Black Panther Returns; One California Custom's History Found w Pictures!

I see why you sold the wheels now! haha. Great score man. Really cool car. I still do want those wheels though if they come up for sale again.

 

very cool, that was for sale on here for a long time and pretty cheep too.

 

I wanted to add these other pictures I have so that all the ones known of the car are in the same thread...I do have some others I will post later..like Chuck Rogers construction shots showing the car in primer and a couple more...I also was lucky enough to find a 1957 Custom Cars Annual and will scan the page the Panther is on and post that too! Thanks for the nice comments!

 

Thanks for sharing, love all the old pics, have fun with the restoration.

 

Great buy!
I love that rear rolled pan treatment with the side exiting pipes.....very sexy.
Are you going to split the front screen? I dont know why but I like it better split on the car.
I think those caps may be Lyons after markets, there was a NOS set on the auction site a little while ago that looked just like the ones picture, apart form the covered centre.

 

Thanks for the update on this car, and posting all those neat old photos.
In Custom Cars Annual 1957 the owner of the car is listed as Chuck Rodgers...was that a typo? ... I guess it was

 

Yes that was a typo...if you look at the last picture in the original post of this thread you will see Chuck Rogers' own sign at a car show bearing his name with his last name spelled without the "d"....I am sure it's a common thing for a magazine back then to get some little facts wrong like that...

 

Amazing the way some cars change hands and fall apart. Hope you get this back to what it was its a great looking custom

 

hehe, yeah, old small pages magazines are full of typos everywhere, especially when it comes to the owners name, year of the car, and parts used on it....watching mad men on tv it seems like people drank a lot of whisky while at work in those days

 

What a wicked cool car, glad it's in good hands.

 

Here are three construction pictures that were taken by Chuck Rogers probably 1954-55...and a trunk shot that was probably from around 1957-58 under Sal's ownership...

 

What is those lic plate surround from? I have one of those.

 

You are one lucky man to find that ride. Congrats!

 

At my first meeting with Bud, I asked him if he knew if the Panther had been in any other magazines...to the best of his recollection he thought it might have been in a Motor Trend and some others...today while leafing through a 1957 Motor Trend magazine I found this....

 

When the car was being shown at the 1957 Oakland Grand Roadster Show...you can see a small car club plaque....here is what the plaque looked like...I think I have found a guy that has the mould of that plaque...but of course if someone out there has an original one they want to part with...let me know!

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313246

http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Chuck_Rogers'_1950_Chevrolet&mt_=2zi_i

 

Just found this little gem of a thread and thought it deserved another go at the main page. It puts a smile on my face.

 

Just now catching up on this thread Gasser Dood, those pics are great, I love this car.

 

Neat story, that car even kind of looks like a panther, needs one of those 50's ceramic panthers with the light up eyes for the package deck. Wait, it looks like it might have had one!

 

Hey,

In one of the show photos is that a" Bailon" sign leaning up against the open doorway? Did the builder work on this whyle working for Bailon, i.e. a Bailon shop build?

Any progress on this killer rebuild of a killer kustom? Anything left to work with below the old paint & filler or lead?

" Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

This is Balions old shop. I thought I had seen that primer spot Chevy convertible before.

 

sure looks like old man jerry s yard! i got a custom 53 from the same guy.neat ol timer and has alot of cool stuff.heres some pics of my 53 that was in the 62 worlds fair,im trying to do some research of pics on http://www.jalopyjournal.com/jal_attachments/4/1/7/4/1030923.thumb?d=1279385785
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1030927&d=1279385785

 

Gasser Dood - Congradutions, a very cool story and thread a joy to read. You run into a gold mine of history and good luck with the rebuild. Now, you'll have to change your user name to Kustom Dood to reflect your new image.

CRUISER

 

Ive given some thought of changing my user name but I guess that is a hard thing to do...mods have to do it. How about "Black Panther"...oh well.

The Black Panther was displayed by Chuck Rogers with a "Custom by Bailon" sign but from what I read in the Rod and Custom article, it was the buildup of this car that prompted Bailon to hire Chuck Rogers. Dont know for sure...but I am sure once Chuck Rogers started working for Bailon and showed the Panther he advertised Bailon's shop...

As far as progress...I am in the parts acquistion phase... I bought some NOS 1953-55 Accessory wire wheel hubcaps...these were expensive in their day...I have a Feb 1953 Motor Trend listing them for nearly $100 a set and the ad I posted here has them for what $45? Barris used these types of caps too...I think these are great for the Panther...unless I stumble across the correct ones....

I have to also thank again Bud Millard....the Panther had 1935 Chevy bucket seats..and of course they were long gone when I got the car. When I spoke to Bud he mentioned that he had purchased seats for the car. The exact 1934-35 Chevy bucket seat that Chuck Rogers used originally...he said "how about $100?"....remember...this is maybe 10 or more years after he sold the car...It still makes me smile thinking about this whole thing.....

Thanks for visiting the thread and bumping it up! In the meantime the Panther is safe and sound, out of the elements in my garage...waiting.

 

Hey, Didn't "The Black Panther " run a Jimmy originally? SBCs are great in '74 Monte Carlos & roundy-round cars, but historical kustoms..............nah!

Are you going back to bare metal & lacquer for paint?

Killer project!

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

Thats too cool! I love the shot of the inside of it, there is a panther in the back window! Were was it in Washington?

 

Hi Gasser Dood. May I use some of your pictures and your right up on a thread I'm working on? Full credit to the source of course.

 

The story that i heard was it was in some yard down southern wa, a few guys on here know which one, i remember seeing it at the monroe fairgrounds for sale a few years back, kinda kickin myself now

 

One of the World Famous Swindlers had it. Then sold it. I think his name is Cup? That thing is pretty rusty.

 

Last owners name is Gup....

Bare metal and black paint of course......its really not that rusty any more...since the floors are gone. Funny thing is the car is from California...but I guess when it went to Kentucky it must have gotten rusty over there. I dont think it needs much more than any typical old Chevy...floors, rockers and I will probably replace the door bottoms. The fenders, quarters, trunk floor...basically all but the floors and rockers are just fine. The roof is GREAT...the work on the chop is amazing. The way Chuck Rogers chopped the windshield frames is artwork...I will have to post a picture of that too one of these days....

Bud Millard told me the car had a GMC Jimmy 6 in it...but its not mentioned in any of the mag articles or pictured anywhere...I want to be able to drive the thing...