Ryan submitted a new blog post: The Clif Inman Chrysler in… HAWAII? Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I totally would have, but we were in the tree tunnel on the south shore and I had no place to turn around. On top of that, it took a good minute for what I just saw to register… we were headed home from picking up a sofa from port and it was all just so out of context. The Inman Chrysler or its clone was the very last thing I thought I would see today.
According to this: http://www.forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=25493&DisplayType=nested&setCookie=1 The car was owned by William McEuen and according to Wikipedia, McEuen died in 2020 - in Kona HI.
‘I just got a text from a friend of a friend through Ganahl… apparently, the car is in a private collection on Oahu. I guess he’s touring it right now. Holy shit… I can’t believe I just saw the Inman Chrysler. Man, if anyone knows this guy, I would KILL to photograph it.
This makes sense as the last known owner of the car was the late William E. McEuen (born: 1941 in Oakland, CA & died: 2020 in Kailua-Kona, Hi) … and I was told that Bill had some of his car collection on the Big Island and/or on Oahu … so it’s quite possible the Inman Chrysler made its way over to Kauai. D'oh! ... Just noticed that @rad red & @alchemy already beat me to it.
FYI . . . That's one of my old threads on the Forward Look forum . . . I've posted much of the same content & photos here on the H.A.M.B. . . . in multiple "Inman Chrysler" threads . . . including the chopped black 57 chrysler custom? thread.
Cliff Inman's Chrysler is one of the classiest looking customs ever... Joe Wilhelm really knocked it out of the park. Even though I usually don't care for black paint on a custom, I can't imagine it being any other color....
Pretty funny; in 1963 I lived in Hawaii but took a summer trip back to my childhood home of Napa. My buddy and I went to Santa Cruz which then had a thriving cruzing scene going and saw (and fell in love with) that car. Now it's in Hawaii and I live in Santa Cruz. I believe it has been cloned at least once.
Man, I would have spun a 180 regardless of any tunnel for that car. There’s plenty of room….. Now you’ll be sleepless for weeks thinking about it and burn up the Island $ 5.00 gallon gas cruising around hoping to run into it again.
Ryan, I have great respect for you and love being a user here on this forum, but you didn't give chase?!? Even if it took 15 minutes to get turned around, I'd be zooming back, asking every group "did it come this way?" along the way, madly holding up a phone with the picture displayed. I'm more rod than custom, but that's in the top 5 EVER and has not been seen in how long??? Time to hunt! Kauaʻi, anglicized as Kauai, is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles, making it the fourth-largest of the islands.
Click on Tree Tunnel on Google maps, then click photos and watch one of those short videos, that road is one busy sumbitch!
@Ryan - FYI, "Cliff" spells his first name with just one "f" . . . also, I sent Mr. Inman a link to today's TJJ Blog Here's a higher resolution scan of the (circa 1978) image you used as the lead photo in today's TJJ Blog: Note that my father had purchased the car from a Fresno, CA "biker" . . . for William E. McEuen (i.e., @RodPowell's "secret" client) and snapped this pic as they were loading it on Rod's trailer . . . and yes, that's a much younger Rod in the far left of the frame. Also, here's higher resolution scans of the two photos you used in your Blog that my father shot in June of 1977 when he (& Gary Meadors) "found" his favorite Custom . . . via a lead from Fresno Street Rod chassis builders {Pepper} SNOW and {Ronnie} WHITE: Lastly, here's low-rez scans of the Kodachrome slides that my father & Gary shot that day in June 1977: - Todd @HEMI32 Olson
Holy crap Ryan, I'd have shit myself! I LOVE that car. A traditional Rod and Custom journalist/photographer and THAT Custom cross paths on a tiny island. What are the chances!? I think there's a message there, a good omen. You have to hit the road and look for it. If it's visiting from Oahu, what's the nearest harbor that'll handle cars and how far from there would he (dare road trip out to) lodge? When you saw it, do you think he was done for the day and returning back or on an outbound drive? If the owner has coin, he may be staying at a nearby resort. Maybe a drive through a few parking lots and maybe show a picture of the car to the lot attendant/valet? Even if cars mean zero to them, they'd remember the car if they've seen it. Jeez, shooting that car in picturesque Kauai would be a match made in heaven.
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