You'll find some info here... http://www.kalaeloaracewaypark.com No paved strip yet, but they have been doing sand drags as well as other Rally type events. Would love to see some of those Barris photo's. In all the pics I've seen from car shows here, it's mainly Hot Rods and haven't been able to gather much info on the local Kustom scene. I've heard lots of stories and descriptions though. Evidently Kustom's were as big as Hot Rods, but no survivor cars. That's a good thought on the styling issue. My other theory was that Road Racing was really big here too and that some of those styling cues came from the MG's, Triumphs and other European Sports Cars of the day. The cars are similarly low-slung and with the retaining of the fenders, further compliments the look. Love the profile on that one too. It looks like it'd be comfortable going slow down the road as it would be going fast. That is Layne's car. I'll get a better look at it next week some time.
my brothers cabriolet is channeled and bobbed as well and the the yellow 32 roadster "tweety Bird" from South Texas would be another , perhaps someone will post a pic of it
Wow, I was just browsing through the vast array of magazine images rbantique has been posting on his thread, Interesting Images From Old Magazines and found these pics of the very same car I've been writing about! It's definitely the Robert "Longie" Gandall Roadster. I'm pretty sure that as far as John Figueroa (new owner of the Roadster) knows, his Roadster Survivor didn't get this kind of magazine coverage back in the fifties. The only mag articles we've talked about are the two how-to articles that the headlights and taillights showed up in, in R & C from 1953 and 1954. It was very exciting to happen on these images. Boy was I surprised! Need to know what magazine and year that article is from! Any more info would be greatly appreciated. Mahalo, Jason
It was a old Hop up magazine, one of the big ones in 53-54, I 'm not near my magazines or I would tell you which month.
That's the lead I've been looking for, thank you! Next time you're near those mags would love to hear what issues. Mahalo!
Customcory....big mahalo's!!! Like I mentioned earlier, my friend John who is restoring this Roadster had not even seen this coverage before. He heard that there was magazine coverage of the car somewhere, but that's all the info he had. This'll complete the picture for him.
I stole these pics off of rbantiques thread. (Thank you!) I'm 97.5 % sure this is a Hawaiian built Roadster as well. Owners name might be Kawahara. The building behind the car in one of the shots looks like an old Hawaiian church near downtown Honolulu. The style of the build definitely looks familiar.
I just emailed these pics to John Figueroa and of course he recognized the car. It is definitely a Honolulu car. Owned by Gene Urasugi, nicknamed "Waipahu". I'm not totally clear, but I think this car still exists along with the owner!!! If it does and I get a chance to see it, I'll get some pictures up. Gene was a body and fender man at Schuman Carriage (a local auto dealer) and he along with another old time builder, Danny Lovell, worked on the Roadster. The frame for this one actually came from a 41 Ford and was seriously cut, welded and re-shaped to fit the body. This one had a full feature in Hot Rod Magazine. It won Best Roadster at the first Autorama right here in Honolulu in 1957. That's what that tall trophy in the photo must be from. The Rod & Custom Dream Truck was shipped here for this show and was a main feature.
No problem. This is a gorgeous car. Details like those exhaust tips really make a difference. I've been really amazed with all the stuff I've been able to find. Especially how random the information has been popping up. A lot of stuff was found by chance. Very cool and glad you all are enjoying it.
Hey Jason, it'd be cool if you could round up all the survivors for a photo shoot. What do you think? Maybe get some ink in one of the national magazines? Eli
Hey Sondre, Glad you like it. I am sure enjoying it myself. I've learned a lot and have to acknowledge the HAMB and it's members for helping me with some of the fuzzy areas. I wouldn't have known about that May 1953 issue of HOP UP that has the coverage of the "Longie" Roadster in it if it weren't for people like rbantique and customcory. It's great to have some of the blank spots get filled in. More pics to come when I get to see this one in person again next week...
Heres some photos taken by George In Hawaii in 1965 I'm thinking there on the big Island.. Theres allot more photos these are the ones I happen to have on my Computer.. This is the same show where George shot the Surf Woody and the Motorized Surf Board.. Heres a Bitchen Drag T he Shot too..
That thing's too tall. Jus kidding. Pretty funky with those quad headlights though...and those taillights! What year is that from? Must be early sixties, huh?
Whoa, I just did. We must be posting at the same time. Thanks for those Barris Hawaii pics! Radical!!! I love overall shots of crowds at shows too. Gives you a good idea of the time frame and puts things in context. Great shot of that mean looking, blue Drag T. Wish I could see this one in the background better...
By the way Piero, if you have that pic of the Motorized Surfboard on your computer, please post it up. I love that pic!
I'll try to scan some more soon... Heres when the shot took place.. I guess Waikiki is where it was at..
The Jalopy Journal
