History What Ever Happened to..........?

Thanks for the encouraging words, Sancho. Also, thanks for all your participation in this post. I can always count on you for more pictures and information than I can find! E

 

Well, completely randomly, here is another pic of the car taken the same day at the '82 Spectacular in Des Moines. Found this pic taken by Phil Waters...the mysterious "English guest" who drove Keith Ashby's black Merc to the show in Mike Key's Lead Sleds book...on Rik's site as part of an article he wrote in April on road tripping to Des Moines.

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 18.

1950 Chevy Convertible
Owner: Jim Stockton
Springfield, Ohio

This Chevy is the perfect example of a car that would have been built in the mid 50's.
The owner, Jim Stockton, was interviewed on the '87 Leadsled Spectacular video. He made it a point to tell that the car was a period correct custom, and nothing on the car was newer than 1955.
The car is a convertible, but Jim decided he wanted the kool, kustom look so important when cruising the boulevard. So, the A-pillars and windshield were chopped, and a Carson top was added.
The list of modifications isn't very long, but the choices and styling are spot on. First, a '53 Chevy grille surround was molded to the front, a '55 Desoto grille was installed and the headlights were frenched. The hood was shaved, the halves were welded up and the corners rounded. All the bumper bolts were shaved and a Chevy license plate guard was added to the rear. The taillights are frenched with the chrome bezel removed. In the interview Jim mentioned they are Olds taillights, but he doesn't specify what year. The door handles were shaved, and the side trim is off of a Packard. Great choice--the trim looks super! Bias-ply wide whites and Caddy caps round out the outside accessories.
The car has real Appleton spotlights and a super rare, ivory white, Chevy butterfly horn ring steering wheel. The interior is done in a maroon vinyl with white tuck 'n' roll inserts. The top of the dash board is painted the same color as the car, and the bottom half is white with very subtle Tommy "the Greek" style pinstriping on it. The glove box was also louvered.
The engine was a nicely detailed inline 6 with dual carbs, dual exhaust and a lot of chromed accessories.
The best part of the interview on the video is when Jim fires up the car and drives away from the camera. He pulls out and proceeds to drive up a slight hill and the pipes are just singing. Is there a better sounding exhaust than a split manifold or header with a pair of glass packs or Smithy's on a straight six?
I checked out my videos, and I only saw this car on the'87 tape. I also looked through tons of my magazines and couldn't find any coverage on it. I know this car had to be featured somewhere in a magazine or two. It's just too nice not to have been, and it is one of the nicest period correct customs that was built in the 80's. Was this car around just in '87? What happened to it? Is Jim Stockton still around?
I managed to find a few pictures of it on Rikster's site, but it was just a few. I hope some of you guys out there have more information to add on this one. What a sled!
Well, that's it for now. 'Til next week, see ya' around..........E

 

Jim's Chevy was down at Starbirds museum but I'am not sure if its still there

 

E, several time you have mentioned KKOA videos. This last post mentions the 87 video. As you know, that was the first show I had the '56 at. I would love to get a copy of that video, but I can't find any reference to it using Google.

That 50 Chev is amazing!!

Jim

 

I`m guessing the 87 show was in Springfield Missouri. Jim cackeled the pipes everytime he drove the car at that show, like a young kid who just installed his first set of duals. Everytime I see a pic of his car, I think of that sound. Looks like he was at the KKOA Springfield Ohio show from the pics posted. Then again, he is from there. In 87, people were starting to build cars that were a little over the top. He chose the very traditional approach that made me love the looks of his car back then and still today.

 

That's nice to know A.K.. If @Moriarity chimes in, maybe he can verify this as he was down there picking up his rod not too long ago.

Hey Jim, if you want any of the Leadsled videos, you need to contact Doug Reed a.k.a. @49toad here on the HAMB. He was the man making these videos back then, and he'd be glad to sell you a copy. I believe he videotaped them from '83-'87. I just bought the '84 DVD and it is awesome. I have all the videos/DVDs he made. They are definitely worth getting. I watch them all the time!

