Since we are on the subject of the 52-52 Ford. Here are pic`s taken from the 90 or 92 Holland Michigan show. Or from both shows.
Ok guys. I did some digging and I came up with a few things. The yellow Ford is still a mystery, but the real Bob McCormick Ford is the one Mark looked up in the November '59 Hot Rod. Everything in the Custom Cars magazine article I found was correct except the picture of the car. Bob's car is a beautiful lime green. According to a feature article I found in the April '91 issue of Rod & Custom, Bob completely sanded down the car in the late 80s and repainted it '76 Ford truck lime green. He also rechromed the custom made bumpers and re-did the brakes and tail pipes. Everything else on it is as it was in the 50's. So, it was still around the scene in the early 90's. It was at the Leadsled Spectacular in 1990 in Holland, Michigan, and a feature in R&C in 1991. I haven't really researched videos on this car to see if it was at a Spectacular after '90, but I'll keep my eyes peeled and update if I find anything. I scanned the pictures from the magazines so you guys can see it in living color. Sorry the scans are split, as the feature was a full page spread, but I think you'll get the idea. Such an awesome car! Sorry again about the mix-up. Now, we have to find something on the yellow '52-'54 Ford, huh? E
And here is Bob McCormick`s 50 Ford from Connecticut. Also taken at one of the Holland Michigan shows. At the time I knew of Curt McCormick and that he was into Barris Customs. When I read the tag in the windshield, I thought to my self. He found another old custom. It must of been the heat getting to me. Of course, he wasn`t by the car. Otherwise I would of known it wasn`t him. I see Ed has an update while I`m writing this.
I last saw the Burt Hamrol '50 Ford at a KKOA Sled Scene East show, maybe 10 years ago. If memory serves, it was then owned by a young man from Pennsylvania who had no idea of its history. I also remember a magazine feature of this car with another green Ford in Rod & Custom Magazine late 90s early 2000s.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 42. 1948 Buick "The Big Bopper" Owners: Elwood and Lois Dapp Paradise, Pennsylvania This week's entry was really hard to find much information on, but the car was way too kool to let it fall through the cracks and be forgotten in the path of time. This Buick keeps the proud custom tradition moving along like other fine Buick examples like Lee Pratt's '41 and the late, great Elden Titus' "Crimson Skull". These cars were so influential in helping to usher in the custom resurrection in the early 80s, and built a love for fastback Buicks that still stands today! The Dapps were a fixture at the later KKOA shows. I can't say if they were at the Leadsleds in the 80s in some other ride, but it seems they got their start in the KKOA in the early 90s with their Buick. According to my research, they were at every Leadsled Spectacular from 1991-1995. When the car first appeared, it was yellow, with '55 Pontiac split bumpers, frenched headlights, Desoto grille and a set of four '59 Caddy taillights frenched in the back. Shortly after, green pinstriping was added to the hood and trunk, and eventually "The Big Bopper" was lettered on the bottoms of the front fenders between the wheel opening and the door. The Dapps were travelers, as they not only hit the Leadsleds in those years, but were also regulars at Sled Scene East as well as the big show in St. Ignace every year. Sometime after the '93 Spectacular, it was repainted a pearl yellow and light green scallops were added. The Dapp's new look Buick was at the '94 Spectacular in Huntsville, Alabama. These fastback Buicks never needed much to make a great custom. A little shaving and a custom trick or two, and you had a great sled. Researching this car was tricky. I knew I had seen it numerous times on my videos, but it took quite a bit of watching to find it. I could have sworn it was at the Spectacular in earlier years, but I first saw the car on video for the '91 Leadsled and every year up to '93. For the '94 and '95 shows, I found little pictures of it in the KKOA Trendsetter in their coverage of the Spectacular each year. After '95 the Buick was no longer at the show (at least in any show coverage I could find). The last information I found on the car was in a for sale ad in the July/August 1997 Trendsetter in the "Midnight Auto Supply" (classified) section. Other magazine information was scarce and hard to come by. It seems that somewhere in the back of the ol' memory bank, I remember this car being featured in Rod & Custom or Custom Rodder or some other magazine, but after an exhaustive search I came up empty. I did find a little on it in the December '94 issue of Rod & Custom in their coverage of the '94 Leadsled Spectacular on page 71 that I scanned so you guys could check it out. I also found another picture of it in one of the early versions in black and white that I believe Mark posted in Straykat's Kustom Blues thread. That was it--pictures of this great beauty were very tough to find. I'm sure that somebody out there has a few more pictures to share, as this sweet Buick was a treat for the eyes. Until next week, take care! E
Haven't found much on the car yet. He also had a kustom '62 Chrysler, which I think was after the Buick. Did find this: Elwood M. Dapp, Jr., 60, of Paradise, died at home on Saturday, February 17, 2007. Born in Williamsport, he was the son of Elwood M. Dapp, Sr. of Manchester and the late Margery Benner Thompson. The owner and operator of Dapps Auto Body Shop in Paradise, Elwood specialized in quality custom paint jobs and show cars. During his 45 plus year career he won many awards and trophies for his custom work. He was a successful drag racer in his earlier years. Elwood followed NASCAR, was an avid Elvis fan and he dearly loved his family. His former wife Lois preceded Elwood in death.
