History Looking for information on 1936 Ford Phaeton / Joe Passalaqua - Bay Area, CA, 1960's

They were definitely the "official wheel" of the day. (one of anyway) It's about the only thing on the car I am going to change.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Bump for the weekend. I'm still hunting. I've tried about every "Passalaqua" I could find on Facebook looking for a relative of Joe's, so far, no luck. Google hasn't helped either. Hoping to get this thread in front of the right person at some point.

Thanks!

ironandsteele.com​

 

Not mine...
1936 FORD PHEATON CONVERTIBLE - auto parts - by owner - vehicle automotive sale - craigslist
1936 FORD PHEATON CONVERTIBLE FLATHEAD 8 , 3 SPEED,COMPLETE CAR,HAVE NOT HAD IT RUNNING IN 2 YEARS,JUST DON'T HAVE TIME FOR IT.CALL BEFORE 10 PM.. I DON'T RESPOND TO I PHONES TEXT
six three one 286 83 94

 

Bump, still looking.

I did end up swapping the wheels and tires for something more to my taste. They are 6.00-16's and do a perfect job of filling out the wheel wells. It will get a set of Lyons caps.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Just a quick bump and small update.

I got my Lyons caps today and slapped them on. I can't believe what a difference wheels and tires (and the right caps) make. I will paint the wheels black and it will be good to go.

This is the only real change I plan to make to this car, otherwise it still appears exactly as it did in the early 1960's.



I am still looking for info on Joe Passalaqua and additional photos of this car if anyone happens to recognize it.

ironandsteele.com​

 

looks great !

 

presto chango! amazing improvement

 

Great improvement with the wheel change.
I really like these old mild customs, just a few subtle body mods and a rather high stance.

 

I agree with you. Something about the simplicity and restraint on some of the earlier-built custom cars works well.

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I haven’t found any more info on Joe Passalaqua or found any more photos from the Bay Area in the early 60’s, but I did find this.

This picture is in an Al Drake book and shows Harold Beal towing one of his race cars with my phaeton. Harold owned it from the mid-60’s until a few years ago when he passed away.

I’d heard from several people that Harold had towed this midget around with the phaeton, but hadn’t seen any pictures until now. Pretty cool.

I’m still looking for pics or info on this car from California or Oregon.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Another bump, still looking for 1950's & 1960's Bay Area history/photos of this car. Hoping to find some as the Andy Southard photo collection continues to be documented and released, but maybe someone here remembers seeing it.

ironandsteele.com​

 

That is a wonderful photo of the car, perfect backdrop. I looked through some of my southern Oregon show programs I have with Taboo as it seems they were both active roughly the same time frame and Ron took Taboo south a couple times between 1959-1962. So looked through them to maybe see if the car had come north once, but didnt find anything.

 

Thank you. And thank you for checking your stuff.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Still on the hunt.

ironandsteele.com​

 

I don't know but I'd like to. Roy Brizio told me that, but he couldn't remember the name of the bar.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Found these references on newspapers.com listing a Joe Passalaqua as an owner of Il Manzo Steak House and Decanter Room Lounge located at 1144 Mission Road, South San Francisco.

July 20, 1963 issue of the San Francisco Examiner:


August 2, 1963 issue of The Times (San Mateo CA):

 

Awesome, that’s definitely him.

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Make sure you search for South San Francisco, and not San Francisco.

They are two different cities, in different counties, with another city in between.

 

South City

 

Absolutely, thank you.

I mentioned before that Joe also owned the Frank Rose 1954 AMBR car. Roy Brizio sent me this photo from the first Andy's Picnic. In the background you can see Joe Passalaqua getting into that Roadster. I had always thought he sold my car before he bought the Frank Rose car, but Roy said he thought he owned them both at the same time and that my Phaeton was still in his possession until at least 1967 or 1968, maybe even later.





He may have also owned more than one bar too, Roy did not recall the "Il Manzo" being the bar he knew as being owned by Joe and thought that by the time he knew him as being someone that hung around their circle that he owned a different bar. I may have to subscribe to that newspapers.com site and do some deeper digging.

I appreciate the input and info you guys have posted so far. I'm hoping to dig up some more photos along the way too.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Awesome car and thread! I wish you luck in your continued search.

I'm curious about the "loaded Oldsmobile engine" mentioned in the show program posted by @R&C RON
Is there any evidence of that swap or was it possibly a typo?

 

Thank you. I guess I've never really looked specifically for evidence of it but I don't think it was a misprint, I have found several mentions of it being Olds-powered. I should poke around to see if I can see anything.

ironandsteele.com​

 

this photo looks like the San Mateo car show

 

I would love to be able to confirm this.

ironandsteele.com​

 

it is 100% the San Mateo County Fairgrounds...

 

Wow, that's awesome. Thank you. This really helps me with the timeline of my car since the Mustang in the background dates it to at least 1967 or 1968. I'd thought originally that it was already in Oregon by then. This proves otherwise.

Thank you again.

ironandsteele.com​

 

Still searching for more info and photos, but I am learning that this car was in California until at least the late 1960's and got around quite a bit. As I suspected, the Andy Southard Jr. archives being released by Trent Sherrill/Speed and Kulture have been helpful...

This morning my buddy text me a link to a YouTube video from Speed and Kulture showing footage from the 1967 LA Roadster Show and swap meet. At one point in the video, my Phaeton goes rolling by. Here is a screen shot:



I would love to have the photo the guy on the left snapped as it went by.

Here is a link to the video, it is great:

L.A Roadster Show & Swap Meet Hollywood Bowl June 18, 1967 Andy Southard Jr Archives

ironandsteele.com​

 

Love that Phaeton! The Pines grille stands it out so neatly, not like a '36 isn't already an eye catcher! November 1967 Rod & Custom, ironically with a '36 Phaeton on cover...YOURE CAR is in LA Roadster meet coverage, a small side shot! It was either taken by Text or Bud Bryan.

 

That’s cool! Any chance you could post a picture of that? Thank you.

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