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

Damn! That thing is beautiful!

 

Nice detective work, Sancho! The cars do have a lot of similarities, but the "Long Fellow" that @eaglebeak mentioned was a hardtop, and Don's was a sedan.

One thing I did notice though. In the great pictures @Ron posted of "Sparky's" Ranchero, you can see that it has Ontario plates that read "LEADED". Those are the same plates the'55 had on it in the '92 Leadsled video. E

 

Oh, forgot to post above Sancho, thanks for posting the super color photos of the car!

I have to agree with @Chaz, it is beautiful! E

 

Really, this thread should be retitled, "Hey Sancho, what can you tell us about...." I never cease to be amazed by what you dig up sir!

Very pretty car in color!!

 

Amazing how the Buick quarters blend seamlessly into the Ford. The continental kit is perfectly angled and nestled in. Love it.


Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Now that is funny, Doc, but so true. I think Sancho should consider changing his user name to Thee Professor! E

Well said @Rot 'n Kustom. The car is very well executed and is a stunner. Seems like it should have been way more famous than it was! E

 

I just like doing research. I consider it a challenge and get a little bummed when I CAN'T find something.

You guys give me way too much credit!

 

EDITED:

Just a function of population is all it was. That is were most of Canada's population resided and Ontario was the manufacturing power house of Canada at that time.

Canada's population is just about the same as all of California's, except its mostly 100 miles deep along the entire
4000+ mile Canada-USA border. versus being concentrated in one state.
Another hot spot for customs was the Vancouver area of British Columbia (west coast). Many west coast customs were featured in the little pages and other magazines of the day back in the 50's and 60's.

A few from the west coast even made into the Top 10 Customs of the Year.
Can't remember if any Ontario customs made the Top 10 pick.

 

Here is a link to one BC custom that made the Top 10 of the year:

Radical B.C. classic voted one of top 10 customs in 1963 |...

And it still exists today; fully restored except for shiny paint.

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 75.

1950 Ford Convertible "Runaround Blu"
Owners: Jim and Nancy Mullin
Davenport, Iowa

This week's W.E.H.T. is a super example of what a mild custom was way back when. A car like this was just what a high school kid might have picked up from a neighbor or a small car lot and fixed up as money allowed. Those were the days......Remember when building cars was cheap?
The Mullin's great little Ford shoebox must have been a real joy to cruise around in. It had a lot of mild custom touches that were subtle, but I'm sure it would cause traffic jams wherever it went. They had the east coast vibe going on with dual lake pipes and bubble skirts, as well as a nice set of '49 Plymouth bumpers with Chevy license plate guards. The '54 Chevy grille teeth were a nice touch as well, all 19 of them!
On the video you could see a nicely detailed flathead with all the neat 50s doo dads added on. Top it all off with a sweet baby blue paint job and this car was ready to go to any show and battle with the big boys.
As beautiful as this car was, pictures proved tough to find, as I was only able to find front shots with the hood up. Also, I had no luck in my printed article search in books and magazines.
Surprisingly, I was only able to find Jim and Nancy's sweet convertible on the 1992 Leadsled Spectacular video filmed in Holland, Michigan. Maybe they were at many more of these events, but that is the only video of it I could find. Truly another illusive custom that is hopefully still out cruising around somewhere.
Until next Tuesday, have a good one! E

 

Baby blue Ford ragtops always remind me of the Happy Days episode when Richie buys one with a name on the side (Love Bandit maybe?). I think it might have been red and Howard was no fan of the name on the side and ultimately it all resolved with painting the car baby blue. Rabbit trail, sorry. LOL I love those needle nose skirts....I'm a sucker for them.

 

Besides the different pipe set-ups and skirts, the side trim was shortened.

 

Jim and Nancy still owned it in 2008. They won a custom class award at the Hamilton Illinois Classic Auto Fest car show.

http://www.dailygate.com/news/article_676c2efa-61eb-5e43-9f3a-d1f5ecc7eba4.html

 

Great information Mark. I don't know how I missed it being in the first KKOA book. I look at it all the time.
Neat to know it was built in the early 80s and was still around as of '92. E

Funny you mentioned that Doc. I thought of the Happy Days car when I saw it on the video a while back.
I remember when Fonzie sold Richie the car it was red and had "Love Bandit" lettered on the side. Mr. Cunningham didn't like the red and they had the car painted blue. Turns out they thought the car had a shady past and might be stolen. After it was all straightened out, Mr. C. told Richie that he could have the car re-painted back in red. "But no "Love Bandit". Your mother might drive the car once in a while."
Classic stuff!

I dig the bubble skirts as well. Changing the stock style skirts to the needle nose style was a great choice! E

 

1951 hood and upper grill surround?

 

Yep, you beat me to it Sancho. Always a neat change for the 49-50 Shoeboxes

 

I have a bunch of pic`s I`ll post later this week. A very busy week. Even with shots of the car before the continental kit. Was this car originally called Blue Bird. When talking about the current version of this car, sometimes Blue Bird comes up in conversation for the people who remember from earlier days.

 

I remember seeing it at the James Dean Runs in Fairmount every year, probably still up to a few years ago. Problem is I've been going there for so long that the years start running together to remember the last time. Even though customs should keep the hoods shut; I liked the sign being apart of the car and not just something beside it.

