Photo from the KKOA Hall of Fame and Museum in Salina. "Low Comotion" sitting between Jeff's Cadillac and '57 Ford. What Ever Happened To..........? number 30. 1954 Merc "Low Comotion" Owner: Johnny Jones Claire, Oklahoma
Now that is cool. Low Comotion in between two of Jeff's awesome creations. I'm sure Jeff would be proud. He is missed..........E
What Ever Happened To..........? number 287. 1950 Mercury Convertible "55 Rebel" Owner: Ron House Lake Ronkonkoma, New York As this thread slowly marches forward, I find many cars that either were lost and have been found, or that were never lost. Many of these cars have an iconic style that is unforgettable, or an owner that is/was the same. Every now and then I try to include one of these cars in our list just because I feel that they deserve to be here, and remembered for their important part in custom history. There are so many good folks out there that were never given much recognition for what they've done for the hobby, and since they are "little guys", they can fall through the cracks of history and be forgotten. I'm here to try and change that, because great folks with cool sleds deserve to be honored and remembered. This week's sled belonged to Ron House of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. The first time I ever saw Ron was when one of Rowdie's gals interviewed him on the video from the 1983 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. In that interview you could tell that Ron was the real deal and he was all about customs and the nostalgic lifestyle, and was also proud of the fact that he was around in the early days. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself--I need to back track. Ron was one of the few proud folks that was at the first Leadsled Spectacular in Wichita back in '81. It is so hard to trace any information from those first few years as I have mentioned before. Magazine articles are sparse, and I'm still searching for any video from the first or second Leadsled. It has been a long search, and still after searching for close to 40 years, I'm yet to find any. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack (lol)! Ron's car may have missed the magazine photographer's eye, but the car deserved recognition. It was superbly mild, yet the kind of car that would stop you in your tracks when you saw it cruise by. The first picture I'm posting tonight is a black and white shot from the October 1981 issue of Classic and Custom, Volume 2 Number 5 on page 37. It was in their coverage of the First Spectacular. You can see in the picture the car had been nosed, but the door handles and locks were still on the car. You can also see the center "nose" on the grille had been removed, cleaning up the front end quite a bit. This just goes to show how great the stock grille on these Mercs looked with a little cleaning up. This is the only shot I found of Mr. House's Merc at the '81 show. The next picture tonight is one from our very own Jim Stanley's (@stanlow69) personal collection of photographs. This is one of the snapshots posted on his infamous wall of pictures in his shop. Jim took the picture personally as he and his family attended the show in Des Moines back in '82. At last we get to see the car in full color in the striking dark green paint. The body looked to be about the same as in '81, only in this shot the top is up. You can see that the convertible top bows have been modified. Jim explained on the HAMB before that Ron had the bows worked over to get the "bubble" look out of the top, giving it the look of a chopped top without the car being chopped. This is definitely the way Mercury should have made them to begin with. Another gold star for the styling department of the custom community! The next picture of the Mercury was again from Classic and Custom. This time in the November '83 issue (Volume 4 Number 5) on page 36. Classic and Custom did a small write up on the Mid-Century Mercury club, and featured some pictures of their member's cars. Ron was a member, and they chose his car as one of the pictures from the article. It looks the same as the other pictures from '81 and '82. In 1983 Ron went to the Leadsled, and this is where the interview was held I mentioned above. Here is a young Ron being interviewed by "Peggy Sue". Ron mentioned how much he loved customs, and that the show was great, and that he was in charge of the sock hop that the show was having later that night. Peggy Sue asked him the name of the car and he said "55 Rebel". She asked what the meaning of that was and he basically explained that the car was a tribute to James Dean. It was because James Dean was the original rebel and he kinda started the whole Mercury craze way back when as he drove one in the 1955 movie "Rebel Without A Cause". Here is a shot of Ron's personalized plate and license frame showing how he was a fan of James Dean. Rowdie did manage to get a nice rear shot of the car after showing the plate, and we see the car was also decked. It really had a clean look. After the '83 Spectacular, I didn't see Ron's car on anymore videos, but he was still very active in the custom car scene. A while back you may remember the articles about George West and his wild '51 Mercury. That was a long time ago as it was W.E.H.T. #7--over five years ago. Man, we've been doing this a long time already. Anyway, here is a link back to the article just in case you missed it, or are new to this thread and you don't know who George West was. