It sounds like the Simonuttis are (were?) great people. Car club life used to be quite different. It seems to be nothing like you mentioned anymore. Maybe I'm just out of touch as I haven't been in a large club in years. Funny you mentioned Larry's Pontiac. Yesterday after I heard of his passing, I did a Google search and found a classified ad for the '48. I couldn't find a date on the ad, so I don't know how long ago this was, but Larry was mentioned as the builder. Remember what I said about Larry building lowrider style customs or vice versa, this proves it--wire wheels and all! Neat to find a car that I'd never seen before. I'll post a few pictures and include a link to the ad. http://www.decorides.com/carsforsale5.htm I've said many times before, it really bums me out to see our custom elders passing away. It is definitely our loss..........E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 243. 1960 Chevy El Camino Owner: Charles Gilbert Wichita, Kansas Tonight's feature custom is one I've known about for quite sometime. The first time I saw it was in the July 1987 Truckin' Magazine. I bought that magazine off the newsstand just for the article of Charles' '60 El, featured with Hub Harness' '59. I was crazy about the pair. Incidentally, I still have the magazine, although a little tattered, and I'll be using the article as a reference this week. This pair of El Caminos knocked my socks off, and I'm still crazy about them. Maybe one day I'll be fortunate to have one of my own, but 'til then I can admire these two. I won't be touching on Hub's as he still owns it and it is in very good hands, what, for these forty years or so. I've seen it many, many times over the years, but I always stop to take another gander every time I see it. I never tire of looking at it. On the other hand, Charles' '60 seems to have disappeared. I did find a pair of good pictures off of the Carnut website. I have no idea who took them or when, but it gives us a nice view of the mild, but very beautiful and razor straight black beauty. There are a few minor differences from the version in the magazine feature which I'll post shortly. The main differences are the tinted windows, and the change from rally style wheels with knockoff centers to the chrome reverse wheels mounted on narrow white walls in the above photos. Moving on to the Leadsled Spectacular, the first time the '60 was there was in '85 in Springfield, Ohio. There was lots of footage of it sprinkled all throughout the video, but the shots turned out horrible, so no '85 blurry action shots (lol). Charles was (is?) a member of the "Fundamentals Car Club", as is Hub Harness. That explains why in most shots you saw one El Camino with the other, caravanning around the fairgrounds. It seems like you see plenty of El Caminos and Rancheros too for that matter at shows these days, but back in the mid 80s, early El Camino customs were far and few in between. Seems like most leaned more toward the hot rod side of the hobby, which both of these could be considered, but with the smooth bodies and great mods, to me this pair will always be considered "custom". The next and final appearance of Charles' '60 was at the '87 Spectacular in Springfield, Illinois. There wasn't as much footage on the truck this time, but it was there. Charles was still cruising around with Hub, but my favorite shot was the pair of Els sitting in the shade at the show. I'm not a fun of shots with the hood up, but with all the carbs and chrome under Hub's hood I totally understand wanting to show it all off. The only change on the '60 I was able to spot on the '87 video from the magazine article and the '85 video was on Charles' wheels. It had the rallys, but the knockoff centers were gone, replaced by a chrome baldy center cap. Sorry for the blurry shot, but when I freeze my old VCR it just blurs up and has lines on the screen, so this was a moving "action" shot. Also, I apologize for the color spots in the picture. We are in full getting ready for Christmas mode around here and the color spots are the reflection of the lights on our tree on the TV. The last picture I'll share from the '87 Spectacular is a shot of whoever is riding with Charles excitedly waving at Rowdie filming the video. I'd be pretty excited about being at the '87 Leadsled Spectacular too! Like many of you, I've been reading car (and truck) magazines for years. Every now and then a feature article comes along and it ends up being burned into your memory and becomes what I like to call "a forever favorite". The July '87 article of the El Caminos is one of those for me. It's an article that will always be among my favorites. You have to admit this pair would make any fan of customs drool a little (or maybe a lot)! The article was on pages 60-63. Sorry to have to split the articles into four separate images, but the way the article was laid out it's the only way I could do it. Man, what an article! I watched all the tapes and DVDs I have from '84 to '88, and the only two years I saw Charles' El Camino was '85 and '87. What happened? Did the truck go on to a more wild custom look? Was it wrecked or sold? Anyone know? I'd imagine our good friend and search guru @Sancho might know as he grew up in Kustom City, or many of the other members of our custom family that attended the Leadsled Spectacular during all those great years. I hope we find out more about the beautiful black '60 that faded away too soon! Just a little over a week 'til Thanksgiving guys. We are almost through 2020, thank goodness. This year has been an interesting ride that I don't particularly want to go through again. Will life ever get back to normal? I sure hope so. All the car show cancellations from this past summer have me going through serious custom withdrawal. How about you? I think I'll head over to @straykatkustoms' "Kustom Blues" thread and get an eyeful. 'Til next week, stay cool! E
Here’s a pic I took at the 1985 Springfield Ohio Kkoa event. parked next to Doug Shoemakers Dodge wayfarer
Another great choice to feature, Ed. What a kool El Camino. I've never seen it. Glad you posted it. Thanks for shining the kustom light on it.
