History Larry Watson Painted Johnny Taylor 1958 Ford Custom

Hey,

The guy that owns that car has been my friend since we were 7 years old. He should be on here soon to straighten out some questions and history. Hes had it forever. I rode in it when I was 20 I'm 41 now. I'll attach a photo of it in his driveway. Plus a picture of my driveway.

Scott

 

Yes.Very nice!

 

all great cars, I love the Lil Bat !

 

Very cool car. I like that they shaved the teardrop scoopy thing out of the hood, I never liked that (or maybe it's a '57 hood) and I also like the grille treatment and the headlights (are those 57 Chrysler units?) Very attractive, especially for a '58.

 

Very cool,thanks

 

thanks scott, to who it may concern... The car has nothing to do with watson or hines, and all martinez did on the car was keep it for seven years and miss place some parts. also his friend at globe auto butchard the motor.... The car was originally customized for johnny, by art chrome body shop in hollydale, bud lehner sprayed it, and harry loveland did the interior. since the mishap at martinez shop, i re did the paint my self, and my friend joe perez did the interior. the car has been at my house in hawthorne ca, ever since. my next move is to straigten out the motor problems by taking it to baker auto. the guys who built the original motor.

 

nice side trim treatment need more picture but very cool

 

that thing is awsome, thanks for the pics and info!!

 

wow! ive never liked 58 fords at all , but that one has me changing my mind. beautiful car ,great old custom

 

When did you aquire the car? Was it in the sad shape posted in the earlier photos when you got it? Beautiful custom, and it sure looks great now!

 

Very intereresting info.
I have never heard anything about Larry Watson claiming he painted cars he never did, like some other customizers are known for!

Here is a photo of one of the walls in Larry Watson's private museum showing the Johnny Taylor Ford rather prominent on one of his photo walls.




But in this magazine article it is stated Art Leonard was chosen by Johnny to do the body work and paint....

So I'm confused now




Who ever did it... its a fantastic custom.

 

Always loved this car! Notice it was really low to the ground when it was in Rod&Custom. One of my favorite 58's. Thanks Rikster!

 

That's my favorite '58 ford ever. Very nice! I didn't know they could look that good!

 

It'd be nice to straighten out the history of who did what to that car. Its beautiful and done with extreme taste. The right guys should get the credit....

 

the current owner (docfairlane) did last night.

 

Yes, I read Doc Fairlaines' post, but there sure is conflicting information.
The article states that Art Leonard did the original body and paint. Doc states that the body was done by Art Chrome Body Shop. Was Mr. Leonard the owner or an employee there? or did the articles' author just pull that name out of his ***?
Doc states that Bud Lehner was the original painter. The article states that Art Leonard was the painter.
Its also strange that its picture is posted on Watsons wall with the other feature cars he painted.(Maybe he just thought that highly of it- hell I dont know)

I'm not calling ANYONE a liar here, all I'm saying is that the history of the original builders is confusing and leaves me in doubt of all.

Regardless of who did the work on it past or present, Its a beautiful car.

 

I always thought that the side trim was made up of little chrome ****ons instead of knobs. Maybe docfairlane can shed some light on that. Such a nice shade of purple! I bet it was a ***** to lay out those ****ons on the trim! I always wondered about that on this car.

 

I enlarged the photo of the side trim...

 

The old R&c article said homemade chrome ****ons, but I see they look more like a knob, you can see a little swirl in the middle of them. Are those the originals? I would have no reason to think they weren't. I use to draw that car over and over when I was little, it was easy to trace out of the magazine!Enough of my B.S.

 

I'm sure the magazine article just misspelled Art Lehners last name. Art Lehner owned Art Chrome Body shop and I believe Bud Lehner was Art's son. They built Bud a great 39 Ford that was famous in its own right, as shown in this photo that Kenergy posted some time ago.

Mick

 

Sorry, forgot to post the phot of Bud's 39.

Mick

 

WOW! Stunning.

 

Very Kool custom. These guys are Masters of their craft.
Thanks for the pics.

Hey, that 'vette sharing the cover looks like it might be pretty great too, what's the story
on that? If, that is, you don't mind sharing.

 

That's funny because he may have been just joking, but he was walking around the GNRS with a guy filming him and he walked by a car and said"And there's another one of my Candy Metalflake Green paint jobs- THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" and just walked on with the camera still glued to his face.

 

Wow I am glad to see this car is still around, and looking good! In my opinion, this is the best '58 Ford custom ever.

 

So interesting to read all posts about old customs. I learn alot from you. Here's another shot of same car, now interior wise:


Nice gal and hair do..
BTW, it reminds me of another Ford that was sectioned and lost for a couple of years but turned up. Guess it was called Blue heaven? Some shot of it would be great.

 

The cars up for sale right now. Economy has killed Chris and hes puttin the car up on ebay............

 

WOW !!!!! What a great looking car

 

I vow to never allow myself to be the last one left in the shop at night with you two around. Freaks...


But I digress. That car rules, a very tastefully done car.