Lost Bill Hines Car to debut at Billetproof Michigan

Looks like the real deal to me...

 

I seen this ford on craigslist a few days ago no price but it is one ugly ford coupe .

 

It makes me wonder what other gems are hiding in garages around the country just waiting to be found. Hope I get a chance to find something cool

 

it sure does look like a 4 door the door looks short and if you look at the quarter window they made it short like a coupe but the drip rail looks like it could have been a 4 door

 

heres a picture from craigslist.

 

It would seem like Bill was unable to clear his mind from these initial designs....Much of this thinking showed up in this later '55 or '56 Ford.....Check it out....Centurion9

 

Nice find!
But I'm a little confused...was this Bill's first attempt on a Bat car before he built this one:



When I visited Bill's shop earlier this year, he told me that the Bat above was sitting somewhere rusting away too. He had seen it several years ago, and I got the impression that it was even in too bad shape to make a car-couch out of...anyone have more info on this one?

 

i'm sorry but that things got a head like a robbers dog!! puke. i guess its cool to find a genuine "KUSTOM" from back in the day., but its not my cup of tea. sorry

 

I´m normally one of the people defending these old and rather "charachterful" Kustoms, but that really is grim.

 

I can't see how this ^^^ is the same car that was discovered.. Still a cool find though.

 

It isn´t.

 

Obviously.

 

It'd make the scene at VLV.

 

The two cars side by side....



At first I thought the one on the right was the same car as the one on the left (bill's original Shoebox Bat) But the Custom Rodders comment was that the black one was a first in a series of one of the Bats... so more than likely this slightly deteriorating Shoebox is another car in this "series. The shape of the wings does look a lot like the Black Bat... and also the rear wheel opening.

 

What I see has numerous amounts of potential and being from one of the greats it should be finished off. What would be really cool is to have an upcoming builder colaberate with Bill Hines and finish it to a true full blown custom of it's time. It would be kind of like art class where they pass a drawing around and see what it ends up like. I thiunk with the right people involved this could be one hell of a full custom.

 

This looks a lot nicer w/out the scallops/flames/graphics.
The one that got in the show circuit in the early 00s or late 90s cant remember, was it this car or a "clone"?

 

Clone

 

It would be interesting to hear what the master himself Bill Hines would say about the car. I am sure he could verify the truth if he looked the car over in person.It looks to me like someone tried to redo it by replacing the roof ,modifying the rear quarters , tail lights and botched it up in process and gave up. Is that bondo I see between the fins on the flat surface? I would bet Bill never used the stuff,LOL.

 

the second one was on the 54 chevy monster garage episode, bill was driving it.

 

I'm going to make a wild ass guess (and that is all it is) - I'll bet that if Bill Hines reviewed the car, he would say it is not his creation (he'd probably be offended somebody even thought so!).

Unless Bill tells us it is his, I'll remain suspect. There were all sorts of bastard creations made at this time of our history - and many of them were half-baked just like this one. I've seen all sorts of claims on custom car origins over the years -- usually associated with somebody who owns them or is selling them.

There you have it -- a 100% who-cares opinion . . . worth nothing in the grand scheme of HAMB threads . . .

 

Except for the fact TeddyZ is Bill's nephew, lives here in the Metro Detroit area, where Bill is from by the way, and has already verified the car as being one of Bill's.

 

I don't know TeddyZ - or anything about he and Bill . . . so I'm not trying to step on anybody's toes. If Bill says it is his, cool with me. Unless it is documented or Bill claims it as his own birthed baby - it is just another partially complete custom to me. That is just my way of thinking -- and I'm not trying to cause a storm . . . let the facts come to the surface so we're not all guessing!

 

Interesting to read in that RnC article that the new owner added his own custom touches before cutting off the roof. I wonder how much of that bodywork was Bill's and how much was the second owner. I can't wait for the facts to come out on this one.
Regards
Alex

 

Not guessing here though. I just got off the phone witht he guy that just bought it. TeddyZ verified the car as one that he actually worked on. The new owner hasn't decided yet what his plans are for it. It would be one of many in his line of old kustoms that need to be restored/finished.

This is going to be a very exciting Billetproof.

 

A for effort, D- for style. If it is his, I can see why he gave up on it.

 

Glad he decided to do something different

 

to use a hotrodladycruiser line....."that thing is just butt-ugly." it should be allowed to rust-in-peace.

 

I think it is wrong to make judgments about this car do to the fact it is unfinished. That being said and knowing that I as well as many others try something and walk back and look at it and start thinking maybe or maybe not.............that is what I see within this car. one can start to visualize what can and can not work but with any form of art it takes a person with an open mind and vision.

 

I'm definitely interested to see this in it's finished state, at this point though, it's certainly not appealing to me... It is a kOoL piece of history though...