History What Ever Happened to..........?

What Ever Happened To..........? number 270.

1949 Ford
Owner: ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? ?, ? ? ? ? ?

I was looking back at the customs posted recently and I saw that it had been a while since we had a wildcard custom posted. That is when I have a custom that I have extensively researched and have been unable to come up with much information on it. This week's custom has proven to be very illusive only appearing at two different Leadsled Spectaculars, with no other pictures, magazine articles or anything else in my library. I hope that someone out there recognizes the car and has some information on it as I found very little.
The first time I saw tonight's shoebox Ford was on the 1985 Leadsled Spectacular video that Rowdie shot in Springfield, Ohio. In the first of the limited shots I have tonight, we see the car just after it had cruised through the gates and into the fairgrounds. Notice the '51 or '52 Plymouth grille.



Here is a little closer shot of the car as it approached the video camera.



The car was quite unique in the fact that it had a very different Carson style top on it. The doors look a little short like maybe the car was converted from a four door to a two door, but it could just be the old video and bad stills playing tricks with my eyes. Most likely a two door sedan with the top cut off and a Carson added. In the next picture, the doors look short to me. What do you think?



In the last shot I found from '85, we can see the cut down bubble skirts. The leading front edge had been modified to give the skirts a unique look. I thought this would make finding more on this car easier. I was wrong.
Another unusual feature for the time was the purple suede finish with the lighter scallops. This is seen quite often today, but back in the 80s not many guys were going through the trouble of doing a suede primer job, especially complete with scallops. Most of their cars went from regular primer to paint without all the extra work for just a preview of things to come.



For the longest time these were the only shots I had. It took a long time for me to find more on this car during my research. Finally I stumbled across the car again on the 1991 Leadsled Spectacular video shot in Hamilton, Ohio. The car looks pretty much the same in '91 as it did in '85, with the only difference I could see being that the scallops looked to be repainted in a darker purple. Maybe in '85 they had faded quite a bit, and the owner re-shot them around the '91 show to freshen them up. The grille, lakes, skirts and top all look the same as in Springfield in '85.



Our last look tonight shows the car driving away where we can see a cool tiny back window.



This one was tough. I guessed the car was a '49 due to the shape of the grille. It could be a '50. Also, I have no owner information on it at all, and I couldn't make out the license plates. I watched the videos over and over and it was just too blurry to tell. I had a theory, maybe the car was from Ohio since it only appeared at two Leadsleds, both being in Ohio, but six years apart. The Leadsled returned to Ohio quite a few more times over the years, 1993, 1996 and 2001-2004, with no more sightings at all at any of those shows in video or magazine research. I guess maybe that shoots my theory all to pieces.
So, do any of you recognize the car and possibly remember the owner(s)? This one has been driving me crazy for a long time and I hope somebody has some information on it. It really feels like I've been chasing a ghost on this one (lol)!
Do you guys remember me saying last week that the Fourth of July would be upon us in a flash? And just like that, here we are less than a week away. I've always loved the Independence Day holiday. Barbeques, watermelon, warm summer nights and of course, fireworks. I have to admit it's lost some of it's magic from the time I was a kid, but I still really enjoy it. I look forward to getting out and watching some 'works somewhere in this town. I hope you do too wherever you are as well. Let me be among the first to wish you a Happy Independence Day! Be safe and remember, God Bless America!
I'll see you next week! E

 

I hated that way too long completely rectangular top... there, I said it... sorry but the truth hurts!!!

No Mark, the truth needs to be spoken here. Ugly is the correct word.

 

I believe the 49 is the only one with Chrome Trunk hinges like this one has.KKOA in Ohio mainly Springfield was there 83,85 and 93. In Hamilton it was there in 91 and 96 and of course Lancaster 01-04.

 

As I go through these cars and put together a feature, I make it a point to myself that most of these cars were built in the 80s or thereabouts. Back then a lot of these guys were leaning towards traditional, but many were using stuff they had lying around or had easy access to. Many builders just wanted to get a sled on the road to try and match the car of their dreams when they were a kid and have fun with it. Many folks didn't have deep pockets to have a famous builder do work for them, so they did the best they could on their own or they'd hire local guys to do some work for them that maybe didn't know about custom traditions and style. Again, it was all about getting the custom on the road.
We have to remember that in the 80s many of these guys came from the van craze, street freak style street machines and other trends that are taboo here on the HAMB. Like it or not, all these cars are now a part of history, whether it's completely traditional or not, they were there.
I try to be objective when I post, ignoring things that I may not particularly care for, and keeping in mind I don't want to offend anyone. Meaning that if the owner or builder of one these cars shows up here they aren't insulted. We always want any custom elders that show up here to feel welcome and not ridiculed. Not every car is going to hit the mark for coolness or traditional perfection, but we need to respect the effort and the fact that these guys were there in the early days, bringing back a trend that was left for dead. E

 

Well said.

