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

What Ever Happened To..........? number 232.

1952 Ford "Sun Kissed"
Owners: Ed and Marlene Rahm
Toledo, Ohio

This week's custom is another one of those cars that I seem to remember seeing more in magazines and videos, but my research didn't turn up very much. I'm hoping that you custom faithful out there will recall more than I could find.
Things came into place on this custom back when I got my copy of the first KKOA book (1993). Ed and Marlene Rahm's wild '52 Ford was on page 155. I admit it isn't a great picture as far as showing off the custom modifications to the car, but the description tells of the enormous amount of work that went into it. Some folks have the unique gift of doing some kind of modification to a car that makes it easy to identify, even if you only catch a glimpse of the car. For this Ford, the modifications of the sunken grille cavity surrounding the DeSoto grille makes this a true one of a kind. Then you add the neat stacked quad headlights and you have a unique front end treatment that will more than likely never be confused for another sled.



I found the Rahm's Ford on the 1992 Leadsled Spectacular video shot in Holland, Michigan. It was there that we get to see the car in color, even though they are fuzzy video stills. We finally get to see "in living color" the bright red finish with the darker red fade along the bottom. You will also notice that the top on this '52 was hammered pretty heavily. I bet it was hard to see out of while cruising, but I'm sure the cool factor and look of the car made it all worth it!



A close up shot of the grille opening shows the intricate way the grille was framed with sheet metal stood on end to give the grille and the headlights their own little compartments. This type of detail sets certain cars apart from the rest. The amount of work to do this must have taken hours!



Moving around to the rear you can see how the rear quarters were re-worked and '59 Caddy taillights were worked in. This might look like no big deal, but if you look at the extended quarters you see how they look flat. The rear of a '52 Ford is very round at the fender tops to hold the round taillights. Again, a ton of work.



When I first saw the rear of this car, I thought that maybe Checker rear quarters were grafted in, cut at an angle on the back end and the taillight surrounds were tilted forward and then the trim was molded in. I'm sure I'm way off, but you have to admit there is some resemblance. Well, maybe not.



A closer look at the rear shows how much the rear quarters were extended. It almost looks like a Ed was throwing around the idea of installing a Connie kit, but changed his mind. I also like the way the rear bumper was split and then frenched into the rear sheet metal. If you read the text under the picture of the Rahm's car from the KKOA book, you will have seen that the bumper is from a Mustang! I know Mustangs are taboo around here, but I love to see people cut parts up off of other cars (even newer ones) and put them to use on a custom. Best use of a Mustang bumper ever!



As wild as this car was, I only found it on the '92 video and in the first KKOA book. I've been holding out on posting it as I've been searching my archives looking for more on this car. Well, after all these months of searching and coming up with almost nothing, I decided to put the Rahm's wild Ford out here and see what you guys know about it. Seeing that the Rahms were from the Toledo, Ohio area, I would think that many of you out there might have seen this car at the James Dean area runs, or the many different Leadsled Spectaculars that have been in Ohio over the years. I know someone out there has more on this cool custom, so let's see what you got!
I see that people on the custom side of the HAMB have been buzzing a little bit about "Lead Ain't Dead". It's starting to sound like it will be a big deal, and of course a real good time. I've been toying with the idea of going, but my un-HAMB friendly Merc has developed a few minor problems that are no big deal, but getting it all done in time seems doubtful. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Like most of you out there, the fact that most of the great events this summer were cancelled have me itchin' to go somewhere before that nasty cold white stuff starts flyin' around again. Whew, the summer just flew by!
Well, I guess I'd better get back at it. I have some wiring issues to tackle. Have a great week and a fun weekend. I'll see you next week! E

 

@OG lil E In the scan from the KKOA book it states rear quarters are 1953 Mercury.

 

Thanks @Sancho. Sometimes I have a knack for missing the obvious. Too much going on at once I guess (lol)! E

 

In 1958 I took this photo at the National Drags in Oklahoma City. I've often wondered what happened to this car as I never saw any photos of it again. I'm sure I would have known it because of the unique taillight treatment and much smaller 51 rear window. Anyone recognize it?

 

That’s a great looking Merc right there! I’ve never seen any pics on it before

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 233.