Hamb member @Still Runnin owns the Chrysler Elwood built. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/kustom-mopar-thread.839682/page-4#post-9477227
I lived about 20 miles east of Paradise and visited Elwood at his shop one day 20+ years ago on a junkyard tour. We talked customs for an hour. I may have bought some parts from him. Nice guy and a great painter, too.
Little flashback here but I just found another photo of The Slimer on carnut. I wanted to share it because in this shot you can tell that the grill, headlight trim, and side trim are definitely black. This was from the Merc Duece Reunion 1999, you can also still see the outline of the rear door window.
OG and all others who contribute, thanks for doing all this fantastic research for us to learn and enjoy. Between stupid comments on mirror muffs and threads á la "Did you ever lose an expensive part while taking a shit?" this thread is a real treasure chest.
Elwood and Lois Dapp's Buick moved to Milwaukee in the early 90's and is owned by Phil De Marini. Since he acquired the Buick, he had it chopped and painted a shade of purple with scallops in a lighter purple. I'll attempt to attach a couple of photos. I'm new at this.
Last I know he still does. Glad I was able to contribute to this thread. I've been following it a while and just got registered so I can post too. Love the Customs, especially Mercs!
And thanks for contributing! I know there are several of us that are glad to see the photos. Ed, there's another one that is still around.....
Sancho, I don't know how you find this information, but I really appreciate all your efforts! Sad to hear that Mr. and Mrs. Dapp have both left us. Your post got the wheels turning. It's a frigid day here in Denver, so since I had the day off, I thought I'd do some more digging. I'm familiar with Mr. Dapp's '62 Chrysler, but I didn't know he was the original builder. I knew I had video of it somewhere, so I started searching. I knew I had it on one of two videos. My late friend Charlie went to the Leadsled Spectacular in Lancaster, Ohio in 2002 and he video taped the show. I was supposed to go on the trip, but my Buick developed a problem with the hydraulics and the parts needed to repair it didn't show up in time for me to fix it and go on the trip. I dug out the tape and watched it, and sure enough, the Chrysler is on there. Charlie was a huge Mopar fan, so needless to say he shot plenty of video of the car. It had just been completed earlier in the year, so '02 was the debut summer. I then dug out my rarely watched copy of Sled Scene East from 2004. I watched it and there was the Chrysler again. On this video they did an interview with Elwood and he gave a great rundown on the car. He said the car was completed in 2002. He also mentioned that he took the car to Sled Scene East in 2003, and on Sunday morning on his way back to the show the car caught fire and did a large amount of damage to the front end. He spent the better part of the next 7 months re-building the car from the damage and he was at Sled Scene East exactly a year after the fire. The car definitely had some exciting stories behind it! E Hey Jim, did you personally take those pictures of Elwood Dapp's Chrysler? Since I just watched the 2002 Spectacular that Charlie video taped and it is still fresh in my head, it looks like the pictures were taken there. It still had the smoothies on it. Not long after that Elwood changed the wheels to wires. Maybe the smoothies were damaged in the fire. Did you go to the Spectacular in 2002? E Appreciate the kind words @Surfcityrocker. Glad to know that so many guys are still following the thread! E
Wow, this all got posted as I was typing away here on my computer. Glad to know the Buick is still around, and boy is she purty! I love purple. Nice to see she's in good hands! E
Hey @BrewtownPrez, are you sure it wasn't in the late 90s? It was advertised for sale in the July/August '97 Trendsetter and the contact information listed Elwood Dapp--Paradise, PA. Not trying to be a know-it-all or make you look bad, just trying to keep the story accurate. Thanks for posting the great pix of the Buick all chopped and lookin' fine in purple! E
Of course, referring to stanlow69. I feel the same way. Too cool to see the "staple" holes in his pics. (see post #588) I've been to his garage/upholstery shop just twice, when I dropped off and picked up my '54 Delray Chevy. Jim did my headliner for me. He is so easy to visit with and learn from, when it comes to Kustoms, and as you can tell, he has a mind like a steel trap on this stuff, and rarely mis-remembers stuff. Short story of 1st and 2nd time I met Jim. About a month after Sept 11th, at the AKSARBEN Swap Meet in Omaha, I was selling a lot of my collection of Mercury and Kustom memorabilia. My Parents were supposed to fly out of Logan in Boston on 9/11, and it made me realize how important family was to me, and how little all the "stuff" I had accumulated meant. Jim stopped by my booth, maybe bought something, and visited. I don't really remember. Fast forward 6 or 7 years later, in Salina KS. I'm driving the same car that I was vending out of the trunk at the swap meet in 2001, an essentially stock '79 Mark V, black with some custom pinstriping. I would have parked in the spectator lot, but there was a chopped and dropped black 77-79 Mark V entered in the show, so I entered and parked next to him, so people could appreciate all the work he did on a car with curved side glass. It was COOL. Pretty soon, here comes this genuinely happy guy, proceeds to tell me EVERYTHING about myself, where I lived, what I did for a living, what my project kustom 51 Merc was about, how I planned to finish my 54 Chevy, where we met the first time. Kinda freaked me out a bit. After he explained the original swap meet introduction, it began to come back to me and we had another good visit. I've considered Jim a friend ever since. Yes, Jim. So glad you started scanning!!!
