Clif Inman's 1957 Chrysler (Joe Wilhelm built)

Love those Chrysler Wire Wheels..........Saw a picture of a '33/'34 Ford 4dr sedan (customized) surfing car with the Chrysler wires...............Really cool!

 

a very nice car , i dig the style and shape of it , id love to drive that one up town

 

Just a point of reference:
Everybody has written and talked about Kelsey Hayes wires for fifty years now when they were installed on customs and some hot rods. And we continue to hear it in the auction chatter. While the Ford wire wheels (T-Birds etc) are Kelsey Hayes, that is NOT what Chrysler used. Every wire wheel that came from a '50s Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge or Plymouth was made by Motor Rim and Wheel Corp. The Mopar bolt pattern is 5 on 4.5, same as Fords. Some 40-48 Ford hot rods kept their original 5.5.5 pattern and that was the same as the Imperial wheels, also made by Motor R & W.

 

The profile is incredible of this car but I also love the rear

 

What a sexy car...the lines are incredible. It is amazing how you can change the entire look of a ride by chopping it or otherwise just tweaking it a little

 

The car is absolutely perfect.It's probably the design Virgil Exner would have done if there weren't bean counters.

 

In a time when custom were gaudy, the Inman '57 is a shining beacon of elegance that harkens back to pre show car days. It has a Italian coach builder vibe too!

I absolutely love it!

 

Very well put. Where is the car Now?

 

ditto, a car of complete class and understated beauty, without any gimmicks or fashionable trinkets, just a great profile and balance.

awesome.

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks a chevy everytime someone posts a pic of this car.

 

Subtlety and restraint can go a very long way, as illustrated by this fine example.

 

That car has been one of my all time favorites since I opened the issue with the spread in it that Rocky showed on a previous page. It shows that simplicity, elegance and restraint go a long way towards having a timeless custom or any car as far as that goes.

 

I liked the 57 Chryslers, and especially the Desoto, there were some cars that were almost show quality stock. I had a 50 Buick sedanet in the 50's, a 61 Pontiac Bonneville,and 61 Ford shortbed unibody in 60's, only regret I didnt keep em.

 

I love this car.

It's so simple--but tough to do right. Even today. Maybe even especially today.

And those wheels are boss.

 

The K.I.S.S. method at its best.

 

From the Jalopy Journal post and from my understanding, the car continues to be in the William McEuen car collection which is where it has been since the 1980s.

 

Very nice profile on this

If i remember correctly, I saw a very similar car in Sweden in the early 90's??
Maybe Rik knows??
I think it had Finish plates?

.................................
Taildragger&fenderless

 

I always liked these pics....



I think these came off HAMB or Riksters site.

 

What fantastic lines. Simply stunning!

 

When that car was first in any magazine I was awestruck. My dad was driving a stock version at that time. I asked if we could do the same modifications to his knowing there wasn't a snowballs chance in hell it was going to happen. He loved to get out on the highway and give that 392 it's head and let it run to the end of the speedometer but that was as far as it went. My next task was to convince him to keep the car until I turned 16 (almost 3 years away)and make it my birthday present (for the next ten years if it could happen). Nope!! Dad wasn't into modifying a car in any way, especially appearance wise. The day he traded it in was about as sad a day as I can remember as it was about 6 months before my 16th birthday.

Frank

 

Yep ... It's still in one of Mr. McEuen's Southern California warehouses.

When @axle, @Jcbuck, @JeffSled, & @Rikster were putting together the "Customs THEN & NOW" display for the 2011 GNRS, they contacted Mr. McEuen ... and he initially consented to include the car in this historic display of Customs ... I'll let one of them explain why the Inman/Wilhelm '57 Chrysler was a "no show" .

 

Go read through @296 V8's August 2004 chopped black 57 chrysler custom? thread [i.e., the same thread that @Jive Bomber mentioned in the OP ("More backstory on the car here")].

 

Most of those pics (scans of Kodachrome 35mm slides) were taken in June of 1977 by Gary Meadors using my father's camera ... Dad was shaking so much from the excitement of "finding" his favorite Custom that he had to hand his Nikon over to Goodguy.

I've posted them in a couple of places here on the H.A.M.B.:

1) In @296 V8's August 2004 chopped black 57 chrysler custom? thread [i.e., the same thread that @Jive-Bomber mentioned in the OP ("More backstory on the car here")].

2) In my "The Inman '57 Chrysler Custom" photo album ... just click the pic:

I also sent high-resolution JPEGs of these pics to @Rikster ... for inclusion in his Custom Car Photo Archive ... but he has yet to make the hi-rez images available for download.

 

Just an FYI:

I've also posted all of my Inman '57 Chrysler pics over on The Forward Look Network forum ... in my "Clif Inman's (Joe Wilhelm built) '57 Chrysler Custom ... Lotsa PICS!!!!!" thread ... just click on the forwardlook.net logo:

​

I found it pretty interesting to read the "Exner devotees" comments about a chopped & customized version of one of their beloved Forward-Look cars!

 

The images are uploading right now.. and can be downloaded in a couple of minutes... High res images from Hemi32...

LINK and then click this icon to open the original size scan... that can be downloaded...

 

Axle was able to contact Mr. McEuen, he asked if he would be interested in showing the car at this show. Explaining how important this car was for Custom Car history and how great it would be for us and every Custom Car enthusiast who planned to go to the show if this car could be part of the show.

Mr. McEuen wrote a nice long email, but at the end he mentioned something about having a bad experience the last time he loaned out some cars to an exhibit.
It was not mentioned in so many words, but in between the lines we could read that the car would not be at the show. Due to some people who treated him bad at the last showing of some of the cars in his collection.

To bad... it would have been great to have the car at that gathering of Custom Cars...

 

Thank's Rik
This is the one. First time i saw it, it really blew my mind
This was at a time i drove around with ny yellow 49 Ford Cupe with green scallops

Kjell

..................................
Taildragger&fenderless