Great looking truck I've never seen in person, but I bought the same issue of Truckin' for the same article as you Ed....still have mine, too. LOL
I called Hub and asked him about this el camino. he said it is still in Wichita but is now painted silver and the 409 was taken out in favor of some modern motor. He also told me Charles passed away about a year ago....
Oh man, someone changed it up? Why? It was perfect! Sorry to hear about Mr. Gilbert. Something we hear of all too much these days. Rest in peace sir..........E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 244. 1958 Plymouth Convertible Owner: Ernie Baker Wichita, Kansas For this week's custom I'm going to do something different than we've ever done since this thread was started some four and a half years ago. There are a number of cars that were fixtures back in the old KKOA days that I know the location of and they are not lost. I'll throw one of these cars in every once in a while as my information search grows. It won't be very often, but it might be a nice change from the same ol' thing. That being said, I want to include them in this thread as they are an important part of old KKOA history that I'm so fond of. I guess my main goal is to include these cars in this thread so they can be included in what is quickly becoming one of the largest locations of KKOA history on the internet. This is something that I'm very proud of, but I'm not taking the credit for that. I want to thank all of you for sticking around, participating by posting pictures of these cars, and sharing any information or stories of these cars and their owners and builders. It has been a fun ride! I also want to do a feature on this car as a personal thank you to my buddy John Tretten, a.k.a @PasoJohn. He has been a great friend for many years and I enjoy our long phone conversations about customs, Leadsleds, friends and just life in general. Love you Brother! Tonight's feature car has quite a history, and I'll do my best to tell the story as accurately as I can. I'm sure John will chime in with more pictures and information I may have left out or was incorrect. So here we go.......... This awesome '58 Plymouth convertible was discovered by Ernie Baker out of Wichita, Kansas back in 1985. From the stories I've heard, Ernie dragged the car out of a junkyard determined to save it. I'm sure the car was in a sad state, but Ernie was a man on a mission. One of the coolest mods he did to the car that many people may not notice is changing out the fins from the stock '58 Plymouth to '57 DeSoto fins. Being around many Mopar guys over the years (Charlie MaWhinney, Todd Miles and Paso John to name a few), I learned long ago that '57 DeSoto fins were some of the largest fins the designers at Mopar every produced on a car. Ernie must have wanted this feature on the Plymouth as he pulled off the job. If I recall, John told me Ernie changed his mind about the fins and took them off, only reversing that decision and installing them again for a second time leaving them on for good. Ernie worked hard on the car as his plan was to have the car at the Leadsled Spectacular in 1986. Ernie's hard work paid off, and in July of 1986 he cruised the car to Springfield, Missouri to participate in the show. My first pictures tonight are of Ernie cruising the fairgrounds in the car. My shots are as he is passing Rowdie filming the cruise through the show sitting in the '52 Ford convertible called "Tuff Enough". The '52 Ford was W.E.H.T. #174. It's a car we've never found, and the owner still remains a mystery. We do know however that the owner was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I'll include a link to check it out one more time. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-121#post-13138464 Here's Ernie waving to Rowdie as the sleds pass each other. This is a rare shot of the '58 with the top up. These next few pictures are video stills that I took from my copy of the '86 Spectacular shot by John Tretten. At this point he didn't know he would one day own the car, but he threw his hat into the ring, and told Ernie if ever wanted to sell the car, he was interested. The Mopar boys in Wichita were a close knit bunch, and at many Leadsleds, they all parked together. You'll note in these pics that Ernie's '58 was parked next to Guy Root's awesome '39 Dodge affectionately known as "The Big Bopper". Guy's Dodge was another feature car here, W.E.H.T. #16. A cool sled definitely worth going back to drool over. Here's a link to the write-up: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-9#post-11629715 I'm sad to say that both Ernie Baker and Guy Root have passed on. These were the "real deal" custom guys that did a lot for the custom car movement! They are missed.......... In 1987, the convertible once again headed to the Spectacular that was in Springfield, Illinois. One change though, sometime between the '86 and '87 Spectacular, Ernie sold the car to Doug Shoemaker. You