History custom Car builder Spotlight: WESTERGARD/BERTOLUCCI

Rikster and The Frenz -

you two guys need to know what a great service you are doing for the custom crowd on the HAMB. Seriously, rikster has 131posts and every single one is worth reading. Both of you are really raising the bar and making this site better and better and inspiring a lot of people.

It's not tech. . . but maybe we need a "gallery" section where these spotlight posts can reside. . . they deserve to be highlighted.

anyway, thanks . . . I've never seen the 37 chevy and a few others and i've really looked.

 

Perhaps it was this version of the Mel Falconer car you saw 20+ years ago... really ugly wheels and tires, and no bumpers and a side trim added?!?!?!?
(Sorry for the crapy pictures it was scanned out of the center of a book.)



Thanks for all the kind words about this and the other "spotlight" post. And yes there will be more, a few at least.

 

AWESOME!!!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and info.

 

tim strange is working on it now. kurt is extremly happy with the progress and his skills.

 

You guys are amazing. It's like each post should be titled "The Big Book of (fill in the blank)". Really this stuff is better than most of the history related custom books out there.

KILLER.

-r

 

Rickster,

Great pictures enjoyed as always. Wondered about the sequence of your pictures, there are 12 pictures of the Ed Ohanesian Merc. Of the 12 pictures 7 show fron views. Of the 7 front views the headlights are frenched on 5 of them. 2 are shown without frenching. Looks like it may have been redone a second time before this last restoration.

 

Thanks for taking the time.

awesome posts.

 

Nice post. I live in Sacramento and I see Dick Bertolucci around he always seems like a cool old guy.

 

Good point. I have noticed that too. I have an magazine article on the Ohanesian Mercury from a '54 Motor Life magazine and there it was featured with the headlights painted, but not molded in.

Picture from the '54 article.





In a larger version of the picture below (shown before in this thread) I can read '56 on the license plate. So somewhere inbetween the photo shoot for the '54 Motor Trend magazine article and this picture taken in '56 the headlights where molded in. Was it just an update, or perhaps the car suffered minor damagage. The custom was driven a lot, so the last might be very much the case. I think I like it better with the original seperate bezels.





A photo not shown before in this thread is this one from the interior. A '47 Cadillac dash and steering have been modyfide to fit the 40 Mercury interior. All the window moldings have been smoothed and chrome plated.

 

Another excellent post, Rikster. Thanks to you, and the Frenz, for sharing this with us. Your knowledge and photo collections never cease to impress me.

 

Man, I must have missed a bunch of posts. I had to search "Rikster's" name to find this one.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

 

Rikster, thanks for sharing. Westergard has always been one of my favourites, no wonder why! Keep on posting, old kustoms totally rule! What an amazing craftsmanship those guys have had.

 

I belive that must be an 1936 chevy coupe
as as far as i know, there was no 3w in 1937 and overall looks like an 1936


anyhow thanx for an awesome post!

 

I think this is a '37 Chevy, perhaps made into a three window coupe. Look at the line on the lower side of the body tapering down from the front fender. That is '37 and not 36 Chevy. In those early days is was comon to close the rear side windows on a coupe...

 

yes i belive your right and i was wrong, seems to be an 1937 at a closer look
somehow i thought the doors looked like longer 3w doors and roof seemed to be to short to have been an 5w,

/daemon

 

Here are a few more photo's of the Westergard built Gene Garret '36 Ford.

In progress.




great looking set in license plate. and those 37 DeSoto bumpers look so great on a 36 Ford... any time!

 

Great post had one to add it was downloaded cant remeber were. it looks like McCorrmics caddy?

 

Thanks for posting all this.

Having grown up the Sacramento area, iv always had a big interest the custom – hot rod and racing history here.
Imagine my surprise to find out the house I was renting in Carmichael was once owned by the Barris’s and there old shop was just down the road from me off of Fair Oaks bl.

Iv talked with Mr. Bertolucci a few times, he’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever hope to meet. He’s still very active building some of the coolest cars you can imagine. The family still owns the body shop that has always been regarded as the very best in town.

Someone (Pat Ganahl) should interview the man and document some history.

 

HotRodAV8, is sure doe look like it, but I think its actually George Barris own '41 Buick built in the same days. But that sure is a great photo of it.

 

Rikster, thanks for setting up this post and the pics. Just what I need to get good ideas for my wife's car, she loves this style.

