Ed Lepold`s Merc. A pic of his LaSalle from the 79 Street Rod Nats from Minnesota. A feature car from the 50`s.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 161. 1963 Ford Galaxie Convertible Owner: Bud Roberts ? ? ? ? ?, West Virginia This week's custom is another that never seemed to venture off the east coast very much. I watch lots of video all the time. I have most of the Leadsled Spectacular videos from 1983 through 1994, and a few from the late 90s to the early 2000s, give or take a few years in between. Mr. Robert's nice Galaxie wasn't on any of them. I also have a small group of Sled Scene East videos that I watch a lot, and that is where I found the '63. Mr. Roberts drove his newly completed Galaxie to Sled Scene East in 1992. On the video you could tell the car caused quite a stir. It had people around it all weekend every time it caught the eye of the camera. The car was black with dark burgundy through the middle of the car with a hint of large metalflake sprinkled in. As the camera worked around the car or it drove by, you could tell it was straight as an arrow. It had all the emblems and door handles shaved and a pair of frenched antennas were installed in the front corner of the driver's door. The car sat super low with molded triple cap lake pipes and bubble skirts almost touching the ground. I would think the car had hydraulics, but I never saw the car go up or down on the video. It looked to always be at the same ride height all the time. If it didn't have hydraulics, I'd imagine it was hard to drive as it sat pretty low! The front of the car had the "nose" extended to give it more of a peaked look unlike the flat front end of a stock Galaxie. It had a full length tube grille with the headlights hidden behind it. The front bumper is not stock Ford. I'd venture to guess that it looks like the front bumper off of a '61 or '62 Chrysler. The hood also had a large dose of louvers in it. Out back the car had the rear extended with a Connie kit in true east coast style. The cherry on top of this car was the chopped and operational top. According to the owner, it took six months work in his spare time to get the top chopped and working. I've always read convertibles are a real bear to chop and get to fold again afterwards. Bud did it right, as on the video he cruised around with the top up, and there is some great footage of him taking the top down one morning at the show. One push of a button, and with the help of a buddy to make sure the top folded right as it went down and it was time for some open air cruisin'. The interior was all done up in red and silver diamond button tuck velour. I'm sure the time the interior took was staggering. There were buttons everywhere! The car rolled on what looked to be basket wire wheels with narrow whites. All the work was worth while as Mr. Roberts and his Galaxie took home one of the "One Fine Nine" awards at Sled Scene East '92. Not easy to do with so many nice cars in attendance. After the 1992 video I found no other video on the car. I searched magazines for quite some time and found nothing on the car. That is until a few weeks ago when I stumbled on a small write up on the Galaxie in a KKOA Trendsetter. It was on pages 18 and 47 of Volume 7 number one. I get so confused the way the KKOA numbered those newsletters. I searched that magazine from cover to cover and top to bottom trying to find a copyright date and found nothing. So I can't say when it was written. I'd guess early 90s. It's a nice little read about what Mr. Roberts was going through trying to get his sled done in time to make it to Sled Scene East. There is also one picture of the car, but, (not to sound like a broken record) it's in black and white. This is where I got Mr. Roberts' name and that he was a KKOA colonel from West Virginia. I never did find what town he was from. I looked through the Trendsetters I have to see if he was on the list of colonels but it was another guy that was the West Virginia colonel in the issues I have. Of course, most of the Trendsetters I have are from the late 90s to the early 2000s, and he might have resigned the position or something by then. I searched the internet for months and I've yet to find another picture of the car in black and white or in color. I hope one turns up as the car is just beautiful! Not much information or history on this one. Again I'm hoping that you east coast custom faithful and KKOA old timers will have more on it. You would think a Galaxie this radical would have some information and pictures on it somewhere. It's warming up here in the Mile High City--at least for now. They are predicting more snow here for the weekend, but for now, at least our tulips are coming up! Summer is on the way! Keep cruisin' everyone! See you next week! E
Was thinkin it was on the HAMB classifieds a year or so ago. From Michigan. Seemed pretty affordable.
