Customs GNRS 2011 The Customs Then & Now Show... my story.

The Customs Then & Now exhibit is over, well the show is over, the aftermath is far from over.
For over three month this Custom Car show at the GNRS 2011 has been on my mind for a great part of every day. Especially the last month it was really hard work to get it all done. Together with Axle, Luke and Jeff I think we have created a unique indoor Custom Car event. Something that I was looking forward very much, and to my delight I think that there where a lot of people who where looking forward to this gathering of historical custom cars.
We where surprised with the huge amount of visitors from all over the planet, that came to the GNRS especially for this event. I think I will have this show on my mind every day for the next couple of weeks, month. I have to create some magazine articles about it, write to Hamb post about it, and most of all re-live every fantastic moment of this GNRS Customs Then & Now event.


But first of all I would really like to thank Axle for hiring me for this job, Luke for being the kind sponsor to get me over to the show, and these two guys together with Jeff Neppl for working together to create this unique Custom Car show.
But above all I would like to thank John Buck, who let us create this ones in a live time Custom Car event, gathering 80+ fantastic Custom Cars from all over the US. And for putting me in a very nice Hotel.
It was a real pleasure working with you on this show.




About half a year ago Axle asked me if I was interested in helping him with putting together an gathering of 75 historical Custom Cars. In a similar way as what we did at the 2009 Sacramento Autorama Mercury Gathering where we put 45 historical Custom Mercury's in one building.
I knew from the beginning this exhibit at the GNRS was going to be harder to do than the Merc Gathering. The previous special events in this building # 9 where the 75 Deuces, and the Historic Race cars, and it would be really hard to top these fine events.
The event really started for me when I started to think about this list of 75 historical custom cars. Which car is still around, and would be available for the show. I started to collect photos of the cars I came up with, and started to share them with Axle, Luke and Jeff. And soon we where shooting emails back and forth with many possible candidates. A dream list was constructed, and the search for the owners could start. We tried to gather a good mix of Custom Cars built by the famous, and not so famous custom car builders from the past and pressent.

Some of the contact info on the cars owners was easy, since one of us had it in our address books. But others took many tries to find, and some where never found.
It was really great to hear the response of some of the custom Car owners we asked. Especially after a while when we had already some great custom Cars committed to the show.
Steve and George Mallory who have owned the Snooky Janich, Barris build 1941 Ford where so thrilled when we asked them if the car could be added to the show that they decided to jump on it and have the car restored, especially for the show... with less than two month to go. Most everybody seamed really honored with their invitations for this event, most of the cars where detailed, or even painted, or repainted, or finished especially for the event. It was fantastic to receive the e-mails from the car owners updating us with the progress on the cars.

But there where also cars on our dream list that we really would like to have shown at the event. Cars like the Ralph Jilek sectioned 1940 Ford Convertible by Valley Customs, the Sam Barris Merc, the Ohanisian Merc, or some of the Bertolucci, Cushenberry, etc customs. But some cars where just not available for the event. Due to many different reasons. But in the end I think that the team has succeeded in gathering a wonderful list of Custom Cars from the late 30's to present time.

The last month before the show was really hectic. Some cars that had committed where canceled, and needed to be replaced by similar Customs. Others needed special transport, or some extra motivation etc. Artwork for the logo's, banners, special Cards etc needed to be made, and special announcements on the Hamb and else where for the best exposure. And then it was January 24th... the day that I was leaving for the US. My suitcase was packed and off I go. First to Amsterdam by car, then from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, then off to LAX. Luke was at the airport to pick me up and drive me to Pomona... it sure felt good to be back in California again.















Some of the Banners I made for the show.










The next morning, Wednesday, I woke up at three in the morning... hate yet-lags! watched tv until breakfast was served, and after that walked over to the Fairplex to see if anything was already happening. I walked up to building number 9 to see the banner that I had created outside, then thru the windows I could see all the banners where already hanging inside as well... and they looked really great. I could also see a couple of cars... including the Dick Fowler 1938 Ford... one of the cars I had looked so much forward to see... but all the doors where locked. I could not go inside.



Can anybody please open these doors.... I need to get in!!!



Some time after that I found Axle and the doors where opened... and I could walk into this empty building that I knew would be filled with the most fantastic custom cars in a matter of hours. I enjoyed walking thru the empty building, visualizing it filled.



But it would take a few more hours before the first cars would arrive. So I walked into the other buildings, and at the Museum, where the Larry Watson 1958 T-Bird had just been driven outside and made ready for the show.



