Folks Of Interest BOB HIROHATA Interview ~ 1977

Thanks Axel and Rik really cool article.

To further stir the Barris/Quesnel debate I find it interesting to see that Bob said that Sam's car was done and he thought they had finished Jerry's which hints at the notion that Sam's may have been done (finished custom) first.

 

I was 16 years old, reading every car magazine I could get my hands on when the write ups on this beautiful Merc appeared. Wouldn't be surprised if somewhere in those boxes of magazines in my attic there's a write up on the Hirohata Merc. I have boxes and trunks full of them!
Remember reading a writeup on the trip to Indy after the Caddy install and often wonder if the real life last minute rush to get this car roadworthy and enroute provided the script all the TV car shows use now about thrashing to get the car finished for a certain event!
Can you imagine any of the entrants to the big shows of today DRIVING their cars almost all the way across this nation to the show?
Thx for bringing this all back in focus.
Dave

 

Awesome read.

 

Great read. The history of how performance and custom cars evolved is something that should be perserved (correctly) and it's nice to see it finally being taken seriously. So many books being written it will soon become a library all on it's own.

Frank

 

I was thinking the same thing! Never noticed that before. Cant imagine what it must have felt like to drive that car down the road.

 

Thanks for going to the effort, Alex! Good read!
Oh yeah, and hope VLV is great for ya'!!
Chris

 

Thank's Alex. That's one of my all time favorite cars. Alot of other guy's too.

 

i love reading that article! goush i wanna jump in my kustom and do another 6,000 mile road trip. truly footsteps to follow. thanks for posting Axle!

 

Nice article Axle !!!

 

Bob's Merc is still stunning by todays standards. Can't imagine what it did to people on the street as it cruised by back then.

Thanks for the nostalgic trip.

 

holy fuck

 

yup, that car must have seemed out of this world at the time. and not to mention, a japanese guy just after the war going through all those small towns! cool read..

 

awsome story one of the best customs ever. any story on how he died and why. seemed to be a great guy. billy

 

In 1981 Bob Hirohata was killed in front of his mothers house - execution style.
And the murder was never solved!

Sad!

 

Me too... I have never been able to find a photo of this Hirohata Chevy... Perhaps Piero can ask George Barris about it, and see if they have a photo of that Chevy in the Barris Archives... and while he is at it. Perhaps he can look and see if there are some in progress photos on the car as well.
Several people have mentioned they have seen them... but so far nobody has been able to show them to me, or anybody else. There must be some photos.

Here is a photo I took of the Hirohata Merc at the GNRS. I took over 100 photos of the car and I think this angle is the best of the car. It shows how absolutely gorgeous it is. And yes its THE Custom Car.
And the fact that Bob drove it so much makes it even better... and the fact that Jim McNiel owns it, restored it, shows and drives it makes it absolutely Perfect!

 

I love learning more about this car... THE best imho...

Thx for postin....

 

Well said Jeff....
And Bob Hirohata was not only this guy that loved Custom Car and had Barris built this wonderful Custom Car for him. No he was very much involved as well.
Here is an article on Bob hirohata how to create the famous laminated dash knobs. One of the products that Bob invented, and which are still being produced today!

How great it would have been to have him still around today to tell all the great stories he must have had!

 

Rik,thanks for adding to this great thread with the Dashknob article.Bob seemed like such a great guy and seemed very into these cars.His dashknobs were great and I think the article is very cool and it keeps it simple.Like you said....... it would of been great to have Bob around today,just to hear his stories of the past.I would of loved to ask him tons of questions including questions about throwing the Cad motor in his merc.I think Bob would of been very proud of what Jim Mcneil has done with his old mercury and he would of been happy that his merc was owned by another great man..that being Jim.Well thanks again Rik for adding that article and Thank you Axle for this great thread,I think custom guys needed this.

 

Great picture Rik! It must have been such a thrill to get a ride in such an iconic Custom.

And it would be incredible if someone could turn up some picture of this car being built.

 

A friend of mine has a stack of pictures of this car in the 80s when it was sitting in Jims garage and almost everyone thought this car was gone for good.He was one of 3 or 4 guys who got to go see the car before any restoration even started.He just told me the other day that I could make copies of those pics if I want to. Rik I forgot to mention that your last picture you posted is a excellent shot.

 

If you're really interested in the history of the Hirohata Merc, you should read the article in The Rodder's Journal No. 5, when Jim got the car running for the first time, and the full color feature on the finished (restored) car in TRJ No. 8. The first has an interview with Jim, his wife Sue, and his older brother Bob (who was a classmate of Junior's at Lynwood High). The second traces (and shows) as much of the history of the car as possible, including other owners between Hirohata and McNiel, and includes an interview with Jim, Junior, Frank Sonzogni (who worked on the car), and George Barris (who just happened to drop by Junior's House of Color that day...).
In the considerable research I've done on the car, I've never seen any "in progress" photos. As usual, much of the work was done in a rush to make a big show.
I've never heard the "whore house" story, but according to Sonzogni, Bob had no need to pay.
For the '77 Street Rodder "Special Merc Issue" we were lucky that Greg Sharp knew Bob Hirohata and was able to do the interview with him. Bob worked at his family's downtown L.A. parking lots when he had the Merc, but by the time of the interview, he was an insurance salesman, working in the family business. At the time of Bob's killing (in his mother's front yard) a few years later, Greg was still an active member of the LAPD, and he could never find out any exact details of the murder.
But thanks to Jim and his amazing talents the car lives, at least as beautiful as it ever was.

Pat Ganahl

 

At the GNRS.

 

Thank you for covering the restoration in Rod and Custom, it was a blast to read about the car and restoration...

 

That is strange, could you find out if this was common, a unique situation or was it hit or miss to be able to get inside info?

BTW, is your name supposed to indicate you are going rogue biker?
Us tall guys look funny on choppers....

 

I remember when I met Joe Figueroa as a kid, he showed me those.

 

Thats who im talkin about.

 

Used to read that issue of the '77 Street Rodder so much it almost disintegrated. Still have it in my collection of "gotta have" mags. That's what made me want and finally get my Merc all those years afterwards. Thanks to Pat Ganahl for stirring interest in a dumbass teenager who could have just as easily been riding around in a muscle car had it not been for that issue.

 

It's a timeless kustom. I read back in the 80's that the car had some pretty shaky welding, especially the frame CC over the rear axle. All that was fixed in the restoration. What intrigued me was how his family must have spent the war. Executive Order 9066 forced all Japanese people from the west coast into internment camps at places like Manzanar. They must have turned their parking lots in LA over to someone.

 

Thanks for posting this article Axle, hadn't seen this one before

 

G'Day folks, on friendly advice from the HAMB, I removed my post containing 2 previous HAMB anecdotes concerning the circumstances regarding Bob Hirohata's murder. My sincere apologies to anyone who may have taken offence, as that certainly wasn't my intention.

Cheers, Matt