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History What Ever Happened to..........?

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by OG lil E, Apr 19, 2016.

  1. cabong
    Joined: Nov 29, 2005
    Posts: 881

    cabong
    Member

    Thought I might add a little to flavor the post..... Bob bought this puppy as a wreck. It is a factory fuely 4-speed car. His plan was to fix it up and drag race the critter, but got a little carried away. He had Bob McNulty do the glass work, then he and a friend of mine did the paint job. Originally it was to have no scallops, but a huge run changed that. It was still drag raced after completion, and won a mess of trophies. It was sold, which is a whole 'nuther story, and then bought by the same guy who commissioned Joe Wilhelm to do the "Jaguar Royale". He had Joe change it around a little, and change the color. Then it went missing........... Hmmmmmm......
     
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  2. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

  3. Thanks for the update, Justin. I'm sure Jenny has had a rough time since Chuk's passing. I hope she's doing well. I hope the cars don't sit too long and fall into a bad state of disrepair.
    I see you are from Casper as well. Are the Ghost Town Cruisers still at it or did the club disband when Chuk passed? E
     
  4. Peanut 1959
    Joined: Oct 11, 2008
    Posts: 2,179

    Peanut 1959
    Member

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  5. cabong
    Joined: Nov 29, 2005
    Posts: 881

    cabong
    Member

    Nice catch, Mark..... I forgot that I'd posted that picture in the past. Actually, I have more, including pic's of the car in it's last iteration, and on a road race course. I keep them close to my chest for personal reasons..... A sharp eye will catch the Devin rear in the background !!
     
  6. cabong
    Joined: Nov 29, 2005
    Posts: 881

    cabong
    Member

    Hey Peanut !! Long time....... I really don't know if it's still in the same spot it was a few years ago, but I have stood where that picture was taken. If you really want to feel bad, the car, as in the picture, was found in a wrecking yard in Wyoming, many years back.......
     
  7. Peanut 1959
    Joined: Oct 11, 2008
    Posts: 2,179

    Peanut 1959
    Member

    Good to hear from you, cabong! Hope all is well.
     
  8. 54delray
    Joined: Dec 18, 2004
    Posts: 1,699

    54delray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Fremont NE

    Nice Find Sancho .... you're amazing
     
  9. Couldn't have said it better myself! You can really dig up some kool stuff @Sancho! E
     
  10. A few weeks back I mentioned that the Carnut website had "gone off the air".

    Over the weekend I ran into an old friend that's into cars and he mentioned he was on Carnut earlier that day checking out some car pictures. I asked him if he was sure it was the Carnut site he was on and I mentioned to him that a few weeks back it seemed to have been shut down. He assured me that it was Carnut, so I made a mental note to be sure to check it out when I got home.
    When I got home I got on my computer and checked it out and sure enough, my friend was right, Carnut is back!

    http://carnut.org/

    I think we lucked out and hopefully it will be around for quite sometime. I suggest if you're on there a lot and you find some good pictures you like, you'd better save them on your computer, memory card or flash drive because you never know how long that great site will be around since Mr. McDowell has passed on. E
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2019
    drdave, John B, Hamtown Al and 6 others like this.
  11. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member


    this is terrific news!!!!
     
  12. She seems to be doing ok. They are all stored indoors. I believe the Ghost Town Cruisers ended with him, I haven't heard about them for years.

    On another note, I'm not sure if Chuk & Jenny ever went to the Leadsled Spectacular, but they did go to Sled Scene East nearly every year. Chuk helped out with the show. There was also a KKOA show in Casper for 2 years that Chuk spearheaded. Unfortunately it was VERY poorly attended (and advertised) and not continued.

    I went over to Chuk's house when his Mercury was in primer and he had most of the work done on it. That was in the late '80s. The Lincoln was a local car that he bought & customized. I'm not sure where his Ford "Webster" came from.

