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

Here you go. My dad always liked this car. We were there in Des Moines when the guy tapped the trunklid with his rear bumper in The Howard Johnson`s Hotel parking lot.

 

If you liked that one, you will love this article in Rod Action Febr uary of 83.

 

Thank you stanlow! Like carhunter I have always liked that car.
I put the spread together.....

 

This is such a great shoebox! The scoop in the skirts with the '64 Mercury teeth are a great touch. The Tornado taillights look good too, and they make this car stand out as I think it is the only custom I've ever seen them used in.
The yellow paint works nice on it. Like I've mentioned before, yellow was a popular color choice in the 80s that you don't see much of nowadays. E

 

You have to see the paint in person. It's not really as yellow as those pics make it look. More of a real light orange.

I see in the article that it is '73 Vega Light Orange. Looked up the "chip" and this is what it looks like:

 

Wow i love this sight don built the car my dads friend owned it the last few years here in minnesota before relocating to Oklahoma. I drove it one time between that my uncles merc i was hooked . Hense the reason i have a hot rod shop today. About 1200 model kits and living the dream like i was when i was 16. Thankful for these cars . In high school i was driving a 59 impala hardtop. Everyone else drove iroc camaros and gt stangs they all thought i was the weird one. Lol

 

Latest pics i have of it 2 years ago. The daighter of the owner sent these to me i trying to find the car to buy it . Well it is well loved and cared for and not for sale . Its still in Oklahoma owned by the guy who bought it up here from the back to the fifties in i think 88 or 89. Thanks mike for giving her a good home .

 

I can see the orange in @carhunter59's "modern" pics, Sancho. I like it!
It does look like it's in good hands as it looks just as good in the recent pictures as it did over 30 years ago! E

 

From what i heard , they took drop uprights out swapped it to a mustang 2 the tires rubbed different offset wheels and tires and yes it changed the stance . To bad i agree

 

What Ever Happened To..........? number 49.

1949 Pontiac "Scalloping Ghost II"
Owner: Joe Urspruch
Bradley Beach, New Jersey

This week's car kinda blurs the line between lowrider and custom, but I've always been crazy about it so I thought I would include it.
Since Joe was an East Coast guy, he frequented Lead East and other shows in the east. I did find his car on video at the Leadsled Spectacular in '91 in Hamilton, Ohio and at the '93 Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio.
As far as I can tell, Joe was the original builder. I did find a classified ad for it in the KOA Styleline March/April 1999 issue.
The car also appeared in the second KKOA book on page 173 published in 2003. At that time a gentleman named Ted Schubeck owned it. I don't know where he was from as his location wasn't listed. It pretty much looked the same at this point as when Joe owned it.
I found a few pictures that look pretty recent on a French custom website. The car is in blue suede, but other than that looks pretty much unchanged. I don't have any owner information on the blue suede version other than it has Pennsylvania plates on it.
So, this Pontiac may not be long gone, but it has seemed to make itself scarce. Nice to know that it's probably still out there cruising around.
See you next week! E

 

Belonged to a member here in 2011.
"Jays49chieftain"
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/media/albums/49-pontiac.21633/

 

Joe Urspruch is a true custom car guy. Yes, he did have the car built to his specs, back in the early 80's I believe. Really got around during the resurrection of customs back then! Later on, after selling it, he bought the "Misty Blue" Merc, showed that for a while, then traded that off for an all black 57 Ford ragtop. Sold it, now goes to shows in his SSR. I've known him for a long time.

 

Sancho, you never cease to amaze me on the information you dig up. Thanks for all your input! E

Thanks for posting chopolds! Glad to hear that Joe is still around and into cars. E

 

Also noticed that on this page there is a photo of Bobby Simpson's light blue convertible (discussed a few pages back) right above the Scalloping Ghost II.

