Yep....top 10 list....this one is being a bit elusive.....it is a fairly mild car but being that it was on a top 10 list one would think there would be more coverage......but then I have only made it through 75-100 magazine's so far, got some work to do on the Studebaker today.....then another thing that happens is they my only have one photo shoot and pictures from that shoot gets used in other publications so you just need to find shots from what ever events that the car appears at ...... got probably 1000 magazine's to go .... I will get back on it.... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yep... you are correct... My Chevy was the first one he put the crest on, which as I remember, was an idea I gave him. His work was so good and i was so happy with my car I told him he should do something like Barris did. Believe the "crest" was a Ford LTD badge.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 142. 1956 Buick Owners: Hal and Pat Wolf Mendon, Michigan This week's custom is one that I've been admiring on my videos for years. But, like so many others we've covered, the information trail was very limited. So, this week's custom is another one of those mystery custom orphans that the owner, town and state are unknown. I hope that we can find the information, so that as we say here on the W.E.H.T. thread, "We can give credit where credit is due"! The first time I saw this great Buick was on the 1985 Leadsled Spectacular video that was shot in Springfield, Ohio. The car was captured coming in through the gates following a long line of super customs. It looked like the bodywork was close to being ready for paint as it was covered in a clean coat of ruddy brown primer. All the shaving was done, it had the great custom grille and Packard lights and the super bubble skirts. At that time it had no chrome side trim on it. Unfortunately I couldn't find a picture of it in primer. The next time I saw the car was on the 1987 Leadsled video that was shot in Springfield, Illinois. I knew the car instantly from its unique custom grille. This time the car was a beautiful kandy red, and it had the side chrome on it. Absolutely stunning! I have to admit that for a long time as I researched this car, I thought it was a '55 Chevy. With the headlights looking like they do and the Packard taillights it confused me. It wasn't until I really studied the car on the '87 video when I saw the '56 Buick dash and that gave it away. Another thing was the distinctive Buick hood with its factory sculpted lines. These pictures I believe were found on Rikster's site, but I don't know who the photographer was. I saved them ages ago before I started to mark where I found them and who the photographer was. My apologies to the photographer--whoever it was. Judging by the background in the photos, I'm almost 100% sure they were taken at the '87 Spectacular. The next sightings I found were on the 1992 Leadsled Spectacular video (Holland, Michigan) and again on the '92 Sled Scene East video (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania). The car looked pretty much the same with the exception of some white striping on the trunk. There is a good shot of the rear of the car on the Sled Scene East video, and the striping appears to go into the shape of a chair. It might be a rocking chair or a chaise lounger--very unusual. Now I'm not certain if this is the same person that owned the car in the 80s or not. In the early pictures and on the video it had a for sale sign on the windshield. It didn't change much between the 1987 and 1992 sightings. On the '92 videos it looked to have Pennsylvania plates on it, but things like this can be hard to see with old grainy video. These next two pictures may have been from the same time frame as these look like Pennsylvania plates. These pictures are courtesy of Rikster's site taken by Scott Pavey. There seem to be a few years when this Buick and owner weren't at the KKOA shows. I have the '86, '87, '92'-'94 and '05 Sled Scene East videos and the car wasn't there--that is except for '92. I have the Leadsled Spectacular videos for '83-'87, and '91-'94 and it was only on '85, '87 and '92. So there are a lot of years the car either wasn't there or it was there and not video taped, or it might have been there the years I don't have video for. Video sightings were the best information for this car this time. I found no printed material on this car at all. I thought this was surprising as this car is a real looker, plus the fact that its a hardtop doesn't hurt either. I looked through all my magazines and found nothing. This is another car that I seem to recall being in print somewhere, but I couldn't find it. I'm hoping someone out there knows what book or magazine I'm talking about. I also hope that the owner information comes out as well, as this is too sweet of a leadsled to be an orphan! Until next week, stay cool! E
IIRC, Hal and Pat Wolf may have owned this for a while. Maybe the guy who built the fiberglass skirts and sold them, built it? Bentson, or something?
Well I have flipped and flip flopped through magazines the last few night's and have not found anything on that blue Chevy.... I did find one that was close , wrong year but still close, carry on... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
You can see the blades in the 87 Picture taken in Springfield Illinois KKOA show. So the pictures Scott took must predate those. Here are a couple I took at the Last Pass KKOA show in Des Moines. Not sure what year. Can you make out the license plate. More to come later.
Thanks for chiming in, chopolds. I thought maybe you might have more information on this Buick as you were a regular at Sled Scene East for years. I hope someone can nail down who the owner was. E Great pics Doc. This car sure got around! E Nice hunting rudestude. That car is so close to the '51 Chevy its nuts! I'd proudly cruise either one! E It is tough to see in the photo, but it looks like it could possibly be an Iowa plate from the mid-80s, very hard to tell. The car does have one of those clear plastic louvered covers on it. Those darn covers have made it hard for me many times to try and see what state a custom came from or what a personalized plate read. They were pretty popular back then but you don't see them too much anymore. E
I think we're on to something here. I did a little digging and the plates are from Michigan. They are historic vehicle plates. Here's a sample off the 'net: Now compare it to the plates on the Buick in this Scott Pavey photo: I'd definitely say the car was from Michigan at one time. I'll change the header information for the Buick from Pennsylvania to Michigan. Thanks @chopolds! E
After talking to a couple people I was in Mid-West Kustoms with it's agreed it belonged to Hal & Pat Wolf. It was sold to make way for another project from what I'm understanding.
The Buick is in Hanover, Va. I've got pics, but Photobucket ate my brain. The beautiful JJ fender skirts (not glass, I saw them smashed) were wiped out in a muddy skirmish, and replaced with flush-fit fender panels. The car was then repainted two-tone charcoal grey/silver metallic, in unlikely division. (Two-tone hood, for a clue.) P.S., It is 430 (or 455) Buick powered. I've posted pics in the past. Maybe "someone" can find them.
Ding, ding, ding......winner, winner, chicken dinner! Thanks for the information guys! Between the information from @chopolds and @John B I'd say there is enough here to declare the Wolfs the owners of the Buick. I'll update the post. Anybody know what Michigan town they were from? I hope "somebody" can find those pics @'Mo. Sad to hear of a rare set of Jimmy Jones skirts being destroyed. You'd think in this day and age of superb metal workers and the wide availability of sweet tools that somebody would be making skirts like Mr. Jones did. We can wish right? E
OG lil E, I tried to talk the owner of this 56 Ford convert, into letting me make him a set of needle nose bubble skirts for his car, in steel, of course. But some guys have no imagination, he insisted on keeping his boring Cruiser skirts.
I was able to dredge up this one photo. It doesn't show the rear skirts well, but they are flush-fit, with visible attaching hardware around the perimeter (Zoom in), and consume practically the entire bottom of the rear quarter panel.
What a beautiful and elegant custom in those early pics. That new paint job looks a bit sad compared to the original version. Also notice the fat plastic steering wheel....
How could anyone see that as an improvement? If you didn't know the history or had seen the car in it's heyday then that might be ok, but the color change is awful. Sent from my LGL158VL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I see the Name Jimmy Jones and fender skirts being tossed around ... I just posted some pictures over on the other thread and in this one Jimmy Jones and his skirts are talked about ....just saying..... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
LOL I must be one of those guys as I despise bubble skirts. There is not a single car I have seen them on that I think they make look better.
You had to see this car I person, it was stunning. I was gonna post this picture(also taken at a Last Pass show) later but after seeing what it looks like today, I want you to remember how good it looked back then.
The Jalopy Journal
