I believe this is the current (at least latest I know of) version. Different hubcaps, lake pipes, "cat's eye" headlight covers... In color:
1983, Springfield, ohio KKOA spectacular, I was 19 years old, me and 3 brothers paid our admission and walked in the gates and I stood there holding my little camera with my mouth hanging open in awe and not knowing where to begin .... not sure who owned it but the gentleman who did at the time seen us and walked over and got in this ford, fired it up and drove if up to where we were standing stopped and looked over at us and let me take a picture of it, then went back to the same spot, backed it back in and parked it. It was the first picture I took and the first sled show I ever attended and the first car I looked at that day. I've wanted to own it ever since! I've been a custom fan ever since going to that show, bought my 51 merc and attended the 85 show two years later. I too prefer the top up on it, down it loses some of its custom appeal. It falls in the number 2 slot of cars I want to own, only behind Paul Braggs Carson topped 51 mercury and just ahead of John Diogostinos startdust 40 merc.
I've got pictures of the Jim Musgrave merc from the same show but haven't found them yet, found these others tho we've discussed.
A novel feature of the Ernst Ford is this wonderful Gaylord interior, featuring gold piping between individual white pleats. I celebrate this car for its innovativeness, given its time (Chopped folding top convertible, 1954), and included it in the first of my many contributions to the "Chopped Convertible" thread. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-chopped-convertible.1095922/ It was subsequently derided as looking like "a whorehouse on wheels." LOL!
Great photo, as the car is still wearing the genuine gold plated Lincoln wheel covers! (Where are they now? )
Have fun Bill! Don't get the Mrs. upset by spending too much vacation time on the HAMB (lol)! E Great story @DANSLED! I remember my first Leadsled Spectacular and I felt the same way. '83 was a great year and 2000 (my first L.S.) was pretty mild by comparison. Great way to cut your teeth on customs! E
By coincidence, Mike Albert uploaded this photo to Facebook today. Looks like early-to-mid-sixties by the clothes and haircuts of the spectators. New paint and wheel covers, but still has an Ohio plate.
@Rot 'n Kustom got me thinkin about Musgraves Merc. It was also on page 54 of the same magazine with Rotten Ron pinstriping it at the 82 show in Des Moines.
I remember Mr Philpot as he called sledding this car ,I'm 47 mow probably in 10- 14 yr old range. He told us of the car Arctic Sands ,just as the story is told here .Remember him carefully putting the radio antenna forgot the term ,as it was sank into the fender . Rode in that car and was a rubbernecker back then as it would be today . He was a great man .
What Ever Happened To..........? number 123. 1959 Ford Galaxie Convertible Owners: Bill and Mary Wilson Trenton, Missouri Wow, can you believe Independence Day is already in the rear view mirror? Hard to believe we're already half way through 2018. Back when I was a kid, we got out of school for summer vacation just before Memorial Day, and we had to go back a few days after Labor Day. So back then, we considered the 4th of July the mid point of summer. Since last week's car was a convertible, I thought we'd keep on the same track since we are in the heat of the summer. This week's car is one that I really had a hard time finding out anything on, but it is just too kool not to include on our list. I've pretty much exhausted all my resources on this one, so I thought it was time to post it and see what the kustom faithful can come up with. I've always loved '59 Galaxies as a good friend of the family had one when I was little. I always called it the "Owl Car", as the rear has always looked like an owl to me. The main appeal of this week's car has to be the Lee Lenses that are fairly hard to find nowadays for a '59 Ford. The other thing that helps is that its a ragtop. Lots of summer cruisin' fun! In researching this Galaxie, I almost came up completely empty. I didn't see this car on any video of Leadsled Spectaculars or the Sled Scene East. Maybe the white paint was a little too plain to draw in the masses, but a '59 ragtop will always get my attention. As far as printed material, the only place I was able to find anything on it was in the 1st KKOA book from 1993 on page 55. That is the best source of information I could find on it. As far as pictures go, I was able to find a nice snapshot of it on Rikster's site that was taken by Scott Pavey. Thankfully its in color. I'm almost positive that this picture was taken at a Leadsled Spectacular, but I have no idea which one. I'd be willing to bet the Wilson's made it to a KKOA show or two over the years. I wish I was able to come across more pictures as leadsled '59 Fords are far and few in between--especially convertibles. That's all I found. Sorry this week's entry is so short, but you can only post what you find, right? Let's hope you all out there have more on this one. I'd sure love to see more! Until next Tuesday, keep cruisin'! E
I got nuthin'. I woulda thought being a Missouri car it would have been at the Hangin' Dice, but I don't have any pics of it from the years I went.
The only thing I have to add is there was a 59 2-dr hardtop mild custom Chevy with traditional flames also from Trenton. It was at a few of the KKOA shows and was owned by Katley(Spelling). It was also in the Leadsled book. Trenton isn`t a real big town.