Ed, yes I was there. The Holland show in 90 was the last KKOA Spectacular show we(mom, dad and brother) attended due to distance, schooling and marriage and the starting of a family. We did attend Davenport in 98 and the Merc Duce reunion the following year at the same location. Being close we never missed the KKOA Last Pass show in Des Moines. The Lancaster Show was a side trip for me while seeing my other brother and his family in Michigan. He was gone for the day to see Ozzie Smith inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York. So I went to Ohio. The pic`s I post are mine or my Dad`s. I haven`t figured how to post from other sites yet. Imagine that. I do note where the scans are from if they aren`t ones we`ve taken. Started going to Salina when they moved it there in 05 and haven`t missed it yet. The custom car hobby is made up of a lot of like minded people. People who know me, know that I love customs. So when I meet somebody who is into customs, It`s like talking about the big upset in the game the night before. Which I could careless about. Now Bill(54 Delray) can tell you what year and make the tail lights are in that Merc and and the model of car and year the side chrome is on that Ford. For the most part, that technical info goes right over my head. If he doesn't know, Sancho can find pics of the guy putting the chrome on. Ed and everybody, thanks for the custom stuff on the HAMB. And being positive and not bashing Slimmers side mirrors. When I joined the HAMB in 2010, there was an void for customs from the 80`s. They weren`t traditional enough. But that's when they made a big comeback. This thread has filled that void and tells a story how cars evolved and where they are today. But this is coming from a guy who doesn't even own a HAMB era car. Or ever has. But I`m trying to change that.
Enough of rambling on by me. Here is a scan from the KKOA publication 1991 Vol 6 number 12 of Howard Henrys 64 from Sydney Ohio. Find the rest of the story on page 19 of this thread about his 67 El Camino.
Very well stated Jim! I feel the same way about kustom people, and the 80's kustoms. Being a kid in Wichita when the KKOA was going gangbusters was amazing and very influential. I remember as a kid playing soccer in the summer league. Another kid on the team was the son of a KKOA member who had a cool Mercury. I remember going over to talk to his dad afterwards about the car. He was amazed that a kid even knew what it was, let alone knew the alterations. I just wish I could have gone to some those shows back then. We didn't really travel a lot. That's why I find it so cool to see your photos, always a thrill! So thanks again for sharing your photographs!
Yes, it was the late 90's. The picture of Phil's Buick was taken at the Nite Owl Drive-In Car Show in Milwaukee, May of 2003. I'm sure Phil owned the Buick a couple of years by then. Here's another photo from that show.
Hey @BrewtownPrez, that is a great shot! Do you know if that little drive-in is still in existence? My brother-in-law lived in Milwaukee for over 10 years and recently moved back to Colorado. I'll have to ask him if they knew of this place or ever went there. It definitely looks like an old time survivor! E
Found this picture in a 2005 KKOA Trendsetter. It`s older than the pic I posted earlier(2009), but it looks like it`s still owned by the Jones family. Also from the Denison Texas show.
Yes, The Nite Owl Drive-In has been family (third generation) owned since 1949 and will open this spring for it's 68th year. The 38th Annual car show will be in June. This was the 2016 show. Lots of Mercs !!
As I promised earlier. Here are pic`s from the Springfield Missouri show in 86 before it was painted. As you can tell I really liked the car since I took 3 pictures of it.
The Jalopy Journal
