I know, it's been awhile, I just got a new scanner, and FINALLY got the build pics scanned! Here's the story on the car : After posting pics of the Pontiac on the HAMB board, one of the original two builders/owners of the coupe, recognized it, and contacted me about the car...they are Bob Kohn & Hylber Sandvig. They live in my area, and agreed to come out to my shop to see the car, and bring along some old photos. The car was originally purchased in 1962 from Tom Prock and Pappy Ellis, and run as a street car with a small block Chevy, while they continued to race their Rochester-injected small block Bantam coupe in '63, and their D/Gas '55 Chevy in '64...their racing operation was run out of Bob's dad's Gulf station at 6 Mile Rd. & Woodward Ave. in Detroit... The Pontiac was disassembled in 1964 for a complete rebuild which included new frame crossmembers, early Olds rear with a 5.38 Posi unit, quarter-elliptic spring suspension, and 4-foot long lift bars based on versions of the ones in Art Chrisman's A/FX Comet...Bob & Hylber did all that fabrication... The custom-built front axle was designed by Bob, based on a CAE axle, but modified for quarter-elliptic spring suspension, and used the original '39 Pontiac spindles. It was built by a friend of their's, who ran a '40 Willys gasser at the time, and built one these axle set-ups for himself to run under the Willys...the axle builder also machined the custom, one-piece, aluminum, rotors/hubs, and brackets, that used Hurst/Airheart disc brake calipers. The axle and all components were chrome-plated. The wheels were magnesium Halibrand "Kidney Bean" fronts, and chromed Howards wheels in the rear. Bob says the car had a beautiful rust-free body, and they had the gentleman who made all of Ohio George Montgomery's fiberglass, build the custom, one-off, 4-piece fiberglass frontend. The fenders, hood, and grille section were bolted together and set up to tilt forward. It was built using the original steel front clip as molds...Hylber said they never got the original front clip back! Hylber also built the aluminum motor plate for the small block, an aluminum, recessed firewall, and the aluminum inner fender panels...the interior was completely trimmed out in two-tone rolls & pleats, a chrome 3-point roll bar, and orange Plexiglas windows. The motor was a 301 c.i. small block with Hilborn injection, and a 4-speed. The car ran C/Gas, and turned in the low 10's, at 125-126 mph. The motor was built by Diamond Racing Engines, who was also their sponser. They raced the car in the '65 & '66 seasons. In 1967, the motor and trans were pulled and sold to a friend for his '63 Corvette, (which was "stolen", 5 days after installing the 301), the Hilborn "disappeared", and the rest of the car was sold to a guy in Warren, Mi., who put the car in his back yard, behind his garage, which was located next to the Key Oldsmobile dealership...the car was visible across the dealership parking lot off 12 Mile Rd. It sat there for a year, then disappeared. They never saw it again, until 42 years later, at my shop. Upon arriving at my place, they both said they instantly recognized the car as their's...Bob mentioned that he often thought about trying to track it down, and purchase it to restore back to it's 1965 version, but, after seeing it again, agreed that it was way too rough, and would take too much to bring back... Another interesting item...Benny Parsons, of NASCAR fame, sold Bob & Hylber his old 1946 Ford F-600 ramp truck, which they used to haul the coupe to the drags! Bob has since retired from GM, sold his place in Rochester, Mi., and he, his wife, and their '66 Vette, have moved to Hawaii...Hylber is still local, and has several high-quality street rods... I sold the body shell, doors, and deck lid to another HAMB member, who is going to use it to restore a '40 Chevy stock car, so the body will live again as a real race car...I still have the fiberglass frontend, and the axles and suspension I plan to use for another gasser-style build... Here's some build pics :
The 'glass frontend bolted together, (less paint), and the car on the back of the ex-Benny Parsons ramp truck!
Here's their Bantam altered, running a Rochester-injected small block, at Indy in 1963, and their D/Gas '55 Chevy in 1964...
Great story! So I take it you plan to find another '39 Pontiac body & bring this old girl back to life? Subscribed.
You lucky dog. Would be nice to see a Pontiac motor in it, 421-455. Can't wait to see that one as I'm a Pontiac nut. Thanks for the info. Plum
Cool story. whaty ever happened to it. It would be a shame to keep parting it out. A new body would surely save it. Cool Gasser.
Way cool story. Do you have more pics of the rear suspension? I am looking at doing the same type rear suspension for my build.
It was a state-of-the-art, high end car when it was built...still have the frame/chassis with the axles and suspension...the body was sold off like I mentioned earlier, to restore an old roundy-rounder stock car... ...the body, and the frame itself were/are too far gone to restore...apparently, sitting for 40+ years in a dirt floor chicken shed took it's toll... ...the axles and suspension are still good, other than the custom machined aluminum one-piece rotors & hubs would have to be duplicated, they are oxidized and coming apart... Another coupe body and frame, and the wheels, shouldn't be too hard to locate, I have the fiberglass front end, and a Hilborn-injected small block/4-speed, so, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to recreate the car...
Here's a couple pics of the rear quarter-elliptic spring set-up that a couple of you asked me about...springs are attached directly under the frame rails, extending to the rearend housing, with 4' long lift bars welded directly to the housing, and pivoting on a seperate crossmember... I believe those tabs at the end of the lift bars were for wheelie bars...
Thanks for the pics. Love the look of it. Is there any way you might be able to get a pic of how they mounted the leaf spring to the axle?
Very anti-climatic read, would love to have seen this turn out in the car's favour. Like a best seller with the last page missing. History lost.
The car was WAY too rough to try and restore...even after seeing it at my shop, the original builders, who said they were always curious about its whereabouts, thought it was too far gone to try... ...the body was a mess...: floors, inner & outer rockers, bottoms of the quarter panels, trunk floor, reinforcements, etc, all gone...the rust was even up into the cowl vent and windshield posts... ...the frame had been hacked and welded on so much, it wasn't safe any longer... I'm all for trying to save these cars as they were, and not turning them into street rods or whatever, but, with major components such as the frame and body needing replaced, the wheels and drivetrain missing, and all the other damage, it wouldn't really be restoring this car, it would end up being a clone... The body was sold to a gentleman restoring a '50's roundy-round dirt car, (which required cutting up what was left of this body to match the one he was replacing), so it will live again as a race car...I recently sold the fiberglass front end which is going to do time on a gasser, so it too will live on...I still have the axles & suspension which I plan to use in the future...