History What Ever Happened to..........?

I can't find any more information on Chip's Merc.
I did find these other photos:






http://customrodder.forumactif.org/t477-mercury-1949-51-custom-mild-custom-galerie

 

Man, can you imagine the work that took!?!? Getting the car high enough off the ground, removing the skirts, disassembling the rear leaf springs, flipping them over and then putting it all back together---all done in a parking lot! That award must have meant a lot to Chip.
I can kinda understand him being upset with the award he was given instead of one of the lowering block trophies. Those lowering block trophies have got to be one of the coolest award ideas ever!
Too bad about Chip's fallout, though. Unfortunately, I've heard of many disagreements between the KKOA and customizers and owners over the years. Shame that many of these disagreements were never resolved and a lot of great people left the KKOA and events never to return..........E

Thanks for posting the extra pictures, Sancho! I looked around and the one I posted was all I could find. Nice for everyone to be able to see more angles of the car.
It is growing on me, and is quickly becoming one of my new favorites! E

 

Great pic, Mark! Only seen it in the gray. I gotta ask though, what's up with the blackwalls? E

 

And black covers over the headlights. It took me a few years to put the connection between the two cars. As you can see why. I heard he burnt the flowers with his flame throwers at the host hotel in Des Moines. No more flame throwers and no more Lowest Kemp on blocks for the KKOA shows. Would of liked to have met him in Indy. Back then there wasn`t a code of conduct on how to build a custom. They were not covered in magazines much back in the 70`s and 80`s. So build styles varied greatly. People tried new things to set there car apart from others from year to year. I`m surprised people aren`t bashing the square headlights and sun roofs and many other things that have been posted already. But you have to respect the history, these were the 80`s and to see a custom of any kind was a real treat. Something that didn`t happen to often. Peoples mouths would drop open as they would see a chopped merc for the first time in real life. Even if it had square headlights.

 

Well said Jim. I think customs were kind of a regional thing. They were more popular in some areas than others. Growing up here in Denver in the 70s and 80s, I used to go to cruise nights and car shows with my parents and friends all the time. A lot of these shows weren't very big, but there were always some customs sprinkled in among the cars. I also seem to recall more of them just cruising the streets, whether it was cruising Colfax or just being used as transportation to and from work.
I go to a lot of shows these days as well. Some of them are small, but others are big, sometimes having seven or eight hundred cars, and sometimes upwards of one thousand. Out of all those cars, I'd say you'd be hard pressed to see five REAL customs.
I think these days the car hobby is going away from customs much like it did in the mid 60s when the muscle cars came out. For example, the awesome '49-'51 Mercs. I have been calling these cars "elite customs" for a while now. That's because they are getting quite rare and can cost a lot to buy when you do find them. Then, even if you have the skill or connections to build them right in the true custom tradition, it can cost a fortune. So only the few lucky "elite" folks can build them. This isn't a rule set in stone as I know a lot of guys that have Mercs that are far from wealthy. They just bought the cars right a while back, and have sometimes taken many years to build it.
My last example is when you watch the old KKOA videos from the 80s and early 90s. In these videos there are shots where you can see dozens of Mercurys lined up in the streets or at the fairgrounds. Back then it seemed like they were everywhere at those shows. If you go to the Leadsled Spectacular these days, you'll be lucky to see a dozen of them.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the custom is dying, and it bums me out..........E

 

I hope the custom thing isn't dying out.....I've yet to finish a single build in 30 years. It would be great if customs were still around in another 30 years if I finally finish one. LOL

 

You young guys don't need to worry about Customs dying out...I've heard these thoughts for the past 65 years,,Things go in cycles,so sleep well...you can start to worry when pussy starts to dye out.AND that isn't going to happen either.

 

It amazes me that you think customs are a regional thing and that they are dying out. I`ll have to disagree with you on this one.

 

Just to add my two cents. Part of the problem is/were the car shows. Very few if any had any type of class for customs. During the latter part of the 80's the KKOA use to print a brochure on how to classify and judge the class which they encouraged it's members to distribute to groups holding a show. Although some of my friends and I tried to do this, it was not well received. So many times the custom would be placed in the street rod or modified class. There fore not getting the recognition the car or class deserved.

 

No, no, no. I said they WERE a regional thing back in the 80s and not as wide spread.
I do however think they are on the decline. Not to the point of extinction, but slowing down to the point of almost dying out.
Like I said back when I was a kid I used to see a lot more customs on the street. Nowadays, I rarely see a sled just driving around or at a show. E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 30.

