Does anyone have info on this old Kustom? Rikster?

My buddy is way into this car.. Found it in a random google search, and we don't know anything about it to find it anywhere else.. Anyone? I tried Riksters site but not knowing a name or anything to look for it's kind of a needle/haystack kinda deal.. Thanks fellas..

 

Nice car, looks like it could be an old build, but that picture is not super old. Late 60s probably. And that chick needs a hamburger!

 

Old Custom, I wish I knew who built it, but as far as I know it has never been featured in any of the old magazines. And little is known about it.
It always looked a little rough to me.

Don Reid of Salinas owned the car and at one point he had the Valley Custom Shop work on the car some more, and they added a dark metallic maroon to it.

The car still exits today.


A couple more photos can be found on my site Custom Car Photo Archive.


This is how it looked at the 1953 Oakland Roadster show. Painted chrome yellow.




Photo by Andy Southard




And this is how it looked a few years ago.

 

Rikster, I don't know what we would do without you. Thanks.

 

Maybe Andy Southard has info on it; he lives in Salinas.

 

I've seen some photos of the car over the years when it was at different events but never a feature in a magazine on it. the last photo Rik shows very clearly why customs should only be seen in public with the hoods closed.

 

hmm just sent the page to Anthony White, curious to see if he has any info on it

 

Andy Southard did have a few other shots of the car. I don't know how much else he knows about it.

 

Was featured in an old rod action in the 70's. I will have to dig the magazine out. Was painted black in the feature. The first pic posted is actually from the feature.

 

There is a pic of it on the last page of one of those 70's Street Rod Pictorial books, its maroon there if I remember right.

 

Dilated knows his customs that is a fact

 

Rikster I mean... Damn I phones.

 

I"ll call Joe Moreno and ask him, the last picture has Joe standing behind the car and his truck & camper next to it. Joes better half just got out of the hospital. He is always comeing up with an old kustom, and I'm sure he will know the cars history. Roger

 

Thanks for the info guys! Any guess where it is these days?

 

I just talked to Joe, he has a lot of info and the mags it was in in the 50's,It was built by Gil & Al Ayala in 1947. Joe sold it to a guy in Julian. Joe took it to the first GNRS in pomona , It was still black but peeling in several places and a few paint cracks. I remember while it was at the show some people commenting on why a guy would bring a car in that shape to the show, if they had talked to Joe he would have told them some history. Roger

 

Roger,
Please let us know which magazine(s) it was in in the 1950's.
I only have one that show the front of it, but it gives no info on the builder/owner at all.
Would be great if this would be a real Ayala Custom.

 

pretty cool car, but i have to agree with Rik, it does look a little "rough" and "wobbly" around the edges compared to the other fantastic early customs.

 

I remember seeing the car in the Bay Area in the 1970's. I thought I have a photo of it at the Roadster Show in that same era.....still looking. I did find the Rod Action article from Feb. 1978. It states the car was first chopped , channeled and the Fade-Aways added by a shop in the San Francisco area , before Don Reid owned the car. When Don got the car the doors did not work correctly so he took it to Valley Custom where they were repaired. The car had a few owners thru the years including Rod Powell. There is no mention of the Ayala brothers in the article.

 

GREAT new old photos and info... Thanks Ron.

 

Ron,

That one photo you scanned with the two tone paint and the number 52 on the bottom left side. Does the article mention when that photo was taken?

 

this is a great example of what I don't like on mid forties Fords, and I own one. the bulk above the rear fenders and trying to flow above the small grill.

 

Great car!

 

Rik, just a guess here, but the way that number is abbreviated ('52) I'm thinking that may be the year the car was shot...

 

Ha.... That makes sence... What was I thinking!

 

i vaguely remeber a small feture on this car in one of the Peterson R&C quarterlies from the EARLY seventies. I might be confusing it with the Rod Action article, (I have a complete collection of that as well) but it sticks that it is an entirely different photo shoot. I'll check my collectionm later in the day.

 

It was a Street Rod Pictorial , the last page, I don't have a scanner. It is Maroon in that pic I think.

 

According to the Rod Action article ,in 1952 the car was painted Bright Chrome Yellow with the bottom panel a Dark Maroon.


In the 1974 Street Rod Pictorial the car is shown at the 1974 West Coast Mini-Nationals in Lodi Calif.The bizarre thing about the photo is, that is me walking past the car wearing the red & white stroker hat!



Later that summer the car is seen in the corner of this photo at Andys Picnic in Castro Valley Calif.


Shortly after those photos were taken, the car was repainted and entered in the 1975 Oakland Roadster where I took this photo.
Cherry Black Lacquer with Pinstriping.

 

Now that is a Wild coincidence!!!!!!
Must'a been the fickle finger of fate R&C Ron.
...

 

Thanks for the new set of photos Ron... Really amazing to see these photos pop up. I have been looking for more material on this car for some time. And nobody I asked had seen any. The 70's and 80's magazines are not really represented very well in my personal collection.

Still we have no idea where the car is today?

 

I won't look at that pic the same way now Ron, now that I know you are in it! Thats the pic I was talking about.