Just some extra info Ralph's Mercury, it was built out of an abandon parts car. He had a friend that was building a Merc and he had used everything that he could. the guy had it ready to go to the scrap pile and Ralph spoke up and saved it. That is why the body line fades into the rear quarters. If you look at my Rod & Custom magazine picture you can see all of the cuts it took to make something out of it...
No problem Mick! You summed up Ralph very well--he was truly one of a kind. I'll admit that I've lost a few close friends or members of our kustom family over the years and it is tough, so I really know where you're coming from. Sometimes the edgy customs and their builders are the most fun to be around. Most people like this are very down to earth and love the lifestyle. It isn't just a weekend get-away-from-it-all type of thing. One other kat like this that comes to mind is the late Joe "The Fonz" Carloni. Sadly, guys like these are leaving us at a rapid pace. You rarely see customs cruising the streets of Denver anymore, and seeing something like one of the Schindel's sleds rolling down the freeway would be a treat for these eyes! You were so lucky to roll with the Schindels Mick, as I've seen numerous pictures of the whole gang out on the road. I miss the days when I could cruise with my late friends Charlie or Teddy or many other guys that have either passed on or gotten away from the hobby. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, like heading to a car show or cruise night or just a night at the bowling alley with a group of about half a dozen sleds or more. It causes a stir everywhere you go! People out 'n' about love it! It is so much fun! So those of you out there that still have an active club or a small tight knit group of like minded car guys or friends that do this type of thing, CHERISH IT! None of us knows how long it will last--here today, gone tomorrow. I'll close with this. My late friend Teddy passed away just a month shy of four years ago. I think of him everyday and I miss him like you can't believe. He always had a saying that I must have heard him say a thousand times. He would say to me, "Nephew, you're living in a time of magic but you don't even know it!" I never really knew what he meant until after he was gone. You think about the times when you and your buddies are working on a car for days and the project doesn't seem to go anywhere, but it was always time well spent. Or, you are on the road going to a car show and get lost. After many extra miles, U-turns, direction stops and so on you get to your destination and you end up having a ball. That was "the magic" Teddy was talking about. These are the things you will always remember even after a close custom friend has left us for those pearly gates. Try to remember, customs are awesome--and we all know that, but it really is about the people! Take care of each other guys! I'm out! E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 181. 1954 Ford "The Wanderer" Owners: Bob and Rosie Lindeman Dodgeville, Wisconsin I don't really know how it happened, but this is the third week in a row that the featured custom is from Wisconsin. Well, why change something if it's working? Besides, there have been some great customs from "America's Dairyland", so on we go! This week's custom is a car that I'm sure went to the Leadsled Spectacular somewhere along the line, but after searching my DVDs and video tapes literally for years, I'm yet to see it there. I discovered the car on Action Video's 7th Annual Sterling/Rock Falls Custom and Lowrider Car Show DVD. This show took place from July 22-24, 1988. I've mentioned this show many times and it was one of the great unknown shows out there. This car cruised into an old A & W Drive In the opening night of the show. It sat very low with lots of mild custom touches such as shaved door handles and trunk, Olds taillights, cruiser skirts and a '58 Buick grille. It also had "The Wanderer" lettered on the trunk with a rose painted on it as well. The thing that really stood out was the fact that the car had the infamous glass top. The car was seen numerous times on the video, but collecting information on it was slow going. Finally after watching the DVD umpteen times, I found a little information on it. The owners of the car were in line to participate in the flame throwing competition they had at the show. As the car rolled on to the concrete to do it its thing, the deejay calling the competition said the car was a '54 Ford. Just as he was going to mention the owner's names, it seems the tape was dubbed there and the scene jumped slightly. So, just like a few weeks ago when Courtney Church and his '57 Chevy were on the same DVD going on to the concrete pad for the muffler rapping contest, the name here was unable to be heard just like before. You couldn't hear the names, but you could hear the deejay mention the car was from Madison, Wisconsin and was a member of Klassic Kruisers Car Club. The car threw flames like a champ, as many of the participants did. The DVD never said who the winners of the competition were. One of my favorite parts of this DVD was the cruise out to the lake on Sunday morning for the awards and closing ceremonies. Video Bob was video taping the cars out of the large sunroof in his van as they drove by. There were many memorable shots taken on that cruise, and this week's last picture was one from that last leg of the show where everyone was headed to the lake. Unfortunately my hunt for magazine information, internet pictures or any other information on this neat Ford came up empty. This one might be nearly impossible to find more information on unless someone out there is (was) a faithful Wisconsin sledder like @a990hemi or @drdave, or someone knew who the owners were. Hopefully more information comes up. Well gang, that's all for this week. Here we are right up on the front side of the Labor Day holiday. Pretty much the unofficial end of summer. Where did it go? I hope you all have time to relax and enjoy time with family and friends and hit a car show or cruise somewhere in your neck of the woods. Have a great Labor Day! See you next week! E
In reference to Labor Day, let me take this opportunity to thank you again @OG lil E for all the labor you put into this thread. It really is a highlight of my week and you will never know how much enjoyment I get trying to track these "lost" kustoms down. Thanks again friend, and here's to MANY more!