Sometimes we joke in calling that stuff 80s/50s. Meaning it was like the 1980's interpretation of what the 1950s were like. Some exaggerated stuff sort of became like a caricature of the real deal stuff, like poodle skirt and car hop nonsense in place of real serious custom cars. Some of it seems like it had more to do with nostalgia than the cars, per se.

 

Very well said ED. I started to take more pictures of customs even if they do not appeal to me. Just because. You just never know about a vehicle until you meet the owner and hear their story.

 

Hey guys, I'm sorry if I came on too strong, but my last post wasn't meant to step on any toes or chastise anyone. I was just letting everyone know how I approach these cars and the way I feel about each and every one. I have never had much in the way of a 50s custom, so I am always in awe of the cars and the people that have them and built them. I can't seem to respect these folks enough.

As far as Joe's comment, the nostalgic thing has always been a big draw to these cars for me. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, TV shows like Happy Days paved the way for me. I'll always dig poodle skirts, fuzzy dice, pompadours and so on. My Dad was also a big influence always stopping at cruise nights, and always being drawn to the leadsleds. It rubbed off on me big time. I'll never forget one time we stopped at a cruise and they had an area for folks that wanted to dance. Up to that time I had never seen my folks do much dancing at all. Pretty much just the ball room type dancing like Beaver did at dance school. Well, that night my Dad grabbed my Mom's hand and said "Let's jitterbug!" and out into the group of dancers they went. Needless to say I was blown away. My folks impressed the heck out of me that night with their dance moves. You would think a 9 or 10 year old kid might be embarrassed about it, but I thought it was very cool. It was the first time I'd ever thought that my folks were once young kids and they actually lived that stuff! "Wow, they haven't always been old.........."
Since I have always been a backyard builder, I can relate to doing a mod on a car myself or choosing a model that the masses may not like very much. Sometimes the work may be a little edgy, other times not, but at least I tried to get it done. I've had experiences where I've paid people to do work for me and it turned out like crap as well. Matter of fact, I had to re-do a few things that a "pro" did on my non-HAMB friendly Merc just last week. This is all after I paid him his price without complaint, and it still took the joker 18 months to screw it up and he never finished it to boot. That has been a hard lesson!
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'll always respect that. Nice, ugly, chopped too much, wrong taillights, and on and on, I'm just not going to run down another guys car and work he broke his tail to pull off or paid some dough to get done. Every time I think about saying something about anything, not just cars, my Mother's voice pops into my head saying "If you can't say anything nice, don't say it." I know we have all heard that from our lovely Moms over the years. So I try to practice that.
I'll always welcome all opinions though, good or bad, naughty or nice, that's what makes the world go 'round. Like I said, not every custom is gonna rank up there with the Hirohata, but that's what makes customs fun isn't it? Very few are alike, and the imagination it takes to build them is wonderful.

Mark, (@Moriarity) I understand completely about the old film days. Buying film and developing for pictures from a show got costly FAST! The digital age has helped us picture takers big time. So not taking a picture of a car that wasn't your favorite is understandable. I wasn't offended, so no worries at all. Everything is fine on my end. I'm just glad everyone is still sticking around. I know the cars are getting more and more obscure, but we are starting to get to the point where we've covered so much that there isn't a whole lot left, but we'll keep after it, that's for sure! E

 

Well said Ed. I am also guilty of saying "ugly" about cars you have presented here and I apologize for that.
That said, this thread is the best on the HAMB.

 

Hey Surf, no need to apologize. No censorship or filters in this thread, or on the HAMB for that matter. Open minds and opinions are always welcome! E

Thanks for the kind words guy. Comments like this make all the work worth it!

Happy Independence Day everyone! Be safe and have fun! E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 271.

1959 Chevy Impala
Owners: Harry and Catherine Kately
Trenton, Missouri

Have any of you ever seen a car before and it seems to ring a familiar bell with you? It's almost like you saw the car somewhere, but you can't remember where. This happens to me from time to time as I research these cars. Many times my search for information turns up fruitless, and a lot of the time I find myself thinking "Did I dream about seeing that car? Hmmm, maybe I did."
That's the way this weeks sled has been. It seems like I saw it in a book or magazine, but all my searching didn't turn up very much. I did find a little, but I'm hoping that you custom faithful will have more to share.
Probably the best picture and description of the car was in the first KKOA book that was printed in 1993. The Katelys submitted their '59 Impala hardtop to the KKOA for a spot in the book. The car was accepted and was featured on page 145. We all know by now that the first KKOA book was printed in black and white, which does this car no justice. In the caption it mentions that the car was built in 1983, and had quite a little laundry list of custom modifications done to it. Such a nice sled. It's a real shame that the GM hardtops are getting so valuable. It makes people leery of customizing them which is our loss.



