History Custom Car builder Spotlight: AYALA BROTHERS

It is fabulous but I am not sure I like the way the dogleg curves up into the fender on this car (hard to see in this picture). Interesting that the picture is flipped on this one.

Jeff is that kind of the color you are thinking about painting your car eventually?

 

WOW !!! You really saw this one ? This is one of my favorites right here.I wish I knew what happened to this car.

 

Well ,it looks like Mr Quesnel's and Mr McNeil's timeline about the early chopped mercs is sure shaping up just the way they said and not the way we have been reading about in books for years.This picture tells a huge story and validates some great points. The old saying " Dont believe everything you read " is sure sticking in my head these days,this proves you have to do your homework and find***** out yourself. Thank you for taking this pic Rik.

 

Ah, yes, the thick plotens!

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed "

 

This is the photo that goes with the plaque.

 

At the GNRS 2011 Customs Then & Now show I spoke with Wally Welch his daughter, Terri. She told me that Wally's then girlfriend really wan into the lime gold colors. So perhaps - most likely - she had something to do with the color on Wally's 1950 Mercury when it was first done at the Ayala Shop.

Wally's girlfriend at that time can also be seen in the April 1952 Hop Up issue featuring Wally's 1950 Mercury on the cover and inside. Hop Up magazine used here at least three times as model, and in the July issue the even published a short side line of here due to the many questions they received about this Beautiful model in the magazine. According the Hop Up article here name is Jennie Chrisman of Sun Valley California.

This is the photo that appeared in that article. (cropped image of the one where she is sitting on here boy friends 1950 Mercury.)






And here is another photo of her with Wally Welch.







And I also think that she is in this color photo taken at the Ayala Shop for the famous Motor Trend Cover. Thats Wally and his 1941 Ford Custom. The same car is in the last photos in this post.



In 1952-53 Wally got a new girlfriend who he later would marry and she did not like the lime gold color at all. So Terri's thought was that because of here mother here father decided to have the car redone in here mothers favorite color at the time... deep purple. And while at it had the grille changed at the Barris shop and the interior done at the Carson Top Shop.

The Carson Top plaque came from one of Wally's Cars. Terri was not sure, but believes it came from the 1950 Mercury. Here father had saved it for all these years.





The Scapbook that Terri brought had some nice photos, and some show one of Wally Welch his 1941 Ford being worked at at the Ayala shop.
In the photo that is not cropped you can even see the taillights of Gil's 1940 Mercury with the 1948 Cadillac rear fenders.

 

Yes ! This is one of my all time favorite photos from the early car shows especially since it was at the Pan Pacific.I have always believed that this photo was taken in 1951 but I know a lot of people didnt want to believe it,well now we have proof . Even in TRJ #39 it is said that this was taken in 1953,now it sure doesn't appear to be that way anymore.It is now confirmed and their are some people who need to rewrite some of their stuff.I have have been called a guy who likes to stir it up but I like to call it "Setting the record straight". Beautiful year 1951 was. When you are lucky enough to be able to talk to some of the old timers who were actually there when this stuff was going on.......its hard not to believe what they are telling you,especially when they have never tried to be in the limelight or get glory,they just tell it like it is no matter who gets offended. This is golden right here.

 

B.t.b

 

That is cool. It makes sense that Wally's straight post chop would have been done before the Bettancourt angle post chop. I always felt it seemed backwards for a builder to have chopped a Merc using an angle post first and then gone back and done one with a straight post. It just never made sense yo me from a logical progression point of view.

 

Well that " logic might hold true at the shop on Olympic blvd but we know the logic went out the window on Atlantic blvd.

 

Outdoor sign for Gil's Auto Body Works...





And the famous Butchers head on the show wall.

 

HAHA you know I still think that even though Sam's car didn't hit the street first he chopped it before Jerry's for the exact same reason.

 

How about one of my favs..."THE VICTORIAN"!!!

 

Excuse me????? Ayala brothers!!!.... Not all brothers are Alexander's!

 

Great thread. Interesting twist in the published history of the merc chop...

 

And here is another photo of her with Wally Welch.







And I also think that she is in this color photo taken at the Ayala Shop for the famous Motor Trend Cover. Thats Wally and his 1941 Ford Custom. The same car is in the last photos in this post.

Do you know what grille is in the 41 Rik? It looks like a modified 42 grille to me ?

 

woops my mistake sometimes i post faster then i think

 

Yes it is a 1942 Ford grille... modified. As a matter of fact I think the whole front end of the car comes from a 1942 Ford... at least thats what was written in the old magazines.




And the same car from the Wally Welch Scrapbook.

 

Thats what I thought ,I will never find one of those around here ,the pics you have shown from the scrap book are awesome, are you gonna work some magic with them someday and make them a little bigger

 

Hate to disagree with the master. But those front fenders have the look and contours of 41 rather than 42. They have however been modified in the grille area along with the area under the hood. The grille also isn't a stock 42

 

Rik, Is there any knowledge of where the Eddie Dye car came from BEFORE it became the Dye car ? Iv'e heard that it could have been Gil's own Model A roadster that he raced. Then sold/built it for Eddie.

 

Yes... and I can tell you they look really great!...


Here is he one from last page cleaned up...

 

I have not had time to really study this car to well... there was another Ayala 1941 Ford Convertible (for D. Holland) and that car has the 42 Ford front end grafted to it... (but most likely this is a 46-48 Ford section) I guess I mix up these two rather similar cars in the past. I was just repeating what I had been written years ago... should have looked better.
The 1951 Custom Cars annual mentioned that the front of the car (most likely grille and surround) come from a 1942 Ford.
Still the grille started out as a 42 Ford from what I can see... And yes its modified from stock.
You are absolutely right about the hood and fenders being 1941 Ford.


Here is the other 41 Ford Convertible... also done by the Ayala's

 

Unbelievable !! The quality is awesome I cant wait to see more of them!!

 

Here is a really badly faded color photo of the Wally Welch 1941 Ford from this album.
This photo is most likely taken in 1951.

 

How about this Rik? Did not try too hard at it.

 

B.t.b

 

Man I wish there were more build pictures of the Ayalas stuff it all so smooth it would be great to see how the work was done

 

I wish their were more pics too . On my way home from work the other day I drove to the spot where all of these STUNNING customs were created and just parked and sat their for a while,I was in a day dream for a couple minutes.I loved being parked right where these cars parked and had photos taken.I recently just received a Original Ayala Brothers business card for a gift,the one with Gil's old 40 merc on it in red.I was just imagining when they would pull their cars out on Olympic blvd and stab the throttle to make sure their cars were ready to go racing for the upcoming weekend.These guys were the real deal.

 

Great!... good to know it found its way to a good home.

Here is a Photoshopped replica I did some time ago... (I used a poor ebay scan as a base, and used the same side view shot that Gil used in on e of his very few magazine ads for the image.)






And here is another photo of Gil's 1940 Mercury that is used in the BusinessCard as well. The 1940 Ford Convertible on the left might be the John Geraghty FOrd before the Atla's sectioned its hood and raised the front fenders. The photos come from the Wally Welch scrapbook.