 

Since you didn't include comments with your pics, that is obviously a similar car, but a sedan, not a fastback like the "Scalloping Ghost"

 

That is Rob and Debb Butler's (a.k.a. @KustomLincolnLady) '51 Pontiac. They owned this car about the same time that the "Scalloping Ghost II" was around. Very cool sled! E

 

OG lilE<<If you want to find a REAL old custom (or two),,Back in the 50s Jack Simon and his two sons,Tony and Fred,built a 55 and a 56 (is why I said two)Mercury Pickups..both were in HotRod mag
Jack Simon and Sons paint and body works,Dallas,Texas,,
Ps,after reading my post,my bad,It was a 56 ad a 57 Merc,,both Black and Silver.

 

Sugar Daddy (#44)was purchased off eBay on Valentine's day and is now in my garage in Newell, SD. I have driven it about 50 miles and, except for a little TLC, it is ready for a season of cruise-ins. The only changes I see from your pix are different hubcaps and the bullet headlight covers are gone. It has a lot of signatures on the spare tire cover including George Barris, Darryl Starbird, Wolfman Jack, Chubby Checker, Gene Winfield etc. etc. I will be attempting to decipher all of the 150? autographs soon. BTW, L'il Ed, Is there any way in the world to obtain a photo of the dash plaque featuring Sugar Daddy. I would love to see it. My research goes on !

 

I'll add some notes about these to my search list. I'll post up any information I dig up. E

Congratulations on being the new owner of "Sugar Daddy" @Allyn Smith! Nice car to cruise around in. Lots of legends signed that spare tire cover, many of which are not with us anymore. Definitely the cherry on top.
I'm sure @54delray can help you out with a pic, as he is a true custom guy. E

 

Here ya go Allyn. Welcome to the HAMB and congrats on your new ride! I've always had a thing about 55-56 Fords. I like em as much as the tri-five guys like their Chevys. I see on the dash plaque, the car had a tube grille. Wonder if the real car ever had one?

Click on my picture on the left and then find "start a conversation". Send me your mailing address and the dash plaque is yours. Its kinda how the HAMB works.

Bill

 

You're the man, Bill. Super nice! E

 

Bill, As you might have figured out I am totally flummoxed with social media and the internet in general. Not sure if my conversation to you ever got sent. I am overwhelmed by the offer to send me the Sugar Daddy dash plaque. That is so very cool. I don't think the car probably ever had a tube grill I would doubt that the original grill with drawer pulls would have been put back in the car. However there is an unattatched brass tag in the glove box stating built for F. David Losen 1987are signs of bondo on the passenger side so perhaps it had a tube grill for a short while and was then returned to original after a mishap.

 

I have posted a Dave Bell (Nate Moddle) kartoon from the July 2000 issue of Custom Rodder. This has a tribute in the lower right corner to the late Dave Losen and Sugar Daddy (though he took poetic license and made Sugar Daddy a convertible). This was given to me by the last owner, Chris Duff, Chris is also attempting to find a name for the previous owner for me. Dave died late in 1999 and Chris believes the car was garaged by his son for 10-15 years before being sold.
I have had no luck in finding a contact for the Lincoln Land Cruisers though there are pictures of their reunions since 2005. I am trying to put a tribute together to display with the Sugar Daddy. If anyone out there in HAMB land knew Dave or Sugar Daddy, especially prior to 1984 I would certainly love to hear from you. I am Al Smith from western South Dakota. Please pm me if you know anything about the Sugar Daddy history.

 

Al,
Nope, never got anything from you, but check your email, you should have a PM from me. No problem on being flummoxed. I'm generally in the same boat as you. Anyway, just reply back in the "conversation" if you have any questions about the tips I mentioned. Your dash plaque will be in the mail to you.

Any Illinois HAMBers able to help Al out with some Lincoln Land Kustoms contact info? Ed Lepold and his beautiful Merc are still around, No?

 

Here is an article that appeared in Rod and Custom on one of his Merc`s.

 

Anybody know this 49 mercury with Carson top from nj/ny area





It was repainted in 2001 but it's a older build


Sent from my iPad

 

Interior dash was signed by Wolfman Jack probably early 90's






Sent from my iPad