1957 Chevy "Scarlet Lady"
Owner: Pat Shaw
Longmont, Colorado

This week's custom is one that I've had on the back burner for quite a while. I was holding out for a few more photos, but due to the fact that we found out from Roger Jetter (@40StudeDude) recently that Pat passed away sometime in 2018, I felt that it was time to post this car, not only because it is super cool, but as a tribute to Mr. Shaw.
As you all know, I have many video tapes and DVDs of the KKOA shows, that I'm always watching. The show series that I have the most videos for is the Leadsled Spectacular, but there are some holes in the collection, meaning there are certain years I have no video of. My collection starts with the Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio in 1983, and goes from there. I am yet to find any video from the first two Spectaculars, Number 1 from Wichita, Kansas in 1981, and Number 2 from Des Moines, Iowa in 1982. Thankfully the magazine world covered the first two shows quite extensively and I have a nice group of magazines with lots of coverage in them.
It was in these magazines where I found Pat's '57 at the show. Funny, according to my research he only attended the show in Des Moines in '82. I found no other video or magazine pictures of the car there any other year. That doesn't mean that Pat didn't go to the show any other years, I just have no proof he was there.
His '57 must have made quite an impression on the magazine folks, as I did find good coverage on it. Pat's '57 was on the cover of one of my personal favorite magazines of all time, Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 1 Number 5 from 1983. I've mentioned before that I bought this magazine off of the newsstand when it first came out, and I've managed to hang on to it all these years. It is an excellent issue!



The '57 was also on page 60 in the same issue in their Leadsled Spectacular coverage. Those early Spectaculars were the best! Wish I could have attended one way back then!



I also found a few pictures of Pat's car online. This first picture was found on Rikster's site in the Scott Pavey Collection.



The next picture I found here on the HAMB quite some time ago. I don't know who posted the picture, or who took it, but it is a cool shot of the '57 under the infamous KKOA Leadsled Spectacular sign. I take a picture under the same sign of whatever car I happen to drive every year at the Spectacular. It is a fun tradition.



Being that Pat was from Longmont, I remember seeing the '57 at a number of cruise nights throughout the 80s. Most of these sightings were before I had my driver's license, so when I would see the car it was when I was cruising around with my folks. My Dad was always up for stopping and checking out "the oldies" as he used to call them, and grabbing a burger or an ice cream cone or something. One place that we were always driving by was called "At the Hop". It was a tiny, and I mean tiny drive-in style restaurant up on the south end of Federal Boulevard. The place was a real throwback to the 50s with car hops on roller skates, neon lighting and a small stage for live bands to play at cruise nights. When there was no band playing, 50s and early 60s rock 'n' roll and doo wop was playing over the speakers around the parking lot. I loved that place. Like I said, the only bad thing was it was too small. It seemed like it would only hold around 20 cars or so, but I've read it holds 40. It would fill up fast, so people would park all around at other businesses that were closed, or even in the parking lot of Sheridan High School across Federal. I saw a handful of great customs there during our stops. I remember seeing Roger and Dan Jetter's "Hint of Mint" there long before the restore. I also got to check out Donn Lowe's awesome Ford shoebox as well as Pat's '57. Incidentally, "At the Hop" went out of business long ago, but the building is still there. Now it's a little diner that never seems to be open. Still looks pretty much the same though.
You can imagine my thrill when I found this picture in a KKOA Leadsled'er. Before I continue on, there's one thing I have to say that drives me crazy about the KKOA news letters. Over the years the name of it as well as the format has changed. No big deal, progress marches forward. But, for some reason, some issues will have only have a volume and issue number, and there will be no publishing year anywhere. It makes it very hard to figure out when certain pictures were taken. I've even found a few issues with the same volume and issue number, but they are different issues with different covers and contents. I've managed to sort through them for the most part and figure it out, but it can get complicated. On the plus side, the newsletters from the early days were so great in the fact that they have a small town newspaper feel. The advertisements, artwork, show coverage and stories are great! I can lose myself in a little 25 page booklet for hours. I've learned so much from reading them! Kudos to Mike (@LOST ANGEL) once again! Ok, sorry, back to Mr. Shaw. Here is a picture from the KKOA Leadsled'er Volume 3 Number 4 on page 23. As best as I can figure out, this issue was from 1983.