1954 Merc "Low Comotion"
Owner: Johnny Jones
Claire, Oklahoma

Johnny Jones and his chopped '54 Mercury hardtop first showed up on the scene in the KKOA at the '86 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Missouri. The car was in black primer, but already had a multitude of body mods done to it including a heavy chop, '55 Buick grille cavity and grille, '56 Packard rear quarter panels and taillights, and cruiser skirts.
In the video, the car was in constant motion and can be seen cruising the fairgrounds in a number of shots.
At the '87 Leadsled in Springfield, Illinois, Johnny showed up with the car in a fresh coat of bright yellow paint with chrome trim dividing a white two tone on the bottom of the car.
Inside, it had some low back swivel bucket seats. All the seats were covered in a great white diamond tuck pattern with yellow buttons and lots of yellow piping. It also had a super cool Oldsmobile column and the deep steering wheel painted yellow to match the car. The engine compartment was very nicely detailed as well with lots of yellow paint and chrome detail.
Johnny was interviewed by Rowdie at the '87 Spectacular, and he mentioned he built the car for his 19 year old son who wasn't at the show that year. Again, the car can be seen cruising around the show a lot. Must have been a great cruiser!
Johnny also attended the '87 Hangin' Dice Nationals in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Sometime between the '87 Leadsled and the Hangin' Dice show, Johnny changed out the straight grille bar and replaced it with a number of bullets. At that time I guess he considered the car finished.
After the '87 show season, this '54 Mercury seems to have disappeared. I couldn't find it on any other videos. As far as magazine coverage goes, I struck out there, too. I seem to recall deep in the memory banks seeing it in a magazine somewhere, but after a long search this week I just couldn't find it. I did find some great pictures of it on Rikster's site taken by Scott Pavey and our own Dr. Dave.
So guys, another mysterious custom vanishing. Is it still out there? Only time will tell..........E









What Ever Happened To..........? number 31.

'50 Merc "Johnny's Toy"
Owners: Johnny and Mary Jones
Claire, Oklahoma

Well, since this is the last Tuesday before Halloween, I thought I'd give all you faithful followers of the "Whatever Happened To..........?" thread an early treat. Another rare "Two fer Tuesday".
This car is a tie in to the Johnny Jones '54 Mercury featured above. Apparently Johnny built this car first, but it never made an appearance at the Leadsled until '86. It can be seen cruising around with the '54 all through the video. It was already yellow, and was a standout due to the fact that it was a four door. It was very mild and tastefully modified with shaved door handles, trunk and hood, and a frenched antenna on the right rear quarter. The grille was left stock as well as the parking light assemblies. It had "Johnny's Toy" lettered on both lower rear quarters just ahead of the rear bumper as well. It had the typical custom necessities of fender skirts and lake pipes. It had crab claw flipper hubcaps that had been modified to be "floaters". That is, they would remain stationary while the car was moving and didn't spin with the tire. A very unique modification for that time.
The Joneses also took their '50 Mercury to the '87 Leadsled as well. There, Mary Jones was interviewed by Rowdie right after her husband Johnny was interviewed with the '54 Merc. She told of how the '50 got the nickname "Johnny's Toy". She said there were many nights the phone would ring and the caller would ask "Where's Johnny?" She would reply "He's out in the garage playing with his toy." In the interview you could see another nicely detailed Chevy small block. Mary was very pleased to mention in the interview that they had just put in air conditioning "after driving it around without it for five years".
The last stop for this car was the '87 Hangin' Dice Nats. After that, it disappeared with the '54. No more video finds, and absolutely no magazine coverage that I could find. It was even hard to find pictures as I was only able to find one Dr. Dave shot on Rik's site. It can be seen in the background of a few of the other pictures of the '54 though.
So, what happened to the Jones family and their sleds? Was it a KKOA fallout? Did they stop building customs and start another hobby? Sure would be nice to find out. They sure seemed like nice folks.
Until next week, trick or treat! E

 

Both cars show in the background of a few of my pics from Ft Smith '88, so they made it at least that long. I can't find either of them in any of my pictures after that.

 

Nice find, Doc. So now we know they were around the scene until at least '88. What were the circumstances that brought on the quick disappearing act? Mysteries like this are interesting, but depressing at the same time, huh? Lots of great people just aren't building, driving, showing and enjoying customs anymore..........E

 

I saw the '54 Merc in Denison Texas at the KKOA show a few years ago. Still looked in great shape. I introduced myself but of course forgot his name. The guy driving it was a younger guy I'll see if I can find pictures. I'm heading to a kustom show in Dallas this weekend I'll ask around.