I went back to my hotel to pick up my try-pod and when I walked back there was a car with trailer on the parking lot of the Museum, I recognized the light ice green color of the car that I could spotted thru the open side door... the Hirohata Merc. A few minutes after that Jim McNiel and his wife Sue, and it was wonderful to see them again after meeting with them at the Sacramento Autorama in 2009. Jim drove the car to a spot so that I could take some nice photos of it. And later took me for a short drive to another better photo location where he had to meet another photographer who was going to shoot the car for a Swedish Car Magazine... I got to ride the Hirohata Mercury... okay, from that day on I had a smile on my face, and it would not disappear for the whole weekend. Thank you so much for the ride Jim.






I walked back to our building and slowly the Custom Cars where arriving, and I started to shoot photos in the still nearly empty building.





I was introduced to Lee Prat and we have been bumping into each other all weekend long, talking cars... what a great guy he is. Lee parked his car on his spot in the building and started to clean it, which would take him the rest of the day, since he most of the time was way to busy talking to people, which was way more interesting than cleaning the car.


Lee Pratt's shoebox getting cleaned...




Lee Pratt and Jimmy Vaughan



A very special moment was when Steve and George Mallory pushed the still in progress Barris built Snooky Janish 1941 Ford into the building. I had been in contact with Steve for a long time, and a lot during the two month prior to the event. And although we had never met in person it was like seeing an old friend. Both Steve and George where absolutely thrilled to made it to the show and that the car was in gray primer and on all four wheels.


Steve and George Mallory with the Snooky Janish 1941 Ford... one of them is behind the wheel and the other is pulling the bumper.. they are twins and from this angle I cant keep them appart :-)



Finally!

Wednesday evening about 75% of all the cars had arrived, and WOW what a sight!
The rest of the cars would arrive on Thursday.. the day that most of the people in building #9 used to clean their cars, getting them ready for the show, and for some get their displays ready. But most of all to talk, talk and talk Custom Cars. New friendships where started, and old friendships where made even stronger than they where. There where so many interesting people in this building.. and all had their own stories about the cars they had brought, or the people that where involved with the cars. I love talking to all the owners about the history on the cars, or listen to the stories of the the cars where restored or built. These talks never stopped for the whole long weekend, and the amount of information that was shared was staggering.

 

Thursday evening the Custom Then & Now event was officially started by John Buck when all that attended and helped out where gathered for some champagne and a piece of the Customs Then & Now cake.












And all participants where given the special Photo Card display to put with the cars. (sponsored by John Buck and me)





The Mallory twins talking to Jimmy Vaughan, and in the background Kurt McCormick talks to Jack Walker (not in the photo)




Spence Murray talking with Rod Powell.




Denise and me



What a fantastic weekend I had.. and I hope that everybody else enjoyed the show as much I as have.
I will be adding more stuff to this post later...

 

When Jim took me for a short ride in the Hirohata Mercury I learned something new about the car as well. I had never really seen the custom made dark green lucite piece that Bob Hirohata made for the door garnish moldings. I noticed it because the sun light made it look really fantastic when I opened the door to get out. My camera was unable to capture the wonderful glow on it.



The rest of the the knobs in the car where also custom made by Bob.





Detail photo of the V-butted windshield.



The wonderful headliner




And looking out thru the windshield...



I was looking forward to see a lot of the car in the event... And one of them was Dave Crook's 1947 Ford Convertible. Designed by Harry Bradley, and built by Dave. I really wanted to have this car at the event, and it took me a lot of emails to actually get everybody to agree this is a car that really belonged at the event. I think the Harry Bradley designed custom cars are an important part of the history for now, and in the future. And this car is an absolutely stunning creation. And I already loved it from all the photos I had seen on it, but experiencing this car and its builder in person is... well just WOW!!!
Highlight was when Dave invited me to sit in it for some time. This car is PERFECT, and the fit and finish on it are unbelievable.




Happy guy!

 

I too was surprised to see the worldwide response to the event Rik, but in retrospect, it's easy to see why. First, the exhibit was such a great concept to begin with. You all did such a fantastic job, your enthusiasm was infectious, and the HAMB pre-coverage in the months leading up sealed the deal. Let's face it, custom fans are fanatical in their enthusiasm and that's why they came from all over the planet. Thanks for all your efforts, guys.

I enjoyed meeting you and I'm glad we were there Wednesday before you got too busy. Did you get the whole show covered? I hope you were able to see the event in its entirety. Your Photos so far are excellent.

I didn't get a chance to tell you how pleased I was to discover the 1960 Ray Farhner Customs business card on one of your banners! Where did you get that? Ray would have been pleased indeed.

I'm looking forward to additional coverage.

 

Here is the Banner...
I got the scan of the business card some years ago from Fuzzy.



It was a pleasure meeting you at the show as well.
I got most of the show covered. The Customs Then & Now building complete, and I shot most of the stuff that appealed to me or that could be used in future magazine articles from the other buildings.