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-4#post-11550106 Mr. West made quite an impression on many people, and I did a special tribute write up, one of only two, featuring owners/builders that were a huge part of the custom movement back in the early days of the KKOA. George must have made an impact on Ron, as he wrote a nice eulogy for Mr. West after he passed away back on April 26, 1990. This is a copy of the eulogy that Ron wrote. Also, here is the link to the George West tribute thread, which was W.E.H.T. #275. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-ever-happened-to.1016572/page-158#post-14183455 George seemed like a really neat man and I wish I would have had the pleasure of meeting him. Rest in peace Mr. West. It is really strange how finding information on Ron was so hard after those first few years of the Spectacular. Like I mentioned, Ron was still active in the custom hobby, and he would pop up at events here and there. In 2015 Ron took his beautiful Mercury to the Custom Car Revival which is quickly becoming the who's who of custom car events. The car had gone through some changes since the early days, but they were nothing but great improvements. Here we see the front of the car. You will notice that the dummy spots are gone, as are the door handles and locks. Also, the turn signals were simplified with smaller lights than the stock '50 units, and the Olds flipper caps were swapped in favor of Cad sombreros. The car still looks as good as it did, if not better, than it did back in the early 80s. Oh, before I forget, thanks to Jim Stanley once again, as I believe these are pictures that he took. Thanks man! In the rear, the only change I see is that the stock Mercury taillights were swapped in favor of Lincoln units, and it looks like the plates no longer read "55 Rebel". Not much else had to be changed as like I mentioned before, this car is superbly mild! Back in August of 2019, I was scrolling through the threads (which I do almost daily) when a post caught my eye. It mentioned the passing of a friend. I always check these out as it's always disappointing to see another car person has left us. As I read the post the name seemed very familiar, and once I saw the car I knew who it was. Sadly, Ron left this world on August 17, 2019. A good friend of Ron who goes by @engine138 here on the HAMB started the thread, and I had to reply to the thread telling him that I knew a little history of Mr. House. It was a great thread with some super pictures and memories of Ron. I'll post a link to that thread, and then I'll post some pictures from that thread here of Ron that his friends and family shared. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/passing-of-a-great-friend.1161996/ The last shot tonight is of the tribute picture that Ron's car club brothers made to commemorate him. It is a great tribute to a real custom guy. I'm sure they miss him greatly, as well as his family and friends. Thank you Ron for your dedication and hard work "spreading the custom gospel" and keeping customs alive. Rest in peace, Mr. House. I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day! 2022 is just moving right along. We are beyond the midway point of February, so the warmer weather, longer daylight and the cruising season isn't too far away. Man, I can't wait. Winter has been long, but Spring is on the way! Keep the faith y'all! It'll be here before we know it. I'll see you on March 1st. 'Til then, take it easy! E
From the Kansas City Merc Duce Reunion in 1979. You did an outstanding job of paying tribute to Ron. Very well written. Somewhere in a magazine there is a pic of Ron going down the highway with his 6 foot trophy in the back seat from an early Midwest show.
Thanks for the information Jim (@stanlow69). Your contributions and insight are always great! Also, thanks for the kind words--appreciate that! E
this pic is from 1989 at the James Dean Run in Fairmont Indiana. also seen a pic in this thread (1949, 1950 & 1951 mercury pictures thread) https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachments/scan0017-2-jpg.5314884/
Ron on the left and Ed Lepold on the right at the Dean Run 1999. Ron was a real Kustom guy and was a staple at every James Dean Run. As a kid I would go to the Dean Run with my Dad and all of the St. Louis guys and they were all good friends with Ron. Everybody from St Louis called him The Big Guy. He had the New York accent and was also a NYC Police officer. I believe after he died his Son ended up with the Mercury.
Great pics @DANSLED and @Sum54ford. Thanks for sharing! I've read a lot about Mr. House and he was very well liked. Seemed like a super guy. I know many miss him..........E
Wow, I just made an account to comment. I’ve been lookin for info on this car for years or hoping to see it in person. My grandpa is “Hombre” who did the body work and paint
I’m very glad to see this car is still around. You said you know the owners? I’ve always wanted to see this car in person. Hombre was my grandpa and did the body work and paint and I’ve heard about this car for a long time and just came across this article.