may remember Doug as his chopped '50 Dodge Wayfarer was also a W.E.H.T. feature car--#177. Here's the story of Doug's Dodge for you guys to check out: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-122#post-13166071 Doug is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. We've seen him at the Spectacular many times and gone out to dinner. He isn't into customs anymore (unfortunately), but we're working on him (lol)! The stories that you hear from the old time KKOA shows from these guys are a pleasure to sit and listen to. Good times! At the '87 show, Rowdie used the Plymouth to film the cruise through the show. I tried to get some shots off of the video, but, like many of those shots, they were really bad. So no pictures from '87. That's ok though, as I have much, much more pictures and information to share. Fast forward to 1990. It was close to Memorial Day when Paso John's phone rang. Doug called John to inform him he was ready to sell the car, and it was his if he wanted it! John has told me many times how excited he was to finally get to own this cool ride. I won't go into the whole story of the road trip, as it will be covered in a few scanned magazine articles later on in this post. John tried to drive the car home, but it developed some mechanical problems and ended up being trailered a good part of the way from Wichita to Minnesota. After a long drive, the car made it home safely. Here are a few shots of it up on the trailer. This next picture was taken in early 1991. Even in just primer with scallops, the car is a real looker! Note John's '56 Dodge in the background. John still owns this car and it is in rebuild or restoration mode. The Dodge is a keeper though as it has been to the Spectacular many times over the years. Can't wait to see the old girl on the road again someday soon! In 1992, John spent some time and money to have the Plymouth put into paint. No more primer for this beauty! As a huge Mopar fan, and a fan of purple, John decided to have the car painted the real Mopar tone of "Plum Crazy" purple. The car turned out super! It was a gimme that John would definitely make the long trek to Holland, Michigan for the '92 Spectacular. Here is a classic shot during the '92 trip. In the rear of the shot is another of Doug Shoemaker's cars, his old chopped Fleetline. In the center is Tony Josen from New York with his awesome Fleetline, and John's 'vert is parked in the front of the shot. That's a lot of legendary custom iron in this pic folks! The trip was a big success for John as his car won one of the first of many awards at the show. I can't recall the exact award, but it was a Mopar related pick. I didn't want to call John and ask him about it as I really wanted this write-up to be a surprise. I'm sure John will give us the whole scoop of what the award was. This next picture is a favorite of mine. I'm guessing it was taken around 1994 or so, as John's '56 was in it's white paint with green scallops look. It's a great compliment to the '58. John drove the '56 Dodge to the ill-fated '94 Leadsled Spectacular in Huntsville, Alabama. We know the story of that show, so I won't touch on it again. I will say that John, Rob and Debb Butler (@KustomLincolnLady), @Moriarity as well as Doug Shoemaker all attended that show. True custom dedication as that show was a long way from most Leadsled locations in prior years. John's Plymouth has always been very photogenic, and I've collected quite a few pictures of it over the years. Here is a shot of it from 2008 taken by John. A few years prior, John's 'vert was picked by the crew at Kustoms Illustrated for a feature. It pretty much looked unchanged from the above picture. I'd say that having your car chosen to be in such a prestigious custom magazine is a great honor. I could be mistaken, but at this point I believe this was the same white interior that was in the car when John bought it way back in 1990. I went ahead and scanned the article from the magazine. It was in Issue #9 from 2006, on pages 28-31. As a big fan of chrome reverse wheels, John decided to change up a few things. The DeSoto caps were changed out in favor of chrome reverse wheels, putting the car right in the early 60s custom era. Also, the interior was redone in wild tu-tone tuck'n'roll, purple vinyl with white sparkle Zodiac vinyl. You will also notice the cool, cut down, custom painted steering wheel. This all took the Plymouth over the top to true show car status. Here are a few pics that John shared with me that were taken around 2018. All of John's changes to the '58 got people's attention as the car was chosen to share the cover of the MSRA's magazine from the summer of 2017. It also had a nice 8 page spread with the full story of the car and some excellent pictures showing many of the fine details of this amazing custom. This was definitely a large feather in John's custom cap. When he told me of the feature I couldn't have been happier for him. He was kind enough to