I have yet to find that issue of Classic and Custom. I did spring 15 bucks for this. Not another pic of a custom inside thou. 3 or so years ago, I convinced Kim and Nancy Johnson (no relation) to take their 40 Merc Convertible to the Custom Car Revival. Also, from Council Bluffs. There 41 Buick was featured earlier in this thread. A guy came up to them and asked if they knew Bob. He said his dad, (Gitzinger) from Ohio bought So Fine from Bob in 82. The guy had the 51 Studebaker with a chopped, vinyl covered top. He continued to say that his dad made a major mistake selling the car in 82 or 83. The guy seemed pissed to this day. Guess his dad had a medical issue at the time. His dad then had a 54 Chevy Moonglow replica built that they showed in 85 in Springfield Ohio`s KKOA show. But went unnoticed because Jack Walker debuted the Hirohata clone. Then they sold the 54 Chevy. He said he needed to bring his dad to the CCR show. He would love it. They didn`t make it to the 2021 show.
Wrong thread, sir. (but kool) Edited .... With apologies, I see you have gone back into your post and referenced the Buck Owens Merc did appear in this thread back on page 58.
This is the Bob OMAN (Holdridge Nebraska) Merc which was chopped (1979 or so) after So Fine by Bob Johnson and Ronnie Moore. The current owner (over 20 years now )(now from Beaver Lake Nebraska) told me Bob and Ronnie decided to chop the Merc before someone else tries and end up messing it up. One of the two owned it at the time. Not sure how long and in what state it was in when sold. He went on to say Bob told Ronnie he wanted him to chop So Fine and he would help him. If he messed up, Bob said he would just go and get another roof. As you can see. it came out great. Here is So Fine on the cover of Custom Rodder at the Des Moines show in 82. I`m guessing one if not two of the shirtless guys are Bob`s sons. One of them drives the car away as pictured in the same magazine. I didn`t meet Ronnie until years later.
Pretty sure I grabbed these pics from another HAMB thread. Nothing new to add about one of my favorite mid-century Mercs. It is likely on the east coast somewhere with flames. If my plan does not come through and I buy the Hirohata next week, then I want to find this car and "make it great again". Now, where did I put that lotto ticket??
Ok guys, I have an update! This W.E.H.T. is going back a ways. Back in April of 2017, I wrote about Paul Brenner's wild '59 Buick affectionately known as "Last Kiss". It was W.E.H.T #55. Here's the link to the write-up just in case you missed it or need a refresher. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-37#post-11992457 We never did find out exactly what happened to the car, but we did learn some great history about Mr. Brenner, and at the time (2017), he was still into customs. The thing about writing this thread every-other-week, you'd be surprised about how many people contact me with information about customs in the thread or contacting me for information. Others just chime in to say hello or thanks or what have you. I'm always thrilled when anybody writes. It lets me know that people are still "tuning in" and I really appreciate that! Well, today I got a message from a guy named Tony in Sweden of all places. He told me that he is the current care taker of "Last Kiss". He sent me some super pictures and the car is still in pristine condition, just like it was back in the 90s! Tony also mentioned that he may be in the market to sell the car, so all you custom seekers, take note: there is one wild '59 Buick that might be up for grabs one of these days! If you're interested, you might send Tony a message as he just joined the HAMB today. If nothing else, drop him a line and tell him welcome, and tell him how happy we are to have him here. He goes by @Buick -59 Last kiss. Tony sent me some great pics that I hope he doesn't mind that I share, but when we get a nugget of custom information from someone for the thread, I just can't help myself. The car is still a looker, and one of my favorite Buicks of all time! Here's to Tony and his "Last Kiss"! Thanks for sharing your sled Tony! E
I was in Kitchener, Ontario in 1994 on business and because I had seen Paul's Buick in magazines, I contacted him while I was there. He invited me over and was a gracious host, showing me not only his '59 but a fully customized OT '71 Riviera as well. He didn't know me from Adam but treated me like an old friend. He spent quite a bit of time going over all the mods he had made to both cars. It was a good visit!
