A while back I bought a 34 Coupe and the other day I climbed underneath to check it out further and came across the name of the builder painted on the frame. The name was Francis K. Smelcer of Maryville TN. Anyone familiar with the name or the car? There is also a decal on the windshield Hillbillies CC of Knoxville TN. Just curious of the history of the car and the man that built it. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
What a great little hot rod! I know nothing about it, but I do know that there are a lot of Smelcers in that area of East Tennessee. I went to elementary school there in that area with quite a few Smelcers, but have no memory of anyone named Francis. You might try to get in touch with Bobby Alloway. He is in Louisville, Tennessee which is right next door to Knoxville and Maryville. I bet if you were to attend the Shades of the Past event in Sept. in Pigeon Forge you could get some leads about the car, the club and the builder.
A quick search indicated a Francis K. Smelcer, born in 1936 (81 yrs. old) living in Maryville, Tennessee. I'm betting he is your man.
I think your car is very cool! Thank you for sharing and for your interest in its history. I tracked down the last guy I could find that owned my 33' and he really appreciates all the updates (which are significantly different than he did over 30 years ago)...Why....? Because it was not as rare then and not many then had a ton of coin to throw at it. And why anyone would rip on a "restored" post is beyond me. Who knows what the car looked like before he "signed his name" if you will. Can't judge a book by its cover...not everyone has the time, skill or $ to make a Rodders Journal car...THEN OR NOW Enjoy it and best of luck with it.
Thanks for the replies. It’s not my definition of a restoration either. Possibly it was restored before it was made into a hot rod? I don’t know. I do know it’s been in Texas at least 15 years. I bought it from a club brother and he bought it from Richard Rawlings in 2007...before that had been in the hands of a couple more Texans. There are a few things I’d like to change about the car eventually. It is channeled a couple of inches and has a wood floor. I’d like to put it back on a stock style floor. It also has a suicide front end that I would like to change closer to stock wheelbase so that I can run a hood and hood sides when the mood strikes me. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Update: I found a Francis Smelcer on Facebook back in April of 2018. I sent a message and have heard nothing until this morning I noticed a message on Facebook saying what I wanted to hear...this was indeed the Francis Smelcer that had restored my 34 coupe. He sent me his number and wanted me to call him. He is a young man of 84 years and was happy to talk about this old car and filled me in on some of the history. The car was indeed a restored hot rod and was originally hot rodded in the 50s by the owner of the dragstrip in Maryville. I will definitely be calling him again to tie up some loose ends of the history of this car. I took some notes as we talked and will be putting them all together soon after some more research. This call for sure made my day.
Perhaps you will reconsider your direction with your proposed changes once you meet the former owner...perhaps he has some pics to share of its Hotrod past Maybe add steel floors but consider keeping the channel... it really looks good on it.
He sent me a few pictures online of how it was set up when he got it (gold) and some of how he changed it up when he owned it. It still has a 1952 Olds rear axle that is a bit too wide for my taste...especially with the narrow wheel and tire combo currently on it.
The car has a twin that was built about the same timeframe. My guess is that it was more of a racecar due to the drag slicks and supercharger.
Very nice car ya got there. It must have a nice ride stretched out like it is. Also agree on the rear skins. good luck with her.
Thats amazing, congrats on finding him. I bet he's still smiling from the knowledge that the car is still around.
Rides nice but takes a half acre to turn...unless you persuade it with the throttle. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
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