I currently have in the shop a '55 Thunderbird that was originally built by the same father son duo out of Marietta Georgia that built the "Papoose" custom Pontiac. This Thunderbird was built in 1963, with what were at the time all new Ford Galaxie body panels.
.......for years and years I have asked everyone that lived in this area if they had ever seen this car with no success. I was raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma and one bright sunshiney day I ran across this exact car sitting in front of a little rental house just east of the intersection of York & Gibson in Muskogee. I always described it as looking exactly like a 1963 two-seater Thunderbird if they had made such a thing. The workmanship was such that it looked like a factory concept car. Not shown in your photos is a rear view. Across the trunk lid were the chrome letters spelling out GUTHRIE. Very neat little car and I'm so happy to see it has survived.
This is an eye opener since I grew up in the Decatur Georgia Area not far from Marietta. Life long friend Jim Durham (Turbo Hog) still lives in the Smyrna/Marietta area and we have discussed the "Papoose" many times. Jim reports that the Papoose is still owned by the son of the builder and last knowledge is that the Papoose is in dry storage. The "Papoose" was seen and viewed many times in local Atlanta Area Car Shows in the early 60's. I remember sitting in Math Class (in high school prior to 1965) and drooling over pictures of the Papoose in one of the old little books. Sorry, but at age 68 I can't remember which book !!! Both cars look awesome and it is indeed a good find and gives credit to the Atlanta Builders in the early 60's. Glad that I had the chance to grow up in that time frame and enjoy that particular era in auto history....... Jeff
Well, as can be seen from this rear shot, the GUTHRIE lettering did not survive recent paint job, but I do have the original "Spinster" fender scripts. Just have to crawl under the front end and hope for some bondo worms to point to the correct location.
I see Winn almost every week. I had no idea this car existed. As stated, he still has the Papoose. Winn is an unusual character, to say the least. He has a strange affection for Ford Pintos. He owns several.
It appears that your shop is in the Plano area, and the car has Oklahoma tags. Any idea where the car has been for the last fifty years, when I last saw it. I realize that the current owner may value his privacy and I'm not asking for names and exact locations. Just curious if it's been in Oklahoma all of this time and rarely driven or what. Seems like if it has been in the state all of these years it would be better known.
WOW, At first I was thinking BAD IDEA. But then the more I look the more I like. What a interesting car. You gotta tell us more.
Same here, I keep want to say no... but damn I like it more, the more I look at it! I think at first glance I want to say hey who put that 50's windshield on that Galaxie???
Thanks to the help from a fellow HAMBer I have been in contact with Winn, the original builder. This car was built in 1963 and owned by Winn until 1972 when it was sold. The new owner lived in the same area of Georgia and kept it for about four years until he sold it around 1976. At this point Winn lost track of the car and apart from 41woodie's sighting was lost to the world until it showed up at the Canton swap meet in east Texas a couple of years ago, where it was bought by a friend of mine. At this time the seller said that he had owned the car for about forty years. He had driven it regularly around Oklahoma for the first few years of ownership but for whatever reason after some while was put into storage. At some point it was taken out of storage and a restoration was started but a after a death in the family and his own advancing age he decided to sell. Some time since 1976 the 1959 Thunderbird center console and the unique power seats as well as a few other items were removed and the black interior was replaced with red vinyl. Spec sheet for the spinster as it appeared in 1963... As can be seen from this next drawing this was an exceptionally well thought out build... I will post more information as I receive it.
Very interesting, a very clean design for it's era, although would probably be considered sacreligious today! At first glance, it looks like a shortened and beheaded sedan, but it's got very good proportions and lines.
Dominick, thank you very much for the information about the car. It's amazing how well the car has survived nearly intact for fifty years. Good luck to the new owner and hope he puts it on the street for everyone to enjoy. I had begun to think I had imagined the whole thing!
Hi Don, You still live in same place as in years past???? What are you doing to the little car???? Need some headers built for it,Hahahahahaha,, come to geezers again this Dec,, Bob W.
That looks pretty cool! I too kept stairing at it figuring out if i liked it in the begining. Lots of talent! This was not a cheep car to build back in the day.
The Spinster was featured in the November 1967 issue of Rod & Custom. There is a picture of the Papoose in a car show feature in the July 1960 issue of Car Craft. Since these are over 50 years old, it obviously impressed me as a kid if I can instantly recall all this.
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