Originally Posted by 50Fraud Thanks, guys. By the time I started driving as a teenager in SoCal (1956) the taildragger style was ancient history, so I had never driven a car like this. I drove my '36 as a hot rod for several years, but got the urge to try a Calori-style stance on it around '03. I drove it as a taildragger for a year, but I always felt like an imposter driving somebody else's car. The car registered its opinion by throwing off the left skirt and running over it, so I took them off, raised the rear a few inches, and put big tires back on. It looked like this when I sold it in '06: It changed hands twice, and the current owner "fixed it up" to look like this: Selling a car that you care about is a crapshoot. I know this car well it is up here in Idaho, I see it every weekend, the guy is really nice but I think he ruined the car. The car when it first showed up was just fantastic and i drooled every day I saw it before they redid it to its current condition.
Agree. Can share some update on mine...not perfect, but I try to get as far as I can (credits for the built go to charlespoelmans.nl) And it will get bumpers and be slightly higher again. For the stance just look at the old post #135
My friends Denis from(Barcelona) with his '46 Ford and Cristina from Balaguer with his '50 Ford (Catalonia) Spain. Deni's 46 Cristina's 50's
We've done a little to this one. the rear quarters will soon be spotted in with black lacquer. then it's off to circle city hotrods to get a modern suspension and drivetrain from Jimmy White. Bias plys will remain and it'll look old from the outside. I am gonna have a nailhead in her though.
Nice !! and nice choice in shops to do the work.Quality craftsmanship and quality people cant go wrong with C.C.H.R.
went back through the entire post tonight, some outstanding cars. one thing I noticed is there are not many carson tops rides. is there a reason. expect to see a merc or two but nothing else. thought maybe there might be some 49-52 chevy's with them. not sure I can remember seeing a similar year Ford with one in this coverage..
I think so too. It appears that he copied this car about 80% of the way, but then finished it off as a generic street rod rather than a taildragger: Truthfully, I don't understand why he bought my car in the first place -- he changed everything that I had done to it except the top chop and the blown flattie.
You must not what seen post # 126 and 127. there are a few carson tops on there. Im sure one reason for not seeing them now a days is cause of cost. Those car look really good!
I would suspect that the reason is that they are a total Pain In the Ass. They are too heavy and awkward for one person and even with two it is difficult. Then what do you do with the top when you have it removed? If it rains you are screwed. They look great but the idea of using the car topless is ruined. BB
I think the main reason for not having many nice Carson-style tops today is that there are VERY few that make them correct. The cost can't be the only issue, because there is a lot of money put in to these cars anyway and I don't think that an additional cost of a couple of grand would stop everyone. If you look at the pics from the 1940's there were plenty everywhere. In the streets pics, at the lake shots etc. And I don't think the average salary is lower today than in the 1940's. With Gaylord and Carson making tops for so many cars, maybe they could cut some costs in having alrady standard fabricated material for different tops. Like the 1940 Ford and others. My next kustom will be a Gaylord/Carson-top car. Here's a pretty nice top made by the owner here in Sweden.
i also think its the cost of a convertible that make it really tough. people want a shit load for one. that why ive been thinking on converting my 41 chevy coupe into a carson top.
I think there was recently a video on the Hamb of a camera filming the streets of downtown L.A. from the back of a truck and it shows plenty of cars in the late 40s and I think there is one Hotrod and 1 custom.I would use that as a guage instead of pictures from lakebed meets or from pictures that were shot around custom shops or around any type of auto gathering.I would look on that video to see if there were plenty of these padded tops amoung the average population of automobiles.
Thanks for your input, Ed. You are a very good source and I always have big respect for your knowledge. I should re-phrase that sentence. I am also aware that there are more padded tops today than in those days. I was referring to the kustoms being built today in the preference of this thread, 1948-52 style. Of course, among the regular traffic the kustom cars and hot rods were not more than a small part of the daily view. It is true that I only have seen pictures from the 1940-53 era. I do have a great amount of pics from different occations and I see "many" padded tops on both the mild to wild kustoms. This is usually all California cars and not magazine pictures. Mostly private shots. But I definitely wasn't there. My thought was that these top-makers could have had ready fabricated steel bows for certain models done by a metal shop, for example. Like Sam Barris had a metal shop doing certain parts that the Barris Shop used in their kustom work. This was just a very personal thought and not at all proven in any way. If I should have a padded top I would never take it off and ruin the lines... Your opinion is always VERY welcome. Thanks! I'm just an enthusiast, not an expert by any means.
Regarding the picture above, one of the articles written has a caption that says, in the 40`s, they averaged more than 15 a week. Sounds like Plenty to me.
Brilliant, brilliant thread. Probably the most informative thing I have ever read on the internet and certainly the most interesting. Now a couple of questions because I'm new to this - tyres and interiors. What tyres, so tires )) would be used on a custom from this era? I realise they would be wide white cross plies but any particular brand would be the hot ticket, firestone, goodyear, BF Goodrich? Also interiors, what would they be like from this era? Fairly simple vinyl tuck and roll, 2 tone? Pleated headline? Whilst my car could never be included in this thread, it's an early 50's custom look i'm aiming for and I need a bit of guidance on the finer details. Thank you to everyone who has contributed (positively) to this thread. Adam
Really nice Merc but the Olds Fiesta flippers are '53-55....just a tad too late.......I know because I am using them also...... CB
Aw, Skip.......you're just sayin' that 'cause you love me... I am digging this thread soooooo much......THANKS to my great friend, J.B. for starting it and keeping it on track......best custom thread I've seen on here..... CB
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