Cars then and where they went.

I've seen some other pictures in other threads like this, just thought it would be neat to get them in one place.

I went out to see my Dad’s cousin years back when I moved to this area. While showing me around the farm we came across the remains of several cars and this Studebaker pickup was among them. My natural gearhead instincts prompted me to take a picture of the truck. Dad’s cousin told me I could have it although they used to use the hood for a sleigh behind horses. The truck was solid, despite the obvious abuse it was subjected to, and I was genuinely interested in it for a project. By the time I’d built a trailer, the truck had been scrapped.(sob, sniff)

Years later I was going through my late grandmother’s photos and found a couple of pictures from the same farm during a visit in the late fifties and what do you know? Pictures of the very same truck many years earlier with my dad and his uncle posed in front of it.

Does anyone else have photos of vintage cars in their prime and years later as they ended up before being lost or saved?

 

that would have been a fun project with a good story. i have always liked Studebaker trucks

 

Yeah stude trucks are sweet. They have a very distinct style.

 

i know where theres a '50 long bed , 3/4 ton. Settin in a shed.
i like em .

 

I did some digging and found a few examples elsewhere on the HAMB. I hope it is acceptable edicate to use photos already on the HAMB. If not please forgive me I mean no harm.

 

Are there more pictures of these caddy's anywhere? I would love to see more!

 

i will be watching this thread. "then and now" pics of any kind peak my interest a lot. makes me wonder about the moment when everything "went wrong" for that particular car. hard to explain.
very cool.

 

Whoa, you always like to think that those cars built by professional customizers end up loved and cherished unlike that farm truck.............crazy how brutal reality can be.

Still sad about that old farm truck tho.

 

For every car that survived custuomization or daily use by farm or family there are dozens that meet an awful fate. We can imortalize them here, wether there is a story that goes with them or not I hope we can remember them in this thread.

Take the rod & custom dream truck for example it was smashed then went underground for years till someone could work it so the truck can be what it was ordained to be. There are photos of the dream truck before and after the wreck. I would like to see them posted here.

Maybe there are more stories like mine where the car meant something to someone. My dad bought a car new in 1966 it is OT for this board but I've still got the car and it looks a lot differrent now than when it was new, but the stories we can tell about that car.

 

Found a good story and some photos from Gasser Dood, He willingly let me add to this thread thanks Gasser Dood.

About 6 months ago I had the good idea to do a search in the Cars for Sale section of the Hamb classifieds using keywords "old custom". There were some random results but one caught my eye. It read, "1949 Chevy Custom The Black Panther"...intrigued, I clicked on it. It obviously had seen better days but the fact that it had had a few page spread in an issue of Rod and Custom in 1956 and a whole page in the 1957 issue of Custom Cars Annual magazine, made the car more interesting to me. What was unique about the car I thought was that it used very minimal chrome for the time, had a lot of European influences and was painted black. I found out it was also built by Chuck Rogers who ended up working for Joe Bailon. After some very easy negotiations with a very accomodating seller, I bought the car.

The car sat for a few months at the previous owners place while I tried to scrape up some free time to come get it. The car was about 1100 miles away and I was dreading another long road trip...so I had a transporter bring it. I hadn't done too much research on the car's history other than to find a scan on the HAMB of a 1957 Grand National Roadster show program showing the car had competed in the full custom coupe class. Funny thing was that according to the '57 GNRS program the owner of the Black Panther was Salvadore LaBue...so the car had already changed hands.

With the Black Panther still in transit...I started to work on the ownership history of the car. Working off the original HAMB posting of the car being bought by the fellow I bought it from...I found a post on that thread by a Hamber who had seen the car for sale in a guys backyard in the 90's. I got in touch with him and he told me that the guy who I should be speaking to was Bud Millard. In the Hambers words, "He knows a lot about that car". Understatement! I give Bud a call...I am sure some of you guys know that Bud owns a few important customs and is a Hot Rod hall of famer. Anyway.. Bud answers the phone and I stammer, "This is going to sound a little strange but I just bought an old custom named the Black Panther and was hoping you knew something about it". Bud bellowed..."Congratulations!". In disbelief, I asked him again if he knew about the car....Bud replied, "I know EVERYTHING about that car". I paused for a second because that sort of thing just doesn't happen every day...it was almost too easy.

Turns out that in 1957 Bud went to high school across the street from Sal LaBue's house and upon seeing the Black Panther, struck up a friendship with the older LaBue. Bud ended up driving the car to many shows as Sal followed along in his then new 1958 Olds. During that first phone call, Bud also tells me that he has Chuck Rogers construction pictures of the car, many pictures of indoor and outdoor shows, a never before seen picture of the detailed trunk and many more. Bud tracked the car down after losing it for about 20 years and bought it back from a fellow in Kentucky. Like a final click in a tumbler's combination, Bud tells me that the car had also been painted yellow with black lace painted panels..echoing an iteration that another Hamber had posted seeing (and not liking). So Bud gets the car in the early 90s or so, stores it in the Bay area back yard pictured by another Hamber who had gone to see it, some time later Bud sold the Panther. Ultimately the Panther ends up in Washington state...where the Hamber who I bought it from purchased it.