send me a copy of the magazine that I will always treasure! Neat to share a friend's proudest moments! I went ahead and scanned the full article as well as the cover for those of you that might want to try and track down a copy of this issue at a swapmeet or on Ebay or something. The magazine was the Summer 2017 issue, and John's car was on pages 24-31. I'm happy to say that John and his purple 'vert are still cruising the highways and hitting car shows and cruise nights together to this day. It has been a long time love affair that I'm sure will continue for many years. I'm sure the four year wait John had from 1986 to 1990 was definitely worth it! Almost Thanksgiving! We went to the store today to get all the final things needed for a nice dinner. I love the Thanksgiving Day meal, as it is one of my favorite days of the year. I hope that all of you out there will have the opportunity to gather with family and friends as allowed by your local state laws. Sad that things like this have been implemented so close to the holidays. So without getting too political, be safe, be careful and have a great Thanksgiving with the important people in your life. Also, with things being as strange as they are this year it might be hard for some to be thankful. Just remember things could always be worse. Count your blessings and remember that there are many people that love you, not just your family, but many good friends! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! E
Here’s my Chevy and Johns Plymouth next to Tony’s fastback Chevy and the white one on the end is Doug’s chopped fastback Chevy all at the 92 Kkoa show
Post #228 Follow-up 1949 Chevy Fleetline "Fine 49" when in NJ, LeadEast late 1980s being painted and Freehold, NJ Cruise night 1990s
Thanks for the nice article on my 58 Plymouth Ed,to own a car over 30 years says something. I always love hearing from other Custom guys how long they've had their custom's. I took it out last Saturday the 21st figuring the snow might be coming soon and wanted 1 last ride this year,I had to put the top up,I guess at 34 degrees it's just too cold for the last ride of the year. They are saying 42 for Thanksgiving for the high,so maybe 1 last ride tomorrow too. Here are some pix from last Saturday in my Plymouth.
The last car show of the year was at EL LOROS Mexican restaurant so I drove my convert. Here are are some pix of it from when the weather was nice out. The 1st pic is a selfie of me in the Car driving to the show,man I really love this car.
One more thing I want to say about my 58 Plymouth,Thanks and RIP ERNIE BAKER for your vision on the Desoto fins for this car. When I first saw it at the KKOA in Springfield Missouri show (1986) I recorded 17 seconds on it before I recorded the rest of the show and watched it so many times before I bought it. When Doug Schoemaker was the next owner I told him the same thing, Please keep me in mind when you want to sell it and I will pay you what you want. Doug called me in the middle of May 1990 and told me he needed $4 grand to build this Hemi that he had in his 55 Dodge and that's what he wanted for the car,I said yes and told him I could come down in 2 weeks (Memorial Day weekend) to buy it. That short weekend was the Best Trip of my life as we were able to do so many things. We first hauled a 50 Olds down to KC and delivered it to Sonny Rogers,got there around 3 am Sat morning as we all worked a full day (Friday) and left at 5 pm for our trek to Wichita.. We left KC around 4 am and arrived in Wichita at 8 am and no one had slept yet so we were tired. Along with Doug we drove over to Ernie's house to ask him questions about the carb on the Plymouth as it was leaking and even though we now had an open trailer I wanted to drive it home. I bought the Plymouth and left Wichita at 11 am enroute to a junkyard in Hutchinson so the other Doug who trailered the Olds to KC had seen some parts there when he passed through there a month before. We spent 5 hours there loading up the Suburban full of parts,We ended up driving on some 2 lane roads but 1st stopped for dinner around 6 pm. I made the drive in my new custom to a tiny city called Florence Kansas and with the leaking carb it was too much for me and we loaded it up on the trailer too haul it home. We arrived back at Sonny's place where they were have their annual KC Kustoms car club meeting and was part of the fun. Sonny put us up for the night as we still hadden selpt in nearly 48 hours. We all woke up around 7:30 am and felt good about our drive back to Minnesota. Sonny came into the house while we were having breakfast and said he replaced the worn out U-Joint in the Suburban for a safe drive home. What friends these guys are. Sonny told us all He was waiting for a call and we would all drive down to Pete and Jakes to check out what was happening on this Sunday morning. We (5 of us) all got into Sonny's 55 Olds and drove dow to Pete and Jakes for what turned out to be a small get