I remember the '54 Ford glass top and it's owner, but unfortunately, I can not recall his name. He was a young man and that was unusual for the Klassic Kruisers C.C. at that time.
Here, here!! Can't help on this week's car, though....I've got nothing. While I attended a few shows when I went back and visited family and friends a few summers, I had moved out of the state and was an Arkansan by '84.
dragging this one back up from a couple weeks ago. I was in high school in Derby Ks 1988 to 1990 when I met Doug. I had a 1950 Meadowbrook 4 door, so I lusted after his car BAD. The car was pink primer (leftovers from the panther pink '55 Dodge, mixed with light gray) when we met, and went again to red oxide shortly after. I rode with him in the car to the 1990 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in Holland Michigan. it had a 318/904, and a Ford 8". Mustang floor shifter, Tan fake tuck n roll vinyl upholstery on stock seats. I remember the car had been wired entirely in yellow wire, and the ball point pen-on-masking tape wire labels were impossible to read. It had a hidden starter button in hole in the bracket on the dash that the original column shifter tube went through. When I knew the car, the headlights were moulded Chrysler Cordoba, and the taillights were semi-tunneled originals. When I graduated he offered to sell me the car, but I couldn't come up with the money. I've lusted after one ever since. I've owned 4 or 5 '50 Wayfarers, finally chopped one in 2006. The rest is a long story for another thread. As for Doug's car - last I knew was like 1991. He traded it to a local guy that louvered the hood and painted it white, with flames. EDIT : I read on in the thread after I posted, and saw the 2017 pic. It looked the same as the last time I saw it, except for the previously mentioned white with flames paint job.
All of you that frequent this thread know about the tight knit circle of custom family and friends that we are, as well as the great websites we use to find pictures and information about these great customs that we are all so crazy about. About a year ago Mr. George McDowell passed away. He was the owner of one of the greatest picture and information websites ever known called carnut.com. He was an all around good guy and his passing was a great loss to the car community. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/sad-news-george-mcdowell-passed-away.1117871/ Well, it took just over a year, but it looks like the carnut website is gone. I got online this morning to do some research and I tried to plug in his site and got some NFL ticket outlet website. I hope this is just a temporary thing and that we haven't lost one of the great picture archives on the web. This is definitely going to put a big kink in my personal research for this thread as well as others. I'm so bummed..........E
^^^^ .... good call. Also, someone may be monitoring his Facebook. Link here : >> https://m.facebook.com/george.c.mcdowell No clue how this legacy aspect Peter's out, in so far as possibly taking over a website, but stranger things have happened. GoFundMe, permissions, living wills giving way to final will and testaments, family okays ... who knows. Reach out and see. I imagine that catalog of web space, won't be free ... but no clue, how its setup.
