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

There are articles in a magazine that feature Haynes body shop with how to articles. With that being said, I have a pic of a bright red 58 with hydraulics ,wire wheels and a 54 Chevy grille that I took at the KKOA show in Springfield Illinios. I think it might be the same car considering cars with hydraulics were not a common sight at KKOA events, plus the matching grille and they did own a bodyshop.

 

You might be onto something there. Just talked to Weldon and he said Jerry sold the 58 to another Cincy area guy named Dallas Ferguson who painted it red. I think Dallas is a member of the Fastiques car club who are putting on the Pumpkin Run this weekend.If I get a chance I'll ask him where the car went after he owned it.

 

That's some great information guys. Gotta love it when those that were lucky enough to be there can recall a lot of people and the cars and the changes they went through. Thanks for the posts! E

 

Thanks Mark!

Do you know if it was influenced by Jerry's or is it just coincidence that they have a somewhat similar appearance?

 

Can't believe Ed or Sancho hasn't posted this follow up from WEHT #1...Dick Crouthers' Merc. For the sake of completeness, here the pic Mick posted on the kustom blues thread of the Merc taken at Iron Invasion this weekend. No details on who owns it or what it's been up to tho. Glad to see it's still around in the same form.

 

OMG I have had a ball reading this thread. It "forced" me go get my old albums out. My first KKOA event was the '84 Last Pass in Des Moines.

The subject of Lincoln Land Kustom club has come up a few times. At the '89 Leadsleds in Davenport, IA, there was a member with a black '58 Buick (as I recall). That was the first year I had air suspension on the '56 Chevy (adapted from a Lincoln) and I put a sign on my windshield telling folks to look at the modification. I parked next to the fellow with the '58 Buick at the hotel. He made sure his car was right outside his hotel window. He was a bit paranoid and looked out his window all the time. The next day he came up to me and asked why folks were kneeling and praying to my car {big grin}. He was a great guy. Sadly, I heard he passed away shortly after the show.

 

(lol) I was planning on an update, Doc, you just beat me to the punch!
Can't get over how well the car has held up.
I'm sure most of you guys who follow my posts know that Dick's Merc is one of my favorites. I've often talked about how every time I see it my heart skips a beat. Well, when Mick posted the new pictures of it on the Kustom Blues thread it happened again! Thanks Mick, I needed that! E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 27.

1951 Lincoln "Ally Oop"
Owner: Ken Ayers
Springfield, Missouri

I've never really been able to understand why so many people build '49-'51 Mercurys over Lincolns of the same years. I've always liked the factory Lincoln styling over the Mercury, especially the headlights and taillights. Also, it seems that a lot of the guys that do build Lincolns switch the front clip for the Mercury.
Thankfully, when Ken Ayers and his buddies Johnny Jones and David Guymon built this car, they decided to keep the Lincoln front clip. These guys put together a nice kustom with a lot of the traditional mods like a '55 Desoto grille, '52 Desoto front bumper, '59 Caddy taillights, '51 Mercury rear bumper, and of course a healthy 4 1/2 inch chop.
From my research, it seems the car was completed in late 1986 or early 1987. Ken started making the rounds hitting a lot of shows. He was at the '87 Leadsled Spectacular where he was interviewed on the video and gave the full story on the build of the car. I also found pictures on Rikster's site taken by our own Dr. Dave showing that it was at the '87 and '88 Hangin' Dice Nationals.
I've watched a lot of video looking for this car, but it seems like it was only at the Spectacular that one year. Magazine coverage was very limited as well. The only thing I could find on it was a great two page spread in the short lived Tex Smith's Custom Car Magazine, Vol. 1 #1. from 1989. It was on pages 40-41.
I was able to find quite a few pictures of the car online. Through the pictures you could see where the car was just finished and it had no pinstriping on it. It was also plain on the video interview at the '87 Leadsled. On the pictures from the '88 Hangin' Dice Nationals you can see the car was striped, "Ally Oop" was added just under the side quarter windows, and a hand painted version of Ally Oop from the Sunday funnies was put on the trunk lid. The last picture I found showed that the Ally Oop lettering on the sides was gone. Maybe the car changed hands and they were removed sometime after the magazine article from 1989.
Another thing I found out in my research, is that on the '87 video interview, Ken said that he was from Springfield, Missouri. On the article in Custom Cars, it states that Ken was from Bells, Texas, so he may have moved in the late 80's.
That's where my research trail ends. A super Lincoln leadsled that just faded into history, and an owner that may have stepped away from customs. Hopefully the pair is still alive and well, although they may not be together anymore.
Until next week, be safe.........E

 

Last name may be spelled "Ayres"?

