Thanks Chuckdaddy.. Pretty cool to hear information from a source that close to 'home'. Looking forward to hearing any info IF you happen to bring this topic up to James. Thanks again. Tony
Years ago Waylon Jennings was having a "Moving sale". I went up there and saw "Buddy's bike".It was an Ariel twin cylinder. They were asking $750,000 back then.Kind of knocked me out of the running.I later spoke to a guy in Texas who cast some doubts on its pedigree. We have a saying among "rare" vehicles; "Of the five built,only nine have been found.
As a fan for over 30 years, Bill Griggs is the guy to believe. Buddy Holly rest in peace. You are my all time favorite. BC
Tony, the story I heard was that when Bill Clements was asked for proof that the car actually belonged to Buddy Holley, He suddenly decided to take it off the market. From other stories I have heard about Mr. Clements I would doubt that the car was actually Buddy's. He also had a 53 studebaker Gasser that he restored that was supposedly Kenny Bernsteins race car. I saw it when I went to his auction when he sold out. I also doubt that it is the real thing.
Here's the sign that's been in the window of Bigham Automotive for years. I've never seen the car, and I'm utterly skeptical of the authenticity of the claim, any purported documentation aside. Bill Griggs is the ultimate authority on Buddy Holly, and, thusly, I believe his findings to be indisputable. Purely by coincidence, Mack Davis said something during a recent interview with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that puts a new twist on this story. Early in 1958, the year Davis graduated from high school, he began thinking music might be a career option - only because he spotted Buddy Holly driving by. "If I'm lying, I'm dying," he said. "Back then, we didn't think anyone from Lubbock could be famous. Buddy was on the radio, but we thought they just played him on the Lubbock stations. Then I saw him drive down College Avenue in a new, black and pink Pontiac Catalina convertible. "New glasses. New teeth. And girls in the car. And I said if Buddy can do it, so can I."
About a year ago I was leaving Las Vegas headed south on I-15 on my way back to California in my big truck after dropping off a load of potato chips when I spied a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz on the back of a transporter headed north. I called the driver on the radio and he told me that the car was bought new from the lot by Buddy Holly. According to the driver, Buddy purchased the vehicle then sold it to his barber right befor he (Buddy) died. A collecter found the car in L.A. and was shipping it to Las Vegas to restore and add to his own personal collection.
Sounds to me as though Bill Clements is a man without any integrity. It's a shame people are this way, but it happen's all the time with many, many thing's associated with celebrities/icons. Thanks for the info fella's. Very interesting stuff. Tony
Its not really Buddy's car! Re-read the entire thread and you'll see some of the evidence presented that it isnt.
I did a tour playing bass for Tommy Alsup (Buddy's Guitar Player) last year and will do some European dates with him this summer as well so I called him yesterday to find out if he knew anything. Tommy said he didn't know what the word was on the Impala. I asked him if he had ever ridden in the Impala and he said no. He did ask me about the Baby Blue Lincoln though...said he spent alot of time in that car with Buddy and wondered where it was now. It's probably in a museum somewhere. Anyone know? DW Nashville, TN.
C'mon man, that's just wrong....you know i meant the car ... although with today's music, having Buddy back would be a welcome thing as far as i'm concerned.. The line in AG from Milner said it all..."Rock and roll's gone down hill ever since Buddy Holly died" Tony
They say the Big Bopper is still in pretty good shape so you never know. http://www.forensicmag.com/News_Articles.asp?pid=126
I know its been about a year since this has been posted, but this might clear a few things up. Im a raised Lubbockite and have played with 3 of buddy's surviving relatives. First off, if you guys are looking to see original buddy holly stuff, they have everything at the museum. everything from his baseball glove with "BH + EM" written on it from him (Echo was his high school sweetheart), to his original contacts, his glasses recovered from the crash. They have his guitar, his overnight bag from the crash, even down to homework and report cards. Original broadcast equipment from KDAV and the mixing board from Norman Petty Studios. Its amazing. But as for the bike, it was a triumph. There are some pictures of that somewhere. Buddy actually owned a lot of cars in a short time, so yes, it is very possible that this is the same car. the VIN numbers match. I don't believe that it was forged. I am actually about to contact the body shop to get more info on it. Hopefully this weekend I can get some info to you guys As for Waylon Jennings, I believe someone said he gave up his seat to Ritchie Valens, but that was Tommy that gave up his seat I believe. Waylon was playing with Buddy Holly not as part of the Crickets. Buddy left the Crickets, and Waylon was just part of the group that performed. Anyways, I believe that the car is Buddy's. I will get back on here once I find something out from the body shop
i remember seeing a pic of the 58 in a issue of hotrod AWHILE back the car they showed was a coral color with a white top and the original "peggy sue "was standing beside it the car wasnt wrecked atleast not hard in the article (about 2 paragraphs) they said that buddy had lent the car to a friend before leaving on his last tour and the friend drove it for awhile then parked it behind a gas station and there it sat until someone found it i believe the issue was from like 1995 the pics of this 58 were of it where it was found they said that the restoration of the car was just getting started then i have allways wanted to see the finished car if you had barrowed this car (or any for that matter) wouldnt you have returned it to his parent shortly after the plane crash? i would have waylon flipped a coin with the big bopper (the bopper was sick) for a seat on the plane and depending on how you look at it waylon either lost ,or won the toss wondering now if the buddys 58 story is gonna be like the earharts plane were is it? nobody knows yes i am a buddy holley fan
Now that would be cool if you found some info..Thanks! I have a friend here who was born and raised in Lubbock and moved here about 6 or 7 years ago if i remember right. We talked quite a bit about what to see there being a BH fan..in the mean time he's going to get me some nice photo's the next time he heads home. It's a place i will go someday along with Clear Lake to see the Surf.. Tony
just stumbled upon this thread. Anyone know where the car is getting restored I'd like to swing by and snap some pics. I'm sure I could find out more info on this.
