Customs History of the Custom display ~ GNRS ~ OFFICIAL thread info & photo's

Duuude your nuts! I parked across from you last year your car is beautiful!

 

Nonono (and thanks again; your car is very cool too). It'll be in the Drive In; I was just saying that it's not ready to be shown inside at the GNRS.

 

Jack Walker has been a familiar name in the Custom Car world for many years.
The Hirohata Clone he built together with Dough Thompson was big news in the 1980. The real had not been seen for decades. Well we will have the real Hirohata Mercury at the Customs Then & Now show so there is no point having the clone over. But Jack has been creating another very impressive clone of a famous custom car.
The Barris built 1952 Buick Blue Danube.

The original car was built for Barris Employee Lyle Lake, and crazed the full color cover of Trend book #143 Restyle your car in 1957.
The car was updated a bit over the years and received a new grille and some over the top pintriping by Dean Jeffries.
The car had some unique styling features and the chopped top with leaned forward rear window worked perfect with the flow of the side trim.

Jack Walker always had a soft spot for the car, and he located Lyle Lake to find out if the original car was still around. Unfortunately the car was long crushed.

So Jack decided to recreate the car. He found a good base, and hired Kenny Baker and Dick Huckins to recreate the car as good as possible.
The result is a very accurate clone of the Lyle Lake 1952 Buick Blue Danube.

Jack is bringing the car to the show for all of us to enjoy.
And to make it even better...
Jack will drive his two car trailer from his home to Pomona and on the way will pick up the Barris built Snooky Janich 1941 Ford as well... Thank you Jack!

Lyle Lakes car









The car also apeared in the TV series "Twilightzone" in epesode #14 Third from the Sun.




And here is the Jack Walker recreation of the Lyle Lake Blue Danube






Dave Darby photo

 

Whoa... now that's cool.

 

What a gorgeous custom,very glad to have this in the show.

 

Cant wait for this one.

 

I am looking forward to seeing all incredible cars and catching up with all the good peeps this year!

Wil

 

I always wanted to see Blue Danube clone in person.. awesome..

When I was going through the tech / build images at Barris the one person that stood out the most was Lyle Lake.. He worked on everyones car and I think he might of been the busiest guy at the shop.. thats what i got from the shots..

 

Man, what an event. Can't wait.

 

Keith, my thoughts exactly. You guys are creating something big...

 

Blue Danube !!! This car is gorgeous and I guess people will have to see it person to appreciate it.

 

I say "Aztec" !!!!

 

Another remarkable custom car that just signed up for the show is the
1953 Studebaker "Kart Hauler"

Lee Talbot always wanted to have a neat home built pick up but building it of his every day 1955 Studebaker did not make any sense for Lee. When lee came across this

The Kart Hauler was originally built by Lee Talbot and Sam Chakeries, who started with a rear ended coupe. He added the rear body and tailgate from a Studebaker wagon to the coupe. The top of the Coupe was shortened and the Coupes rear window was turned upside down. The rest of the body work was done with one inch tubing and sheet metal.
It was painted Thunderbird Pink by Rogers Body Shop of Livermore in 1958.

Dick Steinkamp found the car on Craigslist in 2007, and even though he did not really needed a new major project he bought it anyway. A week or so later The first issue of Hot Rod Deluxe was published and inside was a photo of the 1959 Oakland Roadster Show with a photo showing the 53 Studebaker in it.
This inspired Dick so much that he started researching the car and became good friends with Lee Talbot the original owner.
Dick decided the car needed to be restored back to how it looked in 1959 as closely as possible, but with Lee's approval the car was not painted pink but a 1953 Studebaker Chippewa Green.
The restoration work was done by Dick, Gord Richmond (Engine/transmission) Howdy Ledbetter (interior) and John Falcon (body prep and paint).

The car has been sold recently and the new owner Jay Pellegrini out of Covington, Louisiana is bringing it to the Custom Cars Then & Now show for all of us to enjoy.




As the Studebaker looks now.












Under construction in 1958







Finished in pink 1958-59







The photo in Hot Rod Deluxe magazine






Snapshot taken at the GNRS show in 1959.






During Restoration by Dick and his team








And this is why the car is named The "Kart Hauler"

 

Wow Rik, Some of those early black & whites we have never seen. Thanks for posting them. It took us 2 months to track this car down but we finally found the Kart Hauler's new owner who is Jay Pellegrini out of Louisiana and he is honored to be a part of this event.

 

I am SOOOO looking forward to this show. It's all i've thinking about. Good job to everyone involved.

 

Is Rudy Rodriquez' black '40 Merc going to be in this display ?

 

It will be at the GNRS - as far as I know -, but not in the Customs Then & Now exhibit.

 

You know what sucks about this? How in the Hell is John and company going to top this next year?


Of course we said that after the 32/75th deal, the 60th anniversary of GNRS and then the race cars last year. I feel so left out not having a car in this, after being part of the previous three

 

I really like the Kart Hauler,I dig the history and the looks of this machine,lookin forward to checkin this out in person.

 

Jeff, I agree. The Kart Hauler looks cool as hell.

 

Good lord my head is gonna explode at GNRS this year. I've got drool all over my keyboard. I can't wait for this one!!

 

Headlines the next day "Head literally Explodes at GNRS this year. Cars too Awesome for some to handle"

 

Another really fantastic and Historical Custom Car that has just been confirmed.

Barry Mazza will bring his 1955 Chevy Convertible Custom better known as the Aztec all the way from Florida to be displayed at the Customs Then & Now Gathering.



From the beginning the Aztec has been on our list, but only a week or so ago we where able to get in contact with Barry and talk about the show. Barry is very excited to have the car at this GNRS Custom Car event.
A real Historical Milestone Custom Car.

The Barris Built Aztec is a Custom car that most likely has been used the most time on Car magazine covers There have been so many magazine article all around the world about this Amazing car.



Barry Mazza and Bob Nitti have started to restored this car over a multi year period.
The project was eventually finished by Barry. The car has an extremely rich history,
part of it can be read here.




The car was first built as a mild custom


But in 1957 Bill Carr decided he wanted a full custom...
Most of the original body work was performed by Bill DeCarr (Ortega) at the Barris Shop.










And this is how the Aztec looks today



We are trying extremely hard to get the Kopper Kart Clone also, so that we can put the Aztec and the Kopper Kart side by side... just as this 1958 Photo.

 

It was there two years ago in the 60th anniversary of the show. It was very cool to see, you'll dig it.

 

Man, how cool would that be to see these two radical kustoms side by side again! History in the re-making!

 

Oh man!!! The Aztec in person!!! Im super excited about this car!!! Hope you are able to get the Kopper Kart too rik!

 

Thank you very much Rik for your archival photo's. The Aztec is a heavy hitter and i'm real happy its on board . Axle

 

Unbelievable line-up boys - thanks for all the efforts

 

Question for Rik or Axle. Did you guys ever get the Ralph Jilek/Valley Custom Ford confirmed. That is my all time favorite and it would be really great to see it in person.

 

Well even though it wasn't aimed at me but since I have been working on this I will answer it for you,We could't get a contact for the new owner since it was auctioned off at the Peterson.