The next time I saw the Kately's '59 was on the 1987 Leadsled Spectacular video shot in Springfield, Illinois. The car was only seen a few times on the video, which explains my lack of photos, even though they are the rugged photo stills. The first picture from the '87 Spectacular was taken while Rowdie was doing his fairgrounds cruise checking out what cars had made it to the show. Here we see the Chevy sitting in a line of customs. You can see the 50s style flames that work really well with this car. Don't see too many traditional flames on cars these days, especially customs.



The next shot was taken from the long road that the participants had to drive on to enter the fairgrounds. As a car entered the facility, it had to go under a grandstand style entryway to the fairgrounds that looked really old. It reminds me of the fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa that I was at for a show years ago. After the car went under the arches, it went down a little hill and then made a left turn to go down another hill into the show area. Rowdie set up his camera here quite a few times during this show and got some great footage of cars cruising into the show.
Here are the Katelys just as they were preparing to make the left turn into the show area. In the shot it looks like the car had mesh full of bullets in the grille opening, but that was just the old grainy video. It had an awesome '58 Buick grille in it. Note how the flames started a light yellow on the nose of the car. They got much darker as they went towards the back of the car.



My last picture tonight is from the KKOA's newsletter that was called the Kemp Gazette in those days. This was in the Kemp Gazette Volume 4 Number 1 on page 15. I'm guessing the issue was from late 1987 or early 1988. This picture was in the coverage of the '87 Spectacular. Here we get to see the back of the car that had some neat East coast style touches. The stock taillights were removed in favor of a set of six '59 Caddys, and the rear bumper was extended back to add a Connie kit. It had a unique style that looked like it should have been in an East coast little book in about 1960 or '61.



I didn't see Harry and Catherine's Impala on any other video. Seems strange as they lived in the Midwest, not too terribly far from where many of the KKOA's shows were held. Maybe they hit some of the other less famous KKOA shows that didn't get as much publicity, but my magazine and newsletter searching didn't find any more information.
What Ever Happened To..........? the Kately's awesome Chevy? A head turning custom like this would be hard not to recognize if it was seen anywhere. Have you seen it?
I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! The weekend went very fast as our little group spent most of it working on cars getting ready for the Spectacular. If all goes as planned, we will be heading out of town two weeks from tomorrow. That two weeks will go fast! I hope you are getting your "homework" done too if you are planning to go. Should be a good show. Well, back to work!
I'll see you next Tuesday! E

 

Pic`s to come later. Little computer trouble yesterday. Plus a busy day today.

 

Went to a show in Stanberry Missouri in about 83 or 84. The 59 was there. Dad must of given him a flyer cause he drove 152 miles to our show that year. Top pic is from Stanberry. The bottom pic is from Red Oak. Dad`s Vicky is in the background. Real nice guy. Really liked his car.

 

Is there a car Jim doesn't have a picture of AND remember where and when he saw it and what he and the owner talked about? Not sure which I look forward to more each week....Ed's write up or Jim's found pics! Super nice looking chebby

 

Great pics like always Jim! We really appreciate your input every week. E

I don't know how Jim does it, but his kustom mind is like a computer. My "computer" seems to have a virus as it doesn't seem to work quite as good as it used to (lol).
I hope we can all find some time to sit down and talk customs at the Spectacular in a few weeks. There is always so much going on it's hard to catch up with everyone. This year I plan on taking more time to make the rounds! E

 

I can`t let Dave down. So here`s another picture. I took this one in Rad Oak. My dad took the other two. During the pandemic(shut down), I went to car shows. Went to Chilicothie(30 miles from Trenton) Missouri to a show. 180 miles away. My buddy just finished his car and this was the shows he found that was still being held. Asked a guy there who owns a chopped 66 Chevy Malibu wagon(two tonned) turned into a delivery with 56 Olds side trim. His boy thinks Harry still has the car. But he usually takes out his 59 Convertible when going to shows. I first saw the wagon back in the 80`s. Do you remember what car I`m talking about. I heard the Trenton show was about a month ago. See you in Salina . Stop and say Hi. But I never sit by my car. Just look for the guy with glasses resting on my head and I`m usually taking pictures of customs with a cheap camera.

