Folks Of Interest JIM BOUCHARD ~ Bouchards Hot Rods

Hey guys,
There isn't one person on this board that hasn't been influenced and/or inspired by someone at least once in their lives. Whether it be your father, an uncle, a musician, a sibling, your favorite band, a car builder, or a friend. We've all been there.

I'd like to share my personal experience about a pal i met years ago. It was the summer of '86 and cruising downtown, street racing, or hanging out at our local Drive-In was my personal thrill . Slowly getting out of Muscle Cars and quickly getting in to Hot Rods was where i wanted to be - but didn't know crap about em - and made it all the more frustrating. I ended up trading a GTO for a canary yellow 55 Chevy 150 , and was soon having a blast. I couldn't wait to take the 55 everywhere. And everywhere it went. One night at our local Cruise night in town my dad and i were hanging out by our cars when this bitchen black primered 46 Ford business coupe pulled in - It's license plate read "FAT ATAC" , it was slammed on the ground - big & littles on maroon painted steelies, thin beauty rings, 46 caps, straight pipes, blue dots, louvered hood blaring the Paladins (San Diego based Rockabilly/blues trio) out of it. The car drove by slowly as a kid my age with a pomp a mile high grinned behind the wheel of this thing - then parked it out on the back lot. "Who was this guy" , "where did he come from" "how in the hell did someone my age own such a cool car" - i think those were some of the things running through my head. I made my way over to that part of the parking lot and soon spotted the 46 with its owner leaning on the car talking to a bunch of older Street Rod guys. I introduced myself and he told me his name - Jim Bouchard "Jimmy" - we instantly hit it off. It was like we knew each other for a long time - the jokes, the music, the girls,the lines to movies, the cars, the style - we were on the same page. We soon became pals and practically hung out every weekend. In no time there wasn't a music or car show in Southern California we didn't attend. From San Diego to Hollywood - we were there! the Canary 55 and the Black 46 coupe very often drove side by side on the freeway .

Jimmy seemed to know everyone in the Hot Rod and Custom car industry.Through him I was introduced to folks like Pat Ganahl, Dick & Keith Dean, Ed Axle Stewart , "Bones", "Pete & Jake" ,Skippy , Dirty Ernie , and Rich Pichette from WCK. It was an entirely different world. And at such a young age (we were in our late teens/early twenties) Jimmy also seemed to know all there was about cars too. Even though i knew years, makes, and models of cars, i didn't know crap about early Ford bodies and suspensions. Jim used to ramble all night long about things like "Bat Wings" , Hair Pins, "Wishbones", "King Pins" - but it was all Foreign to me - every bit of it - until years later. With the knowledge he had Jim found a job as a fabricator / assemblyman at SAC Street Rods & Chassis components in Anaheim, Ca. After a few years of doing that he took a break from building cars and worked for Edison Electric, but it was obvious the "bug" bit him again as he opened up his own Hot Rod business in San Jacinto, Ca. He is still in business today and out of the hundreds if not thousands of cars he has worked on over the years - some are historical cars such as the Harry Westergard / Buddy Ohanesian 40 Merc, the Ed Axle Stewart Roadster, but he has also built a state a art GNRS award winning 57 Chevy .


In these modern times of the the internet, message boards, and with all the magazines that cater to our lifestyles - so many of us know each other. Jim Bouchard sort of stays on the side lines but is always around and most importantly , is a wealth of knowledge in so many area's of the Hot Rod & Custom car industry. His cars have graced the covers of magazines, His staff have been on Monster Garage , and on top of all that, he's just a nice guy. I'm proud of his accomplishments and i'm proud to call him a pal after all these years.

Bouchards Hot Rods & Custom
1036 Enterprise Ave.
San Jacinto, Ca.
92582
(951)-487-0513

 

Jim working at SAC - late 1980's

 

Shoebox - If memory is right this was at Dick Deans

 

Working on the Westergard Merc

 

Still fabricating and building after all these years.