I actually just saw some old hard copy photos of this car in my grandpas collection of cars he painted/did body work on and built back in the day. He was Hombre’s customs. The last pic is (I believe) the 4 door mentioned above.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 288. 1939 Mercury Convertible "Plum Crazy" Owner: James Etter Pittsburg, Pennsylvania Our feature car this week is one that I couldn't come up with being at any KKOA event, but I did find that it did go to a James Dean Run back in the early 80s. I find it hard to believe that it never attended the Leadsled Spectacular or any other KKOA show just because it seems to be an iconic car that has some history. From what I've read on the little bit of information I found on the car, it was believed to have been originally built by the Barris brothers in the early 50s. The best information and pictures I found on this car were from an article in the February 1982 issue of Classic and Custom (Volume 3 Number 1) on pages 16-17. The car drips cool in every picture from the unique double tipped lake pipes coming out of shortened running boards, to the '51 Ford shoebox dash and the perfectly chopped Carson top that replaced the original. I'll quit rambling on and let you guys drool over the pictures. A few months after Mr. Etter's Mercury was featured in Classic and Custom, the car was pictured once again in the magazine in their coverage of the 2nd Annual James Dean Run. This picture was in the June '82 issue (Volume 3 Number 3) on page 36. A great shot, but it doesn't do the car justice in black and white. The car obviously made the rounds to car shows as I did find a few pictures of it. These two pictures were posted recently by Mick (@straykatkustoms) on his "Kustom Blues" thread. I had these same pictures in my collection as well, but I just found them online. Maybe Mick can give some details as to where he found these. They do look to be older pictures from a long time ago. The next shot tonight is from Debb Butler's (@KustomLincolnLady) personal collection and was posted on Rikster's fantastic site. I'd really like to know what show this was taken at. On a side note, what is the crazy guy climbing on in the background? Our next picture tonight is from the Scott Pavey Collection and was also found on Rikster's photo archive. Like the previous photo taken by Debb, I have no idea where it was taken. Is it possible that it was taken at the 1st Leadsled Spectacular in Wichita in 1981, or the 2nd Leadsled in '82 in Des Moines? We may never know. Once again this brings up the lack of show video from the first two years. If anyone ever discovers video from those years, we will have to take a look at it. It truly would be priceless--at least to us custom lovers (lol)! My last picture tonight was also on Rikster's site in the "2 Chops Collection". It is a rare shot of the back of the car. Hard to beat the profile on this one. If you look closely at the picture, you will notice it has personalized plates on it from Michigan that read "BARRIS". The fact that the plates are from Michigan lead me to believe the car was sold and spent some time in Michigan. And that's where our short story ends this evening. Where is this gem today? Who was Mr. Etter and is he still with us? Was the car sold to someone in Michigan and is it still there? Where is this ruby colored beauty? Hard for me to believe that a car with Barris lineage and perfect custom lines would completely disappear, but then again, stranger things have happened, haven't they? March 1st! Now I'm starting to get excited! St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, and in these parts, that usually means the weather is getting better and the days are getting longer. As I type this it's still bright outside. Not all that long ago it would be nearly dark by now. Things are improving and the cruising season is quickly approaching. I'm starting to see fliers and advertisements for upcoming cruise nights and car shows and it looks like 2022 might get somewhat back to normal. Are you ready? Better get busy, it will be here before we know it and I can't wait! I'll see you in a few weeks. Take care everybody! E
Such a cool car. I would definitely say that the picture Deb posted is from the James Dean Run, that definitely looks like the school and playground from the fairgrounds.
I remember that issue of Classic & Custom like it was yesterday. I sure hope the car is still around, and not modified beyond recognition.
I was going to see if @El Pratt might recall where he shot the photos for the Classic and Custom feature but I see he hasn't logged on in almost a year. He did shoot a lot of kustoms for them during the first Spectacular in Wichita.
Always loved this car and can't believe it's been out of circulation so long. This is one that just HAS to be out there somewhere.
Great choice Ed!! I've loved that Merc for a long time. Never got to see it in person and always wondered what happened to it.... At the first Spectacular in Wichita I subscribed and bought all of the back issues of Classics and Custom magazine. The '39 Mercury Convertible was one of my favorite features. Looking forward to see if this one pops up some where.
It was at the 17th Annual Leadsled Street Custom Spectacular in Lansing Michigan in 1997. I've been searching for a desoto bumper tech article that has eluded me (i know it exist) and found this in the January 1998 Custom Rodder magazine.
The Jalopy Journal
