What Ever Happened To..........? number 80. 1954 Chevy Bel Air Owner: Joe Vargas Tulare, California This week's W.E.H.T. is an obscure custom that as far as I could find never made a trip out of California for a Leadsled Spectacular. I found the car watching my videos for many years. It was only on the video for the 1987 KKOA Sled Scene West in Madera, California. The owner Joe Vargas, was interviewed by Rowdie and gave an excellent run down on his car. From Joe's description it was completely home built from the 3 1/2 inch top chop to the nicely done paint job--all done by Joe and his brother. One of the things Joe was sure to point out was the use of Monte Carlo ashtrays mounted sideways just after the Bel Air side trim on the quarters. (I highlighted a picture of the ashtrays so you could see what I'm talking about. Kind of hard to understand until you see the picture. Also, this little ashtray mod made the car a lot easier to identify when hunting for photos!) These were used to hide the buttons to open his shaved doors. He showed how he would open the spring loaded door, reach in the ashtray, push the button and *click*, the door popped open. Now, by today's standards this might be kind of cheesy, but you have to remember that in the early 80s wireless remote systems were still a few years away, and finding a safe place to hide your door switches could be tricky. I think this was a pretty slick modification. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the car had a heavily flaked silver top and the bottom was a dark purple with some well done ghost flames. Joe mentioned that a friend helped him and his brother with the flame layout. On the video, the car had no fender skirts and Joe was running black walls. You'll notice in later pictures that the car was running skirts and the black walls were changed to white letter tires. I can't understand why as white walls would have really helped this great looking custom go over the top. Nonetheless, it's still a super looking car! According to my picture research, the car was a regular in Paso Robles and was there in '85 (in primer) as well as nicely painted in '88. After the 1988 photos I couldn't find out any more information. As far as write-ups in magazines and such, I came up empty. Since Joe frequented Paso Robles and possibly other West Coast Kustoms events, there might be information about this car in their newsletters. I've never been a member of the West Coast Kustoms (I know, shame on me, lol), and I have none of their newsletters. I'm sure a sweet and fairly rare chopped Bel Air like this would still be around prowling the California streets and beyond. I sure hope so! Before I close this week, I'd like to thank @Rikster once again for his great photo archive and his excellent website, The Custom Car Chronicle. His hard work on these sites is incredible and this thread would never be possible without it! Also, I'd like to thank the great Memo Ortega for taking pictures and sharing them with Rik. So much California car show history! For those of you that have never heard of Memo, you need to get on the CCC and look-up all the great articles that Memo has written and submitted to Rik and shared on the Custom Car Chronicle. So awesome! My personal favorite story he has done (so far) is #27. Without spoiling it for everyone, it's about Memo and his lovely bride Terry of over 50 years spending their Sundays cruising around California in Memo's super, chopped '53 Bel Air known as "Vondolero". (I'll include a photo of "Vondolero" courtesy of Memo, Rikster and the CCC). They must have driven a couple of hundred miles that day, just checking out the sites, taking in the great California sunshine and enjoying the pleasure of cruising around in a head spinning leadsled! What makes this more incredible is Memo is in his 80s! Cruise on, Amigo! Arriba! This man is a walking library of California custom history, as well as an excellent car builder in his own right. I'm pretty sure that Memo isn't a member here (unfortunately), and I'm not on Facebook, so we may never meet. If any of you out there are lucky enough to know Memo, give him my sincere "Thank you" for all he has done for the custom car hobby and maybe steer him over here. We could all benefit from his knowledge and friendship! I'd also like to say a quick "thank you" to Ron Brooks and Mike Shelley, who took a few of the pictures I found on Rikster's site and used this week. Since I'm handing out thank yous, I'd also like to thank all of you out there that have been reading my ramblings all this time. Can you believe we're at #80? Anyway, thanks for sticking around! Until next week, y'all take care! E Memo and Terry Ortega's "Volondero"
Thanks for the update @KustomLincolnLady. Sometimes keeping all these customs straight can be tough--especially some with very similar modifications. Glad to hear that Gerald still owns this cool Merc. E
Gerald redid the Merc this year. Hete is a current photo of what "Sloopie" looks like now. Sent from my SM-G935V using H.A.M.B. mobile app
Gotta say that i like the ingenuity of how they hid the buttons. Thinking outside the box way before thinking outside the box was an over used catch phrase
George's grand daughter was going to keep the car when he passed. Haven't seen it or heard anything about it since, guessing its in a barn someplace. Havent talked to her in years. ...ok update to this, my Mom says the Crown Princess was sold to someone in Canada after George passed.