together showing off the Cadzilla as it had come there with Rich Boyd of Hot Rod magazine to do a photo shoot plus a West Coast to the East Coast trip. Could this weekend get any better. Norm Grabowski was even there along with some of the other KC Kustom members and their cars.We even got a private tour of Jerry Slovers new facility and even the California Kid was there. I had seen that famous Hot Rod at the St Paul Mn NSRA show in 82 but to see it up close with the Cadzilla and everyone else that was there was "The Best Weekend Trip of my Life". Doug (Ladwig) who offered up the trailer to bring my new Custom 58 Plymouth home took the cash that Sonny gave him to deliver the 50 Olds and took all of us out for some KC Ribs and paid the whole bill. We all got back to Sonny's around 3:30 and said our goodbye's and we were off again to head back to Minnesota. The end of our short weekend was coming to a close with our 8 hour drive, back home. We got to my house just after midnight (Sunday night/Monday morning)and parked the Plymouth out on the driveway. The other guys took off and I had to force myself to go to bed. I got up on Memorial Day Monday picked up my g/f and drove the 58 all over visiting everyone showing off my new car. This was just over 30 years ago 1990. We did so much in such a short time I'm not sure anything I ever did will top it. I drove it in 90 and 91 in primer before taking it to a guy that Mark Moriairty had his old 55 Chevy (Black) done. Bill Polk was the guy as a few other body shops were scared to work on those long fins so he took the car from me in December 91 and I picked it up from him the 1st week of March 1992. I put if back together,ordered up the new whitewalls,used my 56 Dodge 15 inch wheels with 55 Deoto wheel covers,had a new top made and new windshield was replaced and the list went on. As we got close to the KKOA show Mark @Moriarity said I should drive it Holland Michigan for the leadsled's which I did and picked up the Chrysler Custom Excellence Award from John Lee (Through KKOA). I even received a Blue and White Mopar Performance jacket when I got home. In 2011 after finding a swivel bench front seat I had the upholstery done in Purple vinyl and White Zodiac Metalflake and the following year I repainted the cut down 57 Plymouth steering wheel to match my car in white pearl and Plum Crazy grips. These days I just drive it all summer long to small car shows in Minnesota or around the lakes to Mark's house. Ernie had a Vision with those fins and I'm forever greatful that I got the chance to buy his car and finish it.
Thanks for posting the pic, Mark! I didn't get to the Spectacular until 2000 and it was a blast, but I'm positive it didn't compare to those early days. I'm grateful to all the videographers that took the time to record these shows so we can relive them or wish we were there all these years later. Kudos to guys like Rowdie (@49toad), Video Bob Huff, @John B and even my good buddy John Tretten (@PasoJohn) just to name a few. Without their efforts, this thread would be nowhere! E Those are some great shots Demmel! Thanks for taking the time to post them up. Like the outcome of the Fleetline or not, you have to admit how cool it must have been to watch these guys layout the flames, prep the car and shoot it all outside at a CAR SHOW! That type of thing is unheard of nowadays. The closest thing to that are the customizing camps that go on at the Spectacular every year, but I think that's about it. In the 80s those east coast guys were hardcore. Not to be left out, the people that travelled all over the country to attend the Spectaculars as well as all the other shows were too! I've said it before and I'll say it again, our custom elders were a hardcore bunch in those days! We could all learn something from them! E Glad you liked the write up John! It just seemed right to include it in this thread. The car has lots of "little guy" custom history that needs to be remembered. I also really enjoyed your post of the weekend road trip to go pick up the Plymouth. I'm sure everyone else did too. We all love story time! I'm going to have to get up your way one of these days so I can get a ride in the 'vert. I've had the pleasure of riding in the El and the wild panel painted '64 Chebby wagon, and a ride in the '58 with the top down on a warm summer night would be the cherry on top! E I couldn't agree more Tman. Why would anyone do that? The 409 is one of the coolest engines of all time! Taking it out was definitely a step backwards. E
Found a picture of Guy Root's Chopped 39 Dodge after it was Yellow with marroon scallops,then all Marroon
