid to late 80s. The car has changed quite a bit over the years, but the peaked headlights are a dead giveaway that this is the same car. Not many cars have peaked headlights, let alone a '57 Ford four door. I don't know the chronological order that the car's build-up happened in, so I'm going to post them how I think it might have went. Special thanks to Rikster and his site, the Scott Pavey Collection, and the Hot Rod Willie Collection. I hope you guys out there can give some insight to this car. I'd like to find out the owner's name, and give credit where credit is due. So, until next week, Happy Independence Day, and stay safe! E
If you notice the interior shot of Jon`s coupe, it has clear vinyl seat covers over the white vinyl seats. At a show he was telling somebody his kids spilled root beer in the back seat the week before. The following year, he had a guys head with flat heads suck painted on the trunk. The guys tounge was hagin out and his skull was made to look like a flathead engine. He explained he never had good luck with flatheads. When anotherone failed him, he had the trunk painted.
The 57 Ford was brown before it was white. It looks like the last pic was taken in Springfield Illinois leasdsleds . The Scott Pavey(white and purple) shot was taken at the Holland Michigan leadsled show. He was very active in KKOA, attending many of there events. Both large and small.
Great info, stanlow69. Nice to get input from those of you who were lucky enough to be around all the action in those days! E
If the white '57 is the same as the primered one, it also got a rework of the headlight peaks, as the profile was more concave. Possibly inspired by DeVito's "The Maze".
The guy's name was Wayne with the 57 4 door. I believe he was a KKOA colonel from CT. I think he passed away a few years back. Very nice guy. Attended many, many KKOA and custom events.
Good point, 'Mo. I think you're right. "The Maze" was an iconic '57, so it wouldn't surprise me a bit that the four door light treatment was inspired by it. Thanks for the reply, chopolds. Sorry to hear the owner may be gone. Those early KKOA members were a loyal bunch. Those definitely were the "good ol' days" in the KKOA. E
Man, I'm loving these posts, but have no info to share. Wish I had the videos you guys keep watching....guess I'll start a new search on eBay to follow and try to come up with some....of course, I don't think I even have a working VCR anymore, but that's a problem for another day.
There you go, Doc. Rowdie himself is gonna hook you up. The videos are awesome. I watch them a lot, wishing I would have been able to be there in person. E
I hope to, but the car I'm trying to get ready to take is way behind. I really want to go since I missed last year. E
Ching! Check is in the mail for all 7. I made it to several KKOA Hangin' Dice shows, but the only Spectacular I ever made it to was Wichita in 2000. Parked my mag wheeled '68 Dodge wagon right next to the freshly redone Alcorn Merc, long before I knew Kurt. Could I have been any more of a dork? The upside is, when the Rodder's Journal ran a pic ion the Merc in the liner notes, my wagon was in the background. I was like Steve Martin when he sees his name in the phone book in the Jerk...."I'm in the Rodder's Journal!!!!" LOL Looking forward to watching the videos and seeing all I missed. Looks like I'll be heading to Salina this year for the first time....in a legit kustom instead of a muscle wagon. LOL
That's great, Doc! Never too late to have a good time. Man, I better get movin' if I'm going to make it this year! E
Hi Guys, I believe that 57 belonged to Wayne LaPuglia who passed away not to long ago. If I'm correct, the son has the car now. Dennis O'Brien (O'Brien Truckers) would know for sure.
Ok, that was a little wierd, my previous post was not visible until I clicked to expand. Anyway, found the picture I shot on old school 35 mm film. I have the print, but no way to scan it here at home. Car has Minnesota personalized plate " RFD ". It has the exact 5 tooth '54 DeSoto grille, and I can see a frenched in tube for the antenna on the passenger side fender. No hubcap or full wheelcovers, just a beauty ring on a gray or silver painted steel wheel. Car is maroon, not chopped (as mentioned might happen in article) Has no front bumper guards, stock side trim just like the black/white pics. One difference, the car I shot has shaved handles. If it is not the same car, it's a clone. I'll see about posting the pic if nobody else beats me to it.
Thanks for the reply, mgcbus65. I don't know if Dennis is a HAMBer, but hopefully he will chime in or somebody who knows him can ask him and fill us in. It would be great if you could figure out how to post the picture, 54delray. I just re-watched the beginning of the '85 video, and you can see a frenched antenna on the passenger side fender, the same Desoto grille you mentioned, and no bumper guards. It also has flipper 'caps. The door handles are shaved as well, but it looks like the key locks were left on for entry. You can't see the license plate clearly, so there is a little mystery here. Maybe the car was sold later on down the line, but the car you described and Jon's sound too similar to be two different cars. At any rate, we would all love to see the picture. Thanks for the response! E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 13. 1951 Ford Victoria "Lil' Miss Vicky" Owner: Jim Wilkins Cincinnati, Ohio What is it about sectioned Ford shoeboxes? Is it the fact that pulling off a section job is a huge task and very few are successfully built? Is it because taking out a few inches from the side make the proportions of a very nice looking car even better? I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but a sectioned shoebox really makes me stop and stare. In my book, they are second only to chopped '49-'51 Mercs. When Jim Wilkins broke out his '51 shoebox, affectionately known as "Lil Miss Vicky", all the kustom people I knew really stood up and took notice. I remember my Dad and his buddies that were into cars loved it. One evening they were all standing around our place after work talking about customs. They mentioned a friend of theirs in the 50's that tried to section a Ford shoebox and couldn't pull it off. Sadly, "Jitterbug's" little Ford ended up in the junkyard. Jim's car has all the right modifications, brilliant red paint and of course it was the elusive hardtop--the Victoria. It looks like a car that one of the legends like the Alexander Brothers or Bill Hines might have built. The car was sectioned by an unknown builder in the late '50s, but it was never finished and was passed from owner to owner until Jim bought it from a friend. Jim had help with some welding and had a shop do the interior, but the paint work he did himself and it turned out beautiful! According to the articles I've read, Jim took his car to the 1982 Leadsled Spectacular and won the Koolest Wild Kustom award. He was also at the 1983 Leadsled where one of Rowdie's gals interviewed him, and his car is seen on the video cruising around a number of times. After the '83 video I couldn't find it on any more tapes. It was featured in Classic and Custom Magazine December 1982, as well as in Hot Rod's Custom Cars Volume 1 #5 from 1983. After that it seems the car disappeared. I searched the internet all weekend for more pictures, but I found none. The pictures I posted of it here I scanned from the Classic and Custom Magazine mentioned above. I don't know if Jim sold the car in the early 80s or it got stored away somewhere, but it seems it hasn't been seen since. Another mystery surrounding one of the nicest sectioned Fords ever built. "Lil' Miss Vicky", are you out there? We sure miss you. Until next time..........E
Wow Peanut, that's a great observation. I would have never noticed that. Hmmmm.......a kustom Studebaker Lark. Uh-oh, you got the wheels in my head turning! E
From Kustomrama (from Hot Rod Magazine): From an earlier thread: Posted by 00 Mack in 2011: "By the way, Lil Miss Vicky is down south somewhere. Its all redone now with some livable changes."
The Jalopy Journal
