Haha.. Its to cold to do eeeiiitttthhheeerr ooonnneee... actually -14 yesterday.. +1 today.. + 14 or 15 Friday, and the weekend.. then back to the deep freeze..
Awsome to see some of the local cars from the past, Id like to see more!!! Today there seems to be a resurgence in interest in cars like this and several new customs have and are being built right now.........more pics?
Most of these customs were built in British Columbia, about one hundred and twenty miles north of Seattle. The Vancouver area is much warmer than the rest of the country in the winter. We are right on the Pacific ocean,and we aren't that much cooler than Seattle.
Fred Welsh's The Treasure. Actually a photo of a model based on Fred's car. Photo taken by Phil Dauphinee. And a link to a Fred Welsh bio. (On a different note the Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneers Society is holding their annual ceremony this Sunday, Noon to 4 p.m. at the Scandinavian Community Centre, 6540 Thomas, Burnaby, BC. Some of the inductees include drag racer Bob Kokotailo, custom car collector Harold Wellenbrink, drag racer Richard Johnston, amongst others. Go here for more info.)
Cool thread guys thanks for posting all the cool pics...now its time for some of the historians in Ontario and other places to add to this cool thread!
Here is my old Canadian custom, a 53 Ford currently being rebuilt in my garage. The photo is from the 60's.
I'm tryiny to find some pictures of some of Ron Box's cars. From London Ontario. He did a 76 Town Car, that would fit right in here its in Orillia now. And a 57 Caddy that would give me a hard on every time I saw it, and that is sayn somthing from a die hard Ford man.
Hey Pat... aka Fornutz thanks for posting these pictures and making them public. Wouldn't it be great to have someone spearhead a project of creating a hotrod history book of Canadian hot rods and customs? Again, thanks for taking the time to share all this.
Hate to interupt...but this is kinda 'on topic'....what ever happened to CHip Coffin? He was a Canadian Merc builder...hard core, cause he had Merc tattoos...anyway, he DID build some pretty cool Mercs. He was all the rage in the late 80's, I believe.
A couple of years ago at the BCHRA's 50th I brought along some shots of Fred's car that I had taken at a show in Vernon back about '73~'74 and planned on giving them to him. I had asked a gentleman at the entrance gate if he knew Fred Welsh and if so was he coming to the show. His reply was yes he did know Fred very well and no he was not able to attend. So I proceeded to tell the gentleman the whole story about me an 18 year old kid hitchhiking all the way from northern BC to be at the Vernon show. I pulled the pictures of Fred's car out of my pocket and showed them to him. A big smile came to his face along with a knowing nod ... " I trailered The Treasure to that Vernon show and back for Fred that summer" ... guess who got the pictures???
Ya I remember him, he built a 49 Merc for a guy I know we went out to see it being built...that was around 90 or 91....he was into Harley's too. He was around London Ont.
The chopped 4dr Merc that you are inquireing about was built by Blackie Green and Blackie nick named it the fish. The car got partially stripped in the mid 70's and a friend managed to save it from the crusher. The car was put back together and sold to someone who in tern sold it again. The Fish ended up south of the border in Vegas and to my knowledge it is still there. So maybe some of you Vegas boys can do some digging and find the wear abouts of this car.
I know you guys wouldnt know this but Canada was settled by families who LEFT the USA. Hot Rodding was probably invented here. Like basketball and fuel injection, snowmobiles, radio, telephones,crimestoppers and delta winged fighter aircraft we were kind enough to share with you guys so quit bugging us. if it wasnt for Canuck snowbirds you wouldn't even be able to have a state Florida . I mean really how many Mickey Mouse hats can you actually sell ?
it is pretty amazing that humans and cars can survive in those harsh conditions. Canada is like the U.S. without all the bullshit,...but frozen.
I am pretty sure this is sittin in my friends shop, the one he's got has a name but i can't remember what it is, unless that was a common taillite treatment
Going by the plates on the car, the gold version was the earlier version- it must of sold ( see the for sale sign in window) Then reappeared sporting its new paintjob and flame. The horror... someone in BC taking another persons ride and changing it from its original conception.. there should be laws, a cross burning or a linching or a, .. oh yeah I forgot the old saying, " he who owns the keys can do whatever the hell he wants."
Here are a couple of photos of the Meteor Convert when it was sold at Websters auction, I think it sold for around $38.K with fresh restoration.
The Jalopy Journal
