.....done all I could to get this car in retrospect. I have been thinking about the "One that got away" or "Why did I sell it" posts. I think we all have stories like that. Well, I have a few myself. Back in 1980, I meet a guy at the Chicago WoW while pinstriping during the show. He turned out to be a bodyshop owner who raced. He had a '64 Chevelle racecar he wanted lettered. We talked and I gave him a card. A few weeks later he gives me a call to come do the racecar. I do the racecar at his bodyshop on the Northside of Chicago. I do the job all, is good. A few weeks later he calls to replace painted stripes on some fenders and doors of insurance jobs. I go up do the jobs and we're getting to know each other. We talk about cars and racing. I tell him I'm into Customs and he tells me he has an old custom and it's forsale. I say I'm interested and would love to see it. We go to his home, which was nearby and in his garage is a old Custom.It turned out to be a '51 Ford Victoria 2dr Hrdtp. It was a teal color, had WWW's, a little lowered. Nosed and Decked, with '55 or '56 Pontiac rear quarters grafted on. It had a custom fitted "Continental Kit" and a Vette grill. The power plant turned out to be a non-running Olds Rocket motor. I realized it's importance and I had to have it. It sat garaged for many years. He bought it from some guy. I asked about it's history. He didn't know much, just said he heard it was "some carclub project car". Well, I asked for a price and he said $2500.00. It's 1980 and I didn't have that money onhand. I just had a child and business was slow. He knew I had a mild Custom '65 Bonneville and it was nice and ready for cruising. I countered with a even-up trade. He thought about it and we went 'round and round for what seemed hours. He decided to sleep on it. I took some crummy pics and went home. We continued to talk and he really wanted cash. Time went on and we moved on. lost track of the guy and car. I recently scanned the pics to put up on the board. So here they are. Boy, if i could find that car today. Joel
That is nice Joel! The one I let get away was a 56 Mercury 4dr Phaeton model I found in a yard in Las Vegas. My boss and I were headed to work and we were cutting through this housing area behind a delership we were going to, I do paintless dent repair, when I saw it. Steve, my boss, said it had been there ever since he was a kid, He said he used to walk by it all of the time. So one day I knocked on the door. Turned out it used to be the guys parents car. They stopped driving it around the mid sixties due to health reasons. He said he would think about selling it so I left him my pager. This was the early 90's! He called back siad he thought it would be worth $1200 and he had title and all associated paper and manuals. I just could not swing it. I already had a Fiat Multipla, Vespa 400 and an MGB plus a Ford Ranger! No room. So I let it go to a friend. When we got it out of the yard we found good floors and trunk. Interior was rotted but had a power seat, steering and brakes. That model has become one of my must haves again! Duane
Damn... that car is pretty damn cool looking, even from those photos. 55 Pontiac fins on a '51 Ford? I like! Who knows, might just show up again... thanks for sharing..
Joel, that car was on Ebay a while ago(probably a year or so ago)...it was definately that car because i remember the distinct rear end treatment..i can't remember where it was located or how much it sold for, but if i recall correctly, it had no interior or motor in it...anyone else remember any more details???....bob
CHOPMERC, that's incredible! I'll have to find a way to look that up. I knew if I posted this, one of you guys might know something about it. Thanks, man. Joel
Roger that on the Desoto grill, chopt50. I'll tell ya something about the quarters. There were long cracks the length of the quarters on top. The work was so old the seams were popping thru. Also the left rear quarter was slightly angled away from the body. It didn't match up with how the right rear was hung. When you looked at the rear end long enough, it was obvious that the left quarter was cockeyed. The car needed a complete ground up restoration. But, it was a very interesting find. It was chock full of details on how things were back then. It probably was not the most profesional built car of it's time. I will say that if someone re-hung the quarters better and with a slight chop and laying on the ground, the car woulda' looked long and sleek. I may have one or two more pics of it and I'll try to post them. Thanks for the responses. Joel
[ QUOTE ] just ask 00 MACK HE KNOWS all customs and who built them and where they went [/ QUOTE ] AND/OR Christian. Come on mate, get out of bed!
hey joel, i'm going to re-open this old post because i found out where this car is now...i'm not sure if the owner will sell though...i bought some parts from the guy on ebay, and we got to talking, and it turns out he was the guy who bought it off ebay when it was on there a while ago...i can't remember what state(its in the midwest), but his ebay user name is bolesbeakler if you want to contact him.....bob
joel, i just remembered his website...it is dbshobby.net, the guys name is dennis boles..all his contact info is on his site...here are some pics of the car now...
That thing is offensive. Politz ,That doesnt even have that revolting east coast appeal that we cherish so much. It looks like one of those cars a 60 year old guy would have had in a car mag in the 50s. I know when you see me your gonna say "Your Nuts,That thing fuckin rules" All that said ,If I walked into a garage and found it,It would make my year,then Id call you.
You just HAD to post this didn't you Joel! Now you've got me thinking about cars I let get away. Back in 1971 I was in the process of doing up my 60 Chevy sedan delivery and one thing I wanted to do was replace the tired old six with a V-8.After searching fruitlessly for one that was reasonably priced,a friend of mine who dealt in old cars told me that he had this old custom sitting in one of his storage garages that had a really decent 283 in it with about 8 thousand miles on it.It was only a 2 bbl motor but I didn't care that much about speed at the time I just needed a motor. I went over to look at it and wound up swapping him a stripe job on his 50 Merc for the car.It was a 41 Ford convertible that had been chopped and channeled,the front fenders raised the amount of the channel and moulded in.the rear of the car had 50 Buick quarter panels grafted on with a continental kit and a half deck lid.It had glass in it but no top or interior.The 283 was connected to the stock driveline.And wonder of wonders it actually ran! I took it to where I was building my sedan delivery and yanked the motor out leaving the 41 sitting out behind the gas station. after awhile the owner asked what I was going to do with the car.I offered it to him but he wasn't into customs.I tried selling it but it seemed nobody was into customs then.Sadly it wound up going to the local junkyard where it sat for awhile before being crushed. I really would have liked to have kept it but had no place to put it.Probably one of the stupidest things I done(in a long list of stupid things).
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