My uncle's friend is Ron Dunn's nephew. He still has his uncle's shoe box that Valley Custom sectioned & then customized twice for Ron. The quality of the work is amazing. What is sad though, is that the car just sits & rots away. The guy who owns it says that he will re do it, but like all the things he has, it will never come.
The Merc was in the Oct '51 issue of Hop Up, and looked very nice with the DeVille hardtop. I hadn't realized until now that the hardtop was removable.
Is there an address where the shop usta be? Theres the slimmest of chances artifacts may be near by...
I still have that issue! I remember seeing it when I was about 9,looking through old books in Dad's garage. Neil and Clayton were real geniuses,far ahed of thier time.
Thank you for posting that stuff. Style wise the valley cars are my all time favorites. I remember reading somewhere the merc with the cad. Top was stolen and badly vandalized. Greg
Being a bit late here as I was away for a vacation in Denmark a week, but of course, when I got home I had to search the HAMB looking for custom related stuff. Im a big fan of Valley Custom´s and I would like to thank you for posting that (too seldom any good custom stuff at the HAMB nowadays...). I´ve seen photos the Merc in Motor Trend and Hop Up but never during a top removal. About Valley Custom´s I might add that Geoff Carter did a neat story of them in Tex Smith´s long gone Custom Car Magazine, #2 vol 1 and #1 vol 2 (1989-1990). I would also like to add that the Run Dunn Ford in its current state is in the latest Hop Up annual book.
I was just contacted by the nephew of Ron Dunn. His '50 Ford was the first one to be sectioned. It was sectioned 5 inches, and the wheel arches were radiused, giving it a European look. Anyway this guy has the car, Valley Customs did the original custom work in 1952, and the the restyle in 1955, after the car was wrecked. The car is still in the 1955 custom condition only with 49 years of wear. It's a milestone car, he wants to sell it for 30K to 40K. Anyone have any interest? KK
Rumor has it that Dunn's nephew sold that car a year or so ago to someone from Burbank. He gave all the original trophies, magazines, etc. to the guy after he was given the $. When the guy who bought it showed up the following day with a trailor to pick it up, the nephew backed out of the deal & returned the $. The guy who got stiffed wouldn't return the mags, etc. I know his nephew thru my dad & uncle, they all grew up together. He wont sell anything that he owns. He talks about, but it never seems to happen. It's to bad that this car just sits & rots away.
He said that some local kid was susposed to buy the car for 10K, but it never happened. He still has it. He wants to build a cool garage so he wants to sell it to build the garage. At least that's what he told me on Saturday. KK
Gary is a nice guy. He just is the "I'm going to do this type." He bought another running shobox about 10 years ago because his didn't have a motor or trans, in his. He was going to pull the drive train & install it into the other one, but never did. He was also going to restore or hot rod all the Angilas or Thames panals that he owns, but never did. My uncle was going to buy that car, gary backed out numerous times. Don't take it like I'm slamming the guy. I just hope that this car doesn't rust away before someone does something with it.
FYI-------a few years ago i new a guy that was in to porsches and he said neil had a exotic car restoration shop in fallbrook area, north san diego, i think i looked up in phone book or information and got the phone number but never called. may still be there?
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