I've mentioned before that one of the last times I remember seeing the "Scarlet Lady" was at the big "super cruise" they used to have up north in the town of Lafayette. In those days a Sonic Drive-In was built that seemed to be all alone out in the middle of nowhere. There were fields all around it that rods and customs would come from miles away and fill up. It was great as long as the weather was dry. If not, the field was a terrible mudhole. The "super cruise" went on for a few years, and then the land around the Sonic got filled up with other businesses and restaurants and the cruise quietly went away.
Anyway, it seems like I saw the Chevy out there in the summer of '87 of '88. The car was a standout with the bright red paint. Now if you go back to the picture of the car from the Leadsled'er, you can see a name on the lower front quarter panel, and some pinstripe work on the trunk. I don't recall seeing the custom striping on the car, so this makes me think my sighting at the Lafayette cruise might have been a different location and was years earlier. It seems as I get older, all the sharp details I remember from long ago aren't as sharp as they used to be and are starting to fade some. Getting older sucks.
I'm sorry to report that I have never been able to find a nice shot of the rear of the Chevy. The '60 Chrysler taillights are a natural for tri-five Chevys, especially the '56 and '57. I'm hoping that one of you custom faithful out there has a nice shot of the back of Pat's car, as the back was one of the best features of the car.
In doing this thread I've learned a lot through research, as well as from everyone's insightful posts. We've also learned of the passing of many of our custom elders and this is the bummer part of this whole thing. Like I mentioned a short while back, when you see those older folks sitting at a show or cruise night, walk up and make some conversation. You won't regret it. Remember, we're not going to be here forever. In closing, I want to pass along a belated rest in peace to Mr. Shaw, and condolences to his family and close friends. I'm sure he is missed..........
One last thing this evening. I want to wish all of you out there that are hitting the highway to Dewey for "Lead Ain't Dead" a safe trip. The weather decided to throw a wrench in things here in Denver. As I sit here writing this there is a dusting of snow on the grassy areas and the trees, with more expected to fall over night. I know fall and winter are right around the corner, but this is a little too soon. It's still summer for goodness sake! Anyway, have fun and take lots of pictures to share with us poor suckers that just couldn't get away this time to be at the show.
'Til next week, stay cool! E

 

Hot Rod May of 85.

 

That's a great shot, Jim, thanks for sharing!

Ok custom faithful, answer me this: When is the last time you saw a chopped '55, '56 and '57 Chevy (all customs) all together at one time? Maybe not even parked together, but all at the same show? Been a while hasn't it? The old KKOA days were the best! E

 

I also wonder where my friend's chopped Merc ended up after he sold it. We drove it from Redondo Beach, CA to Oklahoma City, OK in 1958 to attend the National Drags. That's where I took the photo of the chopped Merc above ...

 

Thanx for the mention OG lil E...FWIW, not only did Pat build the red '57 Chevy, he also built a blue '57 Chevy hardtop and a '57 convertible. The blue '57 also had a name altho at this time my memory fades but the car was driven to many rod runs around the area. The convertible was short-lived...Pat had modified the front end and had modified the dash and if I remember correctly, it was painted yellow...!!! For unknown reasons, months after I saw the car, Pat re-did the kustom and put it back to original and sold it...don't know where the car ended up.

Pat was a great builder, a great kustom oriented guy, a great friend and hot rodder…

R-

 

Wish I knew where that Merc ended up. It has always been one of my favorites. The flame/scallop job is the best!

 

We need to get our two best H.A.M.B. detectives on the case. Paging @Sancho & @PasoJohn to the front desk.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

It looks like it had some kind of clear plastic over the license plate and I can't tell what state it's from. I wish I could find a photo of the front too.

 

Here's another photo from OKC in 1958. A custom P/U sitting near the chopped Merc. Wonder if this one is still around ...

 

Just went to a friends estate auction a couple weeks ago. Bought a box of magazines. In it was a Trend Book no 156. Custom Cars 1958 Annual. Pages 118 and 119. Pre chopped.

 

What a great find. Thanks for posting the pre chopped photos. I wonder what they added to the front of the roof when they chopped it. Looks like some kind of scoop. Did they also chop the stacks so they didn't stick up above the roof?

