Good article Ryan. I have talked to Rod Powell thru e-mails and seems like a good guy. He sent me a pic of one of his old Mercs which I never saw before and obviously out of his personal collection. Of course I always like to draw his cars!I like what he said about clearcoats and making the paint industry making the paint more user friendly for the hobbyist. I use to paint lacquer when I first started out and not afraid to go back. It has a look to it.
i got to meet ROD POWELL, at St Ignace in the mid-90's. when i go to shows and cruises i wear a white 'stroker' w/ a felt-tip-marker 'tucked-inside' for autographs. i've got several 'strokers' w/ autographs of many 'celebrities'. at St Ignace, R.P. wanted an autograph for himself of the same people i was getting autographs, and my felt-tip-marker was the first he saw that day. YOU-BETCHA-I-GAVE-IT-TO-HIM! anyone of his caliber willing to 'collect' autographs of fellow artists and craftsman, is worthy of my praise, and respect! [i got my original white 'stroker' at the '76 Tulsa Street Rod Nats. as i fill them w/ autographs, i get another and start over! my hair is getting white, my memory is fading, the collection of white [AND MANY TIMES GRUBBY] 'strokers' helps me relive fond memories.] RYAN, THANX FOR THIS POSTING, ROD POWELL IS DESERVING OF THE EFFORT! red ryder
Great read. I am embarrased to say I hadn't heard of Rod before this article but I have some serious respect for the dude now. I hadn't seen that 51 merc before either but that car is sick. That 40 flame job looks great...only wish the car had bigger tires out back lol.
My appetite for flames peaked when I was about sixteen, and has been in decline ever since. At my advanced age I would be embarrassed to drive a flamed car. -but- Rod Powell's work is the exception. I think more than any other painter, his flames are designed to fit within and around the design elements of the car, and to compliment the car's shape rather than competing with it. He is the best!
Thank you Ryan, and Mr. Powell, for taking the time to stroll down memory lane for those of us on the East Coast who can just dream of the old days! Always loved your flames on Brian Bass's "?" Forty!!
Thanks Ryan, great job !! Rod and I go back to the 70's when he and Butch did a Van for me. It won a lot of Best Paint Awards...... Rod your the best !! Oh and his striping and flames are killer too !! Thanks, Dave Schaub
Thanks for everything Rod. Seeing those pictures of your place brought back a LOT of great memories. Remember tinting white DP with powder blue so my primered quarter panel matched the rest of the '55? Or when you asked Ganahl what he thought of the art I did for your picnic flier and he stood there like a stone, finally saying "It looks Bell-ish"...A COMPLIMENT!!!! Maybe? When I met Butch at your place, he was BAREFOOTED. He was walking around and working metal in bare feet. Did he always work that way? How about that pinstriped dash board piece with the people dancing in flames, still have it? AMAZING !@#$...
Rod and my dad lived across the street from each other out in alisal which is now east salinas . Rod has been a huge influence in my life since day one, as a kid growing up in the hot rod and custom car scene going to his shop and seeing the work that Rod and Butch were doing was always funner than going to the toy store. In the late 70's my dad took his 51 merc to the shop to fix its radical chop re-worked ,desoto grille installed and lincoln tailights and kaiser grille guards . Rods shop was full of mercs then with curlees , midnite sensation , and even one of his own .Then came the van craze , then the gawd awlful show promotion cars such as the masters of universe land shark and pac-man car .
Jeff, Many years ago someone gave me a calling card because it had a merc on it. It was a chopped merc with two tone paint, curving around by the door. The name on the card was Red Spence. Would that be your dad? I never did meet the person on the card but do remember it was a very radical chop in the pic.
Thanks Ryan. I've always admired Rod's work but have never had the pleasure of meeting him. When I was in a continual state of reading magazines I was always impressed when an article mentioned that Rod Powell had someting to do with the build.. I bought his book just to understand some of the technique behind the fantastic results I've enjoyed over the years. Truely one of the greats. Frank
Jeff, Everytime I see a chopped Merc I think of Curlee. Do you remember the Bellato Park yearly geat to get together with Rod, Curllee, Alan Smith.........?
yes that is my dad , im new on this i use to work at henrys cars with steve sellars i remember your car you may remember a 61 ply fury i had it was black primer with a lime gold flaked roof and scallops
Hello everybody It's about time I thanked all of you for the nice comments I am seeing on here. Especially Ryan for giving me a good kick in the butt and getting me started up again on organizing my picture archive / mess. I didn't realize how many of you on the H.A.M.B. remembered my shop. My name was on the door of the place but anybody who stopped by to visit got to see that it was a team of talented individuals doing what they did best making the whole thing happen. Some of you are sons of my old friends and our families did the car events together. Thank You H.A.M.B. Thank you Ryan. Rod Powell
Hey Jeff Good to see you here. Here's a couple of shots of your Dad's old Merc. Butch and I thought that thing was hopeless when he first got it. I wish I could find the before pictures of it.
