Funny you mentioned that @54delray. When I scanned that picture out of the Custom Cars by Hot Rod, I looked closely at the picture and wondered the same thing. I thought that maybe the motion effect just made it look like a Desoto grille. Now that Jim blew it up, it really does look like a Desoto grille. If it had one, I wonder why it was changed. Somebody that has a large collection of little books needs to find the old issue it was featured in back in '59 or so and see what grille it had in it then. E
Custom Cars September 1959. I don't think I have that issue, I will look this evening. If it helps anyone else, it's this issue:
Great stuff Sancho! I'm looking forward to what you find out. Most of my little books were lost in my infamous basement flood (lol). I've been replacing them whenever I can, but when you find them, they are usually pricey so it takes a long time. E
The only picture in the Sept ’59 issue of Connie’s Olds is this one. There are two more pictures that have the Olds in the back ground, one from the rear and another from the front. The upholstered trunk is visible in one. The front is barely visible behind the chopped Merc. The magazine photo isn’t sharp enough to tell for sure, but it might have a ’57 Buick grille. Doesn’t look like it had a Chevy or DeSoto back then.
I was lucky enough to order all the back issues when they were still available. First issue to the last.
I have all the classic n custom issues as well, half of mine I bought off of Dallas Ferguson and Chaplin Jack at a swap meet
It used to be my favorite magazine, now it's Kustom Illustrated, Luke does a super job with it, have all of them as well
Thanks for finding and posting the pages with the Olds. Unfortunately, not a good front shot. Looking closer at Jim's post, the two teeth closest to the end on the driver's side, do have that hard angle similar to the top of a 54 Chevy tooth. Maybe the camera flash just lit up the chrome in a funny way. So, here it is, Friday night. Nobody knows what ever happened to these beauties?
I looked at it again and agree, it appears that it is the Chevy grill. Unfortunately I haven't found anything recent on either one. @OG lil E question, did the '40 start out as a coupe? Or did you mean convertible?
This showed up on Facebook thought someone here might know https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10155273900093928&id=621708927 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Hey Sancho, long day today. Left early and just got home a little bit ago. Saw your post and I'm not really sure if the car started out as a coupe or was a real convertible. I assumed it was a coupe. I decided to watch John's interview at the '85 Spectacular again to see if he ever said which it was. Never said. There weren't any clear shots of the interior windshield area or above the windows to see if it had latches or bows or not. I really looked close at the Carson top and whoever built it did a great job as it really looks like a convertible from the outside--especially from the back. So, I don't have a definite answer. One thing though, I don't know Ford coupes and convertibles very well, but one thing that you late 30s early 40s Ford experts might be able to help with is this. In the video you can see that the car had a split windshield. I'm including a picture I found of a Ford with a similar style windshield. I'm not sure if this was a coupe or convertible feature, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. Sure wish I could find a front shot of this car as it is so cool with the canted Chrysler headlights. Talk about a "What Ever Happened To..........? This one has been tough. E
Found these on Kustomrama, could this be an earlier version of it? It was an old custom.... Not much to compare between this one and the rear shot Ed posted. Top seems consistent, as does size/shape of rear window. Note the Chrysler steering wheel.
You did it again, Sancho, nice find! I think that is John Jordan's car. But, a lot of things were changed from the time these photos were taken until the '85 interview. In the interview there weren't any really good interior shots, and the way the sun was reflecting off of the windshield you couldn't see the Chrysler steering wheel (sharp eye by the way). John did mention that the car had a Cadillac tilt-telescopic column and steering wheel, so I think the Chrysler wheel was long gone. On the outside, the chrome hood trim was shaved and the hood was peaked. The front turn signals in the pictures of the red version were gone and the stock bumper bracket holes were back without a front bumper. Maybe John was planning on re-installing a front bumper. The one thing that makes me think this is the same car in the pictures and in the '85 video, is both versions had dual antennas frenched in the same arrangement in the same spot. Now, we are finally getting somewhere on this lost custom. I wonder if it's still around, and if John Jordan is still with us and still owns it. As much of a custom guy as John was, it would be nice to find out more about him. E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 59. 1956 Oldsmobile Owner: Ed Weidekamp "Low 88" Louisville, Kentucky Ed Weidekamp was quite the custom guy who had a definite love of Oldsmobiles. He had two red ones, a '53 and a '56. The '53 was the more famous of his cars. It was featured in the first KKOA book on page 153. In the article, it mentioned that when Ed got it, it was a low mile cream puff. After he attended the '85 Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio, he decided he was going to chop it. He got started on the chop the day after he got home. He made quick work of it as the car was done and at the Leadsled Spectacular in '86 in Springfield, Missouri. He was interviewed there and gave an awesome rundown on the car. I think the coolest mod he did was to use the front clip off of a '56. I thought about featuring this car early on when I started this thread, but, it isn't a missing sled. Unfortunately Ed has passed on, but his son has the car and is still driving it and taking it to shows. In fact, he had it at the Custom Car Revival in 2016. I decided to include some great photos that @Moriarity took of if there last year. Thanks Mark! Since Ed's '53 is alive and well, I decided to feature Ed's lesser known custom Oldsmobile affectionately known as "Low 88". This car was super mild with little to nothing shaved. The hood was louvered, but the hood and trunk ornaments were retained, and lots of striping was done around them. It did have some great pinstriped flames on the sides. It was lowered with Olds Fiesta hubcaps, skirts and lake pipes. Ed attended the Spectacular a few times in the 80s with this car. In my video research, I spotted the car at the Spectacular in '83 (Springfield, Ohio), and '85 (Springfield, Ohio). I watched the '84 video closely, but I never saw it. In '86 he drove the '53 (Springfield, Missouri). In '87, he attended the Spectacular in Springfield, Illinois, but there was a strange twist, both Oldsmobiles were there. I don't know if he still owned both cars and he found someone to drive one of them while he drove the other. Or, maybe he sold the '56 and the new owner was there, but I definitely saw both cars on the video. After the '87 show, I didn't see the car on video again. Pictures of it proved to be hard to find as my internet search turned up empty for pictures of it. I did manage to find the car in a magazine. It was featured in Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 2 number 2 from 1984 on page 32. There was also a nice color shot of it in the same magazine's coverage of the Spectacular on page 28. That's about all I found. It would be interesting to know if Ed's '56 is still out there. One thing I do know, Ed had a knack for building cool Oldsmobile sleds, and he definitely seemed to dig the color red! Until next week, try to behave! E
I have looked and looked. I have not been able to find a single thing on Ed's '56. I will keep it in mind and if I come across something later you can bet I will post it.
