Folks Of Interest BOB HIROHATA Interview ~ 1977

Hey guys, a while back i found a box of Hot Rod & Custom related books and magazines. One of them had a special Merc issue in Street Rodder , and inside an interview with Bob Hirohata. Until i found this i had never known the interview took place or was even printed. I looked at Hamb Archives and couldn't find any mention of this article so i thought i'd copy it and post for all interested to read. Enjoy.


REMEMBERING THE WORLD THROUGH A CHOPPED WINDSHIELD........An interview with Bob Hirohata . August 1977.

"Ever since i can remember i had always wanted a real radical Custom car", began Bob.
"Before i went in the service i had a chopped '49 Chevy that Barris had done, but it wasn't really too wild. It seems like the whole time I was in the Navy my buddies and I would sit around and talk about custom cars. So, when i got out of the service in '52 i found a clean low mileage '51 Merc out in the San Fernando Valley. By then Sam Barris had chopped his '49 and i think they had done Jerry Quesnel's super low purple '49. It was still a fairly new thing and no one had done a '51, so i knew this was going to be my radical custom. When i took the car to Barris' the only thing i really had in mind was i wanted it chopped and the side windows to give a hardtop appearance like they had done on Nick Matranga's famous '40 Merc coupe. The rest was left up to them".

"George always seemed to be full of idea's and his late brother Sam had the metal working ability and craftsmanship to make them work. George was always a great promoter and public relations man. He came up with the late Kustoms club - which really wasn't a club that had meetings or activities, but all the cars that came out of the shop automatically became members. Later one he even sold memberships and T-Shirts through the magazines and the Barris name became famous everywhere. Another idea was the Barris crest that was put on all the cars that were done at the shop. It became a real trademark and eventually even cars that were only painted there got a crest. It was a joke for a while that any car parked on Atlantic Blvd. in Lynwood for more than two hours ended up with a Barris crest" !

"I remember it took 97 days to get my car back. It seemed like it sat untouched for 60, but the '52 Motorama was coming up at the old Pan Pacific Auditorium in L.A. and i guess George wanted to make a good showing because they really started hustling and finished mine and two others in 30 days! They even took the seats and door panels to carson Top Shop to be upholstered while the body work was still being done. The top was chopped 4 inches in front and 7 in the back. The side window moldings were made from 5/8" channel and curved like a hardtop. There weren't any lifts in those days , so to lower it at the rear the springs were de-arched and two sets of 1 1/2" lowering blocks were used. It was real low".

"I guess the thing i remember most about my Merc was my cross country trip. A buddy and I wanted to see the Indy 500 for a long time so i entered the Indianapolis Custom Show to give us all the more reason for the trip. About 8 days before we were supposed to leave i decided that the stock Flathead had about had it, so i went down and bought a brand new '53 Cad for it. Dick Lyon did the swap and i then owned what we called a "Mercillac". I guess it was a good thing i did because every little townseemed to have a hang out of some kind. Usually just a big vacant lot. We'd drive through town and some of those kids would follow us as far as 15 miles. They always wanted to know what kind of engine it had in it and how fast it would go. About the only trouble we had was because it was so low. We even took one set of lowering blocks out for the trip home. The Cad got over 18 MPG for the 2,500 mile trip. I guess you could say we had our own Rod run almost 20 years before it got popular.

"I drove it almost every day. In fact at first i had to because it was my only car. Later on though, i had a '30 Chevy four door sedan with a GMC six in it that i bought from Don Nicholson (today known as Dyno Don) . I guess the big thing, though, was cruising all the Drive-In's. A bunch of us would hang around Barris' on Saturday's too. It was hard to believe such beautiful cars could come out of such a scroungy place. But just about al body shops are pretty dirty. I guess besides the fad part of it, we customized cars because in those days there weren't any options to speak of. Radio and heaters and thats about it. Anything more than that and you had to do it yourself. If you count the cost of the car, the customizing, the interior, the engine swap and everything, i must have had $7,000 in that car. I guess thats why customizing died. The cars got nicer and the costs got out of hand. I sold the Merc to a guy in '55 from the Highland Park area of L.A. and haven't seen it since. I understand its still around in pretty good shape but i haven't seen it in 20 years".

Today Bob is 46 years old and except for a few gray hairs he looks exactly as he did then. He's lost none of his enthusiasm for cars, as attested to by his stable of '67, '73, and '77 Corvettes. Greg Sharp

Photo's courtesy of Bob Hirohata, Greg Sharp, Rik Hoving.

*Side Note* In the mid 70's Steve Gonzales was building his '50 Merc that was loosely inspired by the Hirohata Merc. A couple of years ago i met with Steve and he told me a neat story that around 1976 his father found Bob Hirohata's home telephone number and visited him. After explaining what he and his son were doing Bob grabbed a ladder, went up in his garage rafters, then came down with an N.O.S. pair of Appleton spot lights still in the box and gave them to Steve's father to use on their own Merc.

 

Pics

 

More pics

 

That was agreat read Axle.

 

thanks for posting this! awesome!

 

Its a really great read... It was reprinted in the November 1994 issue of Custom Rodder magazine, including photos.

 

Enjoyed the story,thanks for the post.

 

Ive always wondered what the Hirohata Chevy looked like?
Rik?

 

Nice find Axle. A big thanks to both you and Rik for all your input and dedication to everything custom. Keep up the great work that you both do.

 

Nice!

 

Great read. I remember looking at the magazine back in the 70s with interest because my parents had Mercurys throughout the 50s and into the early 60. They had 2 door models from 49 to 61 including a 51 Covertible. What happened to Mr. Hirohata?

 

Great post Axel. I've always liked the look of that car.

 

I believe he was murdered quite awhile ago and I don't think the case was ever solved. Great read and pictures;thanks to Axle and Rik for posting the article and additional pictures.

 

Great read. Thanks for starting the thread.

 

So great, Thanks Axle. Slim

 

I believe I read somewhere that he was shot in his parents front yard in 1981. I could be mistaken.

 

Neat read....thanks for posting


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thanks, great read


skull

 

Just made my day right here.

 

GAMEOVER......... Bob Hirohata must have just shut those little towns down from curiosity and excitement when he came thru and had to get gas.Then to top it off,to step out of that car wearing this jacket must have made people lose their breath.
I mean did the writers of the "The Wild One" and "Rebel Without A Cause" read the R&C article and see these pics and then start writing their charactors?, Bob Hirohata was the REAL DEAL doing this shit in real life,there should of been a movie about this guy!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for this Axle and the later reprint Rikster.

I don't know how many times I have seen these and other pics (and the restored car) and never noticed the twin antenae on the quarters!! Blinded by the overall concept I guess.. All around coolness!

-Dave

 

Best part of my day,thanks for posting this!

 

Man I love this photo....open the wind wings and go. Must have been stunning to see these cars cruising back then.

 

what a car!

 

One historic car and owner!

 

Man I was lucky enough to see that car at the GNRS. I spent more than hour looking at it from different angles everytime I passed. I feel pretty lucky to be able to say I saw it in person.
Thanks Axle!

 

Thanks for the thread! great read.
Hands down my favorite car ever.

 

Too cool, Axle. Thanks

 

Thank you Axle for posting this. I really enjoyed the article.

 

Awesome !!!