Yea, I do remember your fury. What a small world , heh? Lots of guys sure missed Henry's shop when he moved out of the area.
theres not much of a car scene up here but lots of good parts in the yards i just sold a rat rod 58 chevy wagon
For Jeffy You said you liked the Mercs but these were the cars you ran to whenever your folks brought you around. #1 PacMan That's my daughter Robin's chopped Falcon ranchero in front of it.. #2 The egg car. We made it into the PacMan car a year later. #3 The Land Shark. Built it for Mattel Toys He Man series. RodP
I PM'd Rod the other day and started a dialog. Might as well post it here. Originally Posted by Fatstang RodP, I grew up in Salinas 54-73. Grew up in a house on Fairview Ave and went to Alisal High. Have you lived there a while? Had some neat rides when I grew up there. 46 HD knuclehead, 71 Cuda, 57 Olds J-2, 55 Chevy moredoor wagon (my first car). Even a 67 Bronco that I dropped a 327 SBC in. I use to go out to old stage road and pick up lose change betting that I could pull the front wheels off the ground. Use to share a shop behind the feedstore in North Salinas that use to be across the street from the mall. Awe...the good ole days. Bruce Smith Hi Bruce I was born there 1940 lived in the Alisal on Circle Drive when it was only 3 blocks long. If you were raised in the Alisal you wouldn't recognize it today. I had cousins all over town. Powell's, Jones, O'larys. Went to SUHS. Spent a lot of time on Main Street. Your shop must have been behind Nielsen's Feed Store? My place was behind the Salinas Mattress Co. off of Market. Salinas is well represented on the H.A.M.B. Just look up Salinas and you may find a few more of us. Good to hear from you and they were the good ole days. Rod Powell This thread has some more Salinas info. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315595 Rod, Cool beans. Thanks for the ping back. A very interesting link and I learned a lot I didnt know about the area were I grew up. A little story you might find amusing: I mentioned I had a 46 HD knucklehead. I traded a 70 Cuda for it from a guy named Darwin Nash. (Darwin had traded a 58 hard top Vette, powder blue & white pearl with lace on the roof). I mention this as you had probably seen the car around. Anyway, the knucklehead had a white pearl peanut tank with grape graphics which fit the theme as it also had a sidecar that had a wine barrel installed instead of the original dutch shoe. It had a chromed springer that was stretched using Model A wishbones. Hard tail and a beast to drive, even without the side hack. I drove is for a couple of months, sans sidecar. I kept the sidecar at our shop behind Nielsen's Feed Store. I shared to shop with a guy called Steve Padilla. One Sunday afternoon, we get a wild hair to hook up the side hack and take it for a spin. We take off from the shop with Steve in the wine barrel wearing a leather helmet and goggles. Drove across the street to the mall parking lot to get a feel for the beast. The mouse trap linkage for the clutch added to the challenge to driving the thing. Tooled around the parking lot long enough to come to the conclusion that while the theme of the bike might be cool, it definitely a case of form over function. While driving back to the shop, I stopped at a red light. The bike and us didnt weigh enough to trigger the pressure sensor to change the light and we set there for what seem like an eternity. My arm went numb holding the clutch in (strong spring in the mouse trap) and finally, it let loose. We dodged traffic and I pointed the beast at the road to go behind the feed store. As we rounded the corner, we came up to a phone pole and it looked for sure that the bike was going on one side and the sidecar on the other. I leaned over as far as I could and dont remember much details after that cause I think I had my eyes closed when I was praying but we managed to clear the pole (I think it was divine intervention). We must have looked a sight! The paint job on the bike was beautiful but the lacquer was getting old and starting to crack. I stripped it and found that frame had many fatigue cracks, I guess because of the stress of the long springer and lack of rear suspension. I traded the bike to a guy named Benny that use to work at a muffler shop owned by a guy named Buzz in downtown Salinas. You might have known Benny. Think he, or his brother owned a awesome Nomad which if I recall correctly was one of the first cars in the area painted with Morano pearl. Think Benny ended up with my 57 Olds J-2 went I left Salinas but hell, thats kind of foggy cause that was 36 years ago. Sure hope that J-2 went to a good home cause I loved that car and it rode like a goose. Rgds-Bruce Yes I remember all those guys. And I painted both of the cars you talk about. I think I even owned the J-2 for a while. Got it from Benny. You write good why don't you post on the message board? There are some others from Salinas on here. You could tag in on the thread about my old shop some of them are on there now. I saw Donnyy Negranza a few days ago he still lives in the same place on the corner of Sun St. Rod Powell
Great post Fastang. Ah, those infamous mousetraps. If a person figured out how to adjust those so they worked, well, that was the graduating diploma of all things mechanical. One had the confidence to build any type vehicle after doing that.
Hi Rod Just wanted you to know your work has been admired by me since I first saw some of your work when I was a kid in the 70's ( I am 43 now) I have always wondered if the chevy sedan deliverys you did (55 & 56) that were chopped are still around? Or at least if you have some pics of them you could post for me to drool over for the millionth time .
"JOSE PEPE HEREDIA When Pep graduated from High School he came to work at my place. Butch and I were glad to have him. He knew the basics and was already doing custom paint and body on his own cars. His class project was a 58 Thunderbird with custom paint and hydraulic suspension. Pep began by helping Butch customize and chop cars. Soon after starting with us, he was cutting the top on his personal 55 Merc. Today Pep has his own shop where he specializes in first class custom bodywork." Here's some of Pep's work... his old car he sold locally.. now it's candy painted.. <img src=http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/45/l_c5ea5fb2ab97496fab4f6974092b0d28.jpg> A chop he's been working on for his Payaso club member Jeff.. <img src=http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/47/l_5f6c0a34a12945e0a4456403076e7c2f.jpg> A chop Pepe did a while back <img src=http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/62/l_c942cb895c8249a3bb843bef7144d916.jpg> Pepe chopped this Merc for his brother-in-law & Payaso Club Member Gus <img src=http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/56/l_85bc6b9729e34399ae1dc3ce6a29933c.jpg> talented guy... -Juan
I don't want to turn this into a different thread but here are a couple more pics... Pep's old Merc.. <img src=http://a166.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/43/l_c134abd1148e2c7bb0ee3e89d83e75fd.jpg> <img src=http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/55/l_3ae9a757e3ea45bc9712f76155599a42.jpg> the car is still around... guy who owns it now takes good care of it but doesn't know too much about it.. -Juan
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