Looking For Mom's T-bird

Hello, my name is Tiffany Edwards and I was referred to this site by Rod and Custom magazine editor Kevin Lee. Some time this year that magazine published a story detailing a Thunderbird my mom bought brand new in 57 or 58. It was a low-rider she had custom painted ("scalloped") by "Watson" in Southern California. A family friend saw the R & C article and informed my uncle, and I have been unsuccessfully trying to track the article down for months now. According to that family friend, the man who bought the car from my mother --- Nelda Jean Caussey aka Jeanne Beaumont --- still owns the car today. He stored the car in a warehouse in So Cal for years and recently refurbished it.
It has become somewhat of an obsession for me to find this car, mostly because the car has outlived my mother! Hopefully you will view the attached photo depicting my mother posing on the hood of the T-Bird and offer me any sort of advice you might have on finding the man who owns this car. I THANK YOU SO MUCH AHEAD OF TIME. TE, Hilo, HI

 

There's a few threads that turned up on a search, but that appears to be a different 'bird from the one we're all familiar with.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=401756

Welcome to the HAMB and good luck...



Mutt

 

So, you can do a car search on this site, huh?
Hey, do you know anybody who reads Rod and Custom magazine? Somebody on this site had to have read about that Thunderbird this year.

 

Wasn't there just an article in the new Rodder's Journal about
this car and a "COPY" car?

Rob

 

it was on tv the other night on the show starring JimA.

 

Send JimA a private message - he is a mail clerk or something at R&C...

He ought to be able to help you...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/member.php?u=4583


Mutt

 

We've been through this at work and didn't come up with an answer- hope someone here can help because it would be really cool to find some answers in this story. Thanks Jim

 

This months TRJ has a clone in it but it's a 1960.

Attached June 1996 article was in Rod & Custom suggests it had two different paint jobs as the paint on the top of the hood and trunk had faded. Large pic also shows it had Lancer caps & side pipes. Pic with your mother shows different wheels and I don't think any side pipes but those could have evolved from 1958 to 1996. I don't even know that the R & C pic was taken in 1996. Prolly hard to see but the smaller pic from the right front corner view shows the badly faded paint and shows no lakes pipes and what looks like chrome reverse wheels with merc hubcaps and bullets. The paint treatment on the hood with your mother seems to have a different paint scheme than the two in the R & C 1996 pics.

Search can be found at the top of the HAMB page and requires words longer than 4 characters.

I'll look through my 2005 R & C's and see if I can find the article you mentioned.

 

I used to read R&C but I don't particularly care for one of the Editors that is currently on staff. So I dropped my subscription.

I recall seeing an article about a Watson Style 58 or 9 in the last couple of years. But I think it was a copy.

So cool to find a parents old ride. Wish you luck.

 

Oh, do tell!

 

Yeah, Jim knows my story already... But maybe I can pay for an R & C advertisement with a depiction of the photo?! Whaddyathink, Jim?

 

your mom was a babe!

Watson cars are pretty special. . . and that one looks like a great example. . . I bet it will turn up.

 

Thank you so much for your input. The more we dialog about it, the more likely I'll find the T-Bird owner. Again, thank you

 

I trust the power of the HAMB- if anyone knows anything about your car it will be this group- they are loyal fans of the exact style of your mother's car- plus we all love a happy ending

 

Thanks, she also had good taste in cars, and I hope you will forward my attached photo
to all your friends, so I can find that T-Bird!

 

Wow, you're on it. That T-Bird you attached is strikingly similar! It is difficult to read the text to see what is written about it. What does it say?
Thanks a ton for looking through your 2005 R & C's. Let me know what you find out. If anything, I owe you big time. Aloha TE, HILO

 

I suppose you've tried the California DMV...? They may be able to trace it.


Good Luck...





JOE

 

Hmmm... if so, know how to get a copy of that article? I'll look up how to get a hold of the peeps at Rodder's Journal in the meantime before I hear from you. Aloha!

 

California DMV would be able to tell me the owners of 57 and 58 T-Birds?!

 

Wait a minute, you wrote, "Watson cars are pretty special" and, being ignorant to this whole car subculture, I'm wondering, who the hell is Watson?! Couldn't I track this car by tracking down Watson?!

 

It's possible he could only tell you what you already know. Actual surving customs are as rare as honest lawyers. Especially since if you painted that car (99.9 were) in the next few years it's origins would be nearly impossible to trace. Not trying to dampen your spirits, just trying to fill you in on how nearly all the original customs are lost and what you will find today is really nice recreations. Good luck, Jim

 

I'm going to try anything and everything. So, is Watson a first name or a last name? How do I get a hold of this guy? Thanks ahead.

 

Larry Watson...

 

Thanks to Dusty Nuckles for Larry Watson's name. Attention: Larry Watson, I need to talk to you! Thanks ahead, TE, HILO

 

Just Google "Larry Watson" and "custom paint" to get an idea of who he is, and what he's done. roadsters.com says that nowadays, "Larry can be found near Elsinore, California, in Canyon Lake, where he's semi-retired and working on a book about the early days of customizing."

 

Give this a little time . . . thousands of people will see this post in the next day or so . . . it's not unlikely that one of them crossed paths with the car at some point. . . you came to the right place but you have to give this post time to be seen

Watson was a legendary painter. . . . his work was revered in its time and now . . . but most cars changed hands a few times and all it takes is one myopic individual who thinks the car would be improved with a "pink panther", "tiki" or "skulls" motif and a cool historic paint job is lost.

Like with everything else in consumer culture . . .people have a hard time appreciating the recent past . . . in fact they hate themselves for liking the things they liked 10-15 years ago . . . .so there was a rough spot in the 80's when a lot of 60's cars were not appreciated and got mutilated. . . the car you are looking for is special enough to at least have stuck in someones memory if they saw it in a friends garage.

 

Sweet, day one on Jalopy Journal I have more leads than ever.
Thanks so much for the input. I shall track down Watson. In the meantime, tell all your friends in this classic car world that the late Queen of Watusi's daughter is on the hunt for her old T-Bird. Thanks ahead.

 

Remember, he painted a bunch of cars that year and since then. Larry might remember it, but not know anything...

If it was titled to your mom, then try the Cali DMV. They could tell you who owned it, since your mom, if they were/are also in Cali...

Or, somebody here might know...

 

Thanks for all the words of encouragement. You are so right about waiting this one out. I'm just obsessed with finding that car because of its connection to my mother, I guess.
I agree with your point on the disregard for the 'old school' — it happened with surfing and countless other subcultures as well — but I have faith the owner of the car knew Larry Watson was the man and kept its original paint job! See, the only reason why I even know the car exists is because the current owner of the T-Bird is the same guy who bought the car from my mother way back when, and mentioned my mother by name in the article revealing who he had bought the car from her. He kept the car stored in a warehouse up until recently, so I have my fingers crossed that the car looks the same or very similar to how it originally looked. And, as a side note, I look very similar to my mother. So, when I finally meet this guy, he is going to be going to have one big deja vu.
I mean, maybe I'm partial, but the news reporter in me sees such a human interest story dying to be told in Rod and Custom or another custom car publication. I say, let's write the story as a mystery that is waiting to be solved by publicizing it! Let's not wait until I finally get the keys of the car and ship it back to paradise. (Wishful thinking, I know, but I'm proud to be an optimist.)

 

I assumed your mom bought it in California. If she did, they should be able to tell you the VIN# and the new owner from that...

Just a thought...



JOE