congrats on a great looking car. I LOVE IT. All those years tucked away ... now its out. I never saw a guy with a smile that big all day! bet your cheeks hurt. I voted you best of show. Im envious. Hopefully soon I can join your ranks. Well done fellas. Im sorry I could only get these early morning pics.
I first met John when I was driving big trucks for a local heat treater here in York. We got bought out by a big outfit and he was our new salesperson. We got talking and I found out he knew about hot rods AND he had a 37 For couple that he has owned for 35 years with no miles ever driven on it! Well, by John. Jr took on the job of getting the car going and the car was delivered. Good looking primered body that turned out to be hit on the right side and took a LOT of work to square away. Jr did a LOT of work for a very little money because he knew this was the only way it was going to happen for John. Clark threw in a few weeks, I went down for some late night shop time and the usual garage guys threw time in, Johnny Short Hair, Sandy and Tim S. We were shooting for the Showdown but didnt quite make it because Jr didn't want to halfass throw it together just to have to tear it apart to do it right later, so the date was moved to the York NSRA show. It go together just in time minus interior and the big man wore it out all weekend! He HAS to be hurting from the smile. It was fun seeing him be a tough guy until he fired it up for the first time...got a little teary eyed...thirty five years to own a car you have NEVER driven is a LONG time!!! <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bQEFmpuAluc&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bQEFmpuAluc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wFSCKy9NjRg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wFSCKy9NjRg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
this could get a little long winded! everything the boys said is right on the money, i've owned this for 35 years, bought it in april of 1974, saved it from being cut up for an east coast style modified stock car body. most of you know how the rest of the drill goes, house, mortgage payments, kids (that i love) 15 years of little league, pop warner football, girls fast pitch softball, then HS sports with them, then college tuition payments, too little time, and definitely too little money! 6 years ago the small company i work for gets bought up by a big corporation, and i get asked if ill split my time between my office in NJ and a new one in York, Penna., early on, im readin an R&C at lunch, and one of the girls in the office says our truck driver likes those old cars too! enter Scary Larry, a better friend you could never ask for!!! next thing you know, im "working" the front gate at the jalopy showdown, (the best hot rod show anywhere ever) with lulabelle and skate fink, hangin with the So What Penna. guys, and road trippin with them too, bonneville 2007, detroit autorama 2007-8, etc. well the story of the 34 year owned 37 coupe keeps comin up, but larry, junior, and clark have lotsa other great cars to build, so we put it off until i take it to juniors last july, he sends me an e mail that says "thanks for havin the faith in me to do your car for you", hes kiddin right? so my new best friends jump right in makin what we thought was an easy build, turns out it was hit hard on the pass side quarter sometime, and needed more in straightening out then was originally thought. had to get some extra sheet metal from friends in the Garden State Vintage Stock Car Club, plus Junior hunted other parts like a man posessed. there were times they were hard at it, and others when i needed them to slow down, ultimately these great friends built my lifes dream, there are not enough words in the rest of my life to thank them all for what they did for me!!! the main players, Junior, Larry, Clark, Roland, Sandy, Johnny Short Hair, Rick, Tim Stitely and others. drove the car nicknamed "34 years of excuses" for the first time on thursday, had to throw the underwear i had on away after, yes i got weepy, not only because of the car, but because of the great people involved. put a lot of miles on it this weekend at the nats east, musta made 500 laps of the fairgrounds. have to tell you that this thing starts, steers, runs, rides, and stops great. if any of you reading this, are in the same circumstances as i WAS, and need help gettin on the road you would be foolish not to contact Junior "fatabone" about building a car for you. thank you from the bottom of my heart, larry's right its about the cars, but its more about the people!!! best - BIG JOHN
The smile on Big John's face this weekend was worth the 3 months hard work I put into the car. Even saw a tear in his eyes a few times. Clark
man what a cool car be proud of it you deserve it i saw him at york and his hands to the heavens yelled hey b you could wipe the smile off his face good luck with it and drive the shit out of it nice job congrats to j.r. and clark and crew for another one under there belts.brylen.
You guys did a Hell of a great job on this build. Wish I was closer to Juniors & could have lent a hand too. Enjoy it, John. I'm sure you are.
Big John, that is a great story, real happy for you after 35 years of waiting, and I have to agree with you, You can meet some great people in this hobby. Well done from one 37 coupe owner to another. Keep smilin............
What a great story. How cool is it when everyone comes together to help a fellow out. Great looking 37 even though I am alitl partial. Ha. Last week I just finished driving my 37 coupe over to a friend who has one parked in his garage since the 70's. he wont sell it and wants to get it on the road. I had to drop by and give him some incentive. How in the heck are you holding your hood down?? Cool car.
petejoe - need to check with fatabone (junior) for the particulars, but i believe vw (oops!) cabriolet hold down with a cable release under the dash on the left - BTW pics of your car were an inspiration early on! - interior, side trim, bumpers, nerfs, finish stuff soon - my buddies from penna. are the best! - BIG JOHN
Big John...Isuzu trooper hood latch. It took some modifying on the saftey catch but the rest went in fairly easy. Clark
Everyone knows that those western PA guys build the best stuff around! John- Great to see you got it done! If we still had the studio out there a photo shoot would be in order. I was lucky enough to go to Bonneville and back with all you guys, so i know you deserve to have that car! It was worth every penny I'm sure. Couldn't have gone to a better person either! Spike
The Jalopy Journal