     
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  13. BuckeyeBuicks
    Joined: Jan 4, 2010
    Posts: 2,705

    BuckeyeBuicks
    Member
    from ohio

    I had not caught up to this thread for a while and I was shooting the breeze with s55mercury66 who use to live close to me and we know a lot of the same people. He had me check out WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO #173 and there was my old friends ElMeano. custom chopped 55 Chevy wagon turned truck. I got to know Brock Irwin about the time it was being built and even helped him find some of the parts for it. We were friends right up until his death, he was a hell of a guy and always good for a good time and willing to help out any one he could. I traded him a set of rally wheels one time for a clapped out 53 Buick HT, site unseen. I when to get it one day and it was rusty but complete except for the side trim. I asked him where in the hell was the side trim (may have called him an ahole) He said "probably on some ones chopped Merc by now, why in the hell do you think I would trade such a fine automobile like this for a crummy set of rally wheels, you dickhead" We laughed about that trade for years after that.
    Brock was a great guy and loved customs and hot rods until the end. The last time I talked to him he was telling me he had been down south and had driven a rent a ride NASCAR stock car and had made it to 180mph. He was tickleed to pieces. When he was starting to feel really bad towards the end he picked out his own casket and had it flamed! He is sadly missed by his many friends and family, he was one of a kind. RIP buddy!!!
     
    drdave, Sancho, loudbang and 9 others like this.
  14. Thanks for checking back Justin. Glad to hear Jenny seems to be doing fine. Bummed to hear that the Ghost Town Cruisers are over with. I'm sure they were a great bunch if they were anything like Chuk and Jenny. I hope the cars get out of long term storage someday and get back on the road.
    I knew The Nations went to Sled Scene East many times, but the only video I have of them there is in the '55 Merc so that's why I didn't mention it.
    Our club wanted to go to the KKOA show in Casper. I think it was called the "Remember When Weekend". If I'm not mistaken the show was held back to back years in 1999 and 2000. We met Chuk at the Spectacular in 2000 and I think that show was earlier in the year. He filled us in on it and said they were "hopefully" going to have it again in 2001 but it never happened. Too bad, we would have been there. We definitely want to support any custom show that close to home! E

    That was a great read BuckeyeBuicks! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. I for one love reading stories like this. It makes this thread so much more meaningful to hear stories of the nice people that built and cruised these fine machines! E
     
    loudbang, stanlow69, 54delray and 4 others like this.
  15. What Ever Happened To..........? number 184.

    1948 Chevy "Wild Child"
    Owner: Glenn Fluegge
    ? ? ? ? ?, Iowa

    This week's custom was one of the "heavy" popular cars that seemed to be around the KKOA in the early days. It was there almost from the beginning, but strangely enough, after 1989 the car disappeared.
    The first time I saw this car was in the book "Leadsleds Chopped and Low 35-54" by Mike Key. Mike Key was a real custom fan that decided to come over from the UK to cover a few car events and eventually put it all together to write his fine first custom book. This Chevy was prominently featured in the book a few different times. There was a nice picture of it on a two page spread on pages 46 and 47. It looked great, but my favorite shot from the book was on another two page spread on pages 36 and 37:

    1946 Chevy Wild Child b MK LS35-54 p36-37 1983.png

    Incidentally this picture was taken at the second Leadsled Spectacular in 1982 in Des Moines. This Chevy was sharing the shot with a nice chopped Merc on blackwall tires, and the Jack Stewart '41 Ford. I tried but couldn't get the whole picture to fit on my scanner.
    You can see the car had '49 Plymouth bumpers, frenched '50 Buick taillights, shaved doors, frenched antennas and so on, as well as Iowa license plates.
    Another Englishman named Phil Waters was also at the '82 Leadsled and he got some great pictures of the customs that were there that year. He took a nice front shot of the Chevy that day. This picture was found on the Custom Car Chronicle courtesy of Phil himself and of course Rikster.

    1946 Chevy Wild Child a PWC 1982 LSS.jpg

    The next time I saw the car was on the 1984 Leadsled Spectacular video, once again shot in Des Moines. The car had undergone some big changes with the addition of a Chrysler grille, hoods added over the taillights, and the paint was changed to a dark brandy wine with lighter scallops. The car was still named "Wild Child". The number on the plates was new with "4444" on it, but I couldn't see what state the plates were from with the picture frozen. It was too grainy.

