Miles Mesa's old Kustom shop got torn down today & I took pics

kustom hall of famer Miles Mesa had a shop in my home town of Downers Grove IL. I drove buy today around lunch time and they were knocking it down. I grabbed my camera to document this cause when its gone its gone! hope you enjoy the pics.

 

hope you saved those sign`s ?

 

thats sad,,,i hate to see historic stuff like that torn down....
hope you were at least able to grab that cool sign,,,

 

you should of ran in and glombed on to those "miles" signs. i make it a point to grab a little something from every historic building they tear down in town, like a ceramic panel from the white castle where i used to hang as a kid, or a brick from the first real school in oak lawn. to some people its just junk , but to those of us in the know, its history!!! mike

 

I met Miles in 1981 at a KOA show. Nice guy. I had a 51 Coupe that was in Custom Cars. He invited me to his shop. I never got the chance to follow up. Wish I had.

 

Damn, I wish I knew that! That "SIGN" is well worth saving. Where's the place? I'll get it in the morning!

Joel

 

Does anyone have a quick history of who Mile's is , or was? Is he still around? What cars did he build ?

Hey Joel ,you gonna be at Chuck's Saturday morning?

 

Miles Mesa, another unsung hero of customizing.
He built some tastefull customs!

 

I'm running in front of the crew to save that sign.

 

yes, I saved the signs I was very suprised they where still there as this building was used for another buisness since Miles died they must have been sitting their 20 years or so. palosfv3, I can share miles story but I bet other hambers know it and can tell it better. feel free guys.

 

ok so someone tell us.....
Dave

 

Miles Mesa also had a shop in Downers Grove, Illinois. His address was 1116 Warren Ave. and the building still stands.http://uppersanddownersgrove.blogspot.com/

 

Kool man glad you saved those signs...Sad to see that happen..

 

Does anyone still have my Fathers signs ?

 

could I get you to sell me my Fathers signs.....PLEASE ?

 

Lets bump this up ! Would love to see some pics of your dads cars again...I remember his name from the magazines when I was much younger!

 

you might want to pm showrod

 

I have started a Miles Masa memorial page on Facebook. I am in the process of uploading pictures of my Fathers cars and articles that I have. Most of what I have is in frames on my den wall so it may take a little while to load them but I will be adding every few days. To become a friend/fan of the page all you need to do is go to the page and click on the like button. I also encourage anyone with pictures of my late Fathers cars or even just memories to feel free to post them or send them to me and I will post. Thanks for the support. [email protected]

 

No signs.... but i have his 62 imp. stardust,,,goofy grape!!

 

In the early 70's I spent several weeks in the Miles Mesa Corvette shop on Burlington Ave Downers Grove IL working in that shop to help pay for work Miles was doing on my Corvette. At the time he had the need to convert a 6volt custom 49 Merc in 7Up green to a 12 volt system.

I would love to contribute a few pictures of my Corvette and see other work that Mikes had done. You can contact me at [email protected] (there is an underscore "_", between g and the a that does not like to show up) if you have info about contributing.

 

Hey j. g. giant Im told that Goofy grape was a total when Miles got it. it was brand new. and had been hit by a train. any truth to this?
can you post a picture of how it looks theese days?

 

We need Rikster to start one of his "Custom Cars Of..." threads dedicated to Miles...

 

Still have the "Goofy Grape" ? Selling it ? I sure would like to bring one of my fathers cars back into the family !!

 

Here is the 1952 Chevy Bel Air Miles built back in 87. According to his son, this was the final car Miles built and showed. I currently own it in Southern California where it has been in my possession for the past 14 years. Anymore info about the car would be greatly appreciated. I think the name of the car was lollipop? I also heard and read that Miles built it from another car that he saw on the cover of a 1950's motor trend car? Anyway if anyone has any info or questions let me know. Thanks.

 

I added a picture of this car on my blog, UppersandDownersGrove

 

@reverenddevil.....I know nothing about your car or Miles Mesa, but I would bet that Leon Welma's 51 Chevy had some influence on the build.

http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...stom_cars/50s_build_49-51/51_chevy_with_olds/

 

When I was building my 51 Merc, (having it built) I gave the shop a black and white article from Street Rodder. A chopped 51 Merc running a 51-52 Plymouth Grill and round taillights that I REALLY liked. I think the article mentioned that Miles built it or owned it. I wanted those round low tail lights for my car, except tunnelled in with a stainless ring.

What I ended up getting was not like the pictures. They were round, but mounted up too high, more like Frank Sonzgoni's Merc with the 51 quarters on it.

Either way, Miles did some nice cars. Hope his son is successful in returning one home. Too bad the old shop is now gone.

OOPS, see where I replied to a post from today, but the actual thread was an old one. Note to self, pay attention!!

 

Great photos of your 1952 Chevy by Miles Masa.

Here is some info I copied from the Miles Masa Facebook page some time ago.







Miles Masa and son Curtis this car was rebuilt and customized from Miles' motorized wheelchair. Sadly this was last car my Father ever built and showed. This is a day I will never forget. God be with you Pop !

 

Met a guy who owns the Mercury on the right (mine is on the left), he had it chopped by Miles Masa sometime in the early 80's. I'll post more pics tomorrow:

 

right!!! hope you did