Ralph Schenk Streamliner.

This car is being restored to be at Pebble Beach in 2010. I am seeking any info about it's current progress.
I have exchanged info with a guy who claims to know the restorer but does'nt give any name/names. I have info that Terry Baldwin is the current owner but i can't confirm anything.{can't get in touch}
I know the basic history of this car, just seeking it's current progress,if any.
Maybe Jimmy B can help?

 

What??!! Oh I can't wait to see this!

 

I wonder what time in the cars history, it is going to be restored to ? Chevy four or the Ford flathead power. I thought the car was just a pile of rubble from a towing accident.
Here is a photo of the photo I scored on ebay 10 years ago for $5.

There have been many posts of the car on the HAMB

 

Terry Baldwin IS the current owner of this car, Progress is slow but i have seen it.

It is slated to be done in the Chevy 4 configuration.

He has the engine & rolling chassis and a TON of lititure on it, Body buck hase been built and a Tube skeleton like the original has been started.

I dont expect it to be done anytime soon.

 

De Soto is correct on all accounts.
Terry has been working on another car that will be displayed in the Hot Rod class at Pebble Beach in 2010, there is a very slight chance the Schenck car maybe there. I will be travelling to the US to attend Pebble Beach, as I really want to see what's on show in the '10.


brjnelson, that photo is awesome, thank you for posting.

 

Hey,

Cool car and project!

Can someone explane the Pebble Beach connection to Hot Rods & Kustoms today? For years the "blue blazer-snooty fucks'' looked at hot rods & kustoms as if they were something they'd stepped in. Today people pay upwards of $150.00 a pop to view them parked on a golf course lawn. I'm guessin' the $150.oo is ment to keep the 'riff-raff' at bay i.e. hotrodders & kustom guys. One can hope some of the money actually makes it to a good cause!

Swankey Devils C.C.
"Spending A Nation Into Generational Debt Is Not An Act Of Compassion!"

 

1st: thankyou brjnelson for posting a great pic. I've never seen it painted like that.

2nd: thankyou DE SOTO and Jimmy B for the info. The cars body was taken off many decades ago and left outside. Apparently someone may have seen it and hauled it away so it is most probably lost forever.
Jimmy, is it true that the Olds cylinder head that was on the car belongs to someone here downunder?
I've since learned alittle more about the resto at Hotrodonline. I'll probably e-mail Jim Miller and ask him some more in hopes of getting intouch with Mr. Baldwin.

thanks again blokes.

 

"pimpin paint" said it best. Someone told the "golf" crowd these cars were cool and they could buy status. Like the people who couldn't spell motorsikle a few years ago now rush out to buy the new Harley .....

 

Interesting car. It's resemblence to the Golden Submarine is spooky (in a good way). Hope the reserection is well documented and finds it's way to the HAMB.

FRank

 

I don't wanna get off topic but geez man, $150 for a ticket. Some shithot cars nevertheless.

 

Kurtis, Thanks for starting this thread, I have seen a few photos of the car in CT News and the Veda Orr book. This question will get people pissed off, but for the historical record, is this a RESTORATION of THE car, or a clone? Either way I'd like to see the finished product.

 

This a restoration of what was left of the car.

Terry told me he met a Man that had the Body after it was removed from the chassis, It ended up in a vacant lot where the Neighborhood kids would play FLASH GORDON in it, Then it dissappeared.... Later in life the the same kid, Now a Man relized he was playing with what is now a piece of Hot Rodding History forever Lost.

Terry has all kinds of storys & info on this car, Woulda taken a week to listen to it all & see all the memrobilia he has.

 

Thanks! Look forward to some restoration progress photos. If that original Olds head is in fact out there it would be nice to see it reunited with the car.

 

As far as i know Terry was lucky enough to have a sit down with Mr.Schenk before he passed away i think in 2003{DON'T QUOTE ME}. So you can see that this build was on the mind of Terry for a while. It was originally thought that the body was with the same guy who built it but this has been verified as not true.
I've also heard Mr.Schenk's grandson is seeking info on his grandad.

