I have been searching, last night and this morning and nothing... not giving up yet though. @stanlow69 must still be pulling his photos off the wall.
I finally know about one! Hank is a friend of mine. The Pontiac is still in the family along with his flamed Mercury. (At one point his daughter was suppose to get the Pontiac and his son the Merc) the car still looks the same. Hank doesn't come out much anymore after he retired. Much like my own Father, he pretty much got burned out on going to car shows.
And another one located. THANK YOU @Cincinnati Slim for updating the whereabouts of the Pontiac. I understand these guys getting burnt out on the car show scene. But I am still holding out hope to see some of these great W.E.H.T. Kustoms back out. How cool would it be to see a group of these cars?
I tried to google a picture of Hank's other custom which could almost be another W.E.H.T in of itself. (Since I am at work), but couldn't find one. But here is a picture of the 1992 cover of Custom Rodder when it was in purple primer.
Yep that's it! Side note on the Pontiac. It really rode that low. no air bags for him. I think he tore something going to James Dean one year...
Thanks for checking in and giving us an update on Mr. Stupprich, @Cincinnati Slim! Glad to hear Hank is still alive and well. You need to talk Hank into dusting off his customs and go cruising. That would be very cool! I remember his Merc from the cover of Custom Rodder. It has always been one of my favorites, and now I know who the owner is! E I totally agree @Sancho. It would be quite an event if a group of these customs we've been covering in this thread showed up at a show all at the same time. It would definitely be something that people wouldn't soon forget! E
Believe me. A lot of guys have tried to get him out. His son still brings the Merc each year to James Dean/Ducktail Run I said it a couple pages back, this is still one of my favorite threads here. I’m 43 and grew up with these cars. I’m just glad I finally had info on one. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Sorry Sancho. I only have one. It must of been at one of the KKOA shows in Davenport Iowa. It`s good it`s still around.
I know Chip very well great guy my car was also built by Chip changed it a little but pretty much the same. many stories about Chip out there all in fun I'ved owned my Merc over 25 years years.As for Chip we have great memories.
this is Dave black is gone also driver side quarter filled in an smooth was wrecked changes made after that hope this clears things up
John Abees 1952 Ford custom called Thumper was built in Fenton Mi in 1984 by John runs a 500 cu.in.cadillac eng. he is also a Michigan Cruiser you can see the other mods.
Most people on the HAMB do not like modern mirrors on customs. But that was the 80`s, and the HAMB wasn`t around back then.
Glad to see that you've found our W.E.H.T. thread @limeMerc! We've had a lot of discussion about your Merc on the thread a few times. Here's a link back to one of those pages just in case you hadn't found it already. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-22#post-11820351 I for one would like to see more pictures of your car--especially the interior. I'm curious what the back seat area looks like and how your split back doors operate and seal and such. The amount of work in your car is staggering. Anyway, welcome and we hope you stick around! E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 115. 1956 Chevy "Memory Lane" Owner: Paul Frustereo Willoughby Hills, Ohio It's the strangest thing. Sometimes when I'm researching customs for this thread, I can find pictures and information right off the bat. Other times, I'll find a picture of a custom and months and months of searching turn up nothing. Another picture here, maybe a name then a location, but sometimes it's like pulling teeth. It can be like this for a long time, then all of a sudden the information breaks and it all falls into place. That's the way this week's car happened. This '56 Chevy must have been at the Leadsled Spectacular at one time or another, as the first picture I found of it was in the Scott Pavey Collection on Rikster's website. Most of the pictures in the Pavey collection are from the Leadsleds in the early to mid 80s. At that time I had no information about the car at all. This was the only picture I had of it for quite a long time. This was all I had until about a week ago when I came across Mr. Frustereo's Chevy in Rod and Custom magazine. It was a very nice two page spread in the March '95 issue on pages 116 and 117. I went ahead and scanned the article for all to read. The car is an absolute show stopper. At first glance it looked pretty mild, but the detail on it is amazing. In the article it says that Paul saved this car from a life at the drag strip and made it into the fine street cruiser featured in the magazine. I say way to go Paul--low and slow! A little more digging and I found the car in the 2nd KKOA book on page 122. By this time the car had gone through a major transformation and looked quite a bit different than the version in Rod and Custom. A chopped top and cruiser skirts gave it a different look. I think this is what threw me in my search for this car, as aside from the paint, it looks like a different custom. I also found a few pictures of the car online but I can't remember from where. It might have been right here on the good ol' HAMB. If these are your pictures, speak up so I can give the credit to the photographer. Anyway, if I'm not mistaken these were taken at a Good Guys event somewhere according to the picture names. That's about all for the pictures. As far as video searching, I couldn't find the car at any of the KKOA shows I have on video. Of course, I'm missing a few years of the Spectacular on tape or DVD, and I only have a few Sled Scene East shows, so I'm sure it was at one of these shows at one time or another. Since Paul was from Ohio, I'd almost bet that he took the car to a few of the James Dean shows in Indiana, as most leadsled people in that area and the surrounding states always made it a point to attend. I know we all love searching for these cars every week, but the puzzle was pretty much completed by an Ebay find I stumbled upon a few days ago. This beautiful '56 is currently for sale on Ebay. How about that for a coincidence?!? So, (spoiler alert--lol), this car is accounted for. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-Chevr...ash=item33ea54ad73:g:yusAAOSwfZta9Z0R&vxp=mtr With all that being said, I wasn't able to find any information on Mr. Frustereo, so there is a little searching that can still be done. On the ad listing, it says the car is in Massachusetts, so somewhere along the line the car left Ohio. Well, there we have it. The big question is, where is Paul, and does he have another custom to prowl around in? I hope we can find some answers! Until next time, cruise on..........E
RIP Mr. Frustereo. "Paul G. Frustereo, 66, of Port Charlotte, Fla., passed away July 24, 2011. Born Aug. 9, 1944, in Cleveland, he had been a long time resident of Willoughby Hills. Mr. Frustereo was an avid street rod and custom car enthusiast and builder. He was the former owner of Paul's Body and Fender. Survivors are his loving wife of 43 years, Karen (Tirabasso) Frustereo; loving children, Deborah Jones and Paul (Regina) Frustereo; and loving grandchildren, Austin, Abigail, Madeline, Juliann, Courtney and Patrick. He was preceded in death by his parents, Paul and Ida (Pinkis) Frustereo; brother, Michael Frustereo; and sister, Delores Burgess. Funeral services will be 8:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, at Orlando-Donsante Funeral Home, 29550 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe."
Thanks for the post @Sancho. Damn, another custom guy has left us. Rest in peace Mr. Frustereo. Great pics @PasoJohn! Man this Chevy is a looker! E
@stanlow69 , Jim that's Lancaster, OH. @OG lil E , Paul Frustereo's car should have shown up on some of the videos I sent you.
I'll have to pull them back out and watch them again. I usually take notes from every video I watch but I had nothing written down on the '56. E
Your notebooks must be a treasure trove of good info..... Just like Jim's photo collection! (or John's for that matter)
@ISO Merc Your dad`s Merc was featured on this thread. I believe it`s in Nevada. You can see the licence plate on the car. Here is a picture I took of it when your dad had it at a KKOA event in Springfield Illinois. Go to page 69 and 70 of this thread. I hope this helps.
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