Thank you Thank you for posting this story and photos....great job, better than reading a hundred magazines, this real deal is awesome.
The car is an awesome survivor. I'm so glad to hear it will be preserved as an early example of Rodding! An early Pasadena area person that comes to mind is Hot Rod historian/author Don Montgomery (Rockerhead on the HAMB). PWood and 296ardun have chimed in. Perhaps other, early Blair's folks (Phil Lukens, Jake Jacobs, etc.) may recall the car. Another area person to tap on the shoulder may be Pat Ganahl. As a decades long author immersed in the Socal scene, he may have some knowledge of the car. If this comes up dry, all these folks know plenty of people and may have an idea of who to ask about the car (individuals may not frequent the HAMB). Surely with it's show car stuff (road flair holders in the trunk) was displayed at car shows. Perhaps some photos of it being shown at an early LA area show will surface.
And another John Dewar who is a Lieutenant in the Pasadena Police, in fact going by another website he may be the son of the previous owner of the coupe. You could maybe go to the GNRS etc websites and look back at the 50s show results or maybe even ask the show promoters if they have entry lists and/or pics from 50s shows.
Ohhhhhhhhh myyyyyyyyyyyy.That`ll put a high volt tingle in yer jeans.Outstanding Sir.Thanks for posting. Good luck.Have fun.Be safe. Leo
Looks to have been built with a great deal of craftsmanship, especially compared to the standards of it's day. Glad it's in good hands and I look forward to seeing it preserved and functional again, I also hope it's history will come to light.
Troy picked up the hood and grill yesterday. Louvered hood top and a filled and peaked grill shell. Pretty cool. There are also some hood sides that are unpainted for some reason. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Oh man....that 3 window is so cherry! And the 55 shows [in the engine shot] that it's the same color my 55 was. In fact it's identical.
I worked at Schifano's from about 1960 to 1962. This was done a bit before that. They did really nice upholstery. Wayno
What an incredible find! Hope so see it running soon.......... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Oh wow, really? Do you know anyone who’s still around that may know something about it? Is Greg still alive? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Internet shows Greg as age 86, residing in SLO. Gregory J Schifano Age 85—90 View Gregory Schifano's Background & Public Record Information Ads Phone (805) 544-3116 8055443116 is a Landline number registered with At&t California in CA Address 4736 Bridge Creek Rd San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-8331 He's listed as a HAMB member, but not active here for some time;
We still haven't found any info on the car yet. But we have done some investigating on the car over the past few weeks. It seems to be pretty clear that this car never ran with the Olds power and was originally built with a different engine. The first tip was cutouts on the front fenders for exhaust that didn't line up with the exhaust on this engine. The second came when we removed a valve cover, the rockers and everything were extremely clean. Then the carbs came apart for cleaning/rebuild. They were also extremely clean inside. The pump seals looked brand new, but the gasket between the carb base and body was the wrong one, and would have been a clear vacuum leak. The distributor came out, and everything that was inside the block is super clean, and the gear looks brand new. Peeking in the distributor hole, the cam looks brand new as well. We have a little snake camera we put through a spark plug hole, and see carbon on the pistons, but everything else looks brand new. We have narrowed down the engine to being 59-60. Seeing as how the car was parked in '61, the engine couldn't have much time on it no matter what it ran in. The next and almost last evidence that the engine hadn't been ran in this car is that the oil line to the pressure gauge was hooked up with incorrect fittings that would have leaked and were also cracked. The last huge nail in the coffin was that the starter wouldn't fit because of the steering box. We are thinking that possibly it was a real low mile or possibly new engine, that was put in the car, new intake, possibly new cam, and it was just put together for a show car and put away before making it a functioning vehicle. We aren't sure why there would be carbon on the pistons when everything else looks unused. Possibly an engine from a new car wreck? but with a cam swap? But we got a modern, indexable starter that fit with the steering box and got it to fire today. Pretty cool.
Damn, this is just an incredible find! Aesthetic pleasure is just to look at it. The very oldest of the cars (and their 3) is a 1997 Volkswagen. I love this old car, even insured her (I insured here, if interested), but I'm afraid for cars.
So I looked it over better this morning, and it actually hasn’t been moved. I kind of just assumed it was moved to fit the engine without cutting the firewall. The fan is close to the radiator and there is even a notch in the bottom of the radiator for it. The distributor cap and gas pedal have been notched a bit, but still rub. It’s just squeezed in there. Hood is 32” long. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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