 

Hey that's cool, Mick. Nice to know the car is still around. Wonder if it's still in the Jones family? Hope you find out the scoop! E

 

When I saw the the 54 Merc in Springfield Missouri in black primer with the completed interior, I fell in love with it. I was a just a kid back then with a limited budget for film for my camera. I remember the cost to develop film was well over 50 to 70 bucks after the KKOA shows. I took a pic from the front of the Merc as well as the rear and even the interior shot of it as well. I had to be selective on what pic`s I took. When it was painted yellow, I only took one pic of it. So Sancho, you need to find a pic of it when it was in primer and also the interior shot as well. The video is a classic when she mentioned how the 50 Merc was named. Ed, you have to remember, after the Illinois show. It(the KKOA spectacular) was moved to Michigan for a few years. That was a long drive. So you can see why cars didn`t make big show anymore. After missing it a few times, it is easy to get into the habit of not going anymore.

 

How can I turn down a direct assignment like that? Lol...

I have to say, I have looked and looked and come up empty on both of Johnny's yellow Mercs. Looked again to see if I could find it in black primer and still nothing. I can only find one photo that Ed didn't post:


The search continues.....

 

That's a great photo, Sancho. Glad you posted it! There are a number of shots of the car in motion on the two videos the car was on, and a lot of them show the car rolling towards the camera.
This picture gives an idea of how wicked this sled looks coming towards you. The only unfortunate thing about a photograph is you can't see the spinners going around and catching a glint of sunlight on each one as the wheel turns like in the videos. Man, customs are cool! E

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 32.

1951 Chevy Business Coupe
Owner: Steve Scott
New Carlisle, Ohio

This week's "What Ever Happened To..........?" turned out to be harder to research than I first thought. This car was at the Leadsled Spectacular for a number of years, but even though it was a regular, I had a hard time finding pictures or much information on it other than the video interview.
Steve Scott started building his Chevy business coupe in the early 80s. It had a number of great body mods done to it that really represent the early 50s style. It had the true taildragger-motor boat stance, as well as a great 4 1/2 inch chopped top that helped the car flow down hill from front to back. It had rounded hood corners, filled hood, frenched headlights and shaved door handles and trim. It also had a molded '53 Chevy grille shell with a Corvette grille. In the rear it had frenched '50 Oldsmobile taillights.
One unique feature that Steve came up with were Moon discs with a hand painted skunk on them. This made the car very easy to identify in the various videos that the car was on--especially when it was cruising around.
Steve first attended the Leadsled in '83 and the car was in ruddy brown primer. He was also on the '85 video and that is where he was interviewed by Rowdie and one of his gals. Steve mentioned that the car had just been painted one week before the show and was making it's debut with the fresh coat of maroon. In the video you can see a very nicely detailed inline six with dual carbs and exhaust, as well as a wolf whistle. I did catch a glimpse of the car at the '86 Spectacular as well. The last video appearance it made was on the '91 video. Sometime between the '86 and '91 Spectacular Steve decided to change things up a bit and the Moon discs were replaced by '57 Cadillac hubcaps. After '91 the car was gone.
I searched a lot around the internet, and I found no pictures of this car on any of the sites I regularly visit for pictures and information. The only picture I found of it was in my copy of Custom Cars by Hot Rod Vol. 2 #2 from 1984. It was included in their coverage of the '83 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio, and it was still in primer. I scanned the picture, but it's a black and white photo and it scanned a little grainy. I hope you guys can see it. It is the third car down the page on the right column. I apologize for the size of the photo. My scanner can be cranky, and my somewhat limited computer skills don't help much, and I couldn't figure out how to blow up the picture.
Well guys, that's all for this week. Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween. Don't eat too much candy! 'Til next week.........E

 

Sure looks like it.
Was that Carson City, Nevada?

 

Thanks for blowing up the picture, Mark. That sure looks like the same car. Hard to tell in the picture, but it looks like a different guy driving it instead of Steve. Nice to finally see a color photograph of it. Great detective work, as always guys! E

 

I have a lot of holes in my records of where the Spectacular was held from around '92-'00. If the '96 was held in Hamilton, Ohio that makes sense since the original builder Steve Scott was from New Carlisle, Ohio. Maybe the car was sold and stayed in the Ohio region. E

 

1996 was in Hamilton. I will have to look at the video I shot that year.