That Pontiac building is STILL vacant. On the corner of Dixie Hwy. and Telegraph. Serves that bank right for shutting them down. I'l see if I can find a picture of then and now of the building.
Sorry man,I really appreciate your passion,...But, you got it wrong.... I worked for Angelo at Gratiot in the 70's, and I have known Al Bergler for decades,..... I was really surprised to find out what I did,..... But it is, in fact the truth,... And I will prove it very soon. I stood with Angelo and my friend Bob (the original owner and builder) at Shadow Rods a few months ago,.... And "DID IN FACT" get to the bottom of it. Angelo however,... Did put the Nailhead in it,...... This is in no way to harm the character of Angelo, As I consider him a friend and a very significant part of Hot Rodding,...... and he did modify the car,... but somehow history got it a little wrong,.... Like I said,... stay tuned.
Look, I appreciate what you've gone through in investigation, but its not the whole story. The car that Angelo bought was a front engine, flat head '27, open cab track roadster. Angelo and his associates converted the car to a mid-engine with a Buick overhead valve V-8, and significantly altered the chasis and body design. I've attached a picture of Angelo working on the near-finished chasis modification. Saying that Angelo bought the Lil Billy finished is like saying Maynard Rupp bought the "Chevoom" from a chevy dealer's showroom floor. In reality thhe "Lil' Billy" bears about as much resemblance to te original car as modern day NASCAR vehicle to it's dealer-showroom counterpart.
Here is the old Pontiac location of Gratiot Auto Supply as it sits as of 2 or 3 days ago. Sad. The banks that forced G.A.S into chapter 7 bankruptcy did a great disservice to the racing/hot rodding industries.
I really feel that I need to mention Hollywood Sams here. Certainly not in the same league as GAS, but still one of the old ones long gone. I have a couple of GAS cats in my many boxes somewhere as well have bought a cam or two from HS's way back then... pdq67
Angelo comes to breakfast almost every saturday morning along with about 60 or 70 friends and if the weather is right alot of their hot rods(no trailer queens) at the Rams Horn restaurant at rochester rd. and hamlin rd in Rochester Hills Mi. No club, just alot of car guys getting together talking about car stuff and stuff. It all starts about 6:30 am. You never know who will show up. So if Angelo is there is there you can ask him
For whatever its worth, I have brand new items from back in the day, I pink bussness card with Bill Toia as owner, several 2 pc white 2 pc tickets showing Bill Toia as presedent and Angelo Giampetroni as VP as well as their hand drawn images, listed at 9146 gratiot,ph#WA1 6692, several round sticker with a horse and blown motor, and a 5x8 photograph showing the inside of the 1st store. Looks to be all from the 50s by the hubcaps and visors hanging over the counter, also 3 men behind the counter. All items are untouhed and in perfect shape, like they are brand new. They are from the 50s. They all came from a member of the family (gratiot) who passed away a year or 2 ago, I can get names if need. Anyone interested? Always looking for a swamp John 734 637 6036
Unless he got it very recently, that is not true. State of Michigan website shows it still owned by Angelo still.
for those of us who didn't grow up in the era......or Area.......would those of you who did please try a phoenetic spelling? I wanna know how to pronounce "Gratiot" properly.
the federal trademarks are freeware( gratiot auto supply) available to anyone who like to register them. about 2 years of paper work and 2.5k to 4k in legal fees. chances are the bankruptcy closed the corp and the former owner is not up to date with michiagn corp regs so i would bet the michigan name would be available. if if the ,ichigan stuff was up to date it would only apply to the metro detroit area anyways. so national stuff is wide open. the whole issue is a no brainer for any good trademark laywer. so do what ever you want. do worry about how nice the guy is. if he did not keep up with federal and state regs to bad for him, if you want for a business you want to start go for it
The Sprint T was designed and built for Gratiot by Ron Founier. Rons is an metal fabricator , and currently has a shop in Shely Twp. Mi. He has quite a hisory in the race car fabrication business, including Penske Racings Trans Am days.
Yeah, but ya never know if the actual owner might be on HAMB and reading this thread. So much for "under the radar"
Quick google search under images got a hit on decals, and ots of car pictures... google images, search = gratiot auto supply drag racing decals http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34924
Angelo still owns the rights, trademarks, and copyrights. And he didn't "take" anyone when G.A,S, went "Belly Up", The Bank did. You probably don't understand what it's like losing a business of over 40 years that you put your blood, sweat, and tears in. Angelo would have done anything to keep G.A.S. up and running. If you want to blame someone, blame Jimmy Carter.
The criminals there screwed me out of about $900, in 1985 dollars, back then - sent them the money (this was before all the credit cards and paypals) and never received anything other than a cancelled check. Angelo? don't you mean Anusgelo?
Here are some actual construction pictures of The Roadster known as The Bear,... later to be re-named Lil'Billy Built by Bob Tamplan,..... It originally ran a Hemi,... later replaced by a Nailhead after Angelo bought it from Bob and repainted it. And below you can find the link to the real story.... Dont look like "a front engine, flat head '27, open cab track roadster" to me. Here's the REAL story........ Gratiot Auto Supplys "Li'l Billy", a.k.a. "The Bear" The REAL Story!
The Jalopy Journal