 

I`m sure I have more of the current version t hat I haven`t had printed yet. It was a regular in Des Moines Goodguys until 6 or so years ago. The first 5 pic`s are when Stuabach owned it. The license plate never changed. It`s interesting the headlights were never frenched. The first 3 pic`s were taken in Des Moines KKOA show in 84.

 

Great pictures Jim! Thanks for posting them as well as adding the interesting fill in information. E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 76.

1949 Dodge Wayfarer
Owner: Ernie Baker
Wichita, Kansas

This week's car was built by one of the true un-sung heroes of the custom car family. Ernie was a very talented man who built dozens of customs. I don't know if any of them were ever famous, at least across the country or even world wide, but for those that knew him in and around the Wichita area and a few other places, he was a master.
He was a Mopar man first and foremost, and from what I've been told by John Tretten (@PasoJohn) most everything he built was a Plymouth, Dodge, Chrysler or Desoto. He built a slick '55 Dodge that had a multitude of body mods including sectioning the hood bump out of the hood. This really changed the look of the car. It was featured in the 1st KKOA book on page 60, but that is another story.
Ernie had a pair of Plymouth Suburban station wagons, one of which was chopped and sectioned. Doug Shoemaker ended up with the pair, but they were never finished. Ernie also helped Doug build a '50 Dodge Wayfarer that was shaved as well as chopped. It can be seen in the picture that I'm going to post sitting behind Ernie's yellow '49.
Ernie also built a '58 Plymouth convertible that @PasoJohn ended up buying in 1990 and still owns to this day. Ernie changed the stock Plymouth fins to the extra tall fins off of a '57 Desoto, and then added '60 Olds taillights. Super custom touch that I've never seen on any other car! The car was far from finished when John got it, and John did a super job finishing it and it has made the rounds to car events for years, and has been featured in many magazines.
Ernie definitely had a great imagination and a lot of talent to pull it all off. On his '49 Wayfarer, the top was chopped 6 inches, and Carson topped. It was a very unusual car for the times as many guys were still building a lot of Fords and Chevys as they were still fairly plentiful and affordable. Ernie just preferred Mopars. Ernie topped the car off with a chrome yellow paint job and it definitely stood out.
As far as I know, Ernie only took the Dodge to the Leadsled Spectacular in Des Moines in 1984. I didn't see it on any other video. My search for magazine articles came up empty, but I know I've seen a color picture of it from the front in a magazine somewhere, but I couldn't find it. In my internet search for pictures, I found nothing. Paso John kindly shared his photo of Ernie's car that he took himself at the Leadsled that year. Thanks a lot, John!
Sadly, Ernie passed away in the spring of 2016. He left a ton of his work behind, and hopefully he will be remembered through his great talent, unique style, and love of customs.
Until next time, be safe! E



Paso John's '58 Plymouth with Ernie Baker installed '57 Desoto fins.

 

Nice information, Mark. Wow, I guess Ernie did build a non-Mopar every now and then. John mentioned a '40s Chevy cabover and a Studebaker truck Ernie worked on way back when. On the Studebaker pickup, he painted the tailgate whatever color the truck was. Then in white paint, he painted the E and added a period after it. Then he left the S, T, U and D unpainted and painted the "Baker" white. It was his own signature: E. Baker. Very ingenious!
He sounds like he was a neat guy that I would have loved to sit down over a cold pop and just listen to all the stories for hours.
Rest in peace Mr. Baker.........E

 

Thanks for the nice compliment Mark. Sorry I don`t have a pic of his car. But I do have one of Doug`s if Ed wants me to post it. Or are you gonna save that one for another week.

 

Thanks Mark. Haven't found anything yet...
I did find a photo of Doug's too.

@49toad do you know anything about Ernie's Dodge?

 

I've pointed this out before but dang, seems yellow was a LOT more popular then.

 

Is this Merc a '50? Also, what engine? Does it have a '55 Desoto grille in it? This looks exactly like a Merc from the '84 video that one of Rowdie's gals stopped to do an interview. At that time, it was in black primer. Definitely an under construction car. It had no bumpers, but it didn't have rolled pans or anything. It just looks like they weren't installed yet and were out for chroming or something. It had a 7 tooth '55 Desoto grille in it. The chop looked very similar and the coves were re-worked like the picture you posted, and the hood had the same style scoops in it. The headlights were frenched and they looked somewhat extended like the picture you posted, but the camera angle in the video makes it hard to tell how much they were extended forward. It had beauty rings and no hubcaps in the front with blackwalls. There were no skirts, so you could see baby moons in the rear with white letter tires. The owner mentioned the car had a 454, and he did mention the re-worked side "coves". When the car drives off, you can see the taillights were Caddy done the same way. The owner was a young cat that seemed a little unfriendly. Maybe he was just camera shy (lol). He said his name was Gene, but he never said his last name. He said he was from Galesburg, Illinois. Might be the same car. Hope this helps! E

I hadn't planned on writing about Doug's Dodge, but maybe I should. It is a noteworthy car because it was the Wayfarer sedan body that was chopped. These, like Fleetlines can be difficult to chop. On the '84 Leadsled video, one of Rowdie's gals interviewed Doug and he mentioned that the top was chopped 6 inches and had to be moved forward 9 inches for the chop!
Heck guys, go ahead and post the pictures. I might write on it later on, but by then it will be new again (lol)! E