Man, I didn't know about George passing away. Bummer the website is gone, but that's to be expected I guess after the domain and hosting payments slip by. Wish there was a way to recover the stuff and get it back up online.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 182. 1957 Chevy "Stray Cat" Owner: Chris Hansen Burnsville, Minnesota This week's custom is another that I've been chasing information on for sometime. I have a little on it, but I can't confirm if it's accurate or not. I'm hoping that some of our custom faithful in and around Minnesota (@Moriarity, @PasoJohn, etc.) can fill in the blanks for us. According to my research, this '57 first appeared at the 1985 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. Matter of fact, it's in the first few minutes of Rowdie's video that year. This '57 cruised through the gates and then made a U-turn and parked by the entrance. A moment later a second wild and chopped '57 Chevy flipped a U-turn as well and pulled up along side. It was none other that Charlie Edwards' '57 known as "Ghetto Cruiser" from Lexington, Kentucky that was W.E.H.T. #87. I must say that those two wild chopped '57s sitting side by side looked pretty cool! The pink '57 was shown a few times on the video. On a few of the shots you can see that the car has Minnesota license plates. Also, you can see two club plaques under the rear bumper. Even though the video is very grainy and got worse when the VCR was paused, one plaque looked like a KKOM (Kustom Kemps of Minnesota) plaque, but you could definitely tell the other plaque was a Minnesota Choppers plaque. More on that later. The car had a radical chop and some folks might say just a tad too much, but really, how many chopped '57s do we get to see nowadays? It would be nice to see many more tri-fives in the radical custom class these days, huh? The car had a great look with wire wheels, '54 Chevy grille, molded lakes and all the other goodies. Then you add the bright color choice of pink and you're the most noticed car on the boulevard! The next time I saw the car was on the 1989 Leadsled Spectacular video from Davenport, Iowa. The only change that I could see was the addition of scallops in darker pink. I tried to get pictures of it but they were so blurred out on pause that they weren't worth showing. Sorry about that. After the '89 sighting, I found nothing more on this car. After seeing the Minnesota Choppers plaque on this car, I dug deeper to see if I could come up with anything more on who owned this car. The Minnesota Choppers are still a very active club, even though many of their members are unable to participate with the club anymore due to age. Also, like most larger clubs, there is a fair amount of members that have passed on. The Minnesota Choppers website has a lot of great pictures and information about their members and their cars. There is a list of members that tells the member's name and what car(s) they had as well as where they were from. The only time the member's car wasn't listed is if the member was listed as "deceased". Sad to see so many gone. I scrolled through the member list and the only member that had a '57 Chevy 2 door listed was a guy named Chris Hansen of Burnsville, Minnesota. Incidentally he was listed as member #45 and it showed he joined the club in August of '84. There are no pictures of the '57 on the site, but the time frame all works. I know this is vague, but this is all the information I could come up with on this one. I hope the facts are somewhat accurate, if not, fill us in! I hope everyone had a nice holiday. So much for Summer 2019.......... Until next Tuesday, cruise while you can! E
Yup, his name was Chris Hansen. He was a member of KKOM as was I and we would often cruise as a club to the KKOA events . This shot shows our cars in front of the sign at the 85 Springfield show. Chris’s 57 is on the far end of this shot
The car is alive and well and unchanged. It shows up occasionally at the Goodguys event in Des Moines Iowa. I`d post some pic`s but the darn scanner is not jiving with my laptop. EEERRRR.
Super pics, Mark! Thanks so much for sharing. So many familiar cars in those pics from "the good ol' days"! Cool to see Chris' '57 sitting by your old '55. I'll update the header on this week's "What Ever Happened To..........?" since we now know for sure who the owner was (is). E Still looks the same, wow! Do you know if Chris is still the owner? I know you're a very patient man Jim, but I'm waiting for the day I hear your computer and all its related equipment gets a flying lesson out of a window in your house (lol)! E
I have a positive ID on the 80s era owner of "The Wanderer" 1954 Ford glass top. Dirtbag Bob, of Madison, WI and his ol' lady Rosie were members of the Klassic Kruisers C.C. and Dirtbag Bob worked as an upholsterer at Phil Iterbide's Ace Auto Upholstery. A senior member of the klub filled me in on the history of the glass top and some of Dirtbag's crazy shenanigans at cruise night last night. The '54 Ford was a low mileage, original green paint with cream colored top survivor quality car out of Oklahoma when Dirtbag Bob kustomized it. It had radical crushed velour diamond pleat interior that Phil n Dirtbag Bob did in house. The Klassic Kruisers attended a lowrider / kustom show in central Illinois where the highlight of the event was a drive by slow cruise where everybody was hopping and flamethrowing. Dirtbag Bob was all liquored up during the parade and decided to open his driver's side door so everyone could view his fresh crushed velour upholstery. Dirtbag Bob fell out his car while it was rolling and his ol' lady Rosie did not know and continued to wave at the paraders out of the passenger's side until the car came to a stop on the curb. Klassic!