What Ever Happened To..........? number 285. 1951 Ford "Resurrection" Owner: Paul Normand Rochester, New Hampshire Tonight's custom is one that didn't seem to be around too long, but it did seem to change hands quite a bit during that relatively short time. Also, I couldn't find any evidence of it ever going to a Leadsled Spectacular, but it did go to Sled Scene East at least once that I was able to find. The earliest information I found on the car was when it was a feature car in Classic & Custom. It was in the September '84 issue (Volume 5 Number 5) on pages 44-45. These are the best shots of the car, but as you'll see, even when the car was sold a few different times, it didn't seem to change much at all. Since the car was featured in Classic & Custom back in '84, I'd be willing to venture a guess that it was spotted at a Spectacular and then shot for a feature, but I didn't see the car on my DVDs and videos through the 80s. If it was at the first or second Spectacular in '81 or '82, I have no video or any articles with shots of the car in them at those first two shows. Most of the articles I have from '81 and '82 are all pictures of the same cars, many of which were what I like to call the "heavy hitters". These are customs that became legendary due to their styling, or customs that were built by a legendary builder like Barris, Hines or the Alexander Brothers, just to name a few. My next shot of this '51 was a still shot taken from my VHS copy of the 1986 Sled Scene East show. This is the only KKOA show that I was able to find the car at on my videos. As you can see, it looks like it did in the Classic & Custom article from 1984. Now here is where things start to get interesting on this Ford. In the coverage of Sled Scene East in the KKOA's Kemp Gazette, Volume 2 Number 8 from 1986, we see the car in a small black and white photo on page 11. The caption under the photo names Rick and Carrie Becker as the owners. I have no idea where these folks were from, but obviously the car had been sold, since in the Classic & Custom article, the owner/builder was listed as Mr. Paul Normand from New Hampshire. For my last photo tonight, we fast forward all the way to 1990. In another issue of the Kemp Gazette, Volume 6 Number 5, we see the Ford up for sale in the "Midnight Auto" section of the newsletter on page 10. In the description of the car in the ad, it lists a guy named Brian as the owner from Canton, Connecticut. Seems like the car may have changed hands again. If you look closely at the pictures, it looks like three things were changed from when Mr. Normand built it. The wheel covers, the steering wheel and the lake pipes. The late 60s Mercury spinner hubcaps were changed out in favor of '57 Caddy hubcaps. The steering wheel in the Classic & Custom article looked to be an original Ford wheel, and the wheel in the ad looks to be aftermarket. I'd imagine it was changed out for more legroom as it is definitely a smaller diameter. The last notable change is that the lake pipes were now gone. Other than those three things, the car looks dead on to back in '84. I researched this car for quite a while, and I'm sad to say that this is all I was able to find on this car. After the '90 classified ad the trail went stone cold and I found nothing more. I'm hoping that you custom faithful that frequented Sled Scene East or many of the other great East Coast shows might have more on this super '51. The car has a great look and a profile to die for. I can't imagine that this car ended up in a junkyard somewhere, and I'd like to think it's still out there prowling the streets somewhere. Have you seen the "Resurrection"? So we're halfway through January. The month has sure gone fast so far. Surprising as the time from New Year's through St. Paddy's Day just seems to drag for me. Such a cold and dreary time of year. I'm ready for the warmer weather, cruising, car shows and all the fun stuff that makes the summertime so special. I guess we just have to hang in there. Warmer days are coming, although it seems pretty far away. Now is the time to get all the things done to your sled that you put off last summer 'cause you were having too much fun driving it. If not, you might have to spend some of those nice days getting things done and you'll miss out on a great cruise night or car show. Now we wouldn't want that to happen now would we? Better get to work! Until next time, stay cool! E
Great looking car that seems for so familiar, but I’m not coming up with anything on it in my pic folders. I almost wanna say I’ve seen it at The CCR, but I didn’t see it going through my pics quick.
I have always liked this car. Never seen it in person. @rbantique started a thread here on the HAMB about Norm`s Autobody Rochester New Hampshire old photo`s. Will somebody post a link. You will be amazed. Everybody on the HAMB needs to see this thread. He built this car. It`s posted on page one as other pages as well. rb owned this car at one time.
