Custom Builder Doug Thompson, who knows where he is? (PICS)

Sorry Rikster, that is all of the pictures. Hopefully in the near future I'll have some more, and when I do I'll post them on the HAMB. It was in a couple of magazine in the mid sixties. I gave the magazine to the owner because he hadn't seen the car in its original kustom state.

Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Here is the Cochran Chevy the year it was debuted. Just posing it cause I was psting pics in the longest HAMB thread I've seen, the early 50's Chevy one.
That's Doug, and myself. Damn proud to have met the man!

 

[ QUOTE ]
The buick was done by Joe Wilhelm and Vern Lacey many moons ago and was owned bt the late great Harold Olsen during the 80s .The paint work was done by Rod Powell. The car was then sold to Don Kober who has it now. The Camino was Hub Harnesses out of Kansas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Anthony,
thanks for the additional info ! Now where you have mentioned it I remember the Buick from an article in American Rodder featuring Rod Powell paintjobs.
And yes, Hub Harness.He also has this red/copper candy '60 Buick,right ?

P.S. Rod Powell is also responsible for the best looking flamejob I have ever seen.I'm talking 'bout the one on Flathead Jack's '49 Merc "Full Race".

 

I have to say, I drove that 41 that will be at BJ, and I can understand why he is selling it.
the pictures above of the chev and the 41 together were taken by me in glendale where both cars were repainted by Marty at Busters. I had the oppertunity to do some of the color sanding and asembly on those two.
I also got to drive the 41 into goodguys a couple years ago (after unloading it from the trailer from a cross town drive!) I would never have driven that car across phx!

the idle was set so high that to stop the car you had to put it in neutral, and the brakes were so bad it took two feet to push them.

I know that many of the problems could be fixed, but it speaks for the quality of some of the work that went into the car AFTER Jack built it.

the chev is one of my all time favorite cars, and I am proud to say I had a hand in the repaint. I also have a ton of other pictures of those two cars in the busters shop.

 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The buick was done by Joe Wilhelm and Vern Lacey many moons ago and was owned bt the late great Harold Olsen during the 80s .The paint work was done by Rod Powell. The car was then sold to Don Kober who has it now. The Camino was Hub Harnesses out of Kansas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Anthony,
thanks for the additional info ! Now where you have mentioned it I remember the Buick from an article in American Rodder featuring Rod Powell paintjobs.
And yes, Hub Harness.He also has this red/copper candy '60 Buick,right ?

P.S. Rod Powell is also responsible for the best looking flamejob I have ever seen.I'm talking 'bout the one on Flathead Jack's '49 Merc "Full Race".

[/ QUOTE ]

Art Himsl is responsible for that spectacular flamejob on Flathead Jack's Merc.

 

I actually work at the rod shop that owns the 41 String of Pearls. It's a fine build to say the least, and yes, we've fixed all the little issues. I'm trying to do a little research on the car. Does anyone know anything about either the car or the wherabouts of Doug?

 

I have 36 Photo's of the 41 Ford on my site. Some of them are from magazine article. Those might help you a bit.

I would love to see some recent photo's of it.

btw in the first photo in my album the car can be seen in bare metal... WOW, but what really makes it look good are the wide white wall tires. Those look so much better that the thin walls that where used when the car was finished. Also the wheel choice was oneI never understood!


http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_car_photos/beautiful_custom_cars/doug_thompson/41_ford_convertible/

 

Rickster:

Is it just me or is anyone else not able to see the pictures? All I see is the text from your photo site.

BB

 

Rikster, what magazines are those pics and articles from.

 

Here's a photo I take of Doug with his MERC at a Kruse auction
in Auburn In. where his kustom was to go across the block.

TWOCHOPS

 

Doug Thompson Merc at an early leadsled show.

TWOCHOPS

 

Not sure... it has been so long ago since I scanned the article.
But if you open my site and click on the photo's you can click on a button on the bottom left side of the photo (Get Original Uploaded Photo) and you will see the photo in its original format. You can also download that photo and print it. I scanned the complete article.

Hope this helps

 

I wasn't going to reply to this post because I noticed that it was originally started almost 2 years ago, but I read a few of the last posts so I thought I'd chime in.

I've heard that Ray Farhner was indeed Doug Thompson. I personally do not know for sure. If he was, unfortunately "Ray Farhner" passed away last year in mid to late October (of '05). Sorry to pass on the sad news to those that didn't know. Doug Thompson was one of the greats and he is missed, but it is nice to see that alot of his work lives on..................E

Here is a link to the HAMB post that leads to guestbook obituary.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76295&highlight=farhner

 

Are you sure Doug Thompson is Ray Farhner? Have heard that Doug worked for Ray but never that they were the same person.

TWOCHOPS

 

Ray Farner is not Doug Thompson
Doug is alive and well in Butler Mo. One of my buddies stopped and saw him on their way to the HAMB Drag's
Dennis

 

Glad to hear that Doug Thompson is alive and well. Ray Farhner, passed away in October of 2005. I believe he was 80 years old when he passed. Ray and Doug are NOT the same person. Stu

 

Really glad to hear that.

