The man George Ikered , that built the Thunderado / Spook,had what we'd call cool out of the box thinking,so to that point,I'll tell a story about him I like. His wife an 3 little kids were always messing things up oneway or other. George worked on some cars in his back yard on weekends,4 and 5 year olds are not helpers! I was over one week end an George was fixing some extra dents in a customers car,after he had already fixed it before,but kids got a body hammer and did what daddy did a few hrs before,so the dents George took out ,had come back kind of {*%$#}. The pet skunk Stinky ran to hide from hearing those loud words. So another time,his wife came out an tells George,hay when you getting the new rugs for the house? I want to see those in there, when I get back from my sisters! So George goes over to Miami Rug Co. warehouse an gets for free, a lot of boxs full of last few years of old rug color sample patchs { there about 8in. sq. an lots of colors an textures}. He glues them down like tile all over the livingroom an puts a box full on the back padio,with a note"If kids get rug spots dirty,just replace with these new ones. Lucky for him,she was color blind an loved her new many textured rug ,LOL
Hey Dana, we need to talk. I grew up right down the street from George Ikered and very much remember his back yard work shop and Stiky the skunk. The last vehicle I remember him building was the stretched Ford van. Did the Thunderado make it to any of the shows at Diner Key up to the mid '60? It is a nice car, not over done.
Anybody know if this car was in the movie “the Buddy Holley Story” Gary Busey played the part of Buddy, and the scene was a Cadillac Roadster in a show room that Holley was showing the Crickets. @dana barlow, you think? Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Last show I think The Spook was at,was Miami Beach Conv. Hall,about 62,it was a fairly reg. at most indoor shows before that,Clark didn't like outdoor shows at all or to show The Spook with the hard top on. George could of made Marilyn Monroe by hammering alum sheets together,to this day I've never seen anyone weld alum with ox/acet. like he did.
A similar Caddy concept car, 1953 Elegante? http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-week-1953-cadillac-elegante-concept-car
Holy crap, Dominick - I've been wondering what happened to that car for years! It was in the first issue of Rod & Custom I ever bought - when I was seven years old back in November '67. About the only difference I see between then and now is the wheels - in the magazine it had '64 Galaxie 500 XL wheelcovers. So what's it been up to these last 50 years? Glad it's in good hands!
I first posted about this car a couple of years ago when I first acquired it. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/riley-winn-guthrie-custom-thunderbird.973133/ Photos being held for ransom by Photobucket, but text is all there. Good memory on the wheel covers, as substantiated on original build sheet.
Hope you don't mind - I salvaged the photos from PB and added them to your original thread. If I can dig up the issue of R&C I'll scan that too; thanks for posting that rear shot, as the article didn't show the rear of the finished car.
Very nicely done.Thanks to Ryan for posting.And Ryan`s right about Miami.Till you get away from the beach side it pretty much sucks. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
This was the 1953Cadillac La Mans concept in the Buddy Holly Story I think it was fiberglass like the Vette
I've lived in Miami from 1942 tell now,kind of find it funny that those that know little tonothing about this town,say werid stuff that is based on a limited view,if they found it good that's nice,if they found it bad? The're like all big towns in the wrong part of town,out of them not knowing=I've been too NY city,LA,Huston etc. every one has parts that suck ,and really good parts too. Miami for most of your age's has lots of Cuban's now,but up tell 1980s they were not screwing up the manners or language,like now in places. There is a lot of very good latinos an also some,the few that refuse to learn english also have bad manners ,we could do with out. The rest add color an variety,that is a good thing. This is like what I saw the Mexican's doing in LA n Huston too.
Something about it is really appealing and I’m not a custom guy. But, I bet the shortened 104” wheel base killed the ride quality.
Fordor Ron,I did ride in the Spook and had also ridden in another 1955 T-bird before,the Cady V8 n tranny in the Spook added about 100 lbs more over the 312Y,so George said. So he lowered the rear to match. I was no expert back then,but did think it was as good a ride as the stock 55 T-bird an felt to me a little faster. It was very COOL to me. I was a teen then,so take that as what ever you think it can be.
Hi Nads.Nice to see you post again.Hope all is well with you and yours. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
I love that car! I also love the "galaxie" roadster. Both have great proportions, especially considering the size of their donor cars. It could not have been easy making Caddy bumpers look like they should be that small in the first place. I bet someone could do an entire thread on "sports customs" (as they were mostly known at the time) if they haven't already. They were a big thing in the early 1950s, too. Just sayin.
The proportions are scaled nicely. I think that's why it's a winner when other personal luxury/ sports cars look miss-matched.
Great thread. I did a Hot Rod Power Tour several years back. Along the way I got behind what appeared to be a 66 Mustang Convertible, but something threw it off. I got to talk to the driver/owner. He had built it over a Mazda Miata that had been hailed on and totaled. He had done a great job & it was a downsized, 2 seater with Mazda touches, gas cap location, convertible top, dash, etc.
In keeping with the theme, here is one that I saw this Sunday at a local cruise event I attended. It appeared to be an old build and showed it in the cracked paint but I was drawn to it needless to say and I'm not a custom guy. the rear in particular, nailed the tail lights If the designers of the baby bird only knew what a wonderful platform they were providing at the time for future customizers. Anyway, I thought you guys might enjoy this one.
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