 

The Westergard/McCormick owned Cad is still at my shop, its coming along very nicely!!
Almost all in primer, still fitting the hood, then I have to make all the window and vent frames, they had been lost some where along the line.
I can tell all you first hand about the craftmanship of Westergard and his workers...very top notch, better than most any current builders that I have worked on a car after they have worked on them!!! Its amazing when you think about the crude tools they used then, and just how nice this thing is. We are saving as much of the old lead as possible. Luckily it was stored very good and is still fairly solid.
It does not look like it will be at Pebble Beach...was told by Ken Gross himself, that it didn't have enough pedigree or history to be included in this years special kustom class?!?!?
We were hitting it hard for it, then it was like being shot! I think this car has just as good if not better than some of the other cars going, this is kinda like a "lost Westergard car" since the car was never finished and in magazine print the Pebble Beach yuppies think it has no historic value to them....what do you guys think??
Kurt is taking his Barris 41 Buick to the show.
I am trying to find a spot at SEMA for the Cad.
It was said on here that Kurt had trouble with a body man?? I have very close from the source that the body man chose not to work anymore on it, due to his collision business and not being able to make as much money working on the Kustom. The work he did was fine. I don't like shit talking when people don't know the truth! I have been on the bad end on shit talking before, its not right.
I heard the car needed a shop to finish it, I went down, looked at it, lowered my hourly rate considerably just to have the priviledge and honor for both working on a Westergard car but to also work for Kurt McCormick, I can tell you all that Kurt is the biggerst Kustom fan on the earth! He and his wife are some of the nicest and sincere people I have ever had the honor of knowing and the best customer I have had in 12 years I have been doing the hot rod thing full time.
I haven't had the time to post on here for a while, been working on the Cad, a wicked Falcon, a road race V-10 Imperial.
I will try to post some updated pics of the Cad sometime next week.

 

Thank you for the update on Kurt's Westergard Caddy.
Looking forward to see some pictures of it next week.

Ofcoars the car belongs at Pebbel Beach. every custom created by the old craftsman like Ayala, Barris, Bertolucci, Valley Customs and Westergard (and many others) belong at that cocncours. Many of Westergards customs are to old to have ever been in any magazine. Does that make them less historical? Dont think so. I thought Pebble Beach was all about the cars the craftmanship, apperently not.

Any howe us custom lovers look forward very much to see yet another Kurt McCormick/Westergard masterpiece beeing finished.

 

Rikster, Your response to Tim was right on the money! How anyone could think that a Westergaard custom was not "significant" enough for inclusion at Pebble Beach really doesn't understand the history of custom cars, as we know them. The early practioners, such as Westergaard, didn't have the print media to record their efforts as they predated most, if not all, of the magazines that would even snap a photo of their work. By the time Petersen came along with Hot Rod, Harry had already been hammering away for quite some time and his body of work (his awesome cars) were up and motoring around. The press was interested in covering newly built stuff, not things that were old to them. So, although the cars were old to them, they forgot that there were tons of folks that didn't live in California! Ergo, no coverage for us that lived anywhere east of Riverside!!!

I'm very disappointed in the attitude offered up by Ken Gross. I guess his "restorer" mentality" and his connection to the upper crust has clouded his view of what is really significant. To even think that Harry Westergaard and any of his cars are not relevant to Pebble Beach is sheer lunacy. WTF!!!

PS, Tim if you read this, I just had a look at your website and I must tell you your pal Bruizer brought a few tears to my eyes. Our pal Norton was the spitting image of Bruizer and had all his characteristics also. He was the best buddy my wife and I could ever have had-way better than most humans. He's been gone nearly 2 1/2 years now and I think of him every day. Some think that is weird, however they never had a pal like him. Sorry for the rant, but I do get emotional about pets.

 

Thanks again for the great pics and awsome information.

 

Rikster - The pictures of Falconer's '39 at the top of the page shows Bruce Glenn standing beside it after he bought it. The pictures are in the May '54 R&C. This is from the December '88 re-intro of R&C, with Pat at the helm.


Mutt

 

He did, back when he was editor of Rod & Custom. It's in a late 80's or early 90's issue. I've got it around here somewhere.

 

Thank you again for another great thread that blows an hour out of our weekend.

One hour: three inches of welded panels done right. This thread: priceless.

 

I was really happy to see the Buddy Ohanesian '40 Merc in the background of some of the Pebble Beach concours pictures. Unfortunately I was unable to find pictures of it at that show where it was in the foreground of the photo. But then I noticed it was in the background of some pictures at the GG Westcoast Nationals as well, and this morning I visited mr BOONES great Fotki site...

Boones Fotki site

and found some great photo's he had taken of the Buddy Ohanesian Mercury. One of my all time favourite customs. Its so good to see it in such a great shape, although I think the shade of maroon is a bit to light...

Enjoy and thank you mr Boones for these great photo's

 

Your right on Westergard left a mark and set the stage for a lot of great Kustoms , It's amazing of the quality and craftsmanship and how it was preformed compared to what is being used to day, Not to Meany left that understand what a True KUSTOM is all about. Keep up the Ink , Memory's are Great