I think the chop looks great. Does anyone know where is it now?

 

Austinrod, I'm probably just a little slow, but I can't figure out what the last 3 posts you made have to do with this particular thread.

Mick

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 234.

1950 Mercury
Owner: Burt Zwibel
Fairfax, Virginia

This week's custom is one that I'm sure many will recognize and lots more pictures and information will be brought up.
The first time I saw it was on the 1987 Sled Scene East video. On that video Rowdie didn't have any girls doing interviews, he just had the owner of the car talking to the camera. Here is a picture of Burt Zwibel "hisself" conducting the interview:



There is some great footage of the car on the video. As I researched this car, I noticed some changes over the years that I'll point out in a bit. According to Burt, the car was supposedly built by the Barris brothers in 1959 or 1960. Whoever built it chopped the heck out of it as it was chopped a whopping 8 inches in back and 5 in front. Here are two shots that show how heavily it was chopped. Note the frenched antenna in the front fender.





The car appeared to be a kandy orange or persimmon. It featured a '55 or '56 Chrysler grille and had a rolled front pan.



The rear of the car also featured a rolled pan with the stock taillights being molded. The trunk was shaved, but strangely enough, the fuel filler door was retained.



For plenty of get up and go a Buick nailhead with tri-power was installed. The engine was nicely detailed with plenty of chrome, paint and polish. You'll notice the A/C compressor. Air conditioning is a must on a car with windows this small. Cruising in the summer without it would be murder!





Moving to the interior is a neutral black and white tuck'n'roll pattern on the seat and door panels. A white vinyl wrapped steering wheel matches pretty well, as well as black and white teardrop knobs.





Burt must have really enjoyed Sled Scene East as he was a regular there for many years. He was there in '87 (as mentioned above), as well as in '91, '92 and '94. He may have been there other years, but I don't have videos for '88-'90. I do have a DVD for '93, but I didn't see the Merc on that one.
The only year I saw Burt's Merc at the Leadsled Spectacular was in 1992 in Holland, Michigan. 1992 was a good year for the show as many, many cars attended that year. The next batch of video stills were from '92.
Here you'll notice a good amount of changes from the '87 pictures. The first thing you'll notice is that the car is no longer the tone of orange it was at Sled Scene East in 1987. It now appears to be kandy brandywine or something similar with very subtle pearl ghost flames on the front of the car. Also, the '55/'56 Chrysler grill is long gone, replaced with a '59 Imperial grille. The front turn signal assemblies were also eliminated. I'm guessing they were hidden in the grill shell opening somewhere.





The car also had Barris crests added to the front fenders.



Moving to the rear of the car the only big changes I could see were that the exhaust exits through the bumper instead of underneath. I'm sure this gave Burt a lot more clearance when pulling into parking lots or driveways.



The interior looked to be the same:



And the nailhead was still humming right along.



I did manage to come across a few good photos from the internet. This first one I think may have come from the "Kustom Blues" thread, but I can't recall who posted it. This is the best shot I found.



The last shot I have was also from the "Kustom Blues" thread. This one was posted by @PasoJohn. I believe this picture was from the same show (wherever it was) as both pictures have the sign laying on the ground in front of the car. I know it's hard to tell, but it looks like the frenched antenna that was on the driver's side fender is gone that was there in '87. Also, one last change I noticed was the Olds Fiesta spinners from '87 were changed somewhere along the line to a set of four bar flippers.



After the '94 Sled Scene East video I didn't find anymore on the '50. I do seem to remember seeing it in someone's show coverage somewhere here on the HAMB in the last handful of years. I didn't have any luck trying to find that information as the HAMB is becoming a huge place to search for certain things. Maybe one of our resident "kustom detectives" will be able to remember what I'm talking about.
Virginia has always been as kustom hotspot. Some of the great custom builders have come from there. Guys like Sonny Daout, Doug Fox (r.i.p.) and Jack Peed (r.i.p.) just to name a few. There must be something good in the water out there, huh?Let's hope that Burt and his awesome '50 Merc are still hitting the roads to shows and cruise nights and having fun!
I mentioned last week we got our first snowfall of the season, and you can definitely feel fall in the air, especially in the morning and at night. We have just one week of summer left. Enjoy it, as the fall and winter always seem like an eternity, at least to me..........
Take care out there! See you next fall! E

 

@OG lil E , I found this after a fast search. I edited out the number, address and email even though it's all public information on the website where I found it. I'm not sure how old this information is as there are listings on there for clubs I know have been defunt for awhile.