I was walking through James Dean show several years ago and stumbled across this. I was shocked to see it just setting out there.
Bill's a HAMB member! Although he hasn't logged in since May 6, 2014... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/members/bill-wilson.91189/
I have a customer bringing me a car to work on next week who lives about 25 miles from Trenton. I`ll ask and see if he knows him.
The last I seen this car a gentleman from Decatur Illinois by the name of Dick Herber owned it. I have not seen Dick or the car for years so I’m not sure if he is still around.
I’ve seen the add for this car for sale , I was briefly interested but it has a fuel injected 5.0 some modern white interior and wasn’t wired. Too much to change to make it nice for my pockets and for the asking price at the time which was on Craigslist at the time for much more then that eBay add Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I stand corrected it is still on Craigslist for 25 grand and has a more modern 32valve motor and terrible 90’s looking interior Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What Ever Happened To..........? number 124. 1957 Ford Convertible "Kool 57" Owners: Larry and Darlene Spear Hampton, Iowa Man, has it been hot around here lately. Definitely summertime! I love it, but it sure goes by fast! For the last few weeks we've had a convertible thing going on here on the W.E.H.T. thread, so I figured what the heck, let's do another ragtop. Larry Spear built this super jet black convertible in the early 80s, and was a regular at various KKOA shows. Its another one of those deals where I'm almost certain that Larry and his '57 were at many shows that I have video tape of, but I was only able to find the car on one tape. I know for a fact that Larry was at the 1984 Leadsled Spectacular in Des Moines. I watched lots of video searching for this one, but I only had the one sighting. On the video Rowdie catches the car cruising down the street with the top down. I'm assuming Larry is the guy behind the wheel, his wife was riding shotgun and another couple was in the back seat. As the car drove by you could see the awesome spotless white tuck'n'roll interior. The car was sweet! I had the most luck looking for this car in print. It was featured in the first KKOA book (1993) on page 169. This book has been a great source of information. I know writing and printing a book can be expensive, but it really is a shame that its in black and white. Color would have been great! The other book I found it in was on page 106 of the 2nd KKOA book (2003). The KKOA had the foresight to print this book in color and I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Glad they did it that way as it is a pleasure to look through. Here you can get a real idea of how beautiful the Spear's Ford really is! That was all the book sightings I found. As far as pictures go, I found one lone picture of it on Rikster's site in the Scott Pavey collection. Judging by the background, I'm pretty sure it was taken in Des Moines, but I can't say for sure if it was at the Leadsled in '82 or '84. According to my research, the car was featured in the 2nd KKOA book in 2003, and that is the latest date I found information on it. The Spear's may still have the Ford or it may have changed hands since then. If there is any more information on this one, I'm sure that Jim (@stanlow69) will know something about it as he seems to know every custom from The Hawkeye State for decades. Let's hope the Spear's are still with their beautiful convertible putting lots of miles under its tires! Until next Tuesday, take it easy! E
Those pictures don`t do the car justice. It was a KOOL 57 and won various awards at the shows it attended. The one Pavey shot was in 84 in Des Moines. He attended the KKOA Last Pass shows in Des Moines as well as the Waunder`s Custom club shows in and around Iowa City. We got to know them very well one year at a Last Pass show. He won the KOOLEST MILL award. He had a machine shop behind his house where he made the aluminum parts for his car. Never saw the car again after they ended that show. Fast Forward to 2012 or so. I saw him at the Cruise To the Woods show in Fort Dodge Iowa. He was sitting with his wife behind the car. I went up to him and told him who I was and he proceeded to tell me the story. He said he hadn`t had the car out except for to put a couple miles on it and or to wash it in 19 years. He said his hobby of fishing and running his machine shop had taken all his time. His wife, Darlene said he loves to fish. They also had a place in Minnesota by a lake and a small machine shop to work in. Every once in a while he would run into a car guy he knew and they would assume he sold the car or had died. He just went fishing instead. The car was always in the garage. The car was in great shape when I saw it, but he was a perfectionist. He showed me the flaws. A couple years later, I met some people from his neck of the woods and they said Larry`s car was in a body shop being redone. Haven`t seen the car since. Pic`s to come later.
I'll second that story of Jim's. I have only been to 1 Cruise to the Woods show. (Great show) It was the one Jim mentions. As Jim says "the pictures don't do the car justice". Well, Jim's recall of the chance meeting at the Cruise to the Woods show really doesn't do the story justice. I'm telling you, Jim was THRILLED to see this cool custom out and about again. And yes, he knows most of the Iowa ones. When I told Jim I was not familiar with the car he was talking about, it was like telling your Italian grandmother that her red sauce had to much spice. "How could you not remember this car?" was his question to me. Long story short, we both went over and admired this black '57 Ford 'til our eyes hurt.
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