This article is about possibly the first car the Peretto brothers from Alameda, California created. A very nicely styled convertible based on a 1937 Ford Humpback Sedan built in the late 1940’s early 1950’s. The first time I came across this car was when I bought a series of old photos taken at the 1952 Oakland Roadster show. One of those photos showed this particular Sports Custom. The great thing about this photo is that it shows the National Roadster Show name card clearly visible in front of the car. This identified the car for me. At that time I was unable to find any further info on the car. But later I got in contact with Chris Ito, who happens to be the owner of another car created by the Paretto brothers. When Chris bought his Peretto car, which is based on a 1949 Mercury, and researched it he came across some information on the brothers Reno and Roy Peretto, including a family photo album showing some photos of his 1949 Mercury, as well as the Sports Custom in this article. Chris scanned the photo and shared them with the Custom Car Chronicle. This was several years ago and we both had no idea what ever happened to this other Peretto Custom. In early 2013 I was contacted by a guy named Meryl who mentioned he had bough the Reno and Roy Peretto Sports Custom from an older Lady. He had seen the photos on the Custom Car Photo Archive site and wanted to know more about the car and the shop that built it. We talked, and I got him in contact with Chris Ito, who knew much more about the car and the brothers. Chris really wanted to buy the Sports Custom at that point. But several circumstances did not allow Chris to purchase the car and to reunite the two Peretto designed and built cars. The car was then offered on ebay and a few other auction sites, all with no sale. In early 2014 the car was offered for sale on ebay once more by Meryl, now with a reduced price, and this time the car found a new owner. Both Peretto created cars show a good sense of styling and ingenuity. Its hard to understand that the car in this article is based on a 1937 Ford Sedan, with most of the body panels hand made or made from body sections from the original ’37 Ford body. Fortunately we have a few early construction photos that show the work done mostly by Reno who was self taught. It is amazing to see that the roof of the ’37 Ford sedan now forms the rear deck of the car with the window holes filled in. The only write up we have been able to find is in the 1951 Oakland Show program booklet with gives us a few more insights about the car which we could not see in the photos. Including the use of an ’46 Mercury engine and that the interior of the car was maroon and white. The cowl and windshield sections of the body were split in the center and widened to give it more the proportions of the Nearly 1950’s cars. The body sides were completely made from hand shaped sheet metal. The front uses a ’46 Chevy grille and also the headlights come from a ’46 Chevy. Most likely the hood was also hand formed and was later fitted with an 1950 or 51 Mercury hood ornament. At the back the ’37 Ford roof was used cut in half. With the rear window section filled in as new trunk area and the roof top corners creating pleasant rear corners. The unique things is how Reno and Roy created the sides of the car from shaped metal, and later added the wheel openings. Most of the times the wheel openings form the base for a custom body like this. The brothers had to create everything, from the door jambs, to the trunk and hood inner structures. The sides were decorated with a cut down 1950 Ford side trim. The hand made fender skirt at the back is very interesting. Its vertical line at the back is perhaps not as streamlined as the rest of the body, but notice how the top portion of the trim is hidden below the side trim and the front ends with the door backs. This is very creative design, especially for the time it was created. We know that the car was finished in time for the 1951 National Roadster Show in Oakland California since it won third price there in the Custom devision. The car was also shown at the 1952 Oakland show since we have a photo showing the car there. And there are two more show cards in the collection that indicate the brothers did show their car(s) at various shows in the early 1950’s. At some point, perhaps when the brothers decided to built another car based on a 1950 Mercury convertible, the ’37 Ford Custom was sold. According the story it was sold to a befriend plumber, who enjoyed it for many years. Later the car was sold again to another person who hang on to it for a long time, and most likely stored it rather than enjoyed it on the road. When this person passed away the car was sold as part of his estate sale. Somewhere along the line the front end of the car was modified. The Chevy grille was removed and a new hand made front section was created. Not really an improvement, but I guess the idea was to create more of a sports car than a custom out of the car. Fortunately the chevy grille is still with the car and so is the 1951 National Roadster Show trophy. From Rik Hoving Archives Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.
Was thinking the same thing and thought the post title was off! Amazing piece of work--Thank you for sharing this.
I like the newer front end. The old one is too much '46 Chevy. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
It's a shame that the last owner changed the 49 Mercury accessory steering wheel and front end to make it look like an Italian Alpha Romeo sports car. That ruined it as the original was so much better and has more appeal as an American custom.
Perhaps a shortened vertical LaSalle grille would look good. https://www.ebay.com/b/Vintage-Car-Truck-Exterior-Parts-for-LaSalle/140698/bn_21201963
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