What Ever Happened To..........? number 245. 1941 Buick "Great Balls of Fire" Kim and Nancy Johnson Council Bluffs, Iowa This week's custom is a model of car that you don't see built as customs very often, but the few that have been built as customs stick in your mind. Early on there was the Herb Ogden Buick built by the Barris Brothers way back when. That version was a Carson topped masterpiece that is still in the Kurt McKormick collection as far as I know. When talking about '41 Buicks, another '41 that immediately comes into my mind is Lee Pratt's (@El Pratt). His two tone purple fastback is one of my all time favorite customs. This car was so sneaky subtle and beautiful it was years ahead of the curve. I often talk about lowrider style customs or custom style lowriders, and Lee's was exactly that. You could cruise it to a custom show on Saturday morning, and hit the boulevard in the barrio in it that night. A true timeless sled! Another great '41 is the clean example owned by Dennis McPhail. Growing up in Wichita, Kansas Dennis learned the fine art of customs early on and has always been spot on with all his custom creations whether it was on canvas or in real life. His '41 definitely shows that when he saw Lee's '41 years ago he was paying attention, and Dennis' fine '41 proves that. Tonight's Buick made the scene in the early to mid 80s, but didn't seem to be around for long, at least at KKOA events. The only video sighting I have of this car in this version was at the 1986 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Missouri. The Johnson's may have had the car at other KKOA events early on in another version, but this was the only Leadsled Spectacular sighting I found. Rowdie spent a good amount of time shooting the car and you could see the car was built like in the old days. Bright, wild paint with flames were definitely the order of the day, as well as the 50s style of having a name on the car. It had the name "Great Balls of Fire" lettered on the lower part of the rear fenders. The car was shaved clean and even had the "barrio" addition of a sun visor, filled with louvers. I know if this car cruised through my neighborhood or Berkeley Park on a Sunday afternoon, the lowriding "gente" would love it! On the inside the dash had chrome everywhere that was a nice offset for the beautiful red paint, add that to the great all white tuck'n'roll interior and you have the makings of a very respectable cruiser! It really surprises me we don't see more 40s GM slopers at the Spectaculars, car shows or even at local cruise nights. You have to admit that these are some of the best designs the factory ever produced. @PasoJohn sent me some video footage from the '86 Spectacular a few years ago. In John's copy there were a few shots of the Johnson Buick. This image is a little clearer than my above shots as my Rowdie Productions copy of the '86 Spectacular is about worn out. Also, the Rowdie stills were taken on my old tired "red menace" TV, and John's still was taken on my new TV a few weeks back. In my search for information on the '41, I came across a little more information on the Johnson's car in my collection of Kemp Gazettes. In the Kemp Gazette, Volume 3 Number 4 from 1987, they featured the coverage of the '86 Leadsled. On the cover of the paper was a fine shot of the Buick at the show. Quite an honor for a car to be on the cover of any publication! The last time I saw Kim and Nancy's bright red Buick was in the Kemp Gazette (again) Volume 4 number 4 from 1988. On page 13 there was a picture of the Buick in a line-up at the 1987 Last Pass Nationals in Des Moines. It was pretty much the same angle and shot as the Kemp Gazette cover (Volume 3 Number 4-1987) so I didn't scan it. I went ahead and looked back through my other Gazettes checking the Spectacular from '85-'88, as well as coverage of the Last Pass from a few years before and after 1987 and I found nothing. How could that be? A car like this seems like it was everywhere as it was heavily involved in the KKOA in 1986 and '87 and then it just disappeared. What happened to this great sloper? Maybe it's packed away in a garage or storage lot somewhere in Iowa. Was it redone? We need to find out more about this cool cruiser. I'm hoping that our Midwestern custom faithful that were around these shows back in the great 80s might have some insight to share as to what might have become of "Great Balls of Fire". I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Around here it was quiet, which is pretty much the norm. My family all lives out of town, and my better half's folks stayed close to home so it almost felt like just a typical weekend day--that is except for all the great grub! Such a nice tradition of great dishes like turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes and on and on. I hope you all had a nice spread to eat, plenty of smiling faces and happiness all around. It was a great holiday! Now........the rush to Christmas begins! Better get shopping! Only 24 shopping days 'til Christmas! Have fun guys! We'll see you next Tuesday! E
great write up as usual Ed, unfortunately I do not remember the car, I looked thru my photos with no luck. I was lucky to shoot 1 maybe 2 rolls of film back then..... speaking of what ever happened to, where has @Sancho been????