This car is just dripping with tradition. Jim nailed it on this car. Funny it seems like he only attended the '87 L.S.S..
By the way, the '87 show was in Springfield, Illinois. E

 

Thanks for the update Mark. If you find more pictures, let us know. E

 

I don't remember seeing it when we at Starbird's museum recently.
I did find these pictures of it there on carnut.com, taken in 2003.

 

Thanks for the pics, Sancho. Still looked beautiful in '03. Car is a stunner! E

 

ive always loved this chevy, tho havent seen it for a long time. last time i saw mr stockton was when the kkoa were holding their event in lancsater ohio (which is local for me) and he came over from springfield with this 50 ford which is just as straight and clean as his chevy, but is not totally hamb friendly with its restomod look and air ride, but still a super nice car and i'd love to have it just as much as the chevy (but still want the chevy more)

 

i would like to know whatever happened to this 50 ford that belonged to steve anglin of fairfield ohio. it was ate the 83 kkoa show in springfield ohio and then just dissappeared? havent seen or heard of it since it won koolest mild custom award at the 83 kkoa show. it was super clean, all black, white and black tuck n roll, caddy sombreros, 51 ford hood and grill shell with 53 chevy grill and 13 teeth, flame throwers, nosed, decked, louvered hood......real nice car....dissappeared?
it was featured in november, vol 4, no 5 classic & custom magazine which is the only picture i know of (from my phone).
anyone know any more on it?

 

Nothing to ad as to what happened to it, but that was another one of those that I use to admire. Pretty sure I had that page framed and hung on my bedroom wall. Timeless mild custom, and that low-angle shot that shows off the headliner.....
Here's another shot from the Scott Pavey photo collection on Rik's site:

 

Cool cars, DANSLED. Can't offer any help on the black shoebox as I don't recall seeing it before. If anybody remembers it or can offer any information I'm sure they will post it up.
Well, there you go. As I was typing this Sancho chimes in with a little more information. Maybe there will be more..........E

 

Here is a copy of a picture of Jim Stockton's car from the Springfield "87" edition of the Kemp Gazette. It was a beautiful car and sounded even better. Note that the car was selected as "koolest wild kemp"

 

I have a magazine(SRI July 85) with Steve Anglin's Ford Coupe now owned by Rocco Chiero taken at the World Of Wheels show in Chicago. The only difference is the addition of 57 Caddy caps. Rocco has owned a ton of cool customs over the years. I know very little about him , only by seeing many of his cars in print as well as in Classified adds. I have always wanted to start a thread on him.

 

And with Rocco's name I was able to find this (posted in 2012 http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...wer_customs/charlie_brewer_crea/49ford01.html )

"THE 50 FORD WAS PURCHASED BY ME ROCCO CHIERO FROM STEVE AROUND 1985 I ENJOYED IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WHEN I SOLD IT TO TOM ESTEVEZ, WHO GOT IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW HERE IN CHICAGO, SAW THE CAR BEING CONFISCATED ALONG WITH HIS OTHER HOLDINGS ON TV, LATER WAS SOLD AT A GSA AUCTION ALSO IN CHICAGO TO A TRUCK MECHANIC, AND I NEVER SAW IT AGAIN."

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 19.

