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

Well, guess what? I decided to see if I could find a color photo of Wayne's 2 door Hardtop.
No luck yet but look what I did find. Is this yet another one?


This one has the door window frame trim but no side trim..... deeper headlight rings, more pronounced headlight "beaks", the fins look to be beaked some as well....and a vertical Buick porthole? frenched antenna?

 

Gotcha, hey I'm old, hard to keep up!

Mick

 

I have that same picture saved on my computer too, @Sancho. I had always assumed that in this picture it was the white/brown four door that Wayne had in a pre-painted version. I think you're on to something here, maybe Wayne had a third '57 Ford.
We need some of the seasoned east coast show goers to help fill in the blanks. @chopolds, @Ron and any others to the white courtesy phone please (lol)! E

 

In one of Scott Pavey's photos, there's a white Merc with radiused rear wheel wells.
I believe that was KKOA founder, Jerry Titus' car. Built by Jerry and brother Eldon. Later had the radius filled in with a custom panel.

 

No, the car still exists. Two toned version I think. It was posted on the Custom Blues thread somewhere. I have a pic of it in the version above. I have more pic`s I`ll post later, we do have 2 weeks. Maybe one of Wayne`s 57 2-dr.

 

I made a comment at the show that why would he paint it white. I liked it better when it was brown. I was then told he had an incident with the car when it was brown, just finished it painting it white and flamed it and headed to Des Moines KKOA last pass show. You can see the fence in the background of the pic`s I took of it. Later, they moved the show to a different part of the camp grounds area. He had it pinstriped there also. Now I like it better white.

 

Lots to cover here tonight folks, so bear with me.

I was just curious Jim, it was at the Last Pass where you discovered Wayne repainted his '57 Ford, right? What year was that? The brown paint was great looking, but the white with the flames has more of a 50s vibe to it. It would be hard for me to choose which version I like more as I think they are both slick!

@Sancho's post of the other '57 Ford four door in primer got me to thinking. I was curious if this was another '57 or the brown/white 4 door. I did some video research this evening and this is what I came up with. Wayne had his '57 at the Leadsled Spectacular in 1986 (Springfield, Missouri), and in 1987 (Springfield, Illinois) as well as at Sled Scene East in 1986. In those videos the car was brown.
I also found the car on the Sled Scene East videos from 1992 and 1993. The car was white with the flame job. So, this means that sometime between 1987 and 1992 the color change happened. Once Jim (@stanlow69) chimes in with the year of the Last Pass when he commented on the color change, we will have the time line nailed down as far as when the color change happened.
Now, in all the video I watched and the pictures I've seen, the '57 only has the porthole mounted on the passenger side front fender in that one photograph. Once the car was painted brown it was gone. Was it removed just because Wayne changed his mind or was the fender damaged in a fender bender and was replaced and eliminated that way? We may never know.
Studying the pictures a little more I'd tend to say that the primered version is the same car as the brown/white version. The primered version has the tube grille and the wild peaked and hooded headlights. The grille would be easy to swap out to another car, but the headlight work would be a little tougher to change to another car.

Here's a link to the original Wayne LaPuglia W.E.H.T. #12 if anyone wants to catch up more on Wayne's car.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-6

One other thing. In the Sled Scene East videos I've been watching a lot lately, I've noticed a pinstriper doing a lot of work to cars at these shows. Tonight I quickly watched my copies of Sled Scene East '86 and '87 and sure enough, the same striper was hard at work. He was also seen doing striping work on the Sled Scene East videos from 1992-1994. On the '87 video Rowdie shot footage of his sign that had his name and phone number on it as well as where he was from. He was Don Rooney from Haines Falls, New York.
I took a page out of the @Sancho book of detective work (lol) and did a Google search on Mr. Rooney. Low and behold, he was still listed in Haines Falls, New York and the phone number was still the same as in '87! Google also showed that Don is now 74 years young.
I was just wondering if any of you New York and surrounding area folks know Don. Is he still doing striping work? Has he retired? Just curious. Always searching for history on anybody that has owned customs or done work (like pinstriping) on them. I'm sure he would have some great stories to share, huh? E

 

A note about the Titus Merc.
You can see here a difference in the rear wheel well, as well as the straight "B"-pillar.
(The white car, I believe, was later finished in two-tone pink (EDIT: ....and white.)

 

I'm still not convinced the primer car is Wayne's.
It would be a lot of work to shave the side trim and then put it back. Wayne's car had lake pipes on it when it was brown and when it was white. Wayne's car had the front bumper guards on both versions as well. Not to mention the front "tag" as @Moriarity pointed out. Wayne's car also has angled antennas on both rear fenders on both versions. The headlights are beaked on all of them but they really curl down way farther on the primer car. The primer car also has the "gravel shield"/rocker trim that is not on either version of Wayne's car.
The Cal-Custom tube grill was not uncommon. @finkd and I just bought one for '57 Fords.

 

The Titus Merc was 2-tone pink prior to the green paint.


And @'Mo posted this photo, which is the most recent I know of.

 

Thanks, Sancho. I stand corrected! I remember the green version and the white version you posted.