@Moriarity & @lurker mick , Thank You for finally saying it!

 

I took the liberty of emailing Mr. Zwibel and he got back to me within a couple hours. I had sent him a link to this weeks post after explaining to him how it works. Here is his reply -

 

Very cool, @John B! Good to hear Burt is still with us. Looks like I have some editing to do. I misspelled his name. E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 235.

1956 Ford Crown Victoria "Just a Dream"
Owner: Walt Keifer
? ? ? ? ?, New Jersey

Those of you that have been following along with this thread all this time may notice that I've featured quite a number of '55 and '56 Fords. There are a few reasons for that. The first one being is I really like them. Ever since my friend Mitch bought one a number of years back and started on the custom trail with it. In a weak moment he sold it and I'm sure he regrets it to this day! The other reason is that in the custom renaissance days of the late 70s and throughout the 80s, there were a ton of them. At KKOA shows I think the only cars that outnumbered them were the '49-'51 Mercurys. I could be wrong on that stat, but if you watch videos and read old magazines, you can see they were very popular. I don't know what has happened in recent years as you don't seem to see them as much. Maybe they are becoming more collectible (a.k.a valuable) so you see less of them "cut up". The other could be the price of them as the price of all old cars is getting ridiculous.
This week's car is one I've been tracking for quite sometime, and information on it has been scarce. It doesn't help that it is one of the most popular colors for this make and model, the turquoise blue and white. It seems like most '55/'56 Ford sleds are this color. Then you add the east coast look of bubble skirts, a Connie kit and other add-ons and they all start to look alike. Nonetheless, I still like them and would love to own one someday.
Being from New Jersey, I'm sure Walt was a regular at big east coast shows like Lead East. I'm sorry to say I have very little Lead East video, so I can't report on attendance of many cars there. I'd also venture a guess that he cruised on down to Sled Scene East a time or two, but I didn't see his '56 there on any of my videos. The only time I saw Mr. Keifer's Ford at a KKOA show was at the 1993 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. There was some great footage of the car there. It had all the usual custom touches that make us love these cars so much.



One of the best mods on these Fords is the addition of a '54 Chevy grille. Walt must have collected '54 Chevy grille teeth for years as he filled up the grille bar with a whopping 19 teeth! So tuff!



Out back he has the fairly rare '56 Mercury wagon taillights, and one of my favorite additions (although not always popular here on the HAMB), a Connie kit. I guess my affection for them came from my great uncle Paul. He had a '55 Crown Victoria with a Continental kit from new until the mid 70s. It was pink and white. He used to drive it over to visit the family and I would sit in the driveway and stare at the car. I loved it!
The other reason is because my Dad also had a car with one on it. It was a mild custom '58 Mercury. I was very young at the time, but even then I just loved the "weirdness" of it. It even had the push button transmission controls. They always reminded me of the "satellite" jukebox controls at the tables of Pizza Hut restaurants. Ah, the good ol' days! Anyway, what a sled either of those cars would make today!



Walt had an artist paint a tribute to Marilyn Monroe on his. I know this is trendy and has fallen out of favor, but I like it. To be honest, you don't see much of this type of thing anymore. I say the reason for that is the guys that were kids in the 50s and liked these cars, Connie kits, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis are all getting up in years and we are losing them all too frequently. Sad..........



Even with a few of the add-ons, Walt built the car as a custom. The hood, trunk and door handles were shaved, the headlights were molded and a pair of frenched antennas were added below the passenger side quarter window.



Moving to the inside, turquoise vinyl with white tuck'n'roll were the order of the day. Never get tired of seeing that. On a side note, was there ever a more beautiful back seat area than on a Ford Crown Victoria? The way the rear tray "waterfalls" down to meet the seat is true art. Kudos to whoever designed that part of these cars! It makes you wonder how Ford could build these cars and sell them. It seems like they should've lost money on every one!