    1946 Chevy Wild Child c 84 LSS.JPG

    1946 Chevy Wild Child d 84 LSS.JPG

    1946 Chevy Wild Child e 84 LSS.JPG

    1946 Chevy Wild Child f 84 LSS.JPG

    The car was again at the Spectacular in 1985 in Springfield, Ohio. It looked the same, but the video didn't give any good opportunities for still shots. Lots of other cars in the way and blurry images.
    The next time I saw the car was on the 1989 video from Davenport, Iowa. The car had undergone a few more changes, and was creeping away from the great leadsled style and more towards a Bonneville look. The skirts were gone as well as the ultra rare Viking style flipper caps that were replaced by Moon discs. On this video there were just glimpses of the car shown and they were so fast and blurry they couldn't be photographed on a freeze frame. Sorry about that.
    After 1989 the car seemed to disappear. I didn't see it on any more videos. I wonder if the car was sold and redone with a new look that would make it hard to identify as the same car. I hope that some of our custom faithful that were around these shows in the early days have some answers (and new pictures) about who the owner was, where he (and/or she) was from, as well as any news on where this great sled is today.
    I don't know if you've noticed, but I have. It sure is getting dark a lot faster than it was just a few short weeks ago. Sadly this is our last Tuesday of summer. Adios Verano, Amigos (goodbye summer, friends)!
    So until next time, be sure to enjoy our last few days of Summer 2019, ok? See you next fall (lol)! E
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2020
  16. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,778

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    wildchild.jpg I totally remember this car, here is a pic from the 84 Des Moines show. I found it on carnut.com!!!!!!!!
     
  17. 54delray
    Joined: Dec 18, 2004
    Posts: 1,699

    54delray
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Fremont NE

    Great choice of car Lil E. I see the Iowa plate is from Clay County. There is a club formed back in 1978 in Spencer IA called "The Old Iron Company" or something like that. I see they have a facebook page when I search. Maybe someone with the facebook could reach out to a contact, I bet we could come up with the original owner/builder.

    * I don't have the facebook, or the twitter, or the insta ...... well you get it.
     
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  18. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    Dad`s got a pic of it in the painted version and I have one with the moon Disc`s. The back of the car was also raised up. Need to get my scanner and computer to work together again. Never been to Spencer, a good 3 hour + drive.
     
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  19. Great that Carnut is back, huh Mark? I'm always on there looking for pictures. Nice to see a clear colorful shot of the Chevy. Thanks for posting! E

    I'm with you Bill. I don't do any social media either. The HAMB is good enough for me!
    @John B is very Facebook savvy, if he chimes in maybe he can check on that. He finds a lot of great information there! E

    Can't wait to see the pics, Jim. Still having problems with the scanner I see. I'm still waiting to hear about flying computers at your place (lol)!
    I was almost certain Jim would know a little something about this car since it was from Iowa. We'll see what comes up, we're early in the game as the Chevy was only posted yesterday. E
     
  20. alchemy
    Joined: Sep 27, 2002
    Posts: 20,407

    alchemy
    Member

    I don't know who owned that chopped '46 in the pics after it was painted, but it sure looks a whole lot like a local's chopped coupe from the mid-late 70's. He started with a stock coupe and added a drivetrain, then they chopped the top. I remember it had a slightly buggered rear window, like the one you show. They should have just laid the stock window forward, but they cut it somehow. The rest of the chop was good but the window wasn't perfect.

    I'm pretty sure he sold it in primer. If he ever painted it I sure don't remember what color it was. The owner was Dave Damman and he's in Marshalltown Iowa.
     
  21. John B
    Joined: Mar 9, 2001
    Posts: 1,433

    John B
    Member

    I looked up the club mentioned and sent a message. They replied quick, but sadly came up snake eyes. 46chevy.JPG
     
  22. Well that's a bummer. Thanks for trying John! E
     
  23. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    So my computer decided to show me a printer set up icon that had never been there before. And now it`s back to scanning. Stupid computers. Here`s the 57. Check in every so often. I don`t want to overwhelm my scanner again. Here`s the 57 from back in the day. 2019_09_21_071843.jpg
     
  24. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    This is from over 5 years ago but I`ve have seen it since then. I know I have more pic`s of it in it`s current shape. This was taken at Goodguys in Des Moines. Will post some more later, but for now it`s off to a car show. 2019_09_21_094618.jpg
     
  25. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    Here are the pictures from the 84 and 89 show. The moon Disc version isn`t so bad as it sounded. 2019_09_21_201859.jpg
     
  26. stanlow69
    Joined: Feb 21, 2010
    Posts: 7,348

    stanlow69
    Member Emeritus

    Is this the car. I took this at the Holland show. 2019_09_21_203834.jpg
     
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  27. Thanks for posting all the cool pictures, Jim. Glad you got your scanner working again! E
     
  28. 26Troadster
    Joined: Nov 20, 2010
    Posts: 787

    26Troadster
    Member

    carnut.com is where i go, but it appears either will work.
     
    chryslerfan55 and loudbang like this.
  29. What Ever Happened To..........? number 185.

