Restored Valley Customs Ralph Jilek '40 Ford photo's

Several people asked me to post this in a seperate post, and since the custom is absolutely breathtaking and needs al the attention it can gets... here it is...

In the "SPOTLIGHT" on Valley Customs I showed some photo's of the Sectioned '40 Ford Valley Customs built for Ralph Jilek. The completely restored custom was showed for the first time at the Pebble Beach Concours. But somehow not to many custom car enthusiast made it over there and took photo's of it or at least did not post them on the internet. Anyway Darryl Hollenbeck mentioned the Valley Customs Ford would also be shown at the GG West Coast Nationals. So I asked Russ Beckwith Russ B Fotki site who was going to the show to take some extra photo's of this Great vintage custom car. WOW Steve's Auto Restoration did a increadible job restoring this one into its former '48 shape.

I have been looking foreward to see this car restored for years after reading it was going to be several years ago. WOW the lines on this old custom, the way it was sectioned. the fit of the rear fenders to the body and the perfect straight sectioned hood. Perfect.















The interior of the original car was done by the Carson Top shop in leatherete. On the restored custom its all done in leather but very carefully selected so the texture was excactly the same as the original opholstery material... only a bit more comfortable. Carson also built the original padded top, which I had never seen on the car... and it look soo good!!!

 

'49 Mercury steering wheel, and a wonderfully restyled '40 Ford dash






(Photo by Boones)




'41 Studebaker taillights fit perfectly on the raised rear fenders. Bumpers are 46 Chevy units. There is a chrome strip between the body and fenders.




(Photo by Boones) and in the background the Westergard Bertolucci built Buddy Ohanesian '40 Mercury... WOW

 

Awesome. I just love those rear three quarter shots! Thanks for the pics guys.

 

thanks Rikster!

 

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 when I visited mr BOONES great Fotki site...

Boones Fotki site

I 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

 

What a great season, to see the Calori and Jilek cars reappear after such a long sleep. Were there any other new restos at Pebble? Did the Ray Vega car get done?

 

The Jilek car is gorgeous! The proportions are perfect and I really like the open rear wheelwells, seeing the rear wheels tucked up into the fender exaggerates how low it is. Perfect!
Thanks,
Tom

 

It sure is a great season for all us custom car enthusiasts... a real GREAT season.

I have not seen or heard anything about the Ray Vega 38 Ford. I did not see it in any of the pictures of Pebble Beach. So my guess is it was not done in time, or was never planned to compete. I sure hope the restoration is still going on and the finished custom will be shown to the public real soon. I will ask around and see what I can come up with on the Ray Vega Ford

 

Yeah, that -40 is a gorgeous car for sure. Real sweet lines and free from "add-ons", thanks for sharing.

 

Drop dead gorgeous 40 Ford. The proprotions are perfect. Unreal!!

 

Thanks for starting my work day off right,Rikster. I have seen a few old pix of the '40 in books but seeing the restored version in color is just amazing.
That car is perfect ! Man, I keep going back to the pix and those lines are soooo straight and proportioned just right. What a car !

 

Here's Steve's working on the '40:

http://www.stevesautorestorations.com/projects.php?ptype=1&projid=23&cpid=1&next=1&maxrows=28

 

Rikster : Love your posts THANX

 

Beautiful.

 

Wow!

 

Thanks Rickster, that's awesome! I love the Ohanson car too, But I've seen it
a bunch. And since Jon Fisher's '36 is so close to the Calori, I feel like I've seen it too! But it's great to see.

 

I fully understand that.I noticed the debate about black or whitewall tires in the Calori Ford post and was tempted to say they didn't use whitewalls because they didn't want to build a Fisher clone...of course I'm saying this with a wink.

Oh,by the way,long live Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen.

 

Great stuff as always!

Especially all the interior shots of the Jilek car. Amazingly similar to what I hope to eventually have inside mine if I ever get enough $dough$ together.

Always a happy day when I see a new one of your custom threads.

 

Thanks for posting these. Iv always loved the look of the valley customs. Sectioned – radiused – no skirts. If I ever build a custom that’s the look I want. btt all week

 

Thanks for another great post, Rikster. The Jilek car is absolutely gorgeous. I'm blown away.

 

Hey,

Great subject,great post.....

Can anyone advise, was the original interior of the Jilek's '40 Ford that
motled off cream colour as pictured, or is that"street rod "touch some-
thing the current owner added?

Thanx

 

BTT

That car is great! The dash almost looks like a hollywood panel molded into the 40 dash. I love every bit of it!

 

What I heard (from Donn Lowe) was that the upholsterer was able to find the excact color and texture upholstery material as was used original, only now in real leather while the original was done in letherete.

 

Thanks for posting pics of this car, we have about five or six rolls of pics of this from Pebble Beach, I cry every time I see this car, it sat in my Father's garage here in Utah for about 25 years. (If only I put money into it while I was 16)

Yes, the cream color interior is an exact match to what my grandfather put in the car, the only part of the interior that was done slightly incorrectly that may have cost him the best in cl*** at Pebble Beach, was that the blue trim at the top of the seats originally wrapped down around the sides as well. I only know of a few pics that can show this and we pointed it out at the Concourse.

Thanks again, when I get the pics, I will post a few.

 

Rik, as usual, thanks so much for keeping the old customs right before our eyes. In my opinion, they don't get any better than the Jilek Ford.

 

Great Pics, thanks Rikster

 

I love that car.

 

awesome post thanks! beautiful custom.

_T

 

Such a perfect car, the lines are spot on.