Larry Shinoda's Chopstick Spl., looking for some information..

iam looking for information on the chopsticks special, (from what i can tell its a 1929 roadster pickup).... ie. what year rearend, dash instruments, seats, gas tank, speed parts... exteiror and interior pictures maybe? has it been lost? perhaps it was found? any info is helpful, thanks!

iam sitting on a rumor at the moment and im doing some homework.

here are 2 pics...

 

Does the chop stick special have any thing to do with the chop sticks car club?

If so you might call Chico at Mooneyes. I know he was or still is in a car club called the Chop sticks form Japan.

 

BTT, need any info guys.

 

29 sedanman - thaks for the reply, i dont think the Chop Stix club and the special are associated. I believe Larry S. belonged to a club out of Eagle Rock, So, Calif. called "The Trompers" during the late 40's, (i am not going to say for sure as its been awhile since looking the info up and i dont want to skew any facts, tonight ill try and scan the exerpt from a booklet ive got )

the club is still around and i frequent a local hardware store that an original Tromper still owns and operates, i will see if he recalls anything.

hoppy - thanks for the bump bud

i should also point out the Chopstick Special is a 32 3window raced by Shinoda and a partner in the early fiddy's... perhaps the Chopstick Special had more than 1 body style... i dont know, which is why im asking the HAMB

photo from Gasser Madness:

 

The "A" intrigues me too...I looked around a little on Google, and there was a link to "Team Shinoda", a hotrod Mustang place run by his kids...a faint hope, but maybe they know something or have a scrapbook...
Many sites mention his rodding, but none seem to have pictures.

 

The 32 3W was later run by Don Montgomery full fendered with a 12 port Jimmy.... but I digress.

BTTT

 

Ya know.....I started a thread yesterday asking for similar info, nothing yet.....

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212931

 

I think that I saw a partial shot of the truck in a "Albert Drake" book the other evening.........I will flip thru it again and get back to you.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

 

bruce, i will send them an email, thanks for the lead. i have another group of people to talk with here in los angeles who know about the rpu.

no worries about digressing, information is sporatic and rare... luckily i live in the right city to continue the search.

sinister - keep an eye on this thread, i didnt realise you had posted.

chris - that would be great, i have yet to pick up Albert Drakes books.

thanks for the replies fellas, ill keep posting my findings here... and soon, i will explain what all this is about.

Some further searching reveals the Chopsticks Special was, as described in the article below a, "29 Ford Hi-boy".

 

Hey Mike,

Do you know if Larry ever ran the Chopstick Special at the lakes?

If so maybe Jack Underwood would have pictures or info. I saddly
don't have a way to get ahold of Jack, but am told he holds court
in his garage most weekends, in O.C. I see him twice, three times
a year at swaps and meets, however. Jack's got about the largest
library on the "Lakes" running from the 20s.

Swankey Devils C.C.

 

ive got a couple updates if anyone is curious; first a little background of why i asked for information...

i baught an old hotrod awhile back and it came with an interesting story:
2 brothers that possibly purchased the truck from Shinoda sometime in the early 1950s.... brothers drown in a fishing accident in the mid 50's and the rpu goes into storage for a number of years... it ended up in Bakersfield with a friend before coming back to the Los Angeles area (me). im not quite sure where or who owned for the past 10yrs, my research has been mediocre at best.

my assumptions of its lineage are twofold, the registration below and that American Japanese families/racers during and after the war were fairly close knit, so in my mind the story made some sense:


a couple items of interest, the trucks reg. lists the number of cylinders as 4, Shinoda's rpu had a ford V8, although both address's are within +/= 5 min of the neighborhoods where Shinoda and the club he belonged to (Trompers of Eagle Rock, SCTA) hung out.

Trompers were an active SCTA club during the years right after WW2 and up until the Korean War, at which time more than a few of its members joined the service and the club went defunct. (the club was revived and exists wth its original members blessings).

the first pic (rear 3/4 view of numbered rpu) at the begining of this thread is not Shinoda's, it belonged to another Tromper circa 1947, unfortunately his name does not come to mind at the moment. I still need to contact the clubs historian... i live maybe 10min drive from where they meet up Monday mornings.

additionally, there may be some conflicting dates, Shinoda broke a record in his class at Bonneville with a '29 ford hiboy, which would have been sometime in August? Again, I havent been doing exhaustive research but as far as I know the Bonneville meets have always been held in August?
...specifically for the 1950 season as we can see one of the reg. papers is from 8/22/1950, unless Shinoda broke the class record and sold it right after the races this may be damning evidence.

not much of the original exists other than the grill, hood, cab, dash, windshield... the box ill be using is full length Model A..





the purpose of my update is just to inform and perhaps keep an ongoing journal of my findings, even if it isnt the Shinoda rpu it is still a neat ride.

i plan to have it back on the road by the next ex-Paso show running a '41 flathead, sharp heads/intake, column shift 3spd from a '41 ford, dropped model A "EYE" beam with split '34 bones, and a '36 rear end... wheels will be wide 5's with bias ply's.

thanks for reading through my drivel

 

Mike, this it gonna be nice.

 

killer history.

 

Mike, good seeing you yesterday & I have yet another call in to my buddy. I will let you know what he knows if anything.

 

Looks like it will be a neat project...