 

I recall the Malibu wagon from the All Custom Nats that I attended in Hannibal Mo in the early 90's. I think it was a '67, Teal suede paint was one of the two-tone colors. I've got a photo somewhere, but not in the year breaks for the HAMB anyway.

 

The wagon sounds familiar, but I can't say that I've seen it. By chance did it have the larger 7 inch round headlights frenched in quite a bit? E

Hey Bill, if you find that pic, could you pm it to me please? I'd like to check it out. E

 

Found Ken Meyers THE SHADOW

 

Very cool Austinrod, thanks for posting! The Merc looks just like it did back in '84 when it was on the intro of the '84 Spectacular video. Time has treated her well. I would love to own something like it someday!
Speaking of the '84 video, I just watched that intro a few evenings ago to get some inspiration for our upcoming trip to the Leadsled Spectacular next week. It has been a huge push, but we're getting close. E

 

Over 4600 posts on this thread and I believe this ^^^^ is the first photo of the underside of a car. Don`t think it was a feature car. Or I would of posted a pic from 83.

 

Uh oh Jim, you're starting to sound like me not remembering things (lol)! It's been a while, but Ken Meyer's Merc was a feature back in 2018. It was W.E.H.T. #103. E

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-76#post-12449858

 

Sorry guys. Guess I need more sleep. And I guess I don`t have a picture of it. Back to fixing the slow drain in the sink. Nice find Austin Rod.

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 272.

1960 Chevy Impala "Nervous Breakdown"
Owners: Steve and Dot Perkins
? ? ? ? ?, Michigan

For this week's custom I decided to feature a car that is very similar to last week's car. It is the very similar '60 Impala to last week's '59, but they are more similar than just in the styling the factory put into these cars all those years ago. Last week's car didn't seem to be around the scene very long, and finding information on the shows it was at was very difficult. This week's '60 is about the same.
The only Leadsled Spectacular that I found Steve and Dot's car at was on the '92 video from Holland, Michigan. There wasn't much video on the car at all, but I did manage to get a few shots. Luckily "Video Bob" spent a little time filming the car once the Perkins parked it long enough for him to check it out. I'm not certain the car was from Michigan, but there are some circumstances surrounding the car that I'll cover that makes me think it was. There was never a good shot of the plates to read if they were from Michigan, but I did a little license plate research and they do look like Michigan plates.
Here is a shot of the Chevy prowling the fairgrounds.



One other thing that makes me think this red '60 was from Michigan are the skirts. They are an awesome set of bubble style cruiser skirts. Any of you that have been around this thread for a while will know how much I dig Jimmy Jones (style) skirts handmade in his backyard over what legends say was a makeshift heat pit made out of old 55 gallon drums. Jimmy would heat up roof sections over the flames and hand form these beauties one set at a time. What a labor of love! They weren't cheap even by "back then" standards, but to me the look was worth every penny!
Here is a shot of the Chevy cruising away from the camera strutting her stuff.



The cars of the late 50s and early 60s didn't need a whole lot to be done to them to make them stand out at custom shows. In those days the factories were chiseling those bodies out of steel in such a manner that they looked custom from the factory. I mean tailfins? Who would have ever thought in the 30s and 40s that cars a few short decades later would have tailfins on them reminiscent of the spaceships kids imagined while listening to Buck Rogers stories on the radio? Wow!
Mr. Perkins stuck to the mild custom side of things with minimal trim removal, but added a second antenna, triple cap lakes, pinstriping and some echo cans. Just enough to turn heads on the boulevard!



Louvers were added to the hood, and the tradition of putting a name on the car was implemented by Steve and Dot. They chose to put the name "Nervous Breakdown" on the front fenders just below the body line.



Now we stroll around to the passenger side to make comparisons to the driver's side.



As we keep walking back, we get a look at the striping on the trunk around the flying "V" emblem left in place. Sometimes I think some coolness is lost removing emblems. You have to admit that many of the emblems, badges and trim the factories were putting on the cars back then were pretty cool! Compare that to the bland and boring styling of the new cars being produced today, we have to admit that style was definitely the king back then!
This is the best shot of the plate I managed to get. My license plate research seemed to indicate the plates were from Michigan.



Returning to the front we see that this Chevy was all about business when it was on the road. We see a nicely detailed 348 or 409 under the hood. The Chevy "W" motor has to be one of the most beautiful engines ever produced. How the engineers managed to get it to work in the arrangement that it was designed with is truly a marvel of modern engineering. Detroit sure put a lot of pride in all they did back in those days!



