I saw Jack’s clone in Boston in January of which year I don’t remember. There was no one around it except maybe Jack. Unfortunately I was to shy at the time to talk to him about it. Missed opportunity on my part that I regret. I still wonder where it is now. Snowman ⛄️
Lol! Those were the days.... Over the years I have developed more respect for the guys that build clones. Mark Moriarity shared his Car Craft Dream Rod build book at Starbirds. I was blown away listening to all of the research it took to find the correct parts. I assumed since it was Kustom you just made what you needed. Mark showed me that is not true when you are building a true clone. I don't have the desire to go to the extremes to build a clone. But I have respect and very thankful for the guys that are willing to do it. It is a lot harder to clone a vehicle than to build the original. Jack Walkers Hirohata clone was built and cloned the right way. Very thankful that Jack and Doug Thompson teamed up to build the Hirohata. It was a very influential kustom that kept our hobby growing. Sorry to repeat myself, being able to do this with limited research materials is even more incredible. We are Blessed to have computers but the telephone was a great but expensive resource. I guess you would call the land line phone old school.....
I would like to add to the fact that Jacks car helped get the real one back in shape. When Doug and Jack were in the middle of the recreation the word got out, and at that time only a few people knew that the real one was still in existence. This led to the restoration of the real car.
You are right. Jack's clone added popularity to the original Hirohata. Wonder if it would have brought as much money if the cloned hadn't been built.
I believe you are correct Mick and so is Rocks Rod and Custom. Jack and Doug building the clone brought back a legend and helped the Hirohata Merc reclaim it's former glory. You have great Thread. Enjoy reading every post.
Thank you for the feedback. I know the post gets some likes, but it is good to hear guys are enjoying the thread.
Also loving the thread, I check in nearly every time I'm logged on...so cool to see old pics, especially photos of build progress from "back then".
Many of us build stuff to our own standards. maybe you have said that's good enough. If you build a clone such as the Merc, the Dream Rod or the Mysterion, do you ever say "it's good enough" ? In my later years, it's either right or not. The tail of this thread has allowed me to think more about cloning and realize that at my original thoughts, I should never under take one. it takes a special amount of effort to do that. My desire to improve on some items would mean failure to the clone. This happened while I was deep in drag racing so I missed a lot of it. I think I would have enjoyed a conversation with Mr. Walker.
In the 80's, Jack Walker's clone directly influenced an influx of chopped Mercs in my hometown. One of our car club guys had a copy of one of the magazines that featured the Merc. We were all hanging out after a car club meeting (I was just a little kid at that time), but I remember these "old" guys getting excited to see Jack Walker's clone in color on the pages. Sure enough, a few years later, we had no less than four chopped Mercs in town, each one built by a club member. I had no idea the real thing existed, until the R&C article of it's "discovery". I don't know if the clone and the real Merc ever parked side by side (imagine that photoshoot!), but I am so appreciative that both cars are here and for us to enjoy these days!
Mick, Such a cool photo. I've never seen it before. (David Wolk here) I remember that weekend well. Many weekends I traveled with Jack and everyone. The photo was taken when we arrived at the hotel in Holland Michigan for the KKOA Leadslead show. That's my mint green merc behind Jack's trailer, ahead of Larry Cochran's chevy.
The Jalopy Journal