Wow, what a story! If that happened today there would be big trouble! Has anybody learned the last name of Dirtbag Bob and his wife Rosie? I'd like to update the header on W.E.H.T. #181, but I really don't want to put down the owners as Dirtbag Bob and Rosie (lol)! E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 183. 1957 Lincoln Owners: Chuk and Jenny Nations Casper, Wyoming Those of you that have followed this thread for a long time will remember my mention of my old neighborhood and the cars that were around there back then. Back in W.E.H.T. #8 I mentioned how our next door neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Jordan had a sweet '59 Buick. You may also remember me mentioning my neighbor Mr. Paiz who was the sign painter with a neat four door Chevy (W.E.H.T. #171). Incidentally, Mr. Paiz lived just a few doors down from The Jordans. We also had another neighbor named Ray that I've never mentioned before. He was a strange reclusive man that had a really rundown yard surrounded by tall hedges (at least to a four year old kid). I remember his yard being full of finned Mopars. I loved to sneak into his yard and look at those cars. I had to sneak because he had a pit in his yard for working on cars. It was dug right into the ground and had crude cement walls. The steps to get down there were far apart so a small kid would have a tough time getting in and out of it. All the kids in the neighborhood were warned to stay out of there because of the dangerous pit, and the strange man named Ray. Even then I was fascinated by cars with fins. In late 1973 we moved from that neighborhood to another one. This is the place I grew up and my folks lived there until 1998. Like the other neighborhood, it was a barrio, but somewhat nicer than the old one. It was exciting to move to a new place. There were so many new things to see and places to explore. Not long after we moved there, I was riding my bike down the alley and I came across quite a few cars parked in back yards. One neighbor had an old late 40s GMC truck in their yard, but his next door neighbors had the cars I really liked. Parked in the back yard behind a fence blocking a long driveway were a pair of 1957 Lincoln Premiers. Both cars were two door hardtops and both were turquoise, the exception being one of the cars had a white top. I had never seen anything like them. I remember they looked to be in good condition, just neglected. They had lots of leaves on them from the tall cottonwood trees they were sharing the yard with. I also remember thinking how cool they looked with fender skirts, the look being made more dramatic since the cars had flat tires. They were practically sitting on the ground. I remember thinking to myself many times, I'm going to have one of these finned "shark cars" someday. One Saturday Dad and I were sorting old copper, insulated wire and other metals he was scrapping in the garage. Our garage had the big door to drive a car in facing the alley. After we were finished before we went into the house to watch "Tarzan" or any cowboys that were on television, I was able to talk him into walking down the alley with me to look at "those cool old shark cars". He agreed and we walked down the alley to the fence where the cars sat. My Dad had never noticed they were back there. Dad never went down the alley that direction so he never saw them. He was impressed that I found them, and even more impressed that I liked cars so old. I asked him what they were and that's when he told met me they were '57 Lincolns. I remember he added that when they were new you had to be a wealthy person to buy one. He went on to say that he hadn't seen one in years. I told him someday I would have one. He laughed and rubbed my head and said "Keep dreamin' hito and I believe one day you will!" The cars sat in that back yard for quite some time. I went down the alley almost every day to look over the fence at them. One day I took my daily trip down the alley to see the Lincolns and they were gone! I later found out the owners of the house and the cars had passed away and the Lincolns were carted off to the junkyard. I was heartbroken! If only I had been a little older maybe I could have talked them out of at least one of them. I think about those old Lincolns quite a bit to this day.......... Back in 2000 at the Leadsled Spectacular I remember seeing a yellow '55 Mercury Monterey from Wyoming. The car was a standout with it's bright yellow paint, 19 tooth '54 Chevy grille and cool scalloped Moon discs that floated. I was walking around the show with Charlie and we were checking out the Merc when Chuk Nations walked up. We all introduced ourselves and a friendship was born. You could tell Chuk was the real deal--he walked, talked, breathed and lived customs. Right off the bat he reminded me of Ralph Schindel (W.E.H.T. #180). I mentioned this to Charlie and he said they could almost be brothers! We talked to Chuk and his lovely wife Jenny all weekend and they made sure to invite us up to Casper to cruise with their club the "Ghost Town Cruisers". We told them we would try, but Casper is a long way from Denver. I remember how they laughed. (I'll come