1936 Ford 2-Door Sedan
Butch Tucker
Mesa, Arizona

Growing up in a custom and lowrider family, I learned to appreciate old cars at a very early age. I also realized not everyone could afford the sought after two door Mercs, Ford business coupes, hardtops and high powered special factory models. A lot of guys would get an "odd duck" and do what they could with it. Many guys also wanted a smaller, popular, sporty car, but a large family called for the need of a four door. That's where the Chevy four doors of the late 30s became popular with a lot of Hispanics in the barrio.
For some strange reason, the Fords never really caught on with these guys. I've never understood that since the 30s Fords were great looking cars and they offered V8s to boot. I asked my Dad about this once, and he said that the Chevys were just a little cheaper back then, so the Chevy was king.
I think if a lot of guys back then could've seen Butch Tucker's custom '36 Ford sedan, they would have changed their minds.
Butch had an inspiration for this car, and he contacted the late artist Dave Bell to come up with the concept drawing. With the help of a friend, Butch built this super slick, often forgotten sedan. The most striking modification to me is the addition of the '39 LaSalle grille with all hand formed surrounds and bullnose. Stock headlights and stands were eliminated and '41 Chevy truck lights were molded to the fenders. The car was chopped five inches and the roof was filled. All chrome was shaved with the exception of the door handles. On the back, the trunk hinges were shaved. There was no rear bumper, and the taillights were handmade units that were frenched into a rolled pan with Rambler lenses.
Butch was interviewed on the video of the '84 Leadsled Spectacular in Des Moines, and that is where a lot of this information came from. That is the only video I was able to find the car on. I was also unable to find it in any magazines I have.
Somewhere along the line, the car changed hands. All the pictures I found of it on Rikster's site show two different versions. The early Butch Tucker version in the maroon, and a later version in kandy red.
The second version looks pretty much the same (except for the color). Most of the changes I could find were in the rear. On the video, you could see there was no rear bumper, a rolled rear pan, and the custom taillights with the Rambler lenses. The pictures of the second version show Briz bumpers front and rear, the addition of frenched '39 Ford taillights, and the hubcaps were changed to '57 Cadillacs. The second version also has what look to be Missouri license plates.
Look over the pictures real close. I'm pretty sure this is the same car. Top chop, LaSalle grille and surround, dummy spot placement and location of the frenched rear antenna are too close to each other to be two different cars.
This is one car I would love to see in person, but it looks like it only made a few appearances at KKOA shows in the 80s and disappeared for a while. Then it reappeared in the beautiful kandy red and vanished again. Is she still out there? Has it left he good ol' U.S.A. to go to Europe or Japan?
I for one would like to know!
Well, that's about it for this week. 'Til next time, see you later..........alligator!

 

That would be a real shame. I hope not! E

 

Another great choice for this weeks feature. Butch`s Shoebox convertible was in Salina at least a couple of times with it making the T-shirt one year. Every day he would wear the same shirt. I kidded him about wearing the same dang shirt again. He said he bought a bunch of them. I told him how much I liked it his old Ford with skirts. I thought his was the red sectioned 40 sedan with a Carson top and skirts that Ray Grimm had. Then he told me his was the 36 sedan with the Lasalle grille, then I remembered. I told him it was a keeper.

 

I'd say it is the same car. There are some more differences I notice though.
It appears the spotlight mounts are lower on the second version. They are "under" the lights and closer to the lower edge of the windshield. The earlier version has them over the lights and up higher on the A pillar.
Also went from two wipers mounted on the cowl to one mounted on top of the windshield.

 

Way to catch those little details, Sancho! Changes I assume were made at the time of repaint?? I have a pic in my stack/albums from 1984 in Des Moines. That car, with the LaSalle grille, just oozed "cool". That was before I even knew what a LaSalle was, but I knew I had to snap a picture of it.

Yes, I still need to digitize and post my pics on the Kustom Blues thread, and, when appropriate, here. I've been busy.

Bill

 

Killer car! I agree with Mark, sure would be a shame for such a perfect custom end up a street rod.

 

Some more info on Butch Tucker's 36 Ford from Ken Gartman who did the majority of the work on the 36 Ford.

All collage by Ken from his Facebook page.

 

Great fill in information, Rik. Thank you so much for posting the information!

Building this car was a true labor of love.

Gotta cringe some as it went through a street rod phase. Hopefully it made it back to the kustom side of things.......E

 

So then it was converted to this. Look at the placement of the rear antenna. I was thinkin Butch told me the owner contacted him to see if he wanted to buy it back. But he was to involved in building his shoebox.