I got a queston. what did they use in the early 40's for the tail lights on the bumper? I know they were some kind of motocylce lights but what were they? Harely maybe ?
Was surprised by my cousin to get these family photos of my Uncle Kenny Contratto's mild Custom 39/40 Ford Convertible. I wish it was still in the family, it was a cool ride. Picts taken somewhere in South Gate, CA.
Oh WOW Gaters,great pictures you have here.What a beauty this car was but I dont think it was a mild custom.
Those are awesome photos Gaters. What a beautiful Custom. Do you have any info on it. Like when those photos where taken? Thanks for sharing them
Well, mild in respect to other custom's I've seen I guess is what I was thinking. But it sure ain't stock is it.
Wow, that's a perfect kustom Gaters! Thanks for sharing it. it looks awesome with touches such as the inset license plate and zephyr bumper in addition to everything else.... I wonder if it ran zephyr and ripple bumpers at the same time? Also Gaters, do you know if Kenny performed the work himself?
Knowing my Uncle, I highly doubt it. See how he is dressed? That's how I remember him, impeccably groomed even when he was older. He would have had it done locally but I can't say for certain who might have done it. We lived in the hot bed of customization territory in SoCal. Drats! my dad woulda known. I'll see what I can dig up, if anything. Glad you guys are enjoying them as this is the first they've ever been posted. Chris
HA! What you see is what I have. My cousin gave these to me since she knew I was into cars along with my Dad and that they were of our Uncle's car in particular. I am sure they will be on the look out to provide more photos to me if they exist but I'll ask just the same. I have a cool old 1920's photo of a family gas station in South Gate, CA too. But that is not for this thread.
Love the convertible. What ever happened to it I wonder? Maybe this thread will dig it up for you again.
awesome thread guys! just the period I'm doin my 49 chieftain club coupe in! mild and sinister looking, with the "yeah wait till I open her up punk" attitude! I gotta scroung through my dads old pics from late 40"s to the late 50s Greaser all the way! with that all important chi-town swagger!! great pix!
Wow. What a great 39 Gaters! Padded top, no running boards, and the 39 Zephyr front bumper...perfect!
It does not happen all to often that an unknown old photo of an original Harry Westergard Custom pops up. So when that does happen it usually puts a huge smile on my face. This photo of the Buster Rugard's Harry Weestergard built 1946 Chevy comes from the fantastic collection of Tom Nielsen. A good friend of TOm took this photo in Fort Ord south of San Francisco in the early 1950's. The car was built by Harry in the late 1940's for Butler Rugards, who also owned a 1940 Mercury convertible Harry did. The windshield was chopped, and a set of full fade aways was built for it. Perhaps Harry used a set of fade away fenders from the famous Custom Car builder Jimmy Summers to do this. But since Harry was known for his fade aways fenders on other customs as well, he could have scratch built these himself as well. Not visible in this photo is the 1947 Lincoln grille that was used very low on a reshaped front. The grille does not really look very attractive on the car. But I can imagine that the Lincoln was a much more stylish car in the late 1940's than the Chevy was, so it was only natural to do the swap. The grille has been used more in Customs from the 1940's. The headlights where frenched, and a set of Appleton Spotlights installed. The padded top was made by C.A. Hall, and one of the Barris books lists the interior done by Bonnie Lowe in blue and white Naugahyde. But perhaps that was done after Butler sold the car to Joe Martin somewhere later in the 1950's. The car was black when George Barris photographed it in 1955 when the car was owned by Joe, there is no info on the early years of this Custom and if it was a different color when Butler owned the car. The B-Pillar on this car might look a bit strange, but that is only because it is actually the rear window of the 1951 Chevy HT parked next to it. Thanks Tom for sharing this great photo.
One more photo of the Buster Rugard's 1946 Chevy that was built by Harry Westergard, from the fantastic collection of Tom Nielsen. The photo was taken in Fort Ord south of San Francisco in the early 1950's. And this view gives us a good view of the 1947 Lincoln grille that Harry sued for this car. It also show how much metal was needed to fill the original Chevy grille hole in the front of the car. It looks that when Harry had installed the Lincoln grille just above the splash pan he, or perhaps Butler felt there was to much metal between the grille and the hood, so some sort of ornament was added. Which is kind of strange sine the headlights rings, the hood trim, the door handles and most other trim piece where removed. But I think they made a good choice, it does look good, and visualizing the front without it looks oddly proportioned. Even though Butler's chevy was quite low, it does not appear to be so extreme compared to the stock 1952 Chevy parked next to it. Thank you Tom for sharing another historical photo.
Thanks for posting Rik,these are great shots of some Westergard work.Thanks for keeping Customs alive on the hamb.All of your effort and hard work is VERY much appreciated.
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