I think it was built in Jersey not sure. Ray Soffs car next to it and Bill Abates Royal Empress in the back.
the light blue chopped and sectioned ford was built by Bobby Simpson of Bristol TN. he has passed on. the car was an old kustom that he bought. It was basically a shell with no front end.
I remember seeing the Blue shoebox with the olds dash at one of the kkoa shows in Lancaster Ohio, might have been 03?
I think it is charlotte nc now. one of those old car dealerships. I think that this is the only major build he did. he was a good friend to my dad. great guy.
Originally the "Utopia" built by Clarkaiser Custom. http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Alan_Reason's_1950_Ford "In 2007 The Utopia was owned by Tom Leichty who displayed it at his private museum in Brooklyn, Michigan. The Utopia is pretty much the way it originally was, except for a new paint job. The front has been rebuilt back to single headlights and another bumper is installed along with a 1953 Kaiser bumper guard. It has also been retrimmed and fit with lakes pipes, bubble skirts and dual spotlights."
"Utopia". This, believe it or not, IS the "restored" version mentioned in the post above! (After the quad light, square-Bird grilled incarnation.) If the name Tom Leichty sounds familiar, you may remember his "Golden Penny" 1954 Chevy. Which explains a lot.
#chopolds Did George from United Jersey Auto Body in Hasbrouck Heights NJ have a shoebox like this. If you new of him.
That top pic is such a beauty, it is a shame it got all gussied up. Sometimes less is more, this is an excellent example. Sent from my SM-G920T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yeah, @'Mo that's why I had to put that in quotes. That came right off of Kustomrama. Very far cry from the "way it originally was". I guess they mean to compared to this version:
On the pink version, is that a Barris crest at the front end of the trim? right behind the front wheelwell...
No, I'm not familiar with the name. Maybe the car if I saw it. Lots of North Jersey customs were around in the 80's and up.
I met Tom this summer at the CCR in Indy. If you get a chance you need to have a conversation with him. You will never forget it. Here are a couple pic`s taken in 1990 at the KKOA show. I like this car even thou it`s pink. I love the history behind it. Would be cool to own. His car wasn`t in Indy, but he still owns it.
Front clip is too wide as well notice tire placement... Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
??? Koolkemp is referring back to a post on page 2 of this thread, just in case anyone was as confused as I was.
I haven't been on in a few years and new to the app, I realized after I posted it! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What Ever Happened To..........? number 46. 1937 Chevy Pickup Owner: John Funk Logan, Ohio I remember first seeing this truck in the December '94 issue of Rod & Custom. I always thought it was cool, but the black and white photo just didn't seem to do it justice. In the late 90s I began collecting all the custom car videos I could from events like the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular, Paso Robles, Lead East and so on. One of the first videos I bought was a copy of the 1993 Leadsled Spectacular by Bob "Action Video" Huff. When you first get one of these videos and it was an event that you weren't lucky enough to attend in person, you never know what you're going to get. Well, I put this one in the DVD player, and not even five minutes in is a great shot of John Funk's awesome '37 Chevy truck rolling in the grass looking for a place to park. The first thing you notice is the beautiful purple paint that looked like it just glowed. The next thing that really stood out is how low it sat. Neat thing is John drove it that low without the use of hydraulics or air bags. The truck itself was pretty mild with only the door handles being shaved. It had a great set of bubble skirts on it, as well as lake pipes. Out back, a panel was built under the tailgate with a pair of '46 Chevy (car) tail lights in it. It also had a lot of nice pinstriping. There was a neat little picture hand painted on the tailgate. It was a tired looking little purple horse with a saddle on it, with the caption underneath that read "Horse of another color." John put personalized Ohio license plates on it that read "HEY CAT". I've been wanting to post this truck on the thread for a while now, but my information search has been fruitless. The only video I could find it on was the 1993 video from Springfield, Ohio. I also found it in that same Rod & Custom from December '94 I mentioned above. It was in their coverage of the 1994 Leadsled Spectacular in Huntsville, Alabama. I scanned that page out of the magazine so you guys could at least catch a glimpse of it. I apologize that it isn't a very good picture. That was all I could find. No internet pictures or in any other magazines in my collection. I hope one of you guys out there has better luck finding pictures of it than I did. Or, if you happened to take some pictures of it at a show somewhere, let's see 'em. This truck is too nice not to see in color! 'Til next Tuesday, take care! E
Ed, here`s a better scan from the same magazine. Who would of ever thought I could improve some one`s scan. LOL. Here is a scan from the same show in KKOA`s publication. Check out that bed cover.
I can't find a thing on the truck. I did find records of John Funk in Logan showing a 1950 Chevy convertible in 2013 and a 1955 Chevy hardtop in 2016. Can't find pictures of them either....
Thanks for posting the other pictures, Jim. We have to find a color picture of that pickup! Mr. Funk must be a serious Chevrolet guy. I was looking through the KKOA 1980-1992 book late last night and I found a picture of a 1952 Chevy business coupe owned by John and Margie Funk. I looked around for a color picture, but I couldn't find one. I never realized there were so many red Chevy business coupes around over the years. I did scan the KKOA book so everyone could see it. I mostly kept looking for a red Chevy business coupe with personalized plates (I'm guessing from Ohio) that read "COOL IT". Finding color pictures of John's cars is proving to be difficult. E
Lil E, I got nothing on that neat 37 P/U....... but in the mean time, I encourage all HAMBers to click on koolkemp's build thread. I too, had been away from the HAMB for a while, but mine due to technology (lack of) issues. It's 78 pages of will, and determination, and vision, and skill, and balls, and never-give-up, and willingness to change, and inspiration, and more. I did a speed read version, quickly scanning thru every other page, then slowed down to read the last pages as Steve tells why he has been away for a while. He could use our positive thoughts and encouragement.
If it's any help that truck was at one of the Spectaculars in Lancaster, OH. I'll go through my stuff and see if i can find any pictures or video of it. I know I have to have something because I loved that truck.
I know I`ve seen a color pic of it in a magazine somewhere. You can`t forget a purple 37 Chevy truck. I`ll check my collection later.
Thanks for the heads up on the thread @54delray. There are so many people on the HAMB that you "see" everyday then suddenly they are gone for what ever reason. I was wondering what happened to @koolkemp (Steve). I remember seeing him on the site all the time. One of the last times we talked was when his friend Uncle Z passed away. Mike (Uncle Z) seemed like a great guy that built some really cool cars. Here's a few pictures of a pair of Uncle Z's Mercury pickups. That's quite a build that koolkemp has going. Unbelievable the amount of work going into that sled. Glad you're back posting again Steve (@koolkemp). Hope you're feeling better and can keep on with your impressive build. Take care of yourself! E
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