Oh man, very sad news, his drawing has always been such an inspiration to me. From what I've read here he's obviously a nice guy. I'm not religious, but Dave, you will be in my thoughts.
In my opinion there is no one that can lay out flames or stripe like Dave. He is a legend as far as I am concerned. I have known Dave for many years but really had fun while he did flames for my Dad and I. I worked with him on 2 motorcycle and 3 hot rods. The last one he did was the 40 coupe shown earlier in this post. Here is a photo of my 38 Ford and Harley painted to match. I will try to post the picture of the F-100. I am truly honored to have been friends with him...I will miss him......
Thoughts and prayers. I always thought it was cool to see his art at the end of the mag like an exclamation point.
Many prayers for Dave and his family..................and Thanks for all the years of entertainment!!!!!!!!!!!
Today Darrick Nystrom and I went to the Pillars to spend time with Dave. He has slipped a lot since in the hospital late Monday. He is on morphine but acknowledged our being there holding his hand. My heart goes out to Lynn and her daughter. Growing up so close to Dave has made us friends for 45 years. MSRA # 45, an icon in our midst, a legend in his own time. What elase can I say fellow rodders and bikers. We love you Dave and may God be at your side through this journey.
Thanks for being with me Darrick. I appreciate how hard it was for you today. This sadness brings us all so much closer together. You know that both you and Darrin are like sons to me along with Bryan.
What a terrible shock to read this, a really down to earth guy, who is always ready to talk to you, and a real gentleman. He did such a great poster for the A BROS for the 50th Detroit Autorama. He even did a poster for our wedding that appeared in Custom Rodder. He will surely be missed and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
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Is there anything the HAMB community can do to assist Dave or the family during this most difficult time??
I have the Alexander Bros poster hanging behind me and I just received the latest Street Rodder with the latest Bell page, probably his last. It is filled with tributes to those that have passed. Sadly ironic. So sad that those hands may not be gracing us with his incredible talent any longer.
I'd like to perhaps send some cookies to Dave and the family from us HAMB members as kind of token of our love and admiration for such a wonderful person. Can someone PM his address please?
Rich asked me to post this for him............................... Here's a photo of Dave at the L.A. Roadster Club Fathers Day Show - taken by long time editorial friend Rich Boyd. Please extend my personal best wishes and kind regards to Dave & Lynn. Cordially, Rich richboydart
The world is a better place with men like Dave Bell in it. Sad...very sad. The reason for dying is to make life important and Dave has made many peoples life a better place. I spoke with him on the phone when I started my three window and it was a special moment for me to bench race on the phone with a legend. "KEEP THE KUSTOM KULTURE REAL" was his last statement to me before he hung up.
I always wanted a wildly striped and lettered dashboard or glovebox door by Bell like so many of the "cool cars" around Minnesota had when I was a kid. Although the striping on my glovebox door isn't by Mr. Bell, the artwork was inspired by the header for the "Street Corner" column by Geoff Carter he did in Street Rodder.
A great guy who always showed the world what a great life / hobby hot rods and old cars can be. Many thanks for all you have shared with so many! Our prayers are with you and yours!
I've heard thru a mutual friend that his family was trying to keep this quiet . I'd say to respect their wishes and say a prayer .
Dang! Hard to imagine a more influential hot rod cartoonist. Every kid who wanted to learn to draw hot rods and custom cars would copy his style which, to me, is very accessible because he works only in pen and black ink on white paper. No washes, scrubs, halftones are crosshatching all done by hand... He was also physically accessible to those kids. I've seen him (at Autorama) look over the work of a kid who had tried to copy one of his Henry Hirise pieces, and he was so generous and took a lot of time to praise, and teach, and applaud the boy's technique! I'm proud to have been acquainted with him, and I'm deeply saddened for his family. He's just a great guy! God speed, Dave. Bill Stinson
love his work. When I got rid of about 10 yrs worth of mags a while back, I tore out his work from each mag..
What terrible news, loved his work aspired to reach 10% of what he did with ink and paper, he will be missed, my families prayers go out to Dave and his loved ones. Godspeed, great man, great artist.
I also heard that after the fact. If I had not received an email from another friend saying to spread the word, I would of never started this thread. I actually felt bad for starting this thread when I heard that the family wanted to keep this quiet. But, like another friend told me; Don’t feel badly. Please don’t. You can’t hide the whereabouts of an icon. Now, Dave’s wife will really know the love from Dave’s car folks and friends. EVERYBODY loved Dave and respected him. Lynn will feel that love wrap around her and it will be comforting. She will feel it. I know she will feel it. I would hope that people would respect the family and just say a prayer for them though as philly the greek said.
The Jalopy Journal