Just for the record, Tommy alsup flipped a coin with Ritchie. The Big Bopper couldn't get any rest in the bus because he was such a big guy and asked Waylon if he could have his seat on the plane. Waylon said, "If its ok with Buddy its ok with me" .
the body shop is on 19th street. the 1400 blocks I think. I am involved in the production of the Buddy Holly story here in Lubbock. We are opening next weekend, so if any of you lubbock people would be interested, here is the website http://www.lubbockmoonlightmusicals.org/buddyholly.html we will be opening the 12th and 13th, and two of Buddy Holly's relatives will be playing opening night. But the real reason why I am saying this is that we are contacting the owner of Buddy's Impala and seeing if he can drive it up to the ampitheater and park it there. but either way, hopefully I can post some pictures here in the next 2 weeks or so, so keep looking. I will do what I can to get to the bottom of this story and figure out where his car is!
okay, I stopped by the body shop today. They weren't too pleased that I dropped in just to talk about the car, but they were willing. They do not have any pictures of the restoration. It was completed a while back, but went back into their shop for some reason. Bill Clements picked it up about 2 months ago. It is at the KDAV radio station now according to the shop guys (I'm sure its inside). They thought it was in the museum originally. I haven't seen it in person. It was right down the street from where it was, but sadly only had 30 minutes I could use for finding it and got as much info from the shop guys as I could. I'll track it down though, I'm quite determined A few other lubbock sites you can see that I forgot about: The raegor auto mall used to be mears and that was where Buddy Holly played a concert on the roof The house Buddy was born in is no longer there, but the empty lot is However, the house he was married in is. The old roller rink is now some youth center but its still there, and so is the hi de ho that they used to go hang out at in high school, although its now a tommy burger. There are lots more. You can easily spend a full weekend out here. As for tomorrow, I will be heading to KDAV with camera in hand
I remember reading an article in HOTROD when I was in High School (96-00) that had a picture of the impala in a field with an older lady kneeling next to it. It said Buddys car had been found and was going to be restored. I'd like to see some pictures when they are up.
Bill Clements is a real horses ass! I've dealt with him. Bill Griggs busted him good, The car is not Buddy's! I've seen it. It's a great looking car, but not Buddy's. Clements conned several local shops into donating their time and services to restore the car but after several months of research by Griggs the story started to fall apart. Grigg's reviewed several old home movies and dates and things just didn't add up. My father-in-law, Jim Sadler, has been in the monument business most of his life. He is the man that actually set Buddy's monument in the City of Lubbock cemetery. John Dwyer was the design man that did the stencil for his monument. He told me of Buddy's family bringing Buddy's Stratacaster by the shop to have a likeness of it put on his stone along with Holly leaves. John was playing the guitar when he broke a string. He replaced it and told the family and they were very nice about it. The whole time he was telling me this story,I thought he still had the string, but when it was over I asked him "What did you do with the guitar string?" He looked at me with a funny look on his face and said "I threw it away, it was broken." People didn't appreciate Buddy at the time. It wasn't till years later that they really began to realize what he was and what he had accomplished. Thats why no one really cared anything about the car. By the time they realized what they had, it was gone.
I just barely got to see the car. Took the whole summer to look at it. They are re-restoring it just to sell it. It will be in about 2 months that the fully restored pictures will be circulating around, and should be sold in January in Arizona. I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how
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