I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA... Why don't we finish off this thread with... 1) Thanking Moriarity for doing a great job as moderator...and doing it for free ! AND 2) Apologizing to Ryan for fucking up his vacation !
Nawwww wasn't savin at all - Like Question Mark and the Mysterians 96 Tears song... A One Hit Wonder... in my case typed it up as my imagination went. Kind of like a Custom Car. You know me man - just a little fun. It's all in fun...remember ?
Sheezus' ... some real pantie pushers here. Somebody is upset because their wittle' feewings' are hurt ? .. and they called the boss .. WTH ? Who cares about your feewings' ? This is the HAMB. Alot of badasses here, & lot of fuggin' loudmouths. And that's just Monday. 50's customizers .. banged out forms on real Detroit USA steel, not made in China tin. It took rolling real sheetmetal around gas bottles, tires & wheels or building poles, slingin' lead, forming tail lights .. with a gas torch .. mixing formulations of crushed mica, or pulverized pearl for candy paint .. thru vacuum cleaners & nowhere near a Devilbliss or a Harbor Freight set of throw aways. Do we really have to go here ? Upholstery sewn with burlap backers, stuffed with horsehair, sometimes horseshit .. maybe your mom's skid marked cottons .. stretched leather, or naugahyde plastic experimental sh*t, wool fabric, or mohair & buttons of all shapes & sizes .. that last all of 86 minutes of seating, using machines built for sewing theater draperies .. not car upholstery. Some clown chiming in, 5 or 6 decades later .. just because he can. It's easy .. but wait, there's more .. he even comes back twice. Eat some. Now we can call 1800 get her done, & a million other choices, tooling, commissions or crapola you see on the internet, & TV tubes. Critics on every couch, keyboard & corner. Flip the channel. Call the boss. Cry. I'm not a big custom lover, I do dig 'em and I do appreciate the innovations spent 70 years prior. Its history lessons, man. Be hard pressed to find someone bend the steel & dip the chrome for a half topped full custom today, let alone year 19 fuggin' 55 A.D. Chip Foose-ian efforts take a long bit today, even with a million tools. The guys that did this one, most .. have long been dead. Screw respect, right ? What's that ? Whole different ballgame then. That's why magazines invested year long features, in monthly series pushing customs. The herculean efforts in customizing then .. usually took the equivalent of a Detroit styling studio, with artwork, clay modeling & a production line. But this was a little shop with imagination, & five pair of hands .. not big Detroit production wallets. Truly one off, hand built & financed by working men advertising their craft .. to fill their shop with work. I'm not gonna' kiss anyone's ass because they're a moderator .. but I'll send as much beer & bondo that I can afford, & listen intently to him .. because he knows WTF he's talking about .. you don't .. & can build this wild sh*t that we're admiring or critiquing .. and has. Without beer, even !! We all need lessons here .. that it wasn't so easy to build 'em. Ignore the blood, sweat, tears .. lead & fiberglass in every orifice. Ignore the fact that a 70 year old custom still exists .. by God .. & is now restored to a close facsimile of what it was .. maybe even with TIG welds. Oh the agony. If your wittle' feewings' are being hurt here .. go cry somewhere else. Don't like it .. fugg' off. Don't need to listen to bitch'n .. .. duck, duck, goose .. your chair has been kicked .. clean free of the stage. 5 pages in two days .. blathering .. unfocused on what most agree is a pretty trick ride. That's the poll I followed. Screwed up a vacation, & two mods on overtime ... holding the line. God bless 'em & good night.
Tommy my apologies you asked who built Hirohata's Merc...It was Barris and his Team... Barris is also the one behind this often Misunderstood Classic Custom The Aztec... A Grand Part of the Big Picture Forever
Stogy ,,,,I understand completely,,,,I had already realized that Barris built it after some of the reading. When I was a teen in the mid seventies,,,,seems I read a letter in Hot Rod about the Hirohata Merc and they were asking if anyone had knowledge of its whereabouts ? I have never seen any info on it until now,,,,,but that name had always stuck in my head,,, funny you know ? After seeing the pics of the Merc,,,,it was a very smooth car,,,very nice indeed . I am gonna read up on Hirohata and see about his life,,,,,interesting to me ! Tommy
The Original is still around restored...how cool is that... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/bob-hirohata-interview-1977.573715/page-2#post-6371656
I myself love most customs. The amount of work is mind blowing. I like it but it’s not on my radar to own.
If you have repeat offenders that offer little if any substantive contributions to the thread put them in your “IGNORE” box isolate them from your view and you won’t see their content unless you choose to. I had to can a couple of opinionated A-holes in some other threads as they contributed nothing and brought nothing but their continued rants about the same BS.. Life goes on and way less BS to wade through..
Reminds me of Rudy jumpn’ out of the Green Flame lookn’ to deck the milkman! I’d hate to hear what they would say about Sonny’s Pearl. The Aztec is one iconic beauty in my book.
here's some more good Aztec photos: http://customrodder.forumactif.org/...-bill-carr-s-1955-chevrolet-george-sam-barris
Can we please start 2020 off on a positive note. Express any opinions in a civil manner or not at all. Jeeez, guys, I don't like every Custom and I don't like every Hot Rod, but I appreciate the efforts that go into them.
I'll apologize also. I made a couple of comments I should have kept to myself, I deleted one, I'm sure the mods deleted the others. I apologize, from now on I'll keep all comments to myself and keep my mouth shut. Brian Penrod.
Thank you fellas,,,,,it always seems better after we realize that we all need each other. And the good thing was,,,,Ryan was calm and cool as well ! Also,,,,,I could not believe the Mods do this for nothing,,,,,Thanks and admiration go out to you all !!! It’s like trying to herd cats sometimes it seems,,,,all in a different direction,,,I don’t see how they do it ! No matter what,,, this is the best place by far,,,!,,,,and we all need to be friends. I learn something new almost every time I get on here,,,,and from all different sources ! I am proud that after taking a breath,,, we can see it is all good. Tommy
The cool thing about the depth of knowledge on the HAMB is asking a simple question sends everyone down the rabbit hole. For instance.... "which Barris was the genius?". Talk amongst yourselves while I get some coffee......
Beautiful custom is the thought that came to mind when I bought the magazine it first appeared in. That thought remains today. It was inspirational to me and my model car club buds.
When it comes to the hands on experience, Sam was a genius. By the same token, George was a genius when it came to the promotional side of the business. Too, he was very tuned in to the business side.
Customs died out sometime in the sixties because the new car scene changed. During the Aztec's heyday, you could buy all those neato custom car parts from the car dealerships - new. Hard to imagine going to the parts counter and ask for '58 Lincoln headlight doors, '53 Stude gravel pans, and Packard tailights. Back then, you could and amazing things happened. Custom car guys deserve some respect for what it takes to resurrect these things.
Another Great Story on the Aztec...Well Sorta... https://www.hotrodhotline.com/curse-55-chevy-aztec ...A Brilliant Capture by Steve Coonan Credit to Photographer, Owner
Damn, What a story. I sure as hell hope it has found that forever home. After turning down a million dollars for it, I am sure it has. Very cool story for a very cool car!! Thanks Stogy
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