back to this later). About a year later Roger Jetter (@40StudeDude) gave me a call and told me that Chuk and Jenny Nations were having a run called "Night at the Drive-In". They were trying to get as many customs as they could to make the trip up to Fort Collins from Denver to meet at the Holiday Twin Drive-In. I told Roger I was in and I'd try to get as many guys to go as I could. I ended up convincing Charlie and Mitch to go, and a few other people said they would try and make it. All said about 25 cars showed up, with some of the Lonely Knights coming up from Colorado Springs. I remember Chuk and Jenny rolled in just after the boys from Springs. Charlie, Mitch and I were standing around talking when the Nations cruised up in their wild '57 Lincoln Premier. My jaw hit the dirt parking lot! What a ride! It must have showed as Chuk got out of the car and was greeting everyone when he got to me. He laughed and said, "I see you like my Lincoln, huh Ed?" I kinda stuttered and said "Yes, yes I do!" I was caught off guard by the awesome Lincoln and then the fact that Chuk remembered my name! He then went on to say "We've been waiting for you guys to get up north to Casper. You really need to come cruise with us!" This little gathering was one of the most memorable and fun car events I've ever been to. I don't know who brought it to the attention of the KKOA, but the event was mentioned in the Nov2001-Feb2002 Trendsetter with a photo credit. I rarely mention my Buick or post pictures of it, but there in black and white was my Buick, Mitch's Chrysler and Charlie's '58 Ranchero. A proud moment for the Metalflake Misfits! I did manage to take a few pictures of The Nations' cool Lincoln that night: The Lincoln looked great and showed no signs of wear. The nations drove their cars all over the place. When I mentioned above that the Nations laughed about Casper being a long way from Denver I understood why after this Drive-In run. It's about 223 miles from Casper to Fort Collins, then another 223 miles back. The Nations drove between 450 and 500 miles just for this little one night gathering. Dedication to be proud of! On Labor Day back in the early 2000s, Dave Pareso and the Lonely Knights used to host an informal cruise in/car show at Dave's shop in Colorado Springs called "Back Street Kustoms". This turned into one of our favorite events that we looked forward to every year, even though it only lasted for three or four years. On Labor Day 2002 we again made the trip to Colorado Springs for "Paint and Primer". I was thrilled to see Chuk and Jenny when we pulled in as well as the '57 Lincoln. Chuk smiled and again mentioned they were still waiting for us up in Casper. Later that day Charlie said we had a long drive back to Denver so we better get going. Chuk overheard and laughed about Denver being just a hop and a skip from Colorado Springs (about 60 miles). The Nations had 60 miles to Denver, then another 60-70 miles to Ft.Collins and then 223 miles to Casper! Those folks loved the highway! Luckily I always took my camera to shows and I caught a few more pics of the Lincoln: This next picture I'm posting is one of my favorites. I had to touch it up as I always had a problem with the camera handle cord getting in my pictures. If you look closely, you can see Chuk in his red KKOA colonel shirt talking to Charlie in his Ed "Big Daddy" Roth top hat. Jenny and another gal are sitting in the lawn chairs. You will also notice that Roger Jetter's old Studebaker, Dave Pareso's Studebaker pickup formerly owned by Ed Banes and Pareso's Merc in the orange flamed version are in the picture as well. A historical shot if I do say so myself (lol)! For some reason I don't think the Nations ever took the Lincoln to a Leadsled. Never saw it at any as best as I could remember. Internet pictures don't seem to exist of the car either. They did send the car into the KKOA and it was published in the second KKOA book on page 163. Sadly we lost Chuk on April 18, 2005 at the age of 60. I remember when Frank Lund (Colorado KKOA Colonel) called to tell me the news. Still gives me a heavy heart thinking about it all these years later. Thinking back on his loss, I regret that we never managed to make the trek up to Casper.......... After Chuk passed away I lost touch with Jenny. I never heard what happened to the Lincoln, the '55 Merc or their cool '53 Ford four door. They had a neat little collection. We'll see if anyone can provide some answers to What Ever Happened To..........? Chuk and Jenny Nations' cool customs. I hope everyone is well! Be sure to take care of each other! I'll catch y'all next week! E
I remember this car, but I don't have any pics or anything to ad but I just have to say, what a well written post this week Ed, Thanks for all you do here every week.....I hope you get yourself a 57 Lincoln, you deserve it!!
Thanks guys! It was fun to write, but it got to me a little bit. The Nations were great folks! I'm still keeping my fingers crossed about a '57 Lincoln! E
As someone else said, Chuk passed away. Jenny has the cars in their garage. None of them have been driven since Chuk died.
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