I'm looking for some good pics of Jungle Jim Liberman funny cars to work from.

I'm looking for some good pics of Jungle Jim Liberman to work from.
I know this does not fit in to your "keep it real" old school hot rods, but I thought I would ask. I want to do an art series of Jungle Jim. I want to get the datails down to the smallest sponsors on his cars.

thanks, and oh............... I'm ready for the insults to come pouring in.

 

Did you do a google? There's tons of pictures all over the web - including Pam's site.

Uhh, what kind of insults do you want??



Mutt

 

yeah. I found Pams site to be the best, but I'm having trouble with some of the smaller details, like the small sponsors on the fenders.

 

Copy the pictures to your hard drive, and blow them up in windows picture and fax viewer (if you have windows). It'll depend on which car you're doing as to the placement and variety of decals. If there's some you don't know, post pictures here - somebody will recognize them. Most should be clear if you blow them up.


Mutt

 

thank you very much

 

lets start with this one. can anyone tell me what the sponsors you can't quite make out are? maybe the one above "Goodies", and the one below it. The one to the right of the Chevy logo and the one on the rocker panel.
thanks.

 

sail panel (above goodies):
engine by steve kanuika

rear quarter (below goodies)
coleman and taylor

lower front rocker:
doug's headers

 

Coyle Chevrolet Center San Jose on the front fender.


Mutt

 

The sponsor on the "B" pillar is "Engine By Steve Kanuika"

The sponsor below the Goodies Speed Shops logo is "Coleman & Taylor Racing Transmissions"

The two small sponsors below the Crower Cams are "Pennzoil" & "Doug's Headers"

The Chevy logo was for "Coyle Chevrolet Center San Jose"

The 1969 to 1971 Nova sponsors were changed a minimum of 4 times due to whomever helped out Jungle.

Hope this helps...

 

Magna (I think), and 1320 both made diecast cars of his. Might be a good place to start. You can probaly find models on ebay as well. My dad used to share a shop with Jim in Northern Cal before he went on the match race circuit back east. Good stories!!! Jim even made my dad's first set of zoomies when he made the switch from weed sweepers on his dragster.

 

here is a little story to remember, get it right,
Anyone who knew Jungle Jim Liberman will most ***uredly have stories to tell. Jungle was a "one man show;" he was the driver but also his own mechanic, his own crew chief, his own manager, and most of all his own promoter. And, being such, he "tested" those he met to see where they were coming from -- to see if he could trust them. This is the story of how I met Jungle, and how he "tested" me.

It was in 1970, and I had been working as the "sign painter" at **** Olsen and Don Kirby's paint shop (in Bellflower, California) for probably a year or so. I was "new" in the business, and while most of the "big name" jobs would go over to Tom Kelly's for lettering, Don and **** would do their best to talk their customers into letting me do their signs. My work then was limited to non-touring "local cars," guys like Gary Densham, Mert Littlefield, Pat Johnson, John Garrison, Pete's Demon, and Solano & Van Sant's "Invader."

One fall day, Kirby comes out of the office to tell me that Jungle was on the phone and wanted to talk to me. This was the first "big name" racer who'd ever asked for me, and I was excited.

Jungle tells me he's in California for the winter building a new car. He wants to know if I'll come to his shop and letter it. "Sure," I tell him, "how do I get there?"

In those days, the touring "pros" would spend their winters in California and stay near Disneyland. It was "centrally located" (as we had OCIR, Lions, and Irwindale all in operation), plus it was fun. The infamous "Marco Polo" and the "Pitcairn" were the racer motels of choice.

Jungle's winter race headquarters was in a shop operated by Jack "Bear" Green and Rene Blixt in Garden Grove (adjacent to Anaheim). It was a****st a row of nondescript little industrial buildings on Anabel Street, and directly across from another race shop known as "The Cave" (where the Beebe Brothers and Tom McEwen kept their cars).