@stanlow69 I know the one you are talking about. I tried to find it again in the classifieds but no luck. I do remember that it was not a real convertible, but had the roof cut off. The car from the classifieds may be this one that was at Chicago World of Wheels. It's a '61...
Wow @Sancho, that '61 does look a lot like Mr. Roberts' '63! I hope some pictures of it surface. The front end on the '61 is kool, but Mr. Roberts' Galaxie front end has that special something. It looks like customizing that one of the greats like Barris or Winfield would have built. The peaked and extended front end with the full length tube grille is pure rolling art! E
Ok guys. Since we haven't had any luck with pictures on Mr. Roberts' Galaxie, I went ahead and took some pictures of it. Please excuse the quality of the photos, but these were taken with the DVD paused on my computer screen. I really don't like to do this, but since we only had the one black and white photo from the KKOA Trendsetter, I thought everyone would enjoy seeing the car in all its beauty in color. This was from the 1992 Sled Scene East DVD by Action Video. E Sorry about the open hood. Had to include this one. Here is Bud "hisself" in an action shot taking down the top on his Galaxie sled. Here's a friend giving Bud a little help making sure the top folds up and lays down right. Interior shot. Had to include a shot of the nice dual frenched antennas. Sorry about the mirrors Mark (@Moriarity)! Here's a 3/4 shot of the car (kinda) with the top down. Sorry the front of the car got cut off, but the video went to the next frame before the shot got the whole front end of the car. Here's a shot of the rear of the car with the top up. This was at the beginning of the DVD when Bud just arrived at the park for the show. E
Sorry about derailing your thread, was thinkin the one from Michigan had a continental kit also. The car does look good, Ed.
Yeah man that’s wild! I don’t remember seeing it though. I’ll bet @Sancho will have it found within 30 minutes!!!
@OG lil E I know you'd rather not post photos of the screen but I am glad you did. I hope in the future you will too, especially for the few cars with no good photos.
No worries, Jim. It's not derailing the thread, we are discussing customs so that's always a good thing! E I don't think very many people have seen this car or remember it. It seems like it never made it to any Spectacular. I wonder what other east coast shows it went to. If Sancho doesn't find anything, you know this car was elusive! E I like the interior too! Don't see anything like that nowadays. Now that you mention it, the front end does look like a '63 Chevy. With the tube grille it reminds me of a yellow '63 Impala that I've seen on a lot of videos. I've looked for pictures of it before but I haven't found one yet. Does that car sound familiar to anyone? I'll post a picture if I can find one. E
I'm glad everyone is enjoying the shots. I guess I'll have to start doing that if we can't find any pictures. It feels a little bit like cheating, but I guess it's all for a good cause (lol)! E
I have been searching! Nothing.... You would think a car like this one would be easier to find. Maybe it's still in Bud's garage. He did restore this car to begin with, then turned it into a kustom. I'd think it would be hard to let go of...
I did a quick search on a few DVDs and I came up with a shot of the Impala. This was at Sled Scene East in 1993. Another DVD screen freeze pic, but it gives you an idea of the similarity of the front end on it and Mr. Roberts' Galaxie. Sorry it's so shadowy, but this is the only good video shot of the car on the video. Maybe someone will have a better picture of the Impala. I've never seen another one online anywhere like so many other cars I've been searching for (lol)! E
There we go! Nice find @Sancho! Much better than the blurry, shadowy pic I posted. That pic may have been taken at Sled Scene East in '93 as the violet suede '62 was cruising with the yellow '63 on the DVD. Both Impalas are very cool. I'd cruise either one any day of the week and twice on Sunday! E
Yep, took that at sled scene east. I have a rear shot of it also. I loved that car!!! Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It looks like Roberts' Galaxie has '64 full-size Merc front fenders, and the front bumper from a '60 Chevy.
It does look like the Mercury fenders, especially the front and along the top... Bumper is definitely '61/'62 Chrysler. Something else I just noticed, is the windshield tinted red? At first I thought it was just the reflection of the interior but even in the top up photos the windshield looks red.