 

I'm not sure of the correct spelling, Sancho. I just went back and checked the article in Custom Cars and the writer spelled it both ways. So, I'm not sure which is right. E

 

There I am again in those dorky shorts! You gotta stop posting about cars that were at that show, Ed! LOL The Missouri plates are from the '87 Hangin' Dice and in '88 and '89 it had the Texas plates.

Here is a pic I took of it at the '89 Hangin' Dice....for sale sign in the window. Last I recall having seen it.

 

There is a Ken Ayres in Missouri that shows a tie to Bells, Tx. Can't find much about the car however.

Wondering when that last photo Ed posted was taken, appears to be more recent. No front license plate, wide whitewalls, wipers removed....
I think that is a KKOA sticker on the passenger side windshield, closest to center. Next to that looks like a GoodGuys sticker.

 

I would have to agree with you there, Sancho. The KKOA sticker was there in the '89 pic....same sticker that is still in the bottom corner of the windshield on my Pontiac LOL

 

just a little more info if it helps.....Bells,Texas is just east of Sherman-Denison..Johnny Jones was( or is) from Denison,,,David Guymons shop is just north of Denison across the Okla border,,in Cartwright OK..These three guys were very good friends in those days..maybe still are...I moved from Sherman 25 years ago,so really haven't seen them since.well I relent,I saw David Guymon at the Lone Star roundup
5-6 years ago......If my OLD memory serve me correctly,Johnny Jones had a chopped 56 Merc....I would always see these guys at the Denison,Texas show at Loy Lake Park..

 

That's funny, Doc! At least you have the legs for it (lol)!

In the picture from the Hangin' Dice '89 show, if you look at Ken's show sign in front of the car, you can see a magazine article on the sign as well as the info. That magazine article is the same article from Tex Smith's Custom Cars magazine.

Ahhhh, the KKOA window sticker. I have a collection of them that I've managed to hold on to from each year I've re-newed my membership, got off of Ebay or whatever.
Hate to put them on any of my cars and possibly lose them when a car gets sold, traded or whatever! E

 

Hey OG lil E, or anyone else.
Solution for decals/window stickers you want to keep. Use friskit paper, available at most arts/crafts type stores. It is used as a masking film in regular use. But apply your decal to it, trim around it with a new #11 Xacto blade, and burnish it onto your glass with a q-tip. Need to move it? Just get under a corner and peel it off. It's kind of like a window cling that a lot of oil change places use, but stays on way better.

 

Hey 54del, that is cool. Never heard of doing that before. I'll have to try it. Thanks for the tip! E

 

Ok I have 1 for you. This is the Miss Dixie, it was ownded by Dixie Wolfe form Columbus, Ohio. My wife was named after her. Does anyone have any information on it

 

"Ok I have 1 for you. This is the Miss Dixie, it was ownded by Dixie Wolfe form Columbus, Ohio. My wife was named after her. Does anyone have any information on it"

The car was nicely updated and shown in Detroit in 1961, owned by Chuck Miller (Columbus, Ohio).
There are a few pics on Kustomrama.http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Chuck_Miller's_1958_Chevrolet



Miller went on to have Starbird build "the Faorcasta", in 1961. That story is HERE: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0409rc-1958-chevrolet-bubbletop/

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 28.

