I vaguely recall that as a kid I played on the same AYSO soccer team as Ken's son. I remember him occasionally picking him up in the Merc, as you can imagine I was thrilled when he did. I also remember that Ken had an 8-lug Pontiac for sale at the time....I wasn't old enough to buy it.
Great choice Lil E. I'll have to break out my VCR and find my 84 Leadsled Tape. I loved that beginning you so aptly described. The scallops on this Merc influenced my design for paint for my long-gone (unfinished) 51 Merc. I love the top to bottom line created by the tips of the scallops. Hope a HAMBer can tell us some good news about this awesome 4 door. I got nothing.
Where did you all come across all these custom tapes? I may have seen one or two 'Back to the Fifties:" VCR's at the local Pep Boys, but had no idea of the volume of events available, nor their receptive audience!
The only thing I remember about that video is the Merc backing out of the driveway and filling the peach colored van with boxes. Need to get the videos from my dad and rewatch them. Bought the DVD`s versions from Doug in Indy a few years back. Need to order an extra set along with the ones he didn`t have with him. No pic`s I`ve taken, but I think there is a pic of his Merc in the Leadsleder with the Kansas City KKOA show from 83 or so. Can`t find my issue. Remember seeing the Merc at different events. I do have this I found when searching for this Merc. It was in the Super Rods and Customs Merc issue. Might of already been posted before.
PM @49toad He made all the videos back then. Mainly from the KKOA events. He went under the name of Rowdie productions. He will provide you with a list.
Do you mean Royboy Productions? I found this. http://www.royboyproductions.com/category/event-coverage/
Great story, Sancho. You can just imagine what all of Ken's son's friends used to say when Dad rolled up in that Merc! I can recall as a kid seeing custom cars rolling around the streets here in Denver. It was always exciting to see them. Seems like you don't see too many custom cars just cruising around anymore. Bummer..........E Your Merc sounds like it was cool Bill. I think I'm not just speaking for myself, but I'm sure everyone would agree, I'd like to see some pictures of it if you have any. E I bought the first few videos I have on VHS on Ebay years ago before I ever knew who the guy was behind Rowdie Productions. Then a few years back I met Doug (@49toad) in person at one of the Spectaculars and it all fell into place. I bought the last few Leadsled Spectaculars he shot on DVD that I didn't have a few years ago. He also made DVDs of the Merc Deuce Reunions he shot years ago that I still want to buy. These VHS tapes and DVDs are some of my most prized possessions. I watch them all the time and they have been a valuable source of information to help keep this thread moving along! I recommend sending Doug a message and he can fill you in on what's available. He has made quite a few so choosing might be tough. Then, break open your piggy bank and send him some cash and get them on the way. They are worth every penny! E That's a nice article on the "Small Town Flirt" (W.E.H.T. #72), Jim. In those pictures it looks to be painted in shades of orange, and on the videos I've seen it on it looks to be painted in shades of red. Having never seen it in person, what color was it? Film, video and magazine pictures can be deceiving, but the naked eye always tells the real story. E
Couldn`t of said it better, Ed. When we were in Springfield Missouri for the KKOA show. He interviewed my dad and talked about his car. ..It was the highlight of our weekend. Ended up buying the video, and gave it to him for Christmas. A few years ago we bought some more from him when we saw him in Indy. The following Christmas, We watched the video interview. I`m sitting there thinking I am the age he was during the time the video was made. A big thanks for Doug for making the videos and making them available to everybody. Later on A guy that went by the name of Video Bob(maybe from Michigan) also made videos, starting to cover the KKOA events in about 90. Don`t know much about him. Doug`s DVD`s are well worth the money, not just a short 30 minute thing.
