Customs Dave stuckey's lil coffin

Dave Stuckey and Darryl Starbird are both customizers I truly admire. My good friend Charles John who lived in Wichita when the LIL Coffin was king spoke highly of both back in the sixties. Charles had got drafted and wound up in Fort Bragg for a while. He married a Fayetteville NC gal and the closest he got back to Kansas for the next 20 years, other than a visit, was Charlotte where I lived. In '68 Charles painted my '33 Essex Terraplane Convertible Candy Apple Red Sungleam with Black Spiderwebs. That was the thing back then. In '73 he hooked me up with Pat Mulligan and I purchased the "Kandy Kart" '58 Chevy which I also agree with another post that it is one of the most beautiful full Customs of all time. On the trip to Kansas to pick up the "Kandy Kart" we stopped by Starbirds shop and I left him a deposit on the "Lil Coffin" which was the Monkey Ward version if my memory is correct. Would you believe I never returned to pick up the "Coffin". My desires outweighted my wallet. I only kept the "Kandy Kart" for a couple years.

Last night I called Dave Stuckey for the first time and it made my day. I told him about buying the "Kandy Kart' from Mulligan and Dave said it is being correctly restored and should be finished this year.

After applying numerous custom paint jobs on cars in Charlotte, Charles John moved back to Kansas and died of a heart attack at age 44 in the eighties. One of the last surviving cars with his paintwork is my Essex. The car still looks good to be have been painted 41 years ago.

 

I read that car was built by Dave Stuckey @ Stuckey Customs in Wichita. In 1964 Monogram bought car and all rights to it, then it caught fire and was sold and rebuilt into a few "other" creations. It caught fire again and was built up to the "new" coffin. Don't know if that's all true, I'll ask Rick next time I stop by his shop in Derby.

 

I've learned over the years what a Mecca Wichita was in the customizing,rod and racing scene back in the early days. I was too young back then to know much about it but I remember my friends older brothers talking about that stuff. Make's me proud to be a Kansan native. So many great, influential cars and builder from a Big cowtown. Kind of like the aircraft industry that sprang up there too.

 

Always loved Lil coffin

 

And Dave Stuckey passed away yesterday

 

My condolences to his family and friends. His work will never be forgotten.

 

For a lot of kids who grew up on Hot Wheels - The Lil Coffin will always be the coolest thing on wheels. I don't care that Mattel called it The Demon.