Here's Ray Sharp's "Letter to the Editor" of with photos of Bob McCoy's '40 prior to the famous flames:
Here's ours. I had the pleasure to visit with " Bob McCoy' several yr's ago at the "LARS" and got an autograph pic, from Him. As several "40' Ford" owners have asked "Bob" can I buy your "Nerf Bar" ? Answer. "Not For Sale!" "Is it OK if I make a clone of it.?" Answer. "Go for It, I'd like to see it when your done." Here it is, and we wear it Proudly. I am Quick to give credit where credit is due, when asked about it.!
Love the sedan truly an icon.I have a set of nerf bars for my truck. have thought about putting them on my sedan . I have a couple prints hanging on my walls
My 32 roadster with Bob McCoy numbers and lettering. One year at the GNRS he told me that this was the last car he worked his magic on before he turned to art works exclusively. Pictures from T.R.O.G. Flabob race.
The front nerf bars are just the stock 40 bumper brackets with some rod and a center spacer, very clever design. Also these picts show that Bob was right in style at the time, Angeles Peggers pants, Mandrin coller shirt, skinny suede belt and penny loafers. All very mid 50's L.A. Ca. style of dress.
“…The most obvious feature of the sedan is the Ray Cook applied flames and that’s deserved. They might be the best licks ever laid on a car…” Hello, Back in our flame drawing stage, the tri color flames were what we used to see in the beach side cook out flare ups and campground fire pits. We were always awed by the patterns. No, we were not pyromaniacs, but those flames mesmerized us to no end. So, when it was time to draw in our school class notebooks instead of notes, the simple scallops turned into curvy flames. When those flames became the standard yellow with red/blue tips, then the process of multicolor flames was seen. This was the difficult part of fading one color into the next on paper or notebooks. Today, is is not any easier as we do not use air brushing to do the complete fade like the pros do it on their fabulous jobs. The Bob Mc Coy multicolor painted flames was outstanding on the 1940 sedan. But, for those that liked flames, the color was a little “out there” but, instantly drew the eyes of all those seeing the sedan in person or in a magazine. @deucemac and his recollection of Bob Mc Coy In reading recollections on the HAMB of those that knew him, it is one of those things that there was a person that was able to do a lot of cool things impressing people along the way. Jnaki “Hot Rod, Car Craft, Rod & Custom, and Hot Rod Annual featured the cool sedan. The “mags” put the sedan on the cover and was one of the most publicized cars in hot rod history.” The famous flame painting was inspiring to a young kid. Later on, our own hot rods were always not as attention grabbing as the cool Ford Sedan of Bob Mc Coy… YRMV
I have no pics of the famed '40, but I do have a shot of some Bob McCoy artwork. You can see his signature at the bottom of the cloud of tire smoke.... It hangs on the wall of the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed in Lincoln NE and was presented to Speedy Bill's wife Joyce - cool piece by a very talented artist.
Such a neat tudor. I'm loving all of the cars posted here with some influence from Bob's 40. Maybe it's time for some changes on mine
Un-related to the Bob McCoy '40: My close friend Gary "Goodguy" Meadors (RIP ) was a close friends with Bob (RIP ) ... they had a mutual love of Hot Rods & Sprint Cars. Here's the cool McCoy wall art that hung in Gary's office:
That's bad news. I have a signed piece of his art. Hard to see the signature, as the ink has faded. RIP
Everyone loved the nerf's and flames, but the striping on the rear, the little insignia/ character under the Ford Deluxe emblem, and the names on driver's side door.... it's those little touches that complete the whole car!
I was discharged from the U.S. Navy in the 1970s. I met my wife and lived in San Diego for 20 years before relocating to Dallas, TX and eventually the St. Louis, MO metro area. Bob was a regular at the local Cruises and Car Shows in San Diego. I met Bob through my good friend Chappy Grant. I remember Bob as a straight up guy, with a heart of gold. Bob frequently provided his art work that was raffled off at various hot rod events. I feel honored to have been aquatinted with Bob in the 80s and early 90s.
The Jalopy Journal