You're talking about Video Bob Huff. He is "Action Video". I've got quite a few of his tapes and DVDs. They're pretty good too. Over the years he has made a ton of videos. I remember reading in a KOA Style Line that he was retiring from full time video making and was just going to shoot three a year. The rest of the time he was going to go to the shows just to hang out and have a good time. I'll try to find the article so I can find the time frame. I did a quick search and I found it. Bob wrote a column in the January/February 1997 issue of the Style Line announcing his retirement. I went ahead and scanned the article for any of you that might want to read it. Wow, that was over 20 years ago. I wonder if Bob and his lovely bride Doris are still with us cruising around and having fun. I know Bob had a pretty cool Merc in the early 90s. On the 1993 Leadsled Spectacular video filmed in Springfield, Ohio it was cruising around the fairgrounds. Bob filmed it driving by, so I have no idea who was driving it. Maybe Doris? It was a chopped '49 in black suede with Chrysler 300 side trim on it. The grille had what looked to be 11 Ford F100 6 cylinder grille stars in it. Very unusual but cool. It was on the cover of the March/April 2000 issue of Style Line. I can't say when the picture was taken, but it would seem that around the turn of the century the Huffs were still at it. This is the only picture I've been able to find of their Merc. E
Video Bob (Huff) is alive and kickin. I get emails from him regularly. At the time he was shooting the videos he lived in Michigan City, IN. After his retirement he moved over on the east coast somewhere.
I think he's in N or S carolina. I get emails too, lots of em lol Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
He and Doris divorced, he's with somone else, name escapes me. Not sure if they are married or not. We saw him about 5 yrs ago at Rebel Run, he was filming. We have a lot of his videos also Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Nice to know guys. Glad to hear Bob is alive and well. Sorry to hear of the divorce. Life goes on..........E
No, but I'd like to. Amazingly original! (Nice Ford in previous post, BTW. Could there be another custom in your future?)
This one I posted has a 57 Oldsmobile roof chopped 3 inches ,Just one for now 57 ford radical custom “SeaBurst” Sent from my iPad
What Ever Happened To..........? number 104. 1964 Ford Galaxie Owner: John "Jack" Potucek II Wellington, Kansas Back in 2000, I was fortunate enough to go to my first KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in Wichita, Kansas. After years of reading about the show in magazines and watching videos, I was finally really going to go! A fast spring and early summer had us thrashing on my friend Mitch's '63 Chrysler, and after weeks and weeks of work it was ready to go. The paint was still fresh and you could smell the solvents venting out as it was curing, but it was done. We left the shop in Franktown late Tuesday night at ten minutes to midnight headed for Charlie's tiny little house in Castle Rock. We all crashed out in his living room on the couch and the floor to grab a quick forty winks. The plan was to head out to Wichita about 4:30 Wednesday morning. We were younger then, so four hours of sleep seemed to be plenty before we hit the road. Up at 4:00 and we loaded up Charlie's '59 Ranchero, Mitch's Chrysler and my '62 Wildkat and away we went. We weren't on the road long when my Buick developed a problem and the trip seemed doomed. The car wouldn't go faster than about 35. As soon as the car tried to shift to high gear on the highway it fell flat on its face. It would do 35 ok, but after that it seemed like it was going to stall. We stopped on I-25 several times to try this and that and nothing cured the problem. We finally limped the car into Colorado Springs and got off the highway and pulled into a Loaf and Jug. We did more troubleshooting and still couldn't find the problem. There was an AutoZone across the street so at least we didn't have to go far for parts. Charlie, who was a Cracker Jack mechanic thought the trouble was ignition related. After replacing the coil, spark plug wires, points, distributor cap and rotor the car was still doing the same thing--0 to 35 great, then wanting to stall. We kept looking the car over trying to find the problem. By this time it was getting close to 4 in the afternoon. I was starting to think about calling a tow truck to take the Buick back to Castle Rock. Looks like I wasn't going to make it to the show that year after all. As I was sitting on the curb trying to decide what to do, a thought popped into my head. Charlie had rebuilt my carb about a month prior. I asked Charlie if it was possible that something had gone haywire inside the carb and maybe we should take a look. He said he'd look, but he didn't think the carb was the issue. He took the screws off the top of the carburetor and he looked at me and said "You little shit--you