When I arrived, Jungle showed me the new body, glistening in its fresh coat of candy red lacquer, recently applied by Bear. Jungle says to me, "I want the gold leaf (name on the doors) to look just like the old car ... the exact same shape, the same size, and the same position" (as he pointed to the war-worn Chevy II sitting in the corner). I said, "No problem," and started to work, tracing a pattern off the old body.

Now, as was the custom in those days, a card game was in progress across the street at The Cave, and although Jungle was intensely involved, he would walk back every hour or so and silently check on my progress.

The application of 22K gold leaf, like on Jungle's cars, is an exact art, and the job can quickly go from "spectacular" to "disastrous" if one does not use the right materials and precise timing. I had learned by watching two experts -- Jack Burr and Steve Feinberg -- and my "Jungle Jim" was looking good.

The gold leaf was on and I was starting to hand paint the black outline and add "drop shadow" to the lettering when Jungle came back and told me, "You're gonna have to take that off!" I was dumbfounded, and asked, "Why?" Jungle said, "I told you it had to be just like other car," to which I countered, "It is!"

Jungle then pointed out to me that I had painted the name 1/4 of an inch too low on the side of the car; the bottom of the "Jim" in Jungle Jim was in fact a quarter of an inch below the break in the body, where it was even with the break on the old car.

Although I could have "corrected" the mistake with the black outline, Jungle was technically right. I said, "You're right." I picked up a rag, doused it with paint thinner, and washed the gold off the car. I told him I would go get some more gold leaf and come back the next day to re-do it.

Jungle took a huge wad of cash out of his pocket, handed me about twice what I needed, and said, "Here, this is for the leaf."

The next day, I got more materials and returned. When I walked into the shop, Jungle looked up and did a "double take," exclaiming, "I didn't think you'd come back!" I simply replied, "It wasn't in the right place," and went to work.

If, in the years to come, calling me in the middle of the night and playing his harmonica meant we were friends, then I guess I p***ed Jungle's "test" that day.


Kenny Youngblood

 

few

 

g503- THAT was a cool story. Thanks for sharing it.

Spike

 

you can close your eyes and see the sounds ,smells, and a picture of words that a camera can't show,

i feel the anticipation ,the paint smell , the wipe of a thinner soaked rag,the rustle of dollar bills,the long silence of drawing a line,the low sound off in the other room of the card game,seems like i was there 35 years ago...that is the way you know a good story has been told,

..


that is what the hamb does on a post by post basis

 

Kenny,
Thanks for posting that - its the coolest story I've heard in a long time. I saw him run at Englishtown - fans loved him here on the east coast too.

 

I will settle for some good pics of Pam.

 

Sorry I thought you said Jungle Pam!!

 

wow, this is great stuff! I didn't think I would get all this from one question.

Thanks guys!

later.

 

JJ .. was a good friend ... always loved to race with him

http://www.jungledays.com/

http://www.junglepam.com/

 

what is the yellow right in front of the rear wheel. Is that the Pennzoil?
or is the Pennzoil to the left of Doug's Headers? or is there nothing to left of Doug's Headers, it's hard to tell.

thanks again!

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks g503, that was truly cool

 

For those that don't know, Sinclair he is a fantastic artist and does alot of hot rod art. He's done some work for our car club and had a little writeup in last months Rod and Custom. Can't wait to see your stuff Nick as I'm a huge Jungle Jim Fan!

Check out his website:
http://www.sinclairhotrods.com/

 

Speaking as a sign painter...all I can imagine is that sinking feeling I woulda had right after he pointed out the "error". Good story, though. J.J. & J.P. are two really fascinating characters...and J.P. is fun to look at.

 

heres a cl***ic!!!
JimV

 

Is that perfection or what?

 

And looking at current photos of her and she is still HOT

 

JimV...you have a better quality/res version of that pic...it doesn't show up at all on my screen. I have the feeling I REALLY should see it.

 

See if this shows up better...



It's from Pam's site.... http://www.junglepam.com/




Mutt

 

"First car"