1946 Ford "Arctic Gold"
Owner: Tom Philpot
Dearborn, Michigan

The story of this custom starts much the same as Jon Gullett's '50 Ford (W.E.H.T. #11). Both of these guys wanted to buy a car they had always wanted, but weren't able to find their "dream car"--more or less.
Tom wanted to buy a custom that he had seen around Michigan as a youngster, but he always seemed to be a step behind. After hearing that it was believed the car had been crushed, he decided to grab the bull by the horns and build his own version.
He found a '46 Ford and went to work. The car was chopped 4 inches with the B-pillars slanted and a Mercury front clip was used instead of the Ford. The Mercury front end is 6 inches longer, so it helped to stretch the car some. A combination of Ford truck and car grille parts were used to give the car a unique custom look in front. Tom also raided a '55 Pontiac for the front bumper and side chrome that was used with the stock Ford belt line trim to give the car a good dividing point for a two tone paint job. Hand made skirts were put on, and then it was ready to squirt some color on it. Tom chose white and bronze for his car. These were the same colors on the lost custom Ford known as the "Arctic Sand" that he looked for so hard but was unable to locate.
Just a short 14 months and the car was ready for the road. Tom hit the show car circuit and everyone loved his Ford.
In my research, he was at the '83 and '85 Leadsled Spectacular, but those are the only years I could find his car in the videos.
As far as magazines go, the car was pictured in the January '84 issue of Classic & Custom on page 19 of their coverage of the 1983 St. Ignace show. It was also a full feature in the May 1983 issue of Classic & Custom on pages 20 and 21. Believe it or not, that was all I could find. Funny because this was such an outstanding car.
I did find some great pictures of it courtesy of Rikster's site and the great photo contributors there, but that's it.
It seemed like after the 1985 show season, the "Artic Gold" just faded away. Shame, it was an awesome sled that would be a welcome participant at any custom show today. I hope that it's tucked away in a garage or storage unit somewhere awaiting a triumphant return to popularity, and didn't meet the same end as it's "twin" the "Arctic Sand" is rumored to have met. Being turned into refrigerators and file cabinets is no way for iconic customs to end up. Let's all hope she's still out there somewhere.
Until next week, keep cruisin'..........E

 

It looks like the last pic was taken later on . Possibly in the 90`s. The name of the car was changed to Artic Sands. Then later on the Lowrider logo was added on the car(the hood?).Before Artic Sands, Ed had a black 41-48 chopped Ford with the front fenders extending to the rear ones. I don`t believe the car had rear skirts. As always, Another great pic for this week.

 

The trim is also different on the hood on the last pic....the bottom spear runs out front longer of the top piece in that pic than the others. So, is the last pic the real Arctic Sands or was the Arctic Gold redone a bit?

 

The original was called "Arctic Sand". As Stan said, the Arctic Gold (clone) later became "Arctic Sands".

Is the bottom trim longer or did they move the top trim (and two-tone paint) back further?
Look at the second photo Ed posted, the trim is beneath Arctic but not the word Gold. In the first photo you can see that the trim runs under both words.

@loveoftiki stated back in July on the Kustom Blues thread "Local Legend Pinstriper Sam Gambino owned it...haven't seen it in years"

 

DrDave, here is a photo of the original Arctic Sand. Also note the differences in the front bumper surrounds. They are molded smooth on the clone but appear to be separate from the front fenders on the original. Or at least not molded in as smoothly. Photo form Rik's Archive.


Something else I just noticed, the upper trim on the hood of the original seems to sweep down in a gentler curve as opposed to the angular transition on the clone.

 

Man, you guys have some sharp eyes. I didn't notice the trim on the last picture is longer than the others. Also, looking at the last picture, on the hood it says "Arctic Sands" instead of "Arctic Gold" like the other pictures. I completely missed that.
The most obvious change on the last pic versus the other three that I didn't mention is the hubcaps were changed. Maybe these were two different cars. Hmmmm..............
Jim, now that you mention this car having the lowrider logo on it, it seems to be shaking my memory banks as that does sound familiar. Maybe there was a picture of it in Lowrider Magazine once upon a time that I saw. I don't know if I'm ready to research that as I still have a ton of Lowrider magazines stored away, and I wouldn't know where to start. E

 

That picture is a great find, Sancho. Thanks for the knowledgeable input! It would be interesting to know if Tom had pictures or a magazine article of the "Arctic Sands" to go off of for the build of his version.
If he built it just from memory he did a heck of a job as the cars are remarkably close. E

 

Don't know what this appeared in, found it on Rik's Archive.

 

These are all pictures of the clone from Rik's Archive. Note the differences in the hood trim/lettering.








This last photo appears to be more recent, looks like a digital photo and the whitewalls have yellowed.