 

Some more photos of cars arriving at the show...










The Ice Truck came with no headers and with narrow rear tires... otherwise the car could not fit into the trailer.
The green car in the background with funky looking Carson Top would later transform into one of the show winning Cars of the 1960's... and all you had to do was push one button... wow.









Westergards Vern Simons 1936 Ford Roadster) thats Vern on the right, and Tim Cunha with his Harry Westergard 1932 Ford Roadster with Custom windshield behind it.



Jack Calori 1936 Ford Coupe backing up into the building.



Gene Winfield and team roll in the Reactor...





The Kurtis built Tommy Lee Roadster... wow what a sound!




John "tranny's Studebaker Pick Up... arrived as one of the last, and leaking some fluid. I hope he made it back out on Sunday.
I love the new paint job it had!

 

You are blowing me away with this stuff.

 

Rik,
I feel very fortunate to have been involved even in a small way in this event. A once in a life time opportunity. Great meeting you. Thanks. Slim

 

Incredible. Thank you for letting us relive that building. It was truly phenomenal.

 

I wish I could have been there. Thanks for the coverage.

 

Thanks for a glimpes to the inside story, Rik...it was great meeting you!

 

Rikster: Thanks for what you have done here and in savin the history in one place........

 

Incredible. Wish I could have been there, thanks for the pics for those that couldn't

 

Awesome job Rik! It really is mind boggling to see all those cars in one place. It's easy to sense your enthusiasm from your words and pictures. I'll bet you still have the smile on your face. Congratulations on a great show and the trip of a lifetime!

 

Thanks a lot Rik ! They were zillions of pics of that event on the hamb, and i've right-clic-saved a lot, but i knew your coverage would be special! You know how to share your feelings !

 

Thank you for your behind the scenes perspective of this show.
It sure looked like a once in a lifetime show.
I think I would have been giggling like a school girl if I was to go for a drive in the Hirohata Merc. I loved your detail shots.
Regards
Alex

 

Rik, Axle, and the rest of the "Crew" deserve a huge Thank You!! I flew in from N.Carolina and enjoyed every minute of it!! I spent all 3 days at the show and 75% of the time I was in that building. I got to see 7 of my life long dream cars as well as some cars that I always liked and some cars I never knew about. All told i took 388 pictures at the whole show but 260 were just in the Customs building. I got to meet Roger O'Dell and he is such a terrific guy. Got to meet Gene Winfield and for me that was AWESOME!

It will be very hard to top this years show in future shows. It was a terrific line up of cars!

Thanks you for memories that will last me a lifetime!

 

John Buck had invited Luke and me to the Hall of Fame lunch on Saturday. I had no idea what to expect. But this was really a great event. First of all sitting with all these famous people in one room is very inspiring. The food was pretty good as well... and I got to see my good friend Paul Bragg (being inducted in the Hall of Fame, with a nice introduction done by Greg Sharp (which I also had never met before and spend some time talking to... very nice to meet you greg). Paul was touched by the nice words that Greg had just spoken about his career and life.





Dick "Peep" Jackson on the left, Paul Bragg in the middel and John Buck on the right.


Jimmy Vaughan was also inducted into the Hall of Fame.


And Jimmy had brought his guitar... so he played a song for us.... and that was NICE!!!... very NICE!!!







...and the crowd goes wild


After the Lunch there was the Meet & Greet of the famous Custom Car people... to which I was also invited. I was kind of uncomfortable sitting at the table with all the real famous guys, sandwiched in between to tall Pat Ganahl and also not to small Frank Livingston.
I was blown away - and so where the others - with the amount of people that gathered around this table wanting to have autographs and short talks, or just shake hands. I had never experienced anything like that before.





Junior Conway, Lee Pratt and Bill Hines... on this side of the table.



Sam Foose, Brad Masterson, Jack Stewart, Rod Powell, Gene Winfield and Paul Bragg (with his wife Pat behind him) doing the signing.



Brad Masterson showed some old Barris goodies to me and let me hold the Sam Barris Spray gun... wow!


I was signing my Kolorized Parking Lot Photo... and some had that signed by all the others as well.


Behind the table where two really big photos of two famous Barris Custom Cars. I believe the photos came from the old Barris Shop, and I think the Aztec was even in the shop when the fire took place... Sorry for the poor photos... it was kind of hectic, and I have to admit I was a bit nervous about this as well.






When the session was over I talked to Jesse Lopez for a bit. I asked him about the early days, and if the Sam Barris 1940 Mercury was really blue. I have kolorized this car in green for the Rodder's Journal magazine, but since then I had found out that it more likely was blue, despite the things I read about the car in the Barris books... so oeps!
It was very nice to talk to Jesse. I had hoped to be able to talk with Johnny Zaro as well, but I was called away, and never saw him again after that.