Information on Ed's 56 Olds from Ray Eckerle of Louisville - "the '56 is owned by his youngest son Denny, but he doesn't get it out much...since the pics were taken for that article, Ed subframed, the '56 and put a 454 Chevy in it, but the paint & flames have been on it since the late '70's...the flames were done by Jim Roby."
Anyone have any more pictures of this Pontiac? Tried to upload but kept getting an error. https://flic.kr/p/UbHmY1 https://flic.kr/p/UbHmXQ Sent from my LG-H910 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I am the person standing in front of the blue Merc convertible that Moriarity took of Ed`s Olds which his son now owns. I always tried to respect people and stayed clear of when people were taking pic`s of cars. Sometimes it took awhile before I could get a good shot of a car with nothing in the way. Here is a scan of Ed`s Olds from back in 90 or 91 taken in Holland Michigan. And here is a better scan of the 56.
Here are a couple scans of John`s Olds I found in a book called Custom Cars. Looks like it was taken awhile back. You can see the reveal moulding on the hood a lot better.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 60. 1956 Oldsmobile 4 Door Hardtop "Poetry in Motion" Owner: Bill Dawson Amherst, Ohio This week's W.E.H.T. was one of the few cars I've featured that didn't seem to appear on the scene until the 90s. It may have been around in the 80s, but in my extensive video research I couldn't find anything on the car until 1992. For some reason, Bill Dawson decided to customize a '56 Olds four door hardtop. Four door customs are fairly common, but four door hardtops are way more rare. This reminds me of my friend @Spooky's '65 LTD 4 door hardtop mild custom. It was the awesome turquoise color, and Spooky shaved the handles, dropped it down, added whitewalls and if I remember correctly, he ran the factory four bar Galaxie hubcaps. I saw the car at cruise nights all the time and I absolutely loved it. One day me and a friend were cruising around Lakewood when we saw Spooky and some buddies stopped for gas at a Diamond Shamrock gas station. Spook was pumping gas, and one of his friends had the driver's side rear door open with his leg hanging out. I turned to my friend and asked, "Did you know Spooky's car was a four door?" He laughed and told me he knew that from day one. Somehow I missed it! Who says a car has to be a two door to be cool? For the longest I thought that car was a two door hardtop, and come to find out, it was a four door. To this day that car still stands out in my mind. It was so cool! So, Bill had a four door hardtop. He shaved it, molded the grille shell and frenched in a pair of antennas. He also added the grille from a '59 Buick. He painted it a nice pearl green, with some clean scallops. Bill was very involved with the KKOA being the state colonel for Ohio. From what I found, he was at the Spectacular in '92 in Holland, Michigan, '93 in Springfield, Ohio, and in Lancaster, Ohio in 2002. He may have been at more between 1994 and 2001, but I have a big hole in my video library from those years. I do have the Huntsville, Alabama video from '94, but he wasn't there. I couldn't find any pictures of the car on the 'net, and my magazine research turned up empty, too. But, Bill's Olds did manage to get into a few books. There is a great close-up picture of his frenched antennas on page 11 of the book Wild Leadsleds by Mike Key printed in 1992. It is a great shot that I scanned for everyone to see. The Olds was also in both KKOA Commemorative books. It was in the first book in black and white on page 50, and there is a great color shot of it on page 168 of the second book. I scanned the picture out of the second book as well. Bill may still be cruising around and going to KKOA events, but I haven't been able to track down recent information for sure. I'm sure you Ohio guys can bring some information to light. Kudos Bill, for putting together a super sweet sled with extra doors to take the whole crew out for a cruise, or to take the in-laws out for a nice Sunday drive and an ice cream cone! 'Til next week, keep cruisin'! E
The Jalopy Journal
