lets talk about shannon's cones

I mean Shannon cones the last Rod &Custom says they have been around since '53 I thought more like '83 whats the real story? Showrod

 

I think it was around '73, I'll ask my dad, he helped make the first ones.
Check this out
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158676&highlight=shannon+cones

 

Wheelkid, wow cool story on the cones, I knew they were not that old! Is Esajian Enterprises the same place most people get their supremes from in Torrance? Name sounds familiar.

 

Yep. But rumor has it that Ken is closing his doors. No more Esajian. No more dirt cheap Supremes with free shipping and fantastic customer service.

 

Richard Esajian owned Esajian Enterprizes in Fresno. Shannon Cones were his baby this was in the late 60's early 70's.

 

Yep, the real ones have been around for a long time. I still have a set. The real ones wont fit any old wheel .

 

I just popped mine off the car and no sticker inside but thanks for the info nice to know the real story. cant trust those magazines to get the facts right. showrod

 

I just talked to my dad and he said the first type was made around '66 and type screwed into the wheel, anI was wrong he didn't help with those any. The second type that snapped into the wheels like normal hubcaps were made in about '72 and he did help the with design of those. My dad said Richard wanted to have the caps dip in deeper into the hole. I've got Richards phone number right here, I think I'll call and ask him.
Jimmy

 

I wanted to see Shannon Doherty's cones.

 

So, I just got off the phone with Richard Esajian, and I wish I could have recorded him and posted it here. He says that he made the first ones in "60-61, maybe 62" for his 59 El Camino. There was an old guy that worked at the chicken farm that used to be a metal spinner and he told him what he wanted to make. So the guy told him to make a die out of wood and they would do it. He said each one took 3 aneelings. He bolted them to the stock dog dish hubcaps and went crusing. He said somebody wanted to buy them so he went down to Eddies Speed Shop on Blackstone Ave and gave them to him to sell, and then he made another set just like those ones. He drove with them a while and sold them too. The next ones he made were in about '66 and they bolted directly to the wheel. My dad became a partner in Esajian Enterprises in about '69, then they started to make the pop-in ones in about '71-'72. The owner of Appliance wheel had a bunch of contacts in Tiwian so he help them get them made there.
As for the R&C artical he says he hadn't seen it and has no idea who Ed Esajian is and they must have made a mistake. Also he said to me "I credit most of the success of Esajian Enterprises to your dad and George (Oliver)"
He's a really nice guy and I had fun talking to him.
Jimmy McLean

 

When I graduated in high school in 1978 I was working part time at a Shell station in Fresno, Ca. My brother was working for Esajian Enterprises in San Jose, Ca. he told me to go down and talk to Gregg "Spanky" Matthews at Esajian Enterprises and see about a job, well to make a long story short, they hired me and George Oliver, Rick Hunter, Joe Vuglia, Richard Esajian and Bruce Esajian were the coolest people I had ever met. Gary Mclean (a true genius) had just left but used to stop by all the time.They all had hot rods and *****in cars and I remember always reading "Street Scene" magazine from cover to cover. This is what formed my love of hot rods and vintage Corvettes that I still have today. Richard is responsible for the Shannon cone. He has two kids, a son named Rickey and a daughter named....Shannon. That is how the name came to be. I remember them having a ton of Shannon cones up on top of a shelf in the old warehouse, but they were out of style at that time and they sold a ton of 2 and 3 wing "Shannon" knock off's that would work on the early Appliance mag wheels. I was racing speedway motorcycles at the time and Richard bought me a new set of Bates leathers that were over $500.00 at that time!!! I still have them (don't fit em any more!) with the E.E. logo on the front. Fast forward 30 years, I am still in the wheel and tire industry and I owe everything to Esajian Enterprises. Thanks for making me flash back and realize what jacked up my mind at an early age!

 

Hey Casper, How are things going at Coker?
Jimmy

 

Hi Jimmy,
Coker Tire is an awesome company. It is truly a dream job for me. The customers that come in are super cool and the cars they bring in are some of the best around. I have nothing but love and respect for you and your pops. When you guys get your new shop up and running (oops, top secret is out of the bag now!) I would love to put some of our products in your showroom for you guys to sell. It's really neat to see you go from a little kid playing with Hot Wheels cars in your dads booth at swap meets to a smart business man right before my eyes! Keep up the great work, Kenny.

 

Kenny and Jimmy are rulers of the world............. hey Kenny you need an avatar!!!!!

 

I stopped handling Supremes, I don't know how closing my doors came out of not handling Supremes which were a smaller percentage of my overall business. By the way you can purchase Supremes from GZC at (310)761-8677. They use to build them for me.
I build my own line of 2 piece hot rod and muscle car wheels at www.esajianwheels.com

 

Me too! (ever notice that her eyes sit crooked on her head?! I think only her bare cones could distract me from that alignment job)

 

I remember she was in a ******* spread in the 90's ... you aren't missing much.

 

I didn't figure, but still.... cones.

 

Great story guys!

And Casper any pix of you on the speedway bike?

I still roadrace, but mostly more modern bikes now. I still have my 1st roadracer, a 73 RD350, w/ 64hp 400 motor. Gotta get that back up and running again someday. ;-)

 

Shannon cones were invented by Richard Esajian in 1959. Richard offered to do a special set of rippled cones for Chuck Krikorians emperor which won America's most beautiful roadster in 1960. The cones were finished late in 1960 after the feature article in July 1960 Hot Rod. The original dies for the rippled cone were destroyed after making the special set for Chuck. Blackie Gejian now owns the Emperor.
The cones were patented in 1961, all of the newer versions you see today came from "The Esajian Cone", the one and only.

 

i seen them at mardi gras a few years ago , her puppys were not all that impressive..

 

quote:Kenny and Jimmy are rulers of the world............. hey Kenny you need an avatar!!!!!

I've got a few more cow pics available........
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Old thread but I talked to Gene Winfield today about these "Shannon Cones"

Gene said he made the first set of these in the late 50's and the guy stated above that got the pattent on them stole the idea from Gene.

 

Oh, oh! Controversy!!!!!!

 

Yikes Looks like we could have a fight on our hands!!!!!

 

some one get the popcorn started and the sh** waders readdy lol

 

There were variations on them sold in New Zealand in the 60's-70's By B/C so you could disguise the ancient Ford axles ...man things have changed.

 

Dane:
I guess Winfield believes that. If you ask Blackie Gijian (The Autorama), Chuck Krikorian ( TheEmperer), Rich Peters (The Alakart) you'll hear that Richard Esajian came up with the idea along with developing the dies for the Shannon Cone. And he patented the cone shortly thereafter. I've never heard Winfields name connected with the bullet hubcap before this thread.
Ken Esajian

 

yeah, I'm gunna have to go with Richard on this one.
Jimmy