^^^ so many great people here on the HAMB. You included. What a statement ! Hard to believe we get so sucked in, with our keyboard heroes ..... but we surely do. Much love to all my favorite people. Dunno' what I'd do without all these lessons given here. Wish I could thank everyone, past and present. Life too short to chase every internet connect.
Thanks! Nice surprise to see Mikes trucks! I supplied the extra roof and door tops for the chop on the 49 Merc, and the running Chevy chassis for the 64 Merc , as cheaply as possible cause it was impossible to get Mike to pry his wallet open ! I do miss the cheap ol bastard ! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What Ever Happened To..........? number 47. 1957 Pontiac Owner: Jim Discher Janesville, Wisconsin This week's W.E.H.T. was briefly touched on in @straykatkustoms Kustom Blues thread way back in August (2016). @Moriarity posted a picture of it and @Sancho commented on it, and I managed to scour up a little information on it. Well, the car has been in the back of my mind for quite a while now, and it just seemed like this car deserved more than just a passing mention. In the Kustoms Blues thread, I found and posted a picture of the car from the 1993 Winter issue of Custom Rodder Vol. 3 No. 1 on page 56 of their Back to the Fifties coverage. (I'll repost that picture here.) Unfortunately that was the only magazine coverage I could find on the car. In my video research, I found the car was at the 1992 Leadsled Spectacular in Holland, Michigan. Bob "Action Video" Huff must have really liked the car because he shot quite a bit of video on it. I thought that would be all the information I could find of Jim's Pontiac, but I lucked out. It was featured in the Kustom Kemps of America 1980-1992 book. The little paragraph on the car was very interesting and showed this was another car that had quite a history. The Discher's started on it in 1980, and it was completed in 1984. It sounds like it was pretty much a mild custom. As bad luck would have it, the car was destroyed in a garage fire in 1985. It didn't take long for Jim to grab the bull by the horns, and a complete custom re-build was completed in 1989. This time he wanted a more radical style custom and he succeeded. So much in fact that it is really hard to tell that this sled started out life as a '57 Pontiac Starchief. The car was chopped 3 inches using a '57 Oldsmobile roof, and had Packard taillights added. It was completely shaved, the hood was pancaked, and front and rear rolled pans were added as well as a handmade grille. It also featured skirts and lake pipes as well. A unique touch was adding '57 Chrysler quad headlights to give the front of this car a great look. The car was painted a custom kandy purple pearl with wild green, turquoise and purple flames. This is one custom that really stands out and has a look all it's own. Funny that I could only find the car on the video for the '92 Leadsled. It seems that it would have been at many more events due to the fact that Jim was the KKOA state colonel for Wisconsin back in those days. Maybe they were there, but they just missed the eye of the camera at a lot of shows. I'd love to see it in person. Hopefully it's still around and someday I'll get my chance.......... Well, I guess that's all for this week. 'Til next time, stay cool! E
It was parked next to me at the Gorilla Stomp(short Lived) KKOA show in Stevens Point Wisconsin 2012. Unfortunately all my pix from that show are stuck in my old computer which has a virus. If I remember it now has Big Wheels but the paint is pretty much the same
@PasoJohn, did it get flames added to the roof? I went searching for photos from the 2012 Gorilla Stomp and found a handful that were posted here by Kellys Hot Rod Parts. No pics of the Pontiac, but I think this might be it in the background. You have to look close.
I remember that article. From "Super Customs and Hot Rods" if I remember correctly... Didn't make the connection that it was the same car.
Man, you guys can come up with some great stuff! I can't believe how hard you look at pictures, Sancho. It would have been very easy to miss the roof top you pointed out in that picture! Great find, Mark! Like Sancho, I didn't put the connection of the "Purple Passion" version with the purple pearl flamed version of this Pontiac. I've seen the first version of this Pontiac on the videos, but I never would have guessed it was the same car. You can't see it in the pictures I posted, but on the '92 video it has personalized Wisconsin plates that read "PASHIN". That with the article Mark posted with the car called "Purple Passion", I think it kind of puts it all together. E
Ha! You guys beat me to it. I stayed up last night going through a stack of recently sorted mags looking for that article. I wrongly remembered it at being in a Canadian Rods Magazine. Held that very issue of Super Customs and Hot Rods in my hands and set it down. Nice work guys.!
I did burn some pix from that show on a disc,but because the Pontiac had big wheels I did not burn it on my disc,still probably in m y old computer. I took over 300 pictures from that show and there were only about 60 cars. It's a dark Purple,the car behind Jerry Johnson's Red 61 Olds in the picture you posted is a stock 57 Buick
Sorry I thought you were talking about the car directly behind Jerry's 61 Olds,I didn't see the red circle that is the Pontiac and he was parked next to that yellow Ford shoebox as I remember and I believe the Yellow Ford had big wheels as well
The guy standing behind the 54 Chevy convertible parked next to Jim's Pontiac,well anyway the Pink custom way back there next to the other 2 cars,I just found 2 pix of that Plymouth from the '92 Spectacular in Holland Mi.just wanted to tell everyone
Thanks, your kind words make me remember what I really love about this place, the people. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Yup I moved to California in 1984 !! And opened a Hot Rod & Kustom shop in 1985 in Visalia,Ca and sold it in 2006
Not to jump on the thread as I haven't seen this and it's pretty kool thread ! I found this in a magazine I was cruzing the fairgrounds
Wow. You guys took these from damn near the same spot and angle! Cool how similar they are, even the cars in the background. Except for the convertible Chevy of course....
Here's a couple more photos from the 2012 K KOA show in Stevens Point of Jim's Pontiac. I believe Jim is Connie Winkler's cousin and did some of the custom work on Connie's cars.
As a teenager who attended the Jefferson car swap meets. I always looked forward to witnessing the evolution of this particular kustom. It was not modified all at once and went from a mild 50s era kustom to receiving a complete roof and then transforming into a wild early 60s era show kustom over about a 10 year period. Its a shame that it's morphed into a dare to be different pro streeter now, but could be converted back to a traditional kustom once more without too much effort.
It only took 22 years for me to finally meet Scott. It was in Indy`s CCR. He still has his car he took to shows back then. Candy Cane, a red 56 Chevy. The Chevy in the background belonged to Steve Aherns from Council Bluffs Iowa now from Omaha. He has sold that car and now has a chopped 54 Chevy Convertible with a continental kit with Elvis`s painted on. He takes it to Salina along with his brother(Teddy) who has a chopped 48 Merc with a Carson top. It started out as a coupe(Teddy Bear). I was able to talk Teddy into going to Indy last year(2016). There other brother ,Gary who passed away also went to Salina who had a black 50 Merc with Flames. Now it resides in Lincoln Nebraska. Sorry for rambling on.
The Jalopy Journal