 

I have never had the chance to meet him, but we have worked on this 40 that I believe he built. It is one of my favorite cars.

 

Nice stuff indeed!!! That Merc is actually the Bertolucci/Ohanesian Merc!

 

any more picts and info?

 

Although 10 years apart , my 36 sits the way it does because of Jims coupe.

 

cool write-up and cool cars!

 

Not only Jim, but his whole family are big-time hot rodders and good people. The Ohanesian convertible sedan, with that Bertolucci roof, is one of my favorite customs, and it's good to see it still looking so good after Jim restored it so many years ago.

So when's the next hot rod party at your place in San Jacinto, Jim? It's been a while. Let's do it again. I'll be there.

Pat Ganahl

 

Very cool story Axle.

 

Great story Axle. Often It's the "unsung" lifers like Jimmy who make this lifestyle great. As you said, for many of us their influence helped us become what we are today.
I had a pal named Grant Taylor in the '8o's and '9o's, I should get back in touch with that guy.

 

I spent the night in the front seat of his 46 coupe one night after a night of hell raising around long beach in his coupe. A late model nova wanted to race at a light. we took off and Jimmy shifted and we broke the rear end, so we stayed the night in the coupe until Bone's picked us up the next day. Jimmy's a real hot rodder in every since of the word and a good buddy that Axle and I have known for 30 years.

 

Sounds like a hell of a guy and hotrodder!~

 

Alex, cool story, cool guy! I really like his style, doing it for love and keeping a low profile.
Jimmy White

 

Alex, Gosh i don't know what to say. Thanks for all the kind words. I just hope i can
live up to them! You finally got me to make a post! JB

 

At the GNRS Customs Then & Now gathering Axle introduced me to Jim. We talked for about 10-15 minutes.... what a nice and enthusiastic guy!

We talked mainly about the Westergard/Bertolucci Buddy Ohanesian 1940 Mercury. I told him I was so amazed that we never saw more photos of the cars restoration, and that all I had was one photo of the car with the hood and top off, fresh paint on the fire wall... it was in the background of a photo of a 46-48 Ford Street Rod in an 1990's Street Rodder magazine (see photo below).
Yeah that was at my shop, Jim Said. He was working on the Merc at the time, and Street Rodder Magazine thought it was a good idea to have the car in the photo. And so it was!
So its really great to see the two other in restoration in progress photos of the Buddy O Merc at Jim's shop... I love that car!
And Jim, also thanks for telling me about the paint. And that if it was up to you, the new paint job would have been much more accurate to the original Bertolucci Maroon than what is now on the car. The original paint was found on the car, but the guy who painted the car thought the paint needed a bit more flash!.
Thanks for introducing me Axle!

 

what a guy!!! lots of accomplishments...cool writeup axle..

 

Cool story Axle thanks for sharing.

 

nice....

 

Nice tribute.

 

I was introduced Jim thru Alex and from what I know of him he is a very cool and low key guy who does some great work.I have heard the name for a long time but didn't put 2 and 2 together.Im glad his influence had that much of an impact on you Alex and thanks for introducing me. Hey Jim......im looking forward to seeing some your future projects keep up the good work.

 

glad to say jimmys my hot rod buddy. great guy. i'll have to push him again to have a hot rod party at his shop. it was a blast. lots of cool people. billy

 

Jim is a true friend for sure. 56bigwind
John

 

Okay son, you got your dad and mom to sign up and make a post. We are so proud of you and all of your accomplishments. Who would have thought that the 46 coupe that YOU bought in the early 80's would take you so far. All the years we have spent as a family hot rodding around the country has been a great ride !!
~Love Ya~

 

Happy to report that Jim starts working on my 50 Mercury project next week. I'm looking forward to seeing the results.

 

Hi guys, here are a few pic's of one of my current projects. I will post
more, this is just to see if I am doing it right.

 

i dont see pics of the blue one. billy

 

Hahahaha! Billy, I'am savin those pic's for a special private showing, just for you!! JB