Wow, that is an impressive thread! In the Classic & Custom article it mentioned that Mr. Normand was a car builder, but I had no idea he cranked out rods and customs like this! Lots of different stuff, but most of it is just dripping with traditional style. Mr. Normand is truly one of the unsung heroes in the hobby! Thanks for bringing it up Jim, and thanks for digging it up to share Mark. Definitely a great read! E
Mr. Normand was, still is? a prolific builder with a great eye for style. I now own the '33 Ute pictured in the aforementioned thread. Still going strong.
WEHT #284 1950 Merc "So Fine" Englishtown, NJ Raceway Park - 1980s Phil's (RIP) Kustom Knights ... I do have a Front Shot - still looking ...
I haven't been able to find anything on this one but after the shot @demmel posted I think I know why it seems so familiar. The front end is similar to "Tequila Sunrise".
Both cars do resemble each other. Back in the early 80s when customs were really coming back and getting popular again, many custom trends were being done to cars that were very similar. Rolled pans were really popular. We don't see it nearly as much today. I sure miss those days. E
I just saw this in @Tom davison's GNRS 2022 coverage. What Ever Happened To..........? number 112. 1955 Plymouth Owner: Ken Prather Waterford, Pennsylvania
I saw this car today as well and could tell it was an older build, but didn’t recognize it as a WEHT feature. Talked with the owner quite a bit, but I’m sorry, I didn’t get his name. He is aware of the cars history, and is enjoying driving it and making sure it’s legs are stretched.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 286. 1955 Plymouth Owner: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?, Michigan I thought that since @Sancho brought up Ken Prather's awesome '55 Plymouth a few days ago, this week we'd cover another '55 Plymouth that seems to be a pretty much unknown custom. I've searched for quite sometime for information on this car and I haven't been able to come up with much. I figured I'd post what I know, and see if you custom faithful out there can fill in the blanks. This '55 Plymouth seemed to be around in the late 80s for just a short time. In my information search, I found the car was at the 1987 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Illinois, and again in 1988 in Holland, Michigan. The car may have been at one other KKOA show, but I don't have video proof of that, and I'll explain more on that in a bit. At the '87 show, the car was only shown once during the fairgrounds cruise. I was only able to get a few still shots, but it is the proof that it was there in '87. This car is very unique with the light yellow paint, but how many '55-'56 Plymouth customs have you seen over the years? The car really stood out just for the fact of what it was. In '88, this Plymouth made the trip to the show which was in it's home state of Michigan. It may have still been a long trip for the owner as the state of Michigan is very large. For the '88 Spectacular, my video tape of the show was shot by our very own @PasoJohn Tretten. Luckily for us John is somewhat of a Mopar buff, so he spent a good amount of time filming the car. These are the best detail shots I was able to find of it. The first shot was a quick glance as the car was prowling the fairgrounds. Once the Plymouth decided to park, we get some good views of what this car had to offer. The Plymouth Satellite hubcaps are a natural, and we can see the car was shaved clean. No door handles or chrome trim to speak of. Up to now you may have been wondering "Man, what about those skirts?" Here we get a great look at them. Judging by the style and how well they fit, I'd be willing to bet a cold soda pop that these are Jimmy Jones skirts. They just have that look. Then you factor in the fact that the car was from Michigan, as was Mr. Jones, and they just might be the real deal. If not, my hat's off to the builder of them. They are perfect! The skirts along with the slightly lengthened quarter panels definitely give this car the long, low, east coast look. Pretty impressive to do this to an unpopular car like a mid 50s Plymouth! If you look this car over, it really is pretty mild. Aside from the extended quarters, skirts and the Connie kit, it looks close to stock. Shave a little trim and get it closer to the ground and you had a swell cruiser. A car like this could have been built relatively cheap back in the 80s. Man, I miss those days, don't you? If we peek inside, we can see the great dash that Plymouth offered up back then. These have to be some of the best looking dashboards Plymouth ever had. I've often wondered why more cars didn't have the glovebox in the center. Only a few cars did here and there and it seems