Where is it now: Leroy French's 1949 Plymouth 4dr Custom

Welcome aboard I am sure I can speak for all of us in that we would love to see any more pics you may have of your Dads car!

 

GOTTA LOVE THE HAMB. Welcome aboard Leroy. Thanks for taking the time to join us and I for one look forward to the pics and history of your dads sweet custom. Please post when you start doing the re-creation or better yet if you find the original!!!

Any chance your dad built any other cars? If so, got pics and info you'd care to share? Thanks again...

 

this absolutely made my night. Leroy welcome to the board. You father had taste!! It is one of the best 4dr chops out there!! Can't wait to see other pictures.

 

dig it.

 

Go wash your mouth with soap, Rob!!!!

 

Heres a picture of your Father and the Plymouth taken at the 1954 Oakland Roadster Show.
It says he was a member of the Shifters CC of San Francisco at the time.
Somewhere in 1956 or 1957 he became a member of the San Rafael chapter of the Swanx CC.

 

Welcome on the Hamb Leroy.
As said by others... if you do have any other photos of your fathers Plymouth, we would love to see it. Snapshots or photos of the car under construction, or before the chop. Anything would be highly appreciated.

 

Hey Guys, Thanks for the nice welcome and especially that picture at the Oakland show. I'll dig up pictures and post them but I'm on my way skiing tomorrow and will be gone 'till the 21st., so it'll take me a while but I'll definately get to it when I get back. I'm going to have my Dad write the story of how the car came about, pretty interesting.

 

Theres a little book , cant remember which one, that shows the back fenders getting molded in. I might be wrong. This was one of the tasteful customs from the fifties. I always liked the wire wheels.

 

thanks for joining LeRoy! Can't wait to see the photos. We're currently building a '50 Plym 4 door and we'd love to see and hear how your dad's came about.

 

And lets give it up for Farmergal....She is the one who brought this all about. Way to go!!!

 

and lets give it up for xxwelderxx who sent me the photos and got my mind stirring!

 

I think the thing was on the cover of Custom Rodder in the late 50s once the grille shell was done and it was candy red.It had a Buick grille in it. The car had a set of spinners on it and some chopped down 54 merc taillights if memory serves me correct, which it often doesnt anymore. I also remember it loaded up with scallops at some point. Cool car.

 

Because it was was available and was different from the run-of-the-mill 2 dr customs. Look through the early magazines and you'll see many 4 dr customs in the "Reader's Rods"-type columns and letters columns. Not every one has 2 dr and convt. cars running all around their neighborhood or small town to choose from.

 

Here's a pic that was easy to find, have to look for the others..

 

Yes you are.

You too.

Us Mopar fans opinions count alsoseeings on how this is a Mopar thread we are entitled tooI like it because if you look at the chop and not all the rest of the grafted on pieces it could be a stock roofline.....it would have a non mopar guy scratching his head about what is different, and some mopar guys

 

Of course your entitled to your opinion, but, this thread is for people who appreciate those years and the car my Dad built, so, like they say, if you have nothing good to say why say anything. The car is awesome, it is one of the hot rods selected to be in the most recent edition of the "50 Years of Rod & Custom" coffee table book, so unless you have a car in 250 page book honoring the Hot Rod, maybe you can't really speak to what is or isn't ugly. But I guess the question is.....why be critical of other people's likes, hot rodding is supposed to be about, cars and shaing ideas, not running down some guys car, right?

 

and yes, thats your opinion and your entitled to it...and voicing such a blunt opinion in a thread celebrating a pretty cool car (whether you want to admit it or not) is unprofessional...especially when the owner's son is here celebrating in his fathers hard work to produce a car that wasn't the "norm" at the time but still managed to catch peoples eyes and stand above the rest at shows and cruises.

Like my mother always told me: "if you dont have anything nice to say, keep your mouth shut, and dont say anything at all."

It doesnt matter who had what opinion of someone's car. No matter what; someone is always going to dislike what you did to a car or what your car is in general. We can't please everyone. Everyone is entitled to customize and/or restore whatever car they choose so who are you or anyone else to tell them that they are wasting their time and money because it isnt the "norm and the car is just plain ugly.

I've seen a lot of cars on The HAMB that have left me scratching my head thinking "why would someone do that..its so ugly"...but who am i to say that about someones car? Its what they like and what they enjoy and i respect that.

I happen to love our 50 Plym 4 door and everyone who lays on it seems to share that same opinion.

I'm sure if peopel met face to face and wern't hiding behid their screename and keyboard they wouldnt be so quick to "voice their opinions" and i think thats pretty disgusting.

You're basically dissing the work and the car of one man who was envied by many in those glory days of hot rodding. Heres one peice of advice for you: respect your elders and those who did it right in the days when hot rodding was in its glory days. After all; no one will ever compare to the work and artistry of those in the glory days of this hobby. they are, in fact, in a class of their own.

 

the one thing i envy about the French 4-door is the fact that the car looks like it has a stock roofline despite the fact that its chopped 3 1/2 inches. Its not shave down in the back, its not slanted, etc...its simply just dropped down 3 1/2 inches. Peices of trim were removed and the car was given a more sleek "look". Trim peices that would only compliment the car were left on it.

I think it's a beautiful ride to look at and a true work of art.

 

To be honest, there weren't a lot of customs of the '50's-'60's I cared much for. This car is very tastefully done, and it makes an otherwise mundane, nondescript four door sedan into something very unique, and good looking, IMO.

 

In defense of the Mopar customs; I posted the pic of the black, flamed 4 door earlier in this thread. The chop, which is way beyond my skill level is so subtle and well done (3") that we are frequently asked by spectators if we intend to shop it.
In Tex Smith's book, "How to build Custom Cars", on page 155 is a pic of this car. Of course, Tex doesn't know anything about customs or hot rods so that is probably how an ugly Plymouth snuck into the book.

 

Anyone? Same car, no?

 

The car that is the subject of this thread is an amazing custom in MY opinion. The design and proportions are excellent and not outlandish as many customs of that era, and through the years for that matter. The fact that this custom evolved through the years yet the owner never lost sight of his goals are a tribute to Mr. French. Yes, I am a MoPar owner and fan. But in MY opinion, a well done custom speaks for itself. The make is truly secondary to the design, execution and proportions. Speak on, Mr. French, with more pictures of this well done car!

 

you'll have to wait for Leroy to reply again. I'm sure he'll be able to second your claim. His dad probably still have a copy of the mag too. I'm sure we have lots to look forward to from Leroy and his dad in this thread.

 

Don't think its the same car...

 

Yep you're right. No way.

 

and to those claiming that these late 40's/early 50's MoPars aren't worthy of being hot rods need to check out Hillybillyb's and Tankwilson's cars that they posted on the thread dedicated to these cars here on the HAMB.

so who want to say these cars are not worth after these photos?

 

that's a 50plymouth. dont think its the same one. maybe inspired by the french 4 door though?

 

Love this story. No chance of finding the survivor, eh?

But I have to ask, is this French-built car possibly the origin of the term "frenched" for lights, etc. or just a happy cooincidence? Gary

 

Youre absolutely right. Im glad Rik came to the rescue and put it up. You should have seen this thing with the crazy paint all over it.