Was looking at archival photos of a '57 Cameo in a 1961 Houston car show. Had a nice panel paint job and a Milburn plackard in the display. Milburn's custom paint shop has been over in Pasadena as long as I can remember. Anyone know of any notable cars he painted?
Don't know any notable cars he painted, but he did pinstripe every chevy truck in town back in the late 80's.
You are talking about the legend Raymond Milburn. Mike, his son, took over "Milburn's" on Shaver in Pasadena sometime in the late 80's or so. Raymond and my Dad shared a shop in Choc Bayou way back in the early days doing paint jobs and other stuff. Mike and I were playpen buddies. Dad striped too but Raymond stuck with it and well.. the rest is history. He paved the path for up and coming stripers. He was sort of a mentor to me and told me that if I stuck with striping, made a name for myself I would never go hungry. Well I did and never jissed any meals even of many were top ramen and left overs. He gave me another bit of advice which paid off...get into an indoor car show which I did in Austin for 15yrs. To me he was the best and probably made the most money of any striper I've ever known. Raymond Milburn was and still is a legend for going nuts on a car, his speed and charging a lot of money. When other stripers were charging 75-100 bucks a car in the 70's and 80's, Milburn could get 250 just for two lines on each side of the car and do it in a few minutes. He was fast. Raymond striped every chevy truck, trans am, VW's, wrecker, boat and everything else in and around Houston until the straightliners took over. I was there too. I remember one of his business vehicles was a 1980's Chevy 4 door tandem dually with crazy custom paint which he used to pull his cigarette boat called Uno Hombre. You gotta be doing something right to afford that crazy stuff.
ANother great striper in the Pasadena area was a guy named Travis. One of my friends used to have him stripe his stuff. He only did work on a word-of-mouth basis and I don't know if he is still around or not. Some one around the Pasadena/South Houston/Deer Park area should.
Travis Clifton. He was really a good sign painter and striper. put a "Signs by Trav" sticker in door jambs. Did lots of race cars. He once told me that I should work a steady job, even though you will make more money striping, the job means steady income, retirement and benefits. I think he worked at one of the refineries in Deerpark. He was right.
Hey Richard D, I started striping in Texas city in 77. Lived off Logan from 76 to 80, then LaMarque on Ross and Maple. Did many cars in Galveston, TC and La Marque then in 1980 went into Houston areas. From 83-86 had a body shop in La Marque and a big rig shop behind Flores body shop. Moved to Lockhart 1987. Went back and forth to Houston every week for striping work until 2003
The Jalopy Journal