 

With all the Hot Rodder / Dry Lakes'rs on this Board i am amazed that no has any info or intrest in this car or its restoration.

I bet if there was a pic of it with Air Bags or a 350 Chevy people would be all over it.

 

Glad someone is saving it. It would be great to see it make a few exhibition passes on the lakes.

 

This has amused me for years, seems like they came out of nowhere a few years ago, payed some shop to do all the work, and then they pose with their prize like it's some big accomplisment for them. None of the pros want to lose their meal tickets, and lots of others like to bask in the rich guys glow, so here we are. Always thought hotrods were mostly hands on, but must have picked up some wrong information along the way.

 

Hugh,
Are you sayin' you wouldn't attend a show such Pebble Beach if you were lucky enough to own a historical hotrod?

 

I'm saying it's amused me for years. All the soccer players are now gearheads. Or something like that.

 

LOL I'm gettin' ya now.

 

If it takes someone that makes more than I do in a year to save a car, and pay to have it rebuilt/restored who gives a fuck? Saving the car with historical value allows everyone to see it in real life or in magazine features. The fact that a team of skilled craftsmen are gainfully emploied for a year or years is a win in my book.

 

I agree. It's all about jobs and the economy today.

 

Isn't the name spelled Schenck?

De Soto. I think your statement about the lack of interest in this car is an unfair comment. I think there is an interest by many in this car. Pulling the 350 and airbags comment let me just say, hmmmm.

The car was in the Albatas club wasn't it? It evidently made its debut at the May 1940 SCTA meet at Harper Dry Lake with a debut speed of 118.57 mph.

Any info on this (photo below) being the same car, or was this a clone type of the Schenck car. The photo attached is out of the HOT ROD handbook #129 Fawcett books. It states that the car was built by Bob Arner of Culver City and had a 296 (flathead?)engine.

 

That's true, but still it amuses me. The cars wouldn't be here without them.

 

To answer the first question,yes i mispelt the mans name. Dhead me.
It was more of a show car when Bob Arner owned it.

 

LOWCAB, that front view looks very much like a photo I cut out of a Popular Mechanics feature from the 1950's. Now I have to go search for it. If it is the Schenik car the grill opening is changed from the photo in the Veda Orr book, that states the car was owned by Paul Harestad in 1946.

 

This was the photo I was looking for.
From the Dean Batchelor book "The American HOT ROD"
Great book for those of you interested in "Traditional"
B

 

What ^^^ he said.
I have met the fellow doing the body. He is a little secretive and sure doesn't want to be bothered during the process. I asked if I could watch him work, but he turned me down, LOL.

It will be returned to its original configuration.

 

Found it! I cliped this out of a Popular Mechanics way back in 1961 and taperd it in a scrapbook. Text reads, Screwdriver, a hand built streamliner owned by Bob Arnet of Culver City, Calif., has had many motors in it---now a '45 Mercury. It's done 139mph.

 

Pebble Beach has always been about showcasing the top designs of the automotive world. The hot rod/custom connection has always really been there, just in with a European or factory prototype flavor. Serious (meaning very rich) collectors/restorers have just recently, say the last 10 years, started to take an interest in the "significant" hot rods and customs, so the cars have started to filter "up" into the concours scene. These cars were just used for many years, and no one would put to hundreds of thousands of dollars into restoring them until they fell into collectors hands. Now they are being restored to concours levels, and therefore are getting shown at the top events.

The cost of the ticket to get into Pebble Beach has always been high, but not really designed to keep anyone at bay. Its a HUGE event, with HUGE expenses. The proceeds heavily benefit quite a few charities. Actually, the ever escalating and high ticket prices have had the effect of drawing MORE people in. Its expensive, so it MUST be good... is the thinking.

The Pebble Beach Concours is a MUST for any serious gearhead. Its Mecca. I've been going for 20+ years in just about every capacity (spectator, press, entrant crew) except judge, and it doesnt get old. There is always something amazing.

That being said... this year, there is an alternative... The Concours d'LeMons http://www.concoursdlemons.com