In front of the building there where two large banners. I had made one with a nice photo of the Jack Stewart 1941 Ford. So when I bumped into Jack for fourth time that day I asked him if he would pose for me in front of the banner. All the banners where printed by SignsByGabe. who did a great job on them.




And later he was asked to pose in the Polynesian... I objected since this could cause some controversy... The Polynesian Clone was brought by Bobby S. and he loved to have a photo of his car with the "wrong" Jack Stewart.






I also bumped into Jacks best friend Craig who had made a nice poster of the photo of him as a kid with the Doug Rice 1939 Ford Coupe.... wow this car was impressive!

 

awesome coverage ,an event not to be forgotten.thank you

 

Damn Rik...........fantastic

THANKS

.

 

The event in the event!

 

I wished of all my heart to be able to go to this once-in-a-lifetime event, but just couldn't make it. You guys have done a fantastic job!!!! Amazing!

The cars you brought together for this show is out of this world. Looking forward to more pics.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

 

Thank you all for putting this show together- FABULOUS! Great pics
BTW... This girl has the prettiest smile I've ever seen!

 

Who did the pinstriping?

 

Rik, it was wonderful to finally meet you in person. Your enthusiasm and dedication to customs cars then and now is unsurpassed. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day, both Saturday and Sunday, to chat. I really enjoyed myself. Thanks!

 

From time to time it happens that you are at the right time at the right location. Well that sure happened when I was talking to Steve Gonzales about his 1950 Mercury with 1951 Mercury rear fenders.
The car was on the cover of the August 1977 issue of Street Rodder Magazine where Pat Ganahal did an article on the 1949-51 Mercury's and that it was about time that more of these as a custom needed to be built... just like in the 1950's. The only car they then could find was Steve Gonzales Mercury, a car that was not even finished when he was asked for the feature. According to Steve "when Pat Ganahl first went over to Steve to look at the car, it was still in primer " "and this photo here was taken by Greg Sharp who traveled with Pat Ganahl to see the car. And right at that moment when Steve tells me this Pat Ganahl and his wife walk up.... and hands are shaken, hugs etc... old friends together. Pat did not know Steve and his Mercury would be at this event, so he was really surprised to see his old friend again.




Steve Gonzales on the left, and Pat on the right.



Pat looking at the construction photos Steve had just put up.



Steve's father Guz performed most of the body work, including the 1951 Mercury rear fenders.



Friday was the busiest day for the Customs Then & Now building, and from time to time the room was packed... which made me feel really good. I had the impression everybody was really enjoying them selfs.... and so was I!




I spend some good time with Jerry


And of coarse with Luke Karosi who had its first real booth at an car show. And I think he did really well, it was busy with people most of the time... not strange for a Custom Car magazine at a Custom Car event.





On Saturday I also got to meet Wally Welch his daughter Terri.
I had been in touch with here my email, and in September I had sort of invited here to come to the show because it looked like her late fathers 1950 Mercury would be at the show. (restored by Justin Mozart) But I sort of forgot about the invitation, and luckily I bumped into Justin Mozart, and he told me she was there, and that they had talked.



Terri with here Fathers – Wally Welch – 1950 Mercury.


So I introduced myself, and we talked for some time. The she shows me this fantastic snap shot album here father had of the cars he owned.
The book was not complete, some photos where removed and might have been in the stack of separate snapshots she also took with here.
This album was absolutely fantastic, end I asked here if I could take photos of the album... sure you can. So I sat on my knees for 45 minutes capturing all the photos in the album and the separate snapshots. (of coarse after she left I realize I missed a couple of pages!). And during the photo taking we talked, and it was really nice. She had planned to stay only for a bit at the show to look at the father, but the enthusiasm from all the people she talked to was so overwhelming that she stayed many more hours. After sitting on my knees for 45 minutes I had no feet left, but I had most of the photo's taken... I was happy.

Some samples of the album.






And the seperate snap shots.
The photos posted here are un-retouched and not cropped. But since then I have done both and nearly all came out really great... I'm very happy with them.





Wally and one of his 1941 Fords.



The original Carson Top Shop tag from one of Wally's cars.

 

Von Dutch did the striping... This is the city...

 

Von Dutch... it is still the original striping.

 

Rik, I was thrilled that you were able to attend the show. I was sick that I wasn't
able to make it but knowing that you were there made up for it. Looking forward to
your comments and coverage. When I get through with your post I will feel like that
I was there..

Happy Trails, Mick

 

Thanks for all the compliments... Those really mean a lot to me.

The coverage on this show will take me some time. And some of the photos I really would like to post have to wait for some time... since I will need them first for some magazine articles. But I will try to do the best I can to make this post as complete as possible.