Yes, Jon Gullet started the club in high school with friends... He & David Losen started hanging out after and Lincoln Land Kustoms members skyrocketed. Originally Lincoln Land met at detwiller park in Peoria... the moved to Steak & Shake and Hunts resteraunts...the club was over 400 members at one point... members from in & outside the US. The few club members that are still with us and have not passed have a website and meet once a year.
@CamaroGirl Thanks for posting. I thought you could share some missing information on this thread. In this thread, there is a pic of Georges car taken in Canada. A different color thou. I met your dad a couple times, a good guy who was always cheerful. Me and my dad live in western Iowa, so we only made the KKOA shows. I always wanted to attend the LLK shows. But I was a just a kid at the time.
I've seen that truck before @Austinrod. I had some pictures of it on my old computer that crashed--I wish I still had them to post. If I recall, the pictures were from around 2000 or so, and it was in gray or white primer. I can't say for sure if it was a survivor from the early days, but if it was built in the recent past it is sure radical! I dig it! E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 81. 1951 Mercury "Statutory Grape" Owner: Neil Borella Long Island, New York This week's W.E.H.T. is one of the most elusive Mercs that I've written about, and probably one of the nicest. This car had all the great mods that those of us who are crazy about Mercurys think of when we think of a leadsled. It had a 5 1/2 inch chop, '53 Buick side trim, '53 Buick headlights, '52 Desoto grille, '54 Mercury taillights, as well as a louvered hood with side scoops, lake pipes, '57 Caddy hubcaps, and in true east coast fashion, bubble skirts! The car was also two toned in two shades of purple. This must be where the car got it's nickname of "Statutory Grape". Now, from what I've been able to find, Neil was a custom guy from the early days of the "Custom Revival" in the late 70s and early 80s. He was interviewed by one of Rowdie's gals at the '85 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. It was in that interview where I got the information run down on what was done to the car. In his interview, Neil also mentioned that he took his car to the first Spectacular in Wichita, Kansas in 1981, as well as to the Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio in 1983. I've watched a ton of video for months looking for more appearances of this car, but I was only able to find it (a lot) on the '85 video. After that, there was nothing. Kind of surprising because in the video interview, Neil looked like he was a fairly young man. Did he stop going to the Spectacular after that? Did he sell the Merc and get another car? Hmmm.......... One neat thing on the video I noticed is that when Rowdie is at the gates to the fairgrounds filming the cars rolling in, Neil's Merc rolls in front of the camera, then following behind is Joel Sheipe's beautiful gold pearl over lime green '50 Merc (W.E.H.T. #53). This makes all the sense in the world as Joel was from Elmont, New York around Long Island like Neil. They must have been good friends and cruising buddies, and drove down to the show together. I also looked for quite some time to find pictures of this '51 on the internet and I've come up with nothing. I did luck out and find a great picture in Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 2 number 2 from 1984 on page 23. Bummer that it's only a black and white photo as the car is a treat for the eyes in color on the video. A car as nice as this must have been featured in a magazine sometime, but I couldn't find anything else in my magazine collection. So, is Neil's beautiful '51 Mercury still out there? Could be, but who really knows? In closing this week, I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention the passing of Mr. Joe Bailon earlier today at the age of 94. We lost a giant in the custom car field today that did so much for hobby, the likes of which will never be seen again. He will be missed. Keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. Vaya con Dios, Mr. Bailon. Until next week, take care everybody..........E
Still looking for my old pics. Came across a few, but they aren't the ones I was thinking of. A few shots of it in primer, as well as a good profile shot. E
