Thanks again for your time and hardwork putting this together.Jesse is such a joy to talk to on the phone so im sure you have loved listening to his great stories.I love all the detail in your threads.I think it is great how Jesse is and was so into speed and racing before he was into customs and he loves to mention that. Thanks again for the great thread.
Before I left the house for work tonight I counted 4 pictures of Jesse's Ford hanging in my house. After reading your wonderful post I can really put the man with this beautiful custom. A true living legend, Thank you!
Thanks for another great part of this saga! Didn't know that Jesse started what became Junior's House of Color!
Hello JeffSled! Thank you so very much for understanding. Jesse is like an Uncle to me, and I think you and Rik feel that way too. He sure likes you guys and your good works. Do you recognize the cast of kritters in the photos; Molly, Crooked Face, Tippy, and the little chicks? I feel at home on his ranch. He is so earth natural to talk with. I know he has that effect on people. We're blessed to have him. He's really going to appreciate this thread, article and comments, when I print it up for him. He hasn't read it yet. Wishing You Well! ~Michelley
Hello Faithful HAMB-ers! I want you to know how so very grateful I am for your encouraging words. It helps me to feel like continuing with this. Jesse really wanted the messages in this Part 3 conveyed. I appreciate our elderly storytellers, this is for posterity! ~Michelley
Michelley, WOW, i blew right thru it no problem. I picked up so many memories from that era and place. I was a kid when i lived in LA, and Huntington Park. So many tid bits of familiar names ,places and times, as I grew up there. I think I knew the 'Paint guy' as he was a hot rodder from that era and worked at the paint plant in Riv. with my Dad when we lived in Riverside. To me it read as a blur of nostalgia, I recall seeing neat cars, and rods driving around back then, that must have been the spark or 'germ' that got me into cars. Those guys were a bit older than I, but the places, times, I recall. Thanx Michey great story.
Michelley - I know you are are a real lady - You would have never got this story other wise - Tell Mr Lopez all is not lost for a true hand shake can still be had. Thank you - again
Thx Michelley for pm'g about this read. Very Kool! (with a K) . You are a true artist as well. The story was not that hard of a read and I read it all. The pix are great! The story informative,I'm not that big of a Kustom Fan, I've only had one (54 Capri on the ground), My dad was,but like many of the early guys only before he had kids/family. He had a 49 Merc as his 1st car, was also in Korea and knew the Ayala Bros. The part about the Lopez Wreck as well as the Metranga 40 just baffles the mind. why didn't someone "rathole" these 2 great works of art and rebuild em????? Reading about Fritz Voight is very cool as well,but the Cook info I thank you for. Most people are never credited for the work that they do to make others successful. Cook is one of the pioneers of Gow Jobs, His is one of the only shops that was back in the day that is still at the original address using the original ph# and using 90% of the equipment that was used when the term Hot Rod came into use. One day Fritz and Mickey walk into Cook's Machine Works and talk to Mendle "Cookie" Ledington to see what he thinks about a 4 engined Bonneville car. Cook got out some soapstone and they proceeded to draw out this whole deal on what floor was available. Jesse is right about the money thing, everybody traded for everything. The Challenger was built with 4 Cyclone quickchanges and 2 Cad/Lasalle trans synched. Fritz was on top of that monster! Mickey the fast talker and Cook the master machinist. When Mickey couldn't back up his one way 400 mph+run, Pontiac wondered why,since G.M. had gifted those engines along with back-ups (One that Axle even owns) Mickey had to come up with a reason. He stated that he had a driveline failure! That forever smoked Cook especially since Mickey received the quickies,all of the drive line,machining,coupling set up and even back ups,(wonder where they went?) for a used compressor that Mickey got for free. When asked why, I wonder if G.M, would've made Mickey pay for all of the items provided for his use including the Pontiac Chase Wagon? All of these Kustoms of L.A. members were customers,some still are. Jim and Paul who run our Cook's side bust a nut daily making the impossible happen. They learned from the "Ol Man" and reading Jesse's story is so very kool. I drive by that area in Azusa often and to think that he owned the Canyon Inn was over the top kool! Wow, The casino tie in was crazy! I was wondering how all these guys got rich=. You have done alot of research and I commend you for allowing many different eyes to read what you have worked so hard to bring to this forum. Quite a Class Act! David=Lucky Devil . Looking forward to the next one.
Michelle, thanks for posting. enjoyed reading them. I can relate to a lot of those happenings. Never had the pleasure of meeting JUNIOR in person, many years ago, I had a customer wanting a Ferrari painted my color DANA RED, called him and he told me that i was not charging enough and told me what to charge the guy.He left with his car. THANKS AGAIN HENRY
Well you win...the lostest post in the HAMB...has to be. Interesting but I got to read some of it later...I agree with the structuring of the essay in paragraph format. But, nice work indeed.
Michelley, Thank you for taking the time to share these archives. Your write ups are very much appreciated. Who cares about sentence structure? The photos alone are priceless! The details make it all the better. Thanks again!
Great stuff! I love hearing what it was really like for those guys back then. Thank you for all the effort you put into compiling this information to share with us!
Hi Michelley, thanks so much for keeping after this. Junior's car impacted me so much that it was a big part of where I took my life. The privilege of being able to recreate his car and work with him is/was an incredible experience. In our talks Jesse's name would come up from time to time. Jesse has always been this stealthy person (in my mind) lurking in the background with this stuff. He had the Latin thing for cars that I appreciate like you continue to see today. I only knew him through being exposed to his cool '41 coupe. So when he showed up with Junior and his wife at the GNRS I knew this was a special moment. Junior introduced him and my reply was, "you mean THE JESSE LOPEZ!!!??". These guys deserve every good thing that comes thier way. Thanks again- jivin jer After telling Mom about this middle of the night discovery her comment was "He's gone from custom cars to custom chickens". Truly one of the pillars that all this stuff is built on. THANK YOU JESSE LOPEZ
The Jalopy Journal