After the '92 Spectacular, I didn't find the Perkins' car on any more videos. However, I did stumble upon a picture of it in Custom Rodder in the May '97 issue. It was on page 93 in their coverage of the short lived KKOA show known as the Chopped and Dropped Bonanza that was held in Holland, Michigan. Another clue that the car may have been from Michigan.
Here we see the car sitting in the show area with the only changes I could see being the removal of the four bar spinners in favor of some chrome smoothies. This little picture and caption were the last of my findings.



"What Ever Happened To..........?" the Perkins' "Nervous Breakdown"? Does anybody out there know? We'll see..........
Eight days, eight days is all we have left before we point our cars east and head to Salina. It has been a huge rush to get the cars touched up, make sure they are ready for the road and make sure all the bases are covered before we leave town for a few days. I'm all worked out. I mean, I wish we were leaving in the morning. For the last seven weekends or so and most evenings we have been hard at it. No cruising, very few shows or cruise nights, just work. I hope the show is a good one since it has been a long time since we were able to go anywhere. Let's hope the state of Kansas doesn't make the KKOA cancel the show again for some unforeseen reason. That would be the pits.
All that being said, this will be my last "What Ever Happened To..........?" until August 3rd. Next week I'll be neck deep in getting out of town and I don't feel like I'll have time to properly write. Then the following week when I get back I have a long list of "honey-dos" I need to get after. I have been so busy "playing" with cars that I've been putting off a lot of the things I need to do. My better half has been very gracious in letting these things slide, so I need to get caught up around here to keep the peace. Happy wife, happy life, right fellas?
So I'll see y'all in a few weeks right here at W.E.H.T. central, but I hope to see many of you in person at the Spectacular. Remember to stop in to our camp and pick up the little souvenirs we give out every year, and have a cold drink and some custom conversation. We always enjoy sitting around and shooting the bull!
Take care guys, and I'll see you soon! E

 

Still doing a great job, Ed! Enjoy the Leadsleds at Salina, really sad I can't make it. Unreliable (for long range) car, and life getting in the way. I really have to go next year (hopefully with the new build)!

 

Thanks Mark! Every year at the Spectacular I hope to see your sweet chopped Olds prowling around. I look forward to the day we meet in person. Hopefully you can make it out next year. I understand why you don't attend more often--Kansas is a looooong haul from New Jersey! E

 

Talked to Kelly Pucket at the Leadsleds this past weekend. Asked him about his old chopped and sectioned shoebox. The last he heard it was bought by a business man who had a manufacturing company. Then he gave it away as a door prize. Then who knows where it went.

 

I was friends with George, he was my neighbor in Kentucky at that time. I watched this car being built start to finish. Sadly it began as a near pristine 51 Merc, it still had the factory paint on it. My other neighbor was sickened when he started chopping it up. I wasn't really into cars at that time but I was floored by Georges' metalworking skills and his attention to detail, I learned a lot watching him. He cut no corners, everything was done properly. I thought the interior was hideous, blue/ brown velour like a couch material, with oak trim. The body was very impressive in the fact that he changed it so much and it still looked like something flowing and symmetrical, not really my taste. I never worked on it, although I did machine a few small parts for him.

George could talk an eskimo into an icemaker. We used to joke ''his head wore out three bodies'' he was good as gold would do anything for you and would give you his opinion right up to the point just short of insulting ya. He was in that garage everyday clanging and banging. He had two loves, that car and his granddaughter in St Louis, which is who the ''princess'' was. From memory that's who inherited the car when he passed. George was from Belleville, Illinois, he ran a custom shop there called ''George's Kustom'' for many years before moving to Kentucky. He also had a custom truck featured in Hot Rod magazine. Somewhere along in the 60's.

George passed away quickly, for a few days he thought he had the flu, then he had a sudden heart attack and died. He was early 60's I think.

Edit- A few things I recall: He was very proud to work the original 51 rear window into the chop, instead of ''cheating'' by using a 49 rear window. Also I recall him saying the headlights were 58 Pontiac, or he wanted to use them. It was mentioned that George used whatever he had laying around, no, he had a vision for the car from the beginning. Collected parts as he was building. His place was pretty small, big two car garage of course. He had a 49 merc he was going to chop for the granddaughter, but that didn't happen. He also had a Model T 3 window? Coupe that was unrestored, it had a big anvil painted on the door, he used to drive it around at the shows. It ran and he offered to sell it to me for five hundred, I had no use for it.

After watching him work, I think he was capable of mating any components and make it look right. He was a master metalworker. He only worked with lead that I recall and he hated bondo. This lead exposure probably explains his feisty disposition. My wife and I used to go to to his house for dinner, and we had him over several times for same. Thanks for posting recent pictures of his car, I've often wondered what happened to it.

Ron