    1941 Chevy Coupe
    Owner: Hal ? ? ? ? ?
    Mendon, Michigan

    I hate to start yet another feature car this week with little to no header information. It seems like lately I'm either having trouble finding pictures or the owner's name and hometown information. I'm not having luck finding all that information, but still we're rolling forward. I've been researching this car for quite sometime, and I think I've exhausted all my resources so I think it's time to see if you custom faithful have anything on this one.
    This neat little Chevy custom has proven to be very elusive. As far as I can tell it was only at the Leadsled Spectacular about three times and my research didn't find it at any other shows. One thing that made this car a little harder to research is the fact that it's yellow. We've talked about yellow here a few different times and how there were so many customs in the 80s and 90s that were yellow. Add the fact that it was a 40s Chevy that were wildly popular in those days and I had many false alarm sightings.
    The first video sighting I found of the car was at the 1991 Leadsled Spectacular in Hamilton, Ohio. The car wasn't shown many times on the video, but the times it was shown were decent shots. I tried to see what state the license plates were from, but grainy images made it impossible to see. One great clue on that video is that the '41 was sitting with a small group of customs under a banner that read "Midwest Customs". I researched that club a bit but came up empty. I took a few still frames of the car from the video, but the pictures are grainy and not very good.

    1941 Chevy a 91 LSS.JPG

    1941 Chevy b 91 LSS.JPG

    The next sighting of this car was at the 1992 Leadsled Spectacular in Holland, Michigan. I couldn't get good pictures of it at this show as the car was only shown in quick glimpses. Every still picture I took was blurry and hard to tell it was indeed this car. Overall it looked the very same as in 1991.
    The car returned to the 1994 Leadsled Spectacular in Huntsville, Alabama of all places. The Leadsled was moved there in 1994 and that venue proved to be disastrous for the KKOA. Attendance went from well over 1500 cars in 1993 in Springfield, Ohio, to around 125 or so in Huntsville. Some folks may argue that this was when the KKOA started it's slide and its fight to survive when Goodguys came about, but that is a whole other discussion.
    This little Chevy bravely made the trip to Huntsville which from what I've heard seemed like a million miles from everywhere. Why this location was chosen is anybody's guess, but since the KKOA never returned there makes it seem like it was a bad decision.
    At any rate, the car was only on the first few minutes of the video. It looked to be pretty much the same as it was on the '91 and '92 videos, with the exception of the wheels. On those videos it had single blade flippers on it, and in 1994 the flippers had been changed to smoothies.

    1941 Chevy c 94 LSS.JPG

    1941 Chevy d 94 LSS.JPG

    After the '94 video, all sightings stopped. My other research didn't really come up with a whole lot. My internet picture search came up with nothing, and for the most part my magazine search was the same. I did manage to find one good picture of the car from a set of magazines that I picked up from Neal East's old Colorado Car Books store a number of years ago. In the late 80s Leroi Tex Smith started a magazine called Custom Cars Magazine. From all the hype it was supposed to be "the" custom car magazine and once the word got out everyone was very excited about it. I did manage to find the second issue (of the four printed) on my local newsstand, but after that issue I couldn't find it again. I guess that Mr. Smith didn't have the advertising necessary to keep it going, and after four issues it quietly went away. I've heard of many custom guys that subscribed to the magazine for a few years worth of issues or more, only to get the first four issues and then lost their money. The whole thing was a real shame. I did manage to get the other three issues from Mr. East so I now have all four.
    It was in the second issue (Custom Cars Magazine Volume 2 number 2 1990--ironically the only one I bought from the newsstand) that had the image of this '41 on page 42. It was an article about "Fifty Chevy Customizing Ideas". It was a good read, but the picture of the '41 impressed me more as this car is as elusive as seeing a unicorn in the wilderness!

    1941 Chevy e Custom Car Magazine V2N2 1990 p42.jpg

    I'm sorry I have so little information about this week's custom, but I figured since the car is chopped, has a very unique grill and rear end treatment, as well as bright yellow paint, you hardcore custom information hunters out there might be able to dig up something on this car since I didn't find much. I hope you guys score as this car is too cool not to find out who the owner was and where this car called home.
    Well, it's here. Today is the first Tuesday of Autumn. I'm not a big fan of it as I am totally a summertime person. This makes me dread the winter coming up on us all too soon. At any rate, I hope fall finds you and your family happy and healthy!
    Have a great week guys! Take care! E
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2021

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