I recall directing this car to the proper 'class' area at one of our last trophy shows by The Classics Car Club, Onawa IA. Maybe early 90's? Likely have a print (pic) in my stack of unscanned photos. Found Kim's calling card in my stack of stuff, called him. Says they sold the Buick in early 2000's, maybe as late as 2005. Car stayed local, but I can't recall seeing it around for a loooong time. Kim did say a friend of his was at an Omaha upholstery shop in the last 2 or 3 years and the car was in the back room, still looking as it was when they had it. I bet @stanlow69 will have some pics to post.
Kim and Nancy are still active in Customs. Convinced them to go to Indy last year to the Custom Car Revival. I followed them out and back. They took their 40 Merc. They are often found in Salina as well. They always have a table full of snacks and good food to eat as well. More pic`s to come. @mercman@bulldog I was just in Council Bluffs yesterday.
Jim is right. Kim and Nancy still are active in Kustoms. Have been for a long time. In 2001 I decided to fly out to see the Paso Robles show. Great trip! Got to see all kinds of cars that I've only seen in magazines. Walking the show and I come across a very familiar looking purple/white 40 Merc convertible .... Yep, it's them. That a 1700 mile trip ... one way.
Thanks for checking Mark! We appreciate you taking the time to search through your pix. Back in the days of pre-digital photos, it was a big expense to buy film, shoot the pictures and then pay to get them developed. I'm sure that's why there are so few photos from "the old days" around. Not everyone took the time or expense to take pictures. That's why any old photos are real treasures. At least that's my take on it. I'm so glad we have people on here that took lots of photos and share them with us. Moriarity, John Tretten (@PasoJohn), Jim (@stanlow69), Debb (@KustomLincolnLady) and Bill (@54delray) just to name a few. Thanks to all our photo contributors! As far as @Sancho goes, I've been wondering where he has been for quite a while now. He pops in every now and then, but he hasn't been around like before. I hope all is well and he is just very busy these days. Calling Sancho, Calling Sancho, Come in..........You out there Bill? You ok? Come back..........over..........E Here you go Mark! Those old Gazettes are so big that scanning them is tricky. Each issue has so many cool pictures, neat little drawings and so much information it's a shame they are actually newspapers. I wonder how many have survived? Every time I open one up I have to be super careful as the paper has become very brittle with age. All my old KKOA newsletters are very valuable to me as they are an amazing resource for this thread and I look at them nearly everyday. Thanks to Mike (@LOST ANGEL) once again for sending me a large amount of them. Much appreciated! E Glad to hear that Kim and Nancy are still in the custom game and doing well! Thanks for the updates guys! I remember seeing the purple Merc at the Spectacular, but it seems like it was a number of years back. I could be wrong though as sometimes all the Salina Spectaculars seem to melt together. The Johnsons are real custom folks as they have been at it for quite sometime, and to travel to Paso Robles and the CCR is a true showing of their dedication. I'm going to be on the lookout for that purple Merc and the next show I see it at I'm going to make it a point to go up and introduce myself to these fine folks. Always nice to meet and talk with people who have been in the custom hobby for a long time. You can bet there will always be great custom stories to be shared! E
You can tell he changed from hubcaps to wire wheels and new wide whites. They were supposed to go on Nancy`s 55 T-Bird. But they didn`t fit. So on the Buick they went. Why they sold the Buick, because they built a 54 Merc. Then the 40 Merc. They have driven the 40 Merc to 48 states. The 54 Merc was sold and went to Arizona. They won a Lowering blocks trophy at Ft Smith`s KKOA show. They were shocked.
Thanks for the pictures guys, and the update on the Johnson's customs over the years. Always great to learn more about real custom people! E
The Jalopy Journal