like a great idea. I wonder why it never took off? Just thinking out loud. Anyway, the only thing that makes me scratch my head is the steering wheel choice. I guess it was a "legroom special" as the factory wheels were pretty large. Also, changing the steering wheel was a popular mod back then. Factory wheel or aftermarket? Who cares? I'd drive the wheels off this Mayflower! For the cruisin' comfort part of the interior, the owner chose button tuck velour. Lots of labor for this interior. Hard to beat the looks of it! My book and magazine searching didn't turn up anything on this sled. I find that hard to believe because, as I mentioned before, you just don't see many mid 50s Mopar customs. The earlier boxy Plymouths up to '54 had the Chevy and Ford shoebox vibe going on. Then from '57 up to about '60 they had the big fins. The poor '55 and '56 Plymouths were kind of left on their own, with few ever getting "leaded". I did find a great shot of this car on Rikster's super website. It's a Scott Pavey picture, and I can't say what show this was at. I'd guess a Spectacular but I don't know what year. I'm sure if anyone would know it would be Jim (@stanlow69). He was at these shows many years, and his sharp mind not only remembers the shows and the cars that were there, but the way the venue the show was at looked like. Nice to see the car in clean, crisp color. Note the frenched antenna in the front fender. My last photo tonight is a picture John Tretten had in his massive photo collection. This is the picture that makes me think the car was at another KKOA show besides the '87 and '88 Spectacular. In this picture you can see scallops that weren't on the car in Springfield or Holland so where was this at? I'm sure John will be more than happy to give us all the details if he has them. John is another walking custom encyclopedia, and the way he can remember shows and dates is truly amazing. Sharp eyes will also note the Michigan plates. So that's about all for this fine Mopar. Anyone recognize it or know the owner? Let's see if we can get the rest of the story as I hate to post these great cars without the owner information and where he was from. So all you custom faithful put on your thinking caps, dig into the memory banks and get out your old photo albums and let's solve this mystery. January is a memory. I really don't mind as like I've said many times before this time of year isn't my favorite. February '22 is here. Alright guys, remember Valentine's Day is coming up fast. Get it in gear and remember that special person that makes life so much better. Shop early and be thoughtful. The gals like that! Y'all have a great Valentine's Day and I'll see you the day after, February 15th. 'Til then, stay cool! E
Is it chopped? Hard to tell the chronological order of all the photos but looking at the scalloped version compared to the Scott Pavey photo directly above it, it definitely appears chopped. Perhaps just camera angle?...
Ed, you ow me a soda pop. Those look like fiberglass skirts. I was thinking the scalloped version looks chopped too. But the first few photo`s, it looks sectioned. The pic`s look like the Holland Michigan show. The last one I know is Holland.
I looked at the photos over and over again myself to try and figure out if it was chopped. I never could decide so I didn't mention it. I don't know Jim, I still say the skirts look like metal ones. How will we ever be able to settle the bet? Aw heck, I'll buy you a pop in Salina. July seems like a long way off..........E
It`s Less than 6 months away, ED. A couple here in town brought his brother-in-law (Perdue) and his wife from Griswold (next county over) by my shop to show him the pic`s on my wall. The brother-in-law said he used to own a Merc. I showed him some. He said it was painted a rose color and he won a trophy back in the 50`s in Des Moines. Said it was in a little page`s magazine. I`ve looked but haven`t found it. Said he took the hood over to about 75 th street in Omaha by where H and H dealership is now to a junkyard to have louvers punched in the hood. It was surrounded by cornfields then. The press was outside under a tarp by the building. He sold the merc in about 1960 when his wife was pregnant. He told the guy not to leave it outside as the paint will fade. It faded and the car sat over by Treynor (outside of Council Bluffs) until the 70`s when Bob Johnson bought it. He said it was then chopped and called So Fine. Then I showed him a pic on my wall. It made his day. This was about 5 years ago. The last to pic`s from the book i posted above.
WEHT #284 1950 Merc "So Fine" Englishtown, NJ Raceway Park - 1980s Phil's (RIP) Kustom Knights ... I do have a Front Shot - Found ...
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