I had my serious doubs about the fact they where the same person, but I could not find enough evidence on line to be sure. I had a photo of both and compaired them... they sure did not match.

I'am glad to hear Doug is doing well

 

Is there anyone who may possibly have a way to contact Doug? I'd like to know more about this incredible car. BTW, the pics are mostly from my showroom and it's in incredible shape! The craftsmanship is unparallel!

 

Does anybody have any info on the String of Pearls car, like when it was built, who owned it, anything? I'm trying to do a little research.

 

The String of pearls was built for Jack Walker and a partner. It was fairly new in 1993 at R&C Americruise. I belive that Bob Sipes did the upholstry in a white pearl.

 

Here is a pic from the Spring 1965 issue of Popular Customs.
This is the Merc with the T-Bird grill/bumper in an early version with the roof pods.

The Ray Farhner/Doug Thompson confusion may have started when a car built by Thompson was shown by Farhner and people drew the wrong conclusion, perhaps years later. My apologies for assuming the magazine article had it right.

 

Hello I know this is kind of old But i'd like to reply.
I am Noel Hetrick son of Raymond Hetrick, Raymond,Doug, and Farhner were good friends and would still be if Farhner was alive.
But I came here to say Yes Doug is very much alive in Butler as said before. Raymond and Doug are basicly brothers. I saw Doug at Farhners Funeral.

I also came to say the Picture of the 50 custom Merc Do you have anymore of those I know my Father owned that car and him and Doug built it, I was searching the internet for the "Scorpian" In the photo. Thanks.

 

Picture of Ray Hetrick and a recently created 51 Ford.
Painted by Nikkolas Ryan Hetrick, Raymond Hetrick's Son and Now Painter of cars.
51 Ford Now owned by Rudy Langer.

Raymond and Nikkolas Own a bodyshop in Independence Missouri
Adresss 10001 East Truman 2 Miles east of 435, Ray's Nostalgia Auto Body and Auto sales.

 

Also Ed Guffy Passed away late 2005.

 

this an old post but its an update i guess...

about 4 months ago i tried to comtact Doug. I was told that he is not in very good health.he lives in Butler,Mo still..ill find out some stuff soon and ill post it for you guys

 

Thanks for the contribution, Noel. I met you at Farhner's funeral. I am sorry to hear of Ed Guffy's passing.

Noel's Dad, Ray Hettrick, and Doug were friends and custom fanatics in the 50's around Kansas City where they were teenagers. (a few years before I became acquainted with them). I started hanging around Ray Farhner's shop in '61 and got to know all of them real well. Doug was working for Ray at that time and the two of them had created the Eclipse together. Doug provided the original sketch to Ray.

Farhner had the body shop, and Doug was a kid working for him who provided the custom enthusiasm that Ray may not have otherwise had. They both did the actual construction. Farhner had the means to make the Eclipse happen because he was like a combination project manager and PR man promoter. Shortly after I met them, Ray (along with Doug's help) started promoting car shows all over the country. I was along for the ride at every show because Ray had helped me get started in my career as a t-shirt airbrusher and I had a booth airbrushing t-shirts at every show. There grew to be about twenty shows on Ray's circuit before he was bought out by Bob Larivee Sr in about 1970. The shows became a part of Larivee's World of Wheels circuit. Anyone who has shown at World of Wheels in cities as far flung as Phoenix, Kansas City, Seattle, St Paul or St. Louis has participated in a Ray Farhner show. After Doug left, Ray created his signature car, the Boothill Express, which has been memorialized as a Monogram model...still in production after 35 years, to the best of my knowledge. Here's a link with more info:http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=218798&highlight=wake+wagon&page=5

After Doug went out on his own in about '65, he created a body of custom work that I would say is unrivalled by other builder since the heyday of the Barris Brothers in both quanity and quality. He was a prime mover in the recent custom revival.

Doug is in poor health, but you couldn't have known that at Farhner's funeral in 2005, the last time I saw him. He was as childlike and enthusiastic as ever. Doug and Nita have been together since they were teenagers, but in spirit, they still are inded still teenagers. They have four daughters.

Doug got his dream shop, an former Chevrolet dealership in Butler, Mo., south of KC several years ago. He is on the board of the local historical society there, but I don't know that he has any custom projects in the works. I do know he has a '58 Cad Brougham (the aluminum roof Italian coachwork-type) that he has really wanted to do for a long time.

 

The red merc convert on page 1 (owned by the KC doctor) was Doug's first personal showcar in about '62. It did indeed have space pods on the roof (inspired by' Roth's Rotar). It had earlier been Doug's driver when he was a teenager (when he originally chopped it) and I do have a great black and white of that car in the 50's, with Doug posing next to it. I'll put it up when I get to my scanner at work.

 

Here we go.

 

the 41 ford was on ebay about two weks ago

 

the 41 just came back on ebay tonight, i emailed the seller asking about doug, will up date when i get an answer.