Cool thread! Thanks for the history lesson Rik and Evel. I'm sure if you did write a book Rik, you definitely would have a lot of HAMBers ready to buy it.
As with time all stories change. When I owned the El Matador, I corresponded with Bud "The Cat" Andersson and his version of the Ala Kart story was that two executives of AMT model company took the car back to their hotel and wound up in the bar until all hours and when they returned to the Auditorium it was locked. They left the car outside and that night the temperature dropped below zero and the plastic fuel line snapped and pumped gas on the engine causing the fire. I guess the question was Bud one of the executives. I don't think so, because he wouldn't have left the car out, he was too caring about cars,
Thanks guys for posting the extra pics. The "China Man" is a car that definately needs to be duplicated. I don't think I've ever seen it before. Can't get enough of the the quad headlight version.
Awesome thread! Reminds me that when I did the story on the Ala Kart for R&C I asked George why unlike so many of the other cars the Ala Kart was not updated and changed season to season- especially after the fire when the entirely redid the car. He said because the model kit was so hugely popular they couldn't change it around. That was pretty interesting to me. I always wondered what it would looked like with different paint and black interior and tires as was popular by 1962.
Hey Piero or Rik are there any pics of Georges Lincoln before the accident. I have seen all the accident pics but none of the before. I think I saw a very small one once but nothing else.
Hey EVEL,didnt Barris blame Jefferies for the fire or lack of response in lynwood,kinda heard a story to that effect at Oakland Roadster Show years ago..............
Jefferies was the first to discover the fire as he was at his girlfiriends across the street. I believe the lack of response time was due to the fact that the fire started at the back of the shop which put access to it outside the Lynnwood depts jurisdiction so they waited until another crew came from the LA fire dept.
Yes you are close..he was across the street having dinner and he was able to get his girlfriends car out the front of the shop just as the flames took over.. Lynwood FD had to fight the fire from the front while they waited for LAFD to put out the back.. If anything jeffries was a helping out...he called George to let him know that the shop was on fire..George hung up on him thinking he was playing around..till the Police called him and confermed..
Dammit!!!! Thanks..... Ive been caught... I skipped over as I have read about it a million times. I now remember the shot. It was of the Lincoln and 3 other cars. It was taken in the same place as the shot with the Zupan, Sconzogni, and I fogret the other Merc. I saw it one time and that was it. In fact I think I remember seeing it on one of the old shots from the Barris dvd you made.
Yup I know that shot...I don't know if that's the car..he said it was pretty much stock Aside from the work they did before they left for the show..I'll see if I can dig up that shot...
I read somewhere that The Grecian was damaged on its way to a show one time and was shown with the damaged side tight to a wall. Any pictures of that damage??
Someone mentioned that Jack Stewart's Polynesian (Valley Custom) was also crashed...the theory advanced in the RJ article on it was that many customs did not have passenger side mirrors, and that lack of visibility was one reason for custom crashes, particularly with chopped tops ( not the Polynesian, though). That hardly explains some of them: blown tire on trailer (Dream Truck), rear ended (the Janich Ford), or trying to escape the cops (Barris Merc), but maybe there is something to the notion.
I'm glad that Sam's Buick eventually had good luck and was saved. That is probably my favorite Kustom of all time. It's truly beautiful.
Great stories Piero!! Glad you could use some info from Kustomrama! I could certainly add more info to the site based on your posts. It was kool to read the full story on how George's Buick was crashed...all I know was that there was a fight and a scene...and I'm not surprised about that there were some girls involved Do you know if Dan was driving the Chevy himself when the engine blew, and they hit the flatbed truck? Would have been kool to see some photos from Dan's Chevy after the accident. Rik, as you already know, Sam's Buick was built from the remains of the car after a fire, and he bought it from a wrecking yard, so I guess it is almost the same story as the Golden Sahara A lot of cars were actually restyled after being involved in an accident those days! Do anyone know what happened to the Nethercutt Olds, and Snooky's Ford? Maybe you can ask George Piero?
Does anyone know who the owner of the china man was? Great looking car for sure at least the first version
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