Thanks Ryan for the nice article. I appreciate the acknowledgment of our family legacy. Our Porsche roots were planted in 1962 when my grandfather and Clayton parted ways and Neil went to work for Chick Iverson Porsche in Newport Beach. He ran the body shop and trained my uncle Don (his second son). The both left Iverson in the 70's and moved to Fallbrook and started Emory's Porsche. My father, Gary was Parts Manager at Iverson's and then went on to start Porsche Parts Obsolete in Costa Mesa, CA. I grew up building cars in the back of Parts Obsolete with my dad building Porsche 356's (in the 80's everyone called us the "Outlaws" because we were louvering, removing bumpers, lowering, adding hood straps, etc while all the purists were too busy with their q-tips and trying to get the lint out of their air cleaners) and playing around with his 40 Ford Coupe and 34 Ford 3 window. The term "356 Outlaws" eventually gained acceptance in the Porsche community and is now widely known. I would spend my summers in Fallbrook learning metal work, body and paint from my grandfather and uncle Don. So I guess you could say that my sand was not in a box but in a leather bag and I would beat it with a hammer. I am truly blessed to have had an opportunity to work closely with all of them and get old school skills like hammer welding. I have all of the archive photos and articles from http://www.ValleyCustomShop.com and have been scanning and posting them as I can for everyone to enjoy. Also I have one of the only unfinished cars (Sectioned, and Channeled 40 Ford Coupe) of Valley Custom Shop that I will finish as a tribute to the great work, inspiration, and influence my grandfather has passed on to so many.
I was aware of Gary and his Outlaw Porsches, but I'm glad to learn of the rest of the family and their car stuff. I like a lot of the stuff that has been done in the name of outlawry, and I think that it could be usefully applied to other import makes as well. Hmmm, an Outlaw Lusso?? footnote: everybody aware that Cole Foster built an Outlaw BMW coupe?
Its like that line from the old movie Top Secret "You've gotta hand it to the Germans, they make great cars!" Of coarse the scene prior to that they rear ended a Pinto.
Wow, it's really great to be able to "come out of the closet" so to speak. In addition to my traditional Hot Rods I have been influenced by the Emory's in my attempt to creat my own "Outlaw 356." They are really fun cars to drive!
Ryan, If you can appreciate a 38 Ford then it's certainly alright for you to appreciate a Porshe. Both are beautiful cars.
thanks for the heads up ryan. it's great to see 2nd and 3rd gen desendants pounding out truley nice cars. the Valley Customs legacy lives on in my opinion. like you pointed out ,ryan, with the same thought to design. like a subtle sledge hammer. just awsome.
SShhhh! I own a VW and a Porsche....but don't tell anyone...in my defense they were willed to me....A 72 911 and an awesome bug! Jim
couldnt give me a porsche (portion of a car) of any year reguardless but ill take all the old 55-72 vettes you wanna bring me
Porsche will allways have a soft spot in my heart. I was lucky enough to work for Vasek Polak in the seventies and managed to get my hands on more than a few of his race cars. He kept them stacked in the back of his SAAB dealership in Manhatten Beach for a while. His parts inventory for competition cars was huge. He had new unused 904 body shells leaning against the wall upstairs... 917 frames, wheels, suspension pieces, engines and pieces, transaxles and pieces etc. etc. Complete race engines lying about. Unreal. I remember having no fewer than eight 4 cam 4 cylinder Carrera engines lined up in a row one day in '79 or '80 each one freshly reguilt. There are pictures of myself and some of his cars around here somewhere I need to scan. He also had a very nice collection of european racing motorcycles in the basement at that same location. He was a bit of a tyrant at times but he and I got along well, if your hands were quick and your mind focused you could survive. I have little doubt he was hated by many but people with his motovation and drive can be difficult shall we say. I've got a few stories I could tell.
What's not to Love.....always been on the top of my "If I Win The Lottery" list..... <a href="http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/hotrd32/HAMB%20Stuff/?action=view&current=327013_262127387138865_6544287_o-1.jpg" target="_blank"></a> <a href="http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/hotrd32/HAMB%20Stuff/?action=view&current=194773_262127837138820_739180_o.jpg" target="_blank"></a>
Many years ago maybe 2006 or so, a friend and I snuck into the Ventura Porsche show with my pickup. (back when this was a good quality cell phone picture!) I was expecting to see a bunch of "q-tip" cars as Rod had mentioned! However there was a bitchin setup by Emory Motorsports, that had me rethink that. Rod's personal porsche had was amazing with little custom changes. The whole setup was a dream. At the time I had no idea that the Emory was the same as Valley Custom, but with the pickup as a business card, I had a great talk and time with Rod and Gary. They had brought a scrapbook of some early VC shots, and it was just cool hearing stories rather than read about them. Gary even sat in the pickup and noticed all the little details inside, and said someday they wanted to build a hot rod. Always wondered how that panned out! Anyway good to see Rod on here, and know that he's continuing on! TP
Dean Jefferies' Porsche was one of the featured vehicles at Amelia Island 2010. It may have been a Carrera ? Super trick (and now $$$) engine
James Dean? Lil Bastard? I like them thar furrin cars, heck, I even had one o' them 911s, never figured why they named it after the mergency phone number? Better rush out and buy one of those 356s before the price goes up, oooops, tooo late. Worst thing I ever did was give my young, impressionable son a book called Small Wonder, about the VW Beetle, now he's on the dark side.
Rod Emory is a really cool dude , got to meet him while I was racing my 57 Alfa. Funny I just featured him the other day on my facebook page. Was really cool to learn all about his grandpas shop, way way cool, and here is something you might not have known he built the cockpit for the red bull guy who did that Crazy Sky dive recently.
A tidy 356 sold at the Auto Mechanica in Melbourne, Australia just before X-mas for a reported $140k, silver with red leather interior. Yep X-lotto and i,d have one or an early Whale Tail 911. My wife has a 2012 WRX, 2.5 turbo, this thing is an oversized go kart, bloody good fun to drive but not the "sexy cool" of a porsche. Great thread Ryan.
Speaking of customized 356's . . . In the 50's Ray Erickson grafted the fenders off a '48 Chevy coupe onto his 356 . . . Ryan, I know you love this car! And I love Porsches (and your post) too!
No hate from me Boss, they're slick as sh#t! (Besides, mumma's had her first car, a multiple trophy winning custom Bug for over 25 years.)
although i think "old school,we often overlook the fact that many of the cars we now love were new or near new when customized. Therefore if our kulture is to survive, we should recognize newer late models as kustom material as well.
If a car is cool, it doesn't matter where or when it was built. Are there any foreign cars as cool as a 32 Ford or 55 Caddy? No, but that black Porsche is cool for sure. If you don't believe me park, it next to your car at a show and see who looks at which one the most.
The Jalopy Journal