were right!" Turns out the float shifted and was sitting crooked in the bowl and that's why it would only run good until passing gear kicked in. Charlie put the float back in position and the car ran like a champ. We decided to continue the trip and we hit the road. We hadn't eaten since the evening before, so we decided to hit a truck stop and grab a bite. A quick meal stop and we were back on the road. We were getting close to Lamar and Charlie got on the CB saying he needed gas. A fast stop in Lamar for gas and off we went. In Lamar there was a ton of road construction. It was already getting dark, and with all the confusing road construction, we missed the DETOUR sign. We headed out of town and drove for what seemed like a very long time. I kept checking my odometer and it seemed like we should have crossed the Kansas border a ways back. I got on the CB and told the guys I think we made a wrong turn or something. Charlie responded and said the border should be close. Well, it was! We came to a sign that said "Welcome to Oklahoma". OKLAHOMA?!? What the heck? We had no map, but luckily I had my cell phone. I called my house and talked to my girlfriend as she looked at my map. I explained where we were and she told us we were getting close to Boise City, Oklahoma. The only thing we could do was to go to Boise City, gas up and buy a map. We got there in no time, but the skies were full of crazy lightening and a storm was on the way. We got gas, bought a map and laid our plans. It was midnight again, but there was no rest for the wicked. We continued on. We had to catch Highway 56 and head north east back into Kansas to Dodge City, then catch a little dogleg road called Highway 54 to catch Highway 154 into Wichita. Luckily we out ran the storm. The lightening and clouds went away and we had a beautiful clear night for driving. After many stops to grab a short nap, we finally pulled into Wichita about 1:00 Thursday afternoon. Once we got into town, we checked into our hotel. Funny, we were up for close to 50 hours, give or take a handful of hours for a little sleep, yet nobody wanted to take a nap. We were all very excited and wanted to hit the fairgrounds and the host hotel. I remember rolling through the hotel and there wasn't much going on. We then headed to the fairgrounds and even though there were sight seeing tours going on, there were still lots of cars all over the grounds. That's where this week's car comes in. John "Jack" Potucek II's Galaxie was parked on the side of the dirt road that ran through the park. I remember how low it looked with the chopped top and the impressive mile deep black paint. I made a mental note to make sure I found the car later in the weekend to get a closer look. The next day I went for a walk to find the Ford. It didn't take long. The custom mods on it were very impressive. Custom taillights, louvered hood, nicely detailed big block, a square Chrysler steering wheel and so on. The thing I really liked was the frenched tachometer in the hood--never seen that before! No one was around, so I couldn't ask questions. After that, the car was in constant motion all weekend and I never could catch up to the owner to get more information. All these years later, the car still gets me going when I think about it back at the 20th. I was lucky enough to see the car in person, as I've never seen it on any other video besides what Charlie and @PasoJohn shot that year. Never saw it in a magazine either. Fortunately it was in the second KKOA book (2003) on page 101. I scanned that page and it is the last picture I posted. I did find some pictures of it on the Carnut site. I believe the first two pictures are an early version of it before the great toothy, single headlight custom grille was added and the roof was painted white. 2000 wasn't all that long ago, so it seems like this cool Galaxie would still be prowling the streets in a Kansas town somewhere. I hope it is and it finds its way back to the Spectacular in Salina very soon! Until next Tuesday, see you 'round! E
What a cool story, E. Reminds me of reading one of 40StudeDude's books. Out-of-this-world Galaxie, sorry, but I've got no info on it.
Those grill teeth look to me like upside-down 1954 Chevy that are then leaned back to make the lower front edge vertical. Like this:
I made video's of every KKOA show I entered (Except 1992) and I think I have seen this a long time ago at an earlier show and have to look thru tons of hours of video to find it,since Not too many 64 Fords were chopped. I don't remember the inner square tail lights under the deck lid though,Now its a mission for me to look thru my video's.
You do realize I have a new book out now, don'tcha Bill (54delray & OG lil E)...??? It's all about what OG lil E was talking about --problems and mechanical problems out on the highways of this country...Available personally autographed on www.RAJetter.com or from Amazon... As for that Ford, I have no info on it for you... R-
The Jalopy Journal