Found these on customrodder. http://customrodder.forumactif.org/t477p660-mercury-1949-51-custom-mild-custom-galerie "Statutory Grape" was owned by Neil Borella (sp) of Long Island, N.Y. Many people remember this one from a Stray Cats video in 84. This pic was taken in 85
Hope Statutory Grape is still around. I remember drooling over it when that Stray Cats video first came out. At the time, I assumed it belonged to Brian Setzer. <iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xS3YZcietNU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
@00 MACK Mack posted this photo of it taken in Hanover Pennsylvania June '86. In this thread (2013) he said: "The car was owned by my buddy Neil in the 80s from Long Island NY. It disappeared after getting torn down for a redo. The name of the car was Statutory Grape. Neil was a member of the Long Island Ford Merc club." https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/merc-51-purple-video-clip-stray-cats.784477/
That's some great information guys! I remember when that Stray Cats song came out, but I never saw the video until I checked out the link that @Hot Rods Ta Hell posted. The Merc looks sweet. Goes to show you the old saying, "Customs are for getting girls, and hot rods are for getting rid of them.........."(lol) Super find on the pics @Sancho! I was hoping that someone would post some up. What an awesome car. I'm with Hot Rods Ta Hell and I hope it is still around. Damn, I gotta get a Merc someday..........E
I was just looking at the pics again. I noticed in the picture that @Sancho posted that @00 MACK originally posted a few years back has the Merc without skirts. I know a lot of people don't like bubble skirts, but the car looks naked without them. Sweet car nonetheless! E
Never seen that Stray Kats video either, Thanks for posting. The profile pic that Sancho posted does not do those bubble skirts any favor. The lines on the top edge seem like a "pimple" on a sweet car. I'd rather see her "naked", or at least with some stock '51's. Does Anthony (00MACK) follow this thread? Any more info since 2013?
@Moriarity Will you please adopt me? You never cease to amaze me! Haha Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
W.E.H.T #2..... Rik Hoving @Rikster just posted this today over on the Custom Car Chronicle. "Anthony White came across this photo of George Beluscsak’s old 1950 Mercury. The one that was bright yellow with a yellow fuzzy interior making a huge impact and me, and many others in the 1980’s It now lives in Japan. Painted maroon.. The photo was taken by RoadGypsiesMelbourne in Japan."
Great find @Sancho! Nice to know it's still out there. Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but I liked George's version much better. To me, the skirts, kooky color combo and wild interior just did it for me. Maybe it's the fact that this Merc along with Dick Crouther's '50 Merc had such a huge impact on me as a kid. Seeing pictures of these cars today still gives me goosebumps. I hadn't had that sensation in a while. Seeing "Statutory Grape" in that Stray Cats video yesterday did it to me again! Those Mercs make me crazy! Maybe one of these days I'll be in the right place at the right time and one will follow me home! E
Funny how these keep crossing paths and coming up in other places. Mickey @straykatkustoms posted this photo of Bill Nicholson's 1950 Mercury "Purple Reign" (W.E.H.T. #51) today in the Kustom Blues thread. This was taken at the 1986 KKOA show in Hanover, Pa.
I saw that too @Sancho. That's a great picture of "Purple Reign". I thought maybe that picture would have been taken at Sled Scene East in '86. According to the intro of my '86 Sled Scene East video the event was in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, and Hanover is a good distance away. Was it possible the KKOA had two events in PA in '86? Anybody know? E
I’m with you Ed, while George’s Merc still looks cool now, to me it’s “just” another cool Merc and the yellow version with the bubble skirts just pops and makes a memory. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
went to Don's open house last Saturday, yes he still has it along with MANY other cars!!! what a fun day
Thanks for the update @KustomLincolnLady! Great to know Don still has "Shboom", and that time has been so kind to it. He has to break it out one of these days and take it to a kustom show for all to enjoy again! E
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