Black Panther Returns; One California Custom's History Found w Pictures!

Hey,

I seem to remember one of the for sale adds stating that the original build mill was a Jimmy. I don't remember if I saw that add, here on the HAMB, or when the Panther was for sale in Washington state.

I'd always figgered the original mill to be a six of some kind as none of the magazine or show photos say anything 'bout a V-8 mill. Given the original build era, anyone who woulda slid a 265 small block woulda made a point of showing it at shows. The 283 didn't become available until mid 1957 as an option, so I'm not bettin that was the original choice of the build.

The Jimmy 6 was a 302 C.I.D. in its' biggest issue ( that's as big as my 5.0, and it would hit 60 in about 5-6 secounds off the showroom floor) and many a Jimmy 6 powered racers on the dry lakes! If I were building a real kustom with real traditional cred, ain't no way in hell I'd go the sbc, radials, frame clip, "Vintage Air" tilt or any of the other street rodder jive hardware! Traditional kustoms & street rods arn't one in the same, and should never be poured into the same cocktail glass.

"Life ain't no Disney movie"

 

Rex...dont worry...no radials, mustang II, billet tilt or anything else. Since I found the Barris contact sheet of the 1956 Rod and Custom photo shoot that had an engine compartment shot...a detailed 216 is simplest and truest to the cars' history...

 

Good story Great out come

this search paid off

 

The other day I was showing the 1956 Rod and Custom mag spread to a friend and I noticed that George Barris had taken the pictures from that shoot...also in the back of my mind I remembered a recent magazine article talking about his great photo archives and that a book will be made with some of it...well long story short...they found the original contact sheet from the photo shoot from 1956 and 31 new pictures were found...some are the ones used in the R&C article...but many arent...and they have their original backrounds and are very nicely staged...here are a couple of shots of the stuff I took with my camera phone...all the pictures are being scanned and will be posted here soon....

Looks like the engine mystery is solved as the single engine shot I have ever seen shows a regular Chevy 6 with some chrome and detail stuff..maybe it had a GMC 6 stuffed in it after these pictures but who knows...

 

Hey,

Now how cool is that?? History & pictures!!!

When are ya gonna lite the fuse on this one?

" Life ain't no Disney movie"

 

This a great thread and a better story. Long Live the Black Panther.

 

This is a great find. It is great to see some great history unfold in front of our eyes. Keep up the great work and research.

 

Ron Pm'ed me the other day about photos george took of the Black Panther.. I saw the photos he posted and at that moment I happen to be looking through the "Kustoms" box witch consist of hundreds of proof sheets and low and behold there it was the Black Panther!!! right in front of me.. Glad we could find it..and hope it will help on the resto.. the car is in good hands!!!

 

Piero...youre the man! Seeing the car in real surroundings...as opposed to the chopped up stuff used in the early mags was awesome...also a first was the engine compartment picture....a nice and simple but detailed Chevy 6...also unbelievably sharp pictures of the interior and other aspects of the car...cant wait to see the scans and post them here...

 

Man that's a tough lookin' car. Looks Bailon-like too.

 

In the Rod and Custom mag...they go on to say that this car is what gave Chuck Rogers the job as lead body man at Bailons shop...but when it was shown at car shows...you can see a small sign that has "Customs by Bailon"...its hard to say what is true...if it was built at the Bailon shop, finished there...changed later there, or indeed was Chuch Rogers "calling card" that got him the job...but for sure the little scoops in the front edge of the quarter panels and other little tricks are Bailonesque....

 

If I remember corectly, this car sat in the back yard at a place in Sacremento...it was pretty rusty then...that was in 1999.....can't remeber the fellows name where the car was, but he was well known for his candy red shoebox with a continetal kit and Elvis painted on it...hes since passed away (I believe he was good friends with Bud)

 

Great find......even better that Bud knew it's history.

Look forward to seeing your progress with it.

 

Here are the first four of 29 new pictures I got from the George Barris 1956 Rod & Custom photo shoot...I will post the rest tomorrow...sorry for the small size...the original scanned size is 5mb each! My cheap software chose this smaller size that is Hamb compatible...

 

How great is this, I do not recall ever seing this custom in the past. How exciting to get the personal info. Best wishes on the restoration, stunning ride. I loved a Bardohl sponsored sprint car dubbed the black panter in the late 50's. ~sololobo~

 

Here are more...the red grease pencil marks were either made by George Barris in 1956 or the Rod & Custom staff...most of the pictures marked were the ones used in the article on the car...

 

Some more...

 

Last ones...

 

just one more reason to love the HAMB. great find. can't wait to see this thing brought back to being a show stopper.

 

Very cool! Congrats man!!

 

Radical in its day, looks like it is fairly solid, can't wait to see it restored.

 

Glad to see this thread back again, never get enough of this car, so much of it is original...

 

Cool car! The gentleman who last owned it saw my chevy custom at a show last year and said he had an old custom too .......called the black panther....... he wanted to sell .........would I be interested? I said I had too many projects so I passed.........oops! Good luck with the project!

 

Glad you got them..

The grease pencil was done by George that's how he marked the ones he wanted them to print and some he disliked..

Now get to work!!!! Hahahhha

 

I've been on the search for a parts car...planning to rob as much out of one as I can....preferably something with an original drivetrain that I can use too...

 

Wow that is awesome! Piero I want a sheet like that on my car as well


Sent from my iPhone using TJJ

 

Hey Ron, I guess I missed this the other day. I'm right clicking and saving these too. Thats the wildest Chevy survivor out there. The wheel openings in the back took some courage back then if you think about it. Damn that paint job must have been nice! Back to the top with this one!

 

love it. cool find on the photos for sure!

 

Cool thread, cool car! Thanks for posting this...

 

Oh man do I love old proof sheets....yellowed tape and all....so cool and bring back so many memories of making proof sheets in the old days....love the car too.... so glad someone got it that appreciates history.....and bring it back to the way it was....