 

That's a neat story Plan9......I was searching for similar info, as I think the Shinoda RPU is one the the coolest 'lil trucks of that era....

I'll be following your progress very closely....

 

Here is another RPU from the era and the area. Ted Colley (my uncle) another Tromper member who joined in 1946. He ran it first with a Cragar, then in '48 converted it to a Mercury V8. 119.56 mph April El Mirage. The last picture shows it in new blue paint, Also shown in the So-Cal Speed shop book background page 73. A possibility for you car? Don't know but I love them all. I do know most of the build history of this car and that it was traded for a 1940 Ford coupe sometime in 1948.

Tom

 

Your cab has outside door handles but the Shinoda truck has none. The other pics show no handles on the Trompers club member truck so maybe, just maybe, you have that one.

 

a couple items of interest, the trucks reg. lists the number of cylinders as 4, Shinoda's rpu had a ford V8, although both address's are within +/= 5 min of the neighborhoods where Shinoda and the club he belonged to (Trompers of Eagle Rock, SCTA) hung out.




Mike,
The reg would list 4cyl because the car woulda come stock wit a 4cyl and i am sure that they werent gonna waste to much time letting DMV they built a Hot Rod & installed a V8

 

I think it is possible that you have Ted Colley's little truck. That might be a good lead.

 

I do remember that The Rodders Journal had an article on the Japanese hot rodders of the 30's and 40's. There was a picture and a little bit about Larry Shinoda and his little truck. I don't remember which issue it was but I can look tonight.

 

i may be way off in left field with my Shinoda theory, lots of rpu's were built up in those days, but its worth investigating

rick - good point, i figured the DMV wouldnt have been so strict back then.. although, it is a government institution and oft times proned to being a stick in the mud.

jeff - good seeing you to man, if you can hook up some info that would be great.

tomscj6 - i have the Trompers anniversary booklet and is the source of my assumptions... i mixed up your uncles rpu (in my original post here) with shinoda's. i appreciate the pictures you posted, your uncles car looks and feels right, do you know what became of it?

 

ill check my back issues... admittedly ive been lax in buying TRJ's eventhough it is one of my favorite publications. if you can dig up the article that'd be great

 

I'll look tonight. I know it was in one of the last 4 or 5 issues.

 

It is issue 35. The picture is the second one you posted with Shinoda in the truck. The caption is as follows:

"Through this story encompasses the period surrounding WWII, many Japanese American hot rodders who were interned had tremendous impact as well after that period. Below is Larry Shinoda in his "Chopsticks Special" Model A roadster pickup. Shinoda was placed in a camp when he was only twelve years old. He won the A/Hot Roadster class at the first NHRA Nationals with power from a C-T Automotive-prepped Ardun. Larry's legacy as a key figure in American automotive performance was fully established when he was hand picked by Bill Mitchell to join General Motors' "Special Styling" team in 1958. Shinoda's work as a designer led directly to the first Corvette Stingray in 1963, and he designed the first Z/28 Camaro and Boss 302 Mustang. Shinoda passed away on November 13, 1977."

Other than that most of the article seems to deal with Japanese American racers before the war.

 

As far as I know from the old family stories is that Ted traded his '29 rpu off for a 40 Ford sometime in 1948, in 49 he bought a new 49 Chevy pickup. Stuff you could look for on your body (to indentify)
He painted the car blue (18 coats hand rubbed), the windshield posts were cast by Ted (Eagle Rock high school metal shop). Also he told me that when he rebuilt the car with the V8, He also welded tubing supports in the body. Square or round I'm not sure. Other features were a 1941 Mercury engine, Dago front axle, V8 rear axle, stock A chassis with a '32 crossmember -- all the good stuff. If it is the car it would be a great end to a famous family story. Any other questions you might have just ask, I'll ask Ted -- he is still around at 80 years young.
Tom

 

Plan9,

Sent ya a PM with a lead to follow up on.

Johnnie.

 

tomscj6 - i was going to send you a personal message but you beat me to it. thanks for the points of I.D., ill need to look at the body for reinforcements, so far the shoe isn't fitting.
its been a long time so things could have been replaced over the yrs but currently the stanchions are stamped A's, it looks like red paint/primer is under the current black and if its a hotrod from the late 40s/early 50s id be money it had a flathead....althougha 303 olds was in the bay when my friend picked it up (chassis was a repo 32). your uncles rpu shows up often in the Trompers book, he is a real deal hotrodder. does Ted still live in the area? (i live in Highland Park) these days it seems most information is culled from books, to get information "from the horses mouth" as they say, would be a real treat, even if this isnt the same truck it'd be a pleasure to converse with him about his experiences during that time.... perhaps he can recall a couple Japanese brothers living in the Mount Washington/Lower Figueroa area?

K13 - thanks for posting up the TRJ blurb, ill be picking up the issue.

if anyone is interested: i was digging around the net for Asian racers of the time and found a neat article on some Japanese Americans before and after WW2
http://www.pacificcitizen.org/content/2007/national/mar16-stom-racers.htm

edit - i will be getting some additional information this afternoon, its all pretty interesting

 

thanks for the PM johnnie.

 

So... whatever happened to this story plan9..???? I'm captivated by the Shinoda RPU as well... I would be very interested to find out what ever came of yours... cheers!