Now @Sancho, your post has brought a tear to my eye. Getn misty. Thanks for the follow up. Good stuff here and the H.A.M.B. But then, why would anyone expect less! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Was at the KKOA Leadsled nationals in Michigan in 1987 or 88 and took this shot. I was told this was a Barris custom and after that I never saw it again. Anybody got any idea?
In 1988 the Leadsled Spectacular was in Holland, Michigan. I could be wrong, but I think this custom was built by Bill Hines. Barris may have had a hand in it was well since back in the 50s and early 60s many of the greats would each do a little work on different customs. I haven't seen any pictures of it at a show in years. E
1985. Went to Dorchester rod run and campout, Dorchester Ontario. Hung out with a guy named Rod Rice from Michigan that weekend. He had two cars there. The Merc was called Party Doll. And I believe the other was a radical 56 chevy which I had no Idea how famous this custom was till I began seeing articles about it in many old rod mags. It was A full blown over the top custom of the sixties. I often wondered if it was still around.
Not a coincidence. Also by Bill Hines. In fact, that is a actually a late incarnation of Hines' famous "Lil Bat". (Long story. ) Hines seems to have been in a "Variations on a theme" mode at the time.
Thanks for the great pictures. it looks like the same car in my picture. I'm surprised I don't have a picture of this car in my library. Have to back to my books and look.
Found this in a December 1963 Popular Hot Rodding Magazine's coverage of the National Custom Auto Fair in Indianapolis Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
..... aww' man fellas. I try to never post anything negative .... but this page .... is the ugliest damned page of the thread. I try to stay away, but the thread bumps ... keep bringing me back to ugly, unadulterated ughleeeee.
It's crazy but I like it. It needs different wheels however and a different colour with more class. The white colour and the cheap radials and wire wheels makes it look like some kind of fiberglass kit car.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 112. 1955 Plymouth Owner: Ken Prather Waterford, Pennsylvania This week's custom has been a favorite of mine ever since I first saw it in Rod & Custom magazine back in January 1994. Looking at this sled, it makes me wonder why there aren't more '55 and '56 Plymouth and Dodge customs being built--they are nice looking cars. Maybe there just aren't that many around anymore. Next to the late, great Elden Titus' beautiful '56 Plymouth, this one is my favorite. Funny thing is, that January '94 R&C is the only place I've ever seen it in print. It seems like I saw it featured in a magazine somewhere before, but I couldn't find it. Maybe the burgundy and white two tone is making me think of this car when it was another one. I went ahead and scanned page 22 out of that Rod & Custom for all to see. Sorry folks, this is the only picture I could find of it. Too bad its in black and white. The only other place I saw this car was on the 1993 Leadsled Spectacular video shot in Springfield, Ohio. I wish I had a way to show how nice the car looked on video. Words can't describe how cool it looked cruising through the fairgrounds. The paint was vibrant and it was absolutely stunning! It wasn't on any other Spectacular video or any other show I have video of. In the R&C article, it mentioned that this car was once a four door sedan and was converted to a two door during the chop and build up process. Maybe it was at an earlier Spectacular pre-chop and two door conversion and it was unrecognizable as this car. Information on Mr. Prather's Plymouth was hard to come by, and I apologize that this week's write-up is so short. I'm sure if you faithful kustom folks out there have any more information on this sweet Mopar, it will turn up. I hope everyone out there is doing well. Until next week, take 'er easy! E
.....aww' man kid..... everyone knows ya got to wait till close'n time before they all start look'n ....goooood ....then there are some that might take a couple of nights........stick around its going to get better....... humor.... Sent from my QTASUN1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Ebay listing just ended in March. https://m.ebay.com/itm/1955-Plymout...le-car/302681219496?vxp=mtr&item=302681219496
What a tasty looking kemp. Thanks for posting Lil E. I've always liked that little sweep at the bottom edge of the deck lid on the 55-56 Plymouths
I thought I would copy and paste this here, keep in mind this is straight from the auction listing. I think it's good to share because it does fill in some of the details of the build. "This Plymouth was manufactured in 1955 and the transformation was done in 1991 including relocating the door posts 6 inches back and adding 6 inches from a donor car that turned it into the sleek two-door of today. It was also chopped, dropped, shaved, louvered and topped off with a raspberry and white pearl paint. The custom interior is cut to fit from a Cadillac Eldorado. It was reupholstered in a rolled and pleated white pearl done w/hot pink trim by Grumpy's of Ohio. The main objective of this creation was to portray the way customs were done back in the 50's. With that in mind, the engine is the original flat head (not a typical 350 that is seen under the hood of most customs) with dual off set Stromberg carburetors, split manifold for dual exhaust and nostalgic bee-hive oil system. It also has a small cam installed to give you plenty of power to let you cruise down the road with very economical gas mileage...and at today's gas prices, that's a treat to have! In keeping with the same theme, there are no mags, but instead have the wide white-wall Radials with 1955 Olds spinners. The doors, windows and opening mechanisms were all finished to function correctly. To duplicate all that was done to this car today would take a huge amount of cash. There is no rust or bubbling of the paint and after 20 years, it is STILL WINNING AWARDS!! As a matter of fact, the car was selected along with 100 out of 8,000 plus cars to enter the indoor auditorium as a winner at the Goodguys Nationals car show in Columbus, Ohio. This car also received a Chrysler Custom Excellence Award from Mopar Performance at a National Car Show and has been mentioned in several car magazines. Some of the other modifications are: Roof was chopped 5 in. and flattened with a section cut from a donor car to widen 3 in. front & back Rain gutters were rolled under to give it a sleek design The cutting of the wrap around front windshield to fit a chopped top is hard to achieve in a custom & was done without a flaw! Rear window & sheet metal cut out of a 1948 Chevy coup and fabricated into the chopped roof Rear end stretched out the back to fit Packard tail-lights Bumpers front and rear de-chromed, narrowed and welded to frame and molded in Leaf springs were de-arched to lower the car 4 in. Door handles replaced with button openers Over 200 louvers punched into hood Seats: Cut down to fit from a Cadillac Eldorado Interior: Custom rolled and pleated in white and hot pink with the trunk also custom finished Exterior: Stainless steel side molding was off a '55 Pontiac that made a perfect cut line that separates a white & raspberry pearl paint. It was recognized by paint company PPG at an indoor car show in Canada Gas fill was removed from side of car and placed in a fabricated housing located in the trunk"
I thought you'd like this car Bill. I had you in mind when I posted it as you have always said how much you like these Plymouths as customs or parts of them on other sleds like Mercurys. E I couldn't have said it better, @alchemy. Thanks for posting the Ebay auction link and the information from it @Sancho! Lots of super build specs and information. The fact that the car still has a flathead 6 puts it over the top for me. I would have never imagined that it was still Mopar powered--let alone with a flathead inline 6. What a cool sled! E
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