Customs Lanny Ericson 56 Chevy arived today (Restoration Thread)

I had the honor of working for Lanny while I was going to Texas Tech. He has been a dear freind of mine ever since. I actually have seen this car transform from floor pans to where it is today. I was working with Lanny during the chop and Merc back glass installation. The right fender on this car was made from two pretty rough ones in about two days by Lanny. I could watch him work for hours a true craftsman and treasure to our community. Im so looking forward to see this car being done he loves this car and the stories that he aquirred over the years with and about it are amazing.

 

**holy shit** i can't wait to see this one progress!!!

 

Oh my how sweet...

 

Without a doubt one of my all time favorite semi customs.Personally I liked it better when it had the stock tail light assemblies installed as the Lincoln units looked almost like an afterthought.Looks like the sides were smoothed out a bit at some point.To me that was the only down side to the car.The paint job was just exquisite and I hope that gets re-created.

edit:I have to go with Anthony on this one;the striping should be left off.

 

how is it a "semi custom" ?

 

I am with you on that one but that chop/section/channel (1,2 0r 3) came out nice......

 

One of the best of all time. It's so great that the traditional rod and custom movement has gained enough strength that cars like this are recognized for the historic significance and brought back. Best of luck and I can't wait to see it done

 

Very kool, I was told that the Kustom was still around. I'm forward to
watching the restoration.... Thanks for posting the pics..

 

I got to meet Lanny at a Winfield seminar in Midland, Tx. He told me it took 6 cars to get it back to restorable condition.

Lanny was a kool guy to talk to.





































Reverend Jake

 

Kool pics Jake!!

 

any idea of a completion date?

 

WOW! Subcribing to this thread! Good luck with the restoration.

 

How Cool is that!!!!

 

That's AWESOME!

 

I met him this weeknd at Salina, cool guy, I like this car...

 

This car was in Richmond, BC, Canada for years. It is a suburb of Vancouver. The owner was way out there. When I inquired about the car he said he was going to insulate it for 40 below and make a motor home out of it. Good idea in a chopped top car. He also saw feds spying on him behind every tree. He was a few bricks short of a full load, but wouldn't sell the car. Some time later (many, many years ), a friend of mine, Dave Boyce of Boyce towing in Richmond ended up with the car. I think it was him that contacted Winfield. We thought it was a well done car, but there were several nice old customs built in the Vancouver area. Glad to see it will finally be redone. I will be watching the build on their website. Pat.

 

Can't wait to see it redone !

 

Kool for you! Im glad it finally got in good hands, i'll be watchin....Its almost incredible how only now these cars are recognized for what they really are, i wonder why they all ended up in the dump at some point???Anyway, whats in the trunk, it looks like a air tank or something......

 

Well there are a few photos of the car with the Winfield painjob without the "too much" pinstriping... Even the magazine covere photos are with out it...
so I sure hope they decide not to go with the pinstriping...




Thank you REVEREND JAKE for those great pics... never knew the Lanny Ericson's Chevy was so well documented.... Hopefully the whole album can be scanned one day and shared for everybody to enjoy... yes that is a HINT!!!

 

Yeah Baby. So very cool. I talked with Gene about his shop truck, when I worked with him at Syracuse, and his eyes just lit up thinking about it. NUTS. Slim

 

Must have been having a,"senior moment" when I made that statement.
I was looking at the picture of when it was essentially stock with just the top cut(which is how I really like it).In the old way of classifying I guess it would be called a,"radical custom" rather than a,"full custom".A radical custom was classified as having one or more radical body modifications such as chopped top,channeling,or sectioning whereas a full custom may or may not have had these modifications but rather have all of the body panels modified in some manner.
Whatever the car it is still one of my favorite cars and I'm glad to see it is being resurrected.

 

Can you clear up if this is the actual car or pieces from it? This picture looks like the Merc window is just now going in a turquoise car with no quarter panel. Just would like to know what was really left as that's so interesting to know what survived. Thanks Jim

 

I'm glad yall' are getting to restore this one, I would love to see this one come back on the scene. Since I draw cars and all, I have always wanted to do a full color pic of it but, I've never fully figured out the Winfield blended paint job. Ive had the little magazine all my life and always had a soft spot for this 56. The colors and the fogging have always been a mystery to me. What colors were on it originaly when Winfield did it? I can see it was purple and maroon with bronze or copper fogging or am I wrong. The area around the tailights , the paint makes it look distorted. Thats always bothered me all my life on this car seeing it in the little magazines and all. Am I the only one that wondered about this?

 

I saved these pics from some paso show coverage..same car?

I have always liked the shot of andy southard jr. with the car, he is standing next to it with his arm out and over the top, to show the guys back home how low they do it in cali.

 

Nice thread! Good to finally see the car. I have heard about it being restored for a couple of years but never seen any photos. Can't wait to see both cars restored for the 2010 GNRS!!

 

Lanny had the original out back behind his shop, back when I visited him a few years ago. It WAS rough. He had a pretty nice shell inside for the re-creation/ rebuild, whatever you want to call it. I'm sure he re-used as much as possible of the original.

A very cool and talented guy. He had a briefcase FULL of those original photos and magazine photo proofs.

 

The best '56 Chevy custom EVER.

I can't WAIT to see it... and to thank Lanny and the restoration crew at the GNRS. Bitchin!

 

That's cool, clears up some things in the pictures. Thanks Jim

 

Hey! I dont blame him either, i was just curious,as the car is one of the lowest of them days and it could have been originally lifted, plus, actually i dont have any bad feelings toward bags, i actually think they are an A plus mod on our old cars if we plan on driving them regularly, and after all if the car looks just like it used to but drives and handles a lot better i suppose that the owner cant do anything but be happy and enjoy is superb ride.BTW, could you be so kind to explain what was done to the car to lower it that much. As in how much of a channel what kind of suspension work and such?Thanx in advance, bonez.