Doug Rice from Aberdeen, Washington built it in the early 50's. He drove it to Bonneville in 1954. Photos from Doug Rice The car is still around... Recent photo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo taken at Bonneville Utah August 1954 ,same time as the following photo ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bertolucis Custom Shop California------------TwoChops
------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing in personal collection----You could try Goggle his name and grapevine to get some nice ones
Thanks guys - this is the best thread in a long time! Although, I'm not getting much done on my work deadlines today
Rik...I wonder what happenend to this Skonzakis car...I wonder if he has this stuffed away too... This 1949 Buick was built by Barris for Jim Skonzakis and brought back to the East Coast.. Great photos, wish I had them larger. [/QUOTE]
I have no idea what happened to this car. Some say it it still around. I have seen a car that is similar styled... but I'm not sure its the same car. No Jim does not have this one anymore. Few more photos of it... Unfinished...
Really good stuff, guys. Makes me want to get to work on the car... too bad I have to go to regular work..
Thanks to all contributors for a fantastic thread and for keeping it mostly "pure". A phenominal amount of history packed in here.
I bought this photo from Chuck Miller in 1960 for 50cents, his girl friend name was De Lee, more on Chuck later ---------------------------------------------------
when i was growing up i had a magazine with a pic of a kustom in a salvage yard, i cant find the mag any more or remember what it was called. i am hoping someone can help me figure out what this car was...the car was a coupe or a convertible w/carson top. it was a big body car, i know it had 59 caddy fins, may have even been a 59 caddy based car...had a carson style chop top that looked a bit too small for the car itself, it had a small mail-slot rear window, i believe it has a spare tire set into the trunk lid like the chrysler new yorkers had in the late 50s. and if i remember right, it had a heavily modified front end, possibly with 59 dodge eyebrows. im trying to remember something from 12-15 years ago here...lol. i think it had the scrolled (hearse type) landau bars on the sides of the top...i thought i remembered it being named the polynesian, but ive seen pics of the polynesian, and that isnt it...i dont remember who did the work, but i do remember it was a famous customizer. anyone have any idea what car this might be? its driven me nuts for ages trying to figure it out.
The car above is a Buick .The one that Setzer owned is an Olds with some bullshit modern top.I must say that Rik Hoving in my opinion is one of the most important people in the history of custom cars in a catergory the likes of which I would include Ray Soff,Greg Sharp,Jerry Titus and Pat Ganahl.
John Hychko 53 Studebaker.Waterbury Connecticut. They didnt fuck cars up nearly as bad in N.Y. AND N.J.
this was NO studebaker. it was a late 50s BIG body car. it was, id say, either an actual 59 caddy or chrysler...i truly think it was a 59 caddy that they worked off of. i SO wish i could find the pic or magazine.....
It sounds like it might be that Frank Hytchko 53 Stude. It had 59 cad fins and 59 dodge headlights (eight of em to be exact...four pairs). The Hytchko car was one of the most nightmarish customs ever built.
As I already stated....It was John Hychko not Frank and the car was a 53 Studebaker from Waterbury Connecticut.
Im sure Rik will be poppin in soon with one if the image of that fuckin abortion doesnt melt his scanner.
And to get this post back on track again... late 40's photo of this mild 36 Ford. Running boards removed and new panel to cover the frame added... I found a very small negative of this photo in an ended acution on ebay a few years back. I recognised it imidiately as a very nicely done early 40's custom with work done on it by George DuVall. One photo is in the collection of Ron Kellogg... and I used it to colorize in issue #33 of TRJ... Untill then I had never seen any other photos of it.... Its the car in my avatar... I was able to locate the buyer, and he had a print made on old photo paper and send me this scan...
In all fairness, it could have been A LOT worse. Not much. That front end looks like it is sinking into a very calm body of water! EDIT: The Stude, not the ford....but you all knew that.
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