The only previous period pictures on the net of the Panther were scans of the '56 Rod and Custom and a couple of shots from that Bay Area backyard in the '90s. There is also one shot of the car that looks like an old slide...turns out that picture might have been taken at the 1957 GNRS. Bud told me that might be shot as the cars came in. Bud told me in a subsequent phone call that he remembers having a picture with Sal LaBue accepting an award and that possibly it was at the '57 GNRS...meaning the Panther had won its class...still working on that one though.

I want to thank Bud publicly as he was gracious enough to sit with me at a Kinkos while I scanned about 30-40 pictures....here are just a few of them...starting from 1955 till probably 1958 or so...the color picture was most likely late '60s to the early '70s...you can see little running changes in the car....The lake pipes, "Black Panther" lettering on the rear and some other curious additions (or subtractions!) were done by Sal during his ownership. I think it's a cool little piece of California kustomizing history....hope you enjoyed the story and pictures...












Great story and a great find. Congradulations. See thread " Black Panther Returns; One California Custom's History Found w Pictures!" For more.

 

I really like the Black Panther story ! Do you know if the resto has been started?

 

See thread Black Panther Returns; One California Custom's History Found w Pictures!

 

Hey what was the deal with that Dodge? Did it ever get saved?

I was thinking about that a few months ago, or at least I remember thinking about it...

 

That thing was a Studebaker. Read up on it in thread "Photo album---kustoms". starting at Post #167. I don't think they discussed its fate.

 

Here's one courtesy of Wildcycles, from his thread "The first custom F100?"

I recently purchased this custom 1954 Ford F-100. Joseph Botti purchased this truck new in November of 1954 and took it to Tommy the Greek for a two-tone scallop paint job in December of that same year. The truck also got complete new color matched upholstery including a full tonneau cover for the bed. It was lowered front and rear. Mercury wheels were added and a 55 grille replaced the 54 by the time it was featured on the cover of Rod & Custom magazine in August of 1956. The truck received 19 first place trophies in the first three years including the Oakland Roadster Show in 1955 and 1957. The truck went back to Tommy the Greek in 1964 for a color change of candy apple red and black to the scallop paint. The upholstery was dyed black to match and the front grille was swapped out for a Chrysler 300 and canted headlights. The truck remains in that configuration today. It even has a phone on the dash that was striped by Tommy. I got the '55 grille that was used in the first build and alot of pictures and trophies with the truck. I will add pictures and details as I get them organized. I would also like to hear from folks who may have additional information or photos.






Thank you Wildcycles.

 

Bump for late crowd

 

I still have this Stude pickup which had a 1962 plate on it, re-painted black with red wheels and porta-walls, and gold lettering on the rear fenders "Scientific Operators" plus a mascot "Danny" or "Dandy" on the left side. I have never been able to find out what the story is on it. The thing was rotty back then, there is a patch in the cowl made out of a Pennzoil sign and half of that is rotted away. It could have come from anywhere from Rome to probably Albany. Did have a factory radio in it, too, kind of unusual for pickups that old.

I'd sure like to find out who the Scientific Operators were to have a "then" to go with the "now" .... the bed isn't bad, the lower cowl would need to be rebuilt and it would need fenders and a hood to do anything with it.

 

I got a kick out of seeing a photo of the 'Trendero' ranchero built in 60 or 61 still sitting in the same autobody shop it was built in, probably was never moved since they stopped showing it

 

Thanks for your responses maybe some more info will surface, and photos will pop up.

 

Only on the HAMB can things like this happen. Here is a picture of a car posted 11-03-2010 that is the then.



This is a picture of the same car now.



Chris Melzo's thread "51 Chevy coupe-Sled to Gasser" exemplifies the kind of changes a car can go through over a period of years. His car has undergone changes in a matter of months. I feel his car qualifies as a then and now candidate.

Not open for debate is various opinions about if it is right or not.

 

i love the idea of this,so bump

 

Hope you learned a valuable lesson. Built a trailer hell I needed one in a hurry and rented it for a day for less that $100.

 

I learned even after building the trailer more stuff just kept popping up. Thats why I'm in trouble with too many projects. It's been too easy getting them home.

 

ill take that 3w if you need it gone?

awesome idea for a thread, hopefully we can get some people on bored!

 

Brandy's chariot
TwoChops

 

I'm guessing that car no longer exists or do you think someone just removed the fenders? Thanks for the post, and it's a three window to boot. Love it!

 

Before and after
TwoChops

 

I've always loved that chevy hardtop but dont care for the carson top now.

 

Sudden Death
TwoChops

 

here are some from my collection