Under the hood there was plenty of engine to move the Ford down the freeway. Lots of nice paint and detail, and some of the coolest valve covers ever produced! I wonder what the story was behind painting the engine pink?



I've had the information posted above on Walt's Ford for quite sometime. I did find a picture in a book or magazine of the car with Walt's name under it, but somehow it got lost in the shuffle. When I decided to write about this car (I try to get cars lined up to write about at least a week before the Tuesday night feature)I couldn't find that last picture. I searched for almost a week and never did find what book or magazine that picture was in. I usually stop what I'm doing and scan a picture important to one of these feature cars when I find it, but somehow that picture fell through the cracks. If I run across it again I'll post it. That picture was the only way I knew Walt's name. Funny thing is, on that caption his last name was spelled Kifer.
Luckily, a few weeks back, HAMBer @demmel posted a few pictures of an east coast car show in 1985 on the "Kustom Blues" thread. I just love those east coast pictures. I eat them up with a spoon! I almost fell out of my chair when he posted up two great pictures of Walt's car at that show. I must mention what a show that was! Almost every car in each picture was a "famous" car that I recognized from old magazines or books, and quite a few of them we've covered right here in this thread. That just goes to show you leadsleds are forever!
In demmel's description of the pics, he wrote that Walt's last name was Keifer, so I would imagine that is the correct spelling of Walt's last name. Demmel knew a lot of the names of the car owners in the pictures, so I'd say his knowledge of these people and these cars is correct. Of course, we can always do a little editing if a mistake is made (lol)! So I have to give a big shout out and thank you to @demmel for these great pics! At least you get to see some decent pictures of this beautiful sled and not just my grainy TV freeze stills.





And that is the end of my "information road" on tonight's custom. What ever became of Mr. Keifer and his beautiful Ford better known on the east coast as "Just a Dream"? I know that many of you attended shows back east and saw many, many cars over the years. Let's hope some of our custom faithful that reside on the eastern side of our great country will chime in and give us the latest on Walt and the '56.
It's here. The first day of fall. The whole cooler air, leaf changing and the thoughts of snowfall not-too-far-behind thing really puts me in a down mood. I'm a summer time person, and to me every fall is literally "The Death of a Summer". It is a beautiful time of year, but the thought of winter coming just makes it hard for me to enjoy autumn. I hope you enjoy fall more than I, but at least the weather is still good enough to do some cruisin' before we have to put up our toys for the winter.
For now, it's fall, so go have a ball! See you next week! E

 

#235 ... some additional photos I took at Monmouth Park NJ

 

IIRC, Walt was NJ customizer, Bob Nitti's cousin!

 

I see the engine block is no longer pink, assuming that the pics are later than the video stills. Cool car! Thanks for bringing all of these unsung kustoms to our attention @OG lil E

 

#234 Video stills 1994 Lead East Parsippany NJ, "Barris Brothers Celebration" among the cars Beach Boys 32, Batmobile #3?, Hirohata Merc Clone - Jack Walker, , The Aztec primer/roller - Barry Mazza, Bob Nitti going over All the details explaining that Bob Hirohata made Rear Lenses will still there..., The Modern Grecian in pink primer - Norman Arbour, Paisano Brother's 41 Buick- Barry Mazza, Barris Villa Riviera 63 Buick in Blue - Bill Ryan, 41 Ford convertible - Doug Thompson, and Burt Zwibel 50 Merc. George and Sam's son John were in attendance (RIP both). This was the best LE IMO.

 

Its in okc still his son has it

 

Thanks for chiming in chopolds! As one of the great east coast customizers it is always nice to hear your input as you are one of those guys that was there and have a wealth of knowledge to share! E

No problem Bill, thanks for hanging around! E

Thanks for the update Okie Bubs. Glad to hear that "Brown Sugar" is still around and is in good hands! E

Thanks for the great pics @demmel! Lead East is one of those events I've always wanted to go to, but it is a universe away from Denver. Unfortunately, like so many shows, the best days of that show may be behind us. I've heard that the show has changed and their focus isn't customs as much as it used to be.
I guess that's just one more reason for us to cherish "the good ol' days"! E