Man, you guys don't miss a thing. Mercury fenders, huh? Who woulda thought? I don't know if the windshield was tinted or not Bill. On the DVD there were shots of the car from the rear and the windshield looks clear, but you never know. The more I look at Bud's Galaxie the more I like it! E
You know Deb, those Sled Scene East shows looked like they were a lot of fun! I bet you miss them. I wish I would have had the fortune to attend one before they stopped having them and while we had Mr. Blaine Kauffman with us. He is missed! E
I went back and looked at the pictures I posted from the DVD. In the picture of Bud putting the top down the windshield does look dark like it has tint on it. I think you are right. The windshield does look tinted. I never noticed before. Sometimes I miss a lot (lol)! E
That one and the interior shot you posted. Look at the car next to it in this photo. See the difference through the windshield?
@'Mo In Bud's write-up Ed posted above, he says the windshield couldn't be cut and had to be sunk into the cowl. If he had used plexi there wouldn't be any need for all that work.
Winner winner chicken dinner! I think @Sancho has proven that Bud's Galaxie did have a tinted windshield. A number of years back a friend of mine had a lowrider '84 Grand Prix. The car was kandy red with lots of wild patterns, all gold Daytons and lifted front, back and side-to-side. It also had red tinted windows all the way around. One day he took me for a ride and I just didn't dig the tint. It really bothered me, almost to the point of making me car sick! Bud must have had an iron clad stomach! E
I loved Sled Scene East. So much going on all around after the show.!! Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What Ever Happened To..........? number 162. 1954 Mercury Owner: Joe Post East Peoria, Illinois The longer this thread goes on, the more I'm amazed at how the "custom chain" continues on. What I mean is something like this: One guy works on a car for another guy. One link in the chain. Then another person does the interior. One more link in the chain. The car is completed and the owner/builder decides to sell the car to someone else. Another link in the chain. The new owner has someone else do more work and yet another link is formed and on and on it goes. This thread seems to specialize in the "custom chain" as many of these sleds have a lot of history that translates into many links in the chain! This week's car is one that has intrigued me since the first time I opened up the first KKOA book (from 1993) after I bought it. Joe's Merc had a nice write up in the book on page 175. The car is definitely on the wild side with a ton of modifications done to it. As crazy as this car was, it never seemed to make it to any KKOA show. I've searched for over two years for ANY pictures, video or any other information on this car and I've found nothing. I had kinda given up on finding anything else on the car until a few weeks ago when @Sum54ford posted some information on Mr. George West and his wild Merc (W.E.H.T. #7). https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-4#post-11550106 This was after @Austinrod had brought up the fact that George's semi-famous Merc was once again for sale. In the KKOA book article, it mentions that Joe's Merc was the last car George chopped before he passed away. Also, in one of the memorial articles that Sum54ford posted, it mentioned that George had helped Joe chop the car. The article was written in late April or early May 1990, shortly after Mr. West had passed away. The article said the car was chopped the year before (1989). I went ahead and reposted the first article posted by Sum54ford. Thanks again Sum54ford for posting those articles! They are awesome reading of hard to find history that I'm sure is very interesting to all those following this thread! This was originally written by the late John Gullet. He was one of the founding members of Lincoln Land Kustoms. He had a really sweet '50 Ford that was featured in this thread way back towards the beginning (W.E.H.T. #11). https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-6#post-11589216 I don't know if Mr. Post was a member of Lincoln Land Kustoms or not, but George and Jon were, and it seemed like that club and their circle of friends really loved customs and did all they could to help each other out. You can see my chain reference now, can't you? The "custom chain" isn't without its share of missing links though, and that's what makes this thread so much fun. Finding the missing links. This is where you custom faithful come in. We need to find more links on Mr. Post's Mercury. I'm hoping that you guys can find more information than I did. Maybe those of you that were around the KKOA or any other shows way back when have some information or photo proof that Joe and his wild Merc actually attended a show. It seems like the '54 escaped the eye of the video camera or the regular camera as other than the first KKOA book article, information is scarce. I have to say out of the 162 cars featured (counting tonight's) so far, this has to be one of the hardest to find information on out of three or four really rare customs. Let's hope something turns up as it would be a real shame for Mr. Post's wild Mercury to quietly disappear into kustom history. Y'all take care! See you soon! E
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