Not sure about the Nethercutt Olds... But the Snooky Janich 1941 Ford is alive and well... and you will see it in Pomona at the GNRS Customs Then & Now gathering!
Yeah, that is so great that the car is going to make its "debut" at this show. But I was thinking about how they were crashed?
Another "Barris" restyled car that were involved in an accident was Junior Conway's 1950 Ford... Junior was at least working for Barris after School when the car was crashed, and it wore Barris Crests! This is Sam in front of the first version: And this is the first version of the restyled version:
ahhhh I see. According the R&C August 1953 article on Barris this is what happened: "Nick Matranga is talking to little Janich who drove all the way up from Long Beach. The night before the photo was taken, Janich apparently tangled with a closely following motorist who didn't seem to care whether he rammed into a kustom or a stocker. This proves that Kustoms are just as susceptible to damage, if not more so, than stock production cars. Although the shop does not specialize in repairing superficial damage such as this, repairs will be immediately made if the customer happens to be a former Barris customs. The shop keeps a record of its paint formulas." Slightly different photo than on page 1
Frank Monteleone's 1956 Ford was restyled by Barris Kustoms after a truck sandwiched Frank agains another car. So what Frank had planned to be a stocker and a daily driver turned out to be a mild custom that would be known forever as the "Hot Car Girl" movie car
Thanks to Evel for sharing these stories. Threads like this are why I check the HAMB to see whats going on. The old shop photos are amazing. Keep them coming... Rumor is that Dennis Reinero was driving the truck that rolled with the Dream Truck in tow. Any way to confirm that Piero? He is from our town..... and he had a Winfield built 56 Olds hardtop too.
Excellent!!...love this historical stuff...Thanks to all who can fill in the blank spots ! Somebody out there usually knows the story on the demise of the famous ones
Good Eye dude.. Thanks Rik for posting this shoot and for the rest of the info.. it saves me time... and Thanks Sondre for the additional photos!!! those RULE I knew there was more cars that got wrecked.. wow it's crazy to see shots of them!!
I'll be out there tomorrow i'll ask him all these questions and see if I can get answers and more shots..
I understand that Jeffries also rescued his 356 Porsche from the shop during the Lynwood fire - it was later wrecked in the late sixties before I acquired it when the owner ran into the back of a truck.
This discussion reminds me of something a friend of mine often says; "If you drive it on the street you need to be prepared to write it off at any time".
It's out of the body shop and in my garage where I'm starting the reassembly process Lots more pictures here: http://solaros1.smugmug.com/My-Cars/Dean-Jeffries-Custom-Carrera/
Rik, Interesting that the article mentions "little" Janich. According to an article I read somewhere (maybe in RJ) a "Customs of LA" jacked turned up with "Snooky Janich" on a piece of paper in the pocket. Turned out that the jacket belonged to Snooky, who was actually Paul Janich's nephew, who aparently took over ownership of the car from Paul, who was the one who had Barris customize it....did the article get it right?
I'm soooo diggin' this thread! I guess I watch too much CSI, but how could the engine catch on fire after being left outside in freezing weather all night??
Evel - Fantastic thread! ... opened it on Sunday night before you had copied the content from the Barris Kustom City Blog ... just now got around to reading it ... WOW!!! Rikster (& others) - Thanks for adding all the pics & info!
Karrera, thanks for the link, Nice to see it come back together, thats quite a journey it's been on,...............but seriously...... you still drive a L/R ! . .
296ardun, Paul "Snooky" Janich was George Janich's nephew. When George bought himself a brand new '53 Mercury in 1952 he passed his car on to Paul.
The Jalopy Journal