 

Oh that poor car, why in the hell do people insist on using those awful mirrors on an otherwise period correct car...that shit really makes me wonder if most people give a shit or have any taste at all.....[/QUOTE]
No most people don't have any taste and does anyone know where it is now??

 

I'd like to know it's whereabouts also.
@'Mo found that photo but said there was no info with it...

 

I always like the car, even in it's street machine version. Saw it when it was green and later in primer after the quarters were redone. The more traditional was more my speed

 

Since I first posted the pic`s of Wayne`s car, I have learned how to resize them. Hope this helps.

 

By the way, Scott(who took the picture) is from north of Indianapolis, There is a Greenwood just south of Indy. Look up Greenwood Auto supply. Wayne is from out east. But look at the interior, seems to match. Sancho, you know that lake pipes and rocker trim don`t look good on customs. Looks way to busy. One or the other, but not both.

 

Sounds good to me lest find it

 

I thought I'd give @Rot 'n Kustom a little help here. The Merc with the radiused wheel wells is one on my long list of feature customs that I haven't been able to find much information on. When I began researching this car, I thought it was the Titus Mercury, but with the help of the custom faithful here I realized that these were two different cars as stated above.
I haven't been able to find any pictures of this car online. In my notes I had written down that it was at the 1993 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. I'm yet to find out who the owner was (is) and where the car was from.
In order to show a few pictures of this car I did something I really don't like to do. I watched the DVD on my computer, paused it when the car was on the screen and took a picture of it with my digital camera. To me this seems like cheating, but it may be the way things go as finding pictures of many of these customs has been getting harder and harder.
I apologize for the quality of these pictures as I'm taking a picture of a DVD image on my computer that was originally shot in the VHS format and then transferred to DVD. Boy, that was a mouthful.
Anyway, here they are:







For some reason, Video Bob never shot the rear of this car when he taped it, so I have no rear shots of it to share.
I thought this last photo turned out pretty cool. Although the Mercury is obscured by other cars in the shot, the cars blocking it are former W.E.H.T. feature cars. The '56 Chevy four door in the foreground belonged to the late Bob Rice of Toledo, Ohio (W.E.H.T. #54), and the turquoise Chevy that just got its nose in the photo is the great custom of Jim and Cheryl Washington of Mount Airy, Maryland (W.E.H.T. #92). This just goes to show the high quality of the cars that were at the KKOA shows in the early days. They were everywhere! Those were the days!



Sorry I have no owner information on the Mercury, but you know it has some history behind it, we just have to find it! I hope this post helped clear things up a little and didn't "muddy the waters" (lol)! E

 

Maybe @OG lil E should do Jerry Titus's old merc as the next what ever happened to[/QUOTE]

It's on the list guys, but information on it has been very hard to come by. It seems like Jerry's Merc was only at the years of the Spectaculars that I don't have a video for. This bogs down the search a bunch! E

 

I found this close-up photo but not much info. "1950 Mercury Lead Sled - Miss Red Hot."
Check the lip on the front wheel opening. Headlights match, as do the mirrors. Looking down the Mercury body line you can also see where the rear wheel lip arcs up above the body line. I'd say this is it....

There's one other thing, notice that "flat-spot" on the upper rear front wheel arch?

 

Thanks for pointers, @OG lil E

 

That`s the one I remember seeing on the Kustom Blues thread. The red version. I guess I have a pic of it from the rear and the red version as well. The red version was at the Merc-Duce Reunion in Davenport Iowa, you can see a 32 Ford Zipper in the background. Hope this helps. From all the KKOA events I attended, I have never seen Titus`s Merc. Maybe one day I will. It was at the first but ,I wasn`t. @akustom57

 

@Al Consoli


@mercman@bulldog


Deb @KustomLincolnLady knows the history of this Merc.

 

Ed, they moved the show for the Last Pass to a different part of the campground area in 88. So it would have to be before that. From what you said above, it must of been in the Fall of 87 when it was painted white. Now here is a pic of a 57 Ford that I am thinking is Waynes. I know it doesn't have cruiser skirts or a continental kit. But if you look at the Pic`s I posted. His car is parked nxt to Gary Gerbding`s Red 55 Chevy. They were both KKOA officials with red shirts. The pic that Ed posted above with the flames is from the 92 Holland Michigan show and it is sitting next to Blaines Merc who was also an official. So is it Wayne`s car. Not sure which KKOA show this pic was taken at.

 

You guys never cease to amaze me with what you find! Thanks for helping to keep this thread moving along.
I think you're right @Sancho, the Miss Red Hot is the pink and white Merc with the radiused wheel wells. I'm not a big fan of Mercs without skirts, let alone the radiused style wheel wells when the car is a lowered custom, but this Merc is definitely a standout!
Thanks for the fill in information Jim (@stanlow69). It looks like the transformation of the paint on Wayne's four door has been narrowed down.
As far as the '57 you posted by Gary's '55, I don't think that is Wayne's car. I hate to stir the pot again, but here goes. The Ford above has personalized Wisconsin plates that say "KOOL 57". Wayne was from Connecticut. Did he ever relocate to or from Wisconsin? E

 

Your eyes are better than mine. I`ll redeem myself with a couple more of the 59.