Yes and I have been running into some dead ends but I dont give up.Im still trying to find any info on this great show. Rik is there a way you can enlarge the sign on Jerrys merc in my opening picture? It looks like it says Jerrys name hand written across the top?
Its hard to read... and the top portion of the sign cannot be read at all. I think it says. Jerry Quesnel '49 Merc Coupe Chopped & Channel built by (not sure about built) Barris Kustom Shop
Thanks Rik !!!!!!! That looks real good man! Of all the times I have looked at this picture i never noticed that it maybe said Jerrys name across the top until tonight.I like how that was written. Thanks again for doing that !!!!!!!! Now im just wishing we could read the top but the lighting was not the best by the looks of the showcard,hey thats another clue that that this pic was taken in this poorly lit tent
This reflection in this bumper is pretty good evidence since you can see the rope and the location where it was wrapped around the wood.Not to mention the length of the gr*** sure does look identical to the gr*** length in the TRJ pictures.It just seems like there is a whole lot of common things from this picture that match the TRJ pics.K13 I know you are holding on to the seat reflection thoughts but seriously....... I have been looking and looking pretty hard for another carshow from this early era that had all the details that I have been describing and I cant find one other show.At this time there was not that many carshows and especially in a tent.
Rik, Where did Gil run his license plate on the 42 ? I dont see nothing .Do u have any other rear shots of this gorgeous sled?
I had noticed that as well... I have no idea. THis is the only photo I have seen showing the back of Gil's 42-46 Ford. I will ask Memo, perhaps he remembers.
Its kind of hard to see in this picture but in the issue of the TRJ you can see the cars better in the upper left side of this.They were all Carson tops,it would be nice to be able to indentify some of those cars in the tent.The second one from the fleetline looks to maybe be a Buick,maybe Ben Mario ? It sure is a nice lineup of customs they have in this tent,it just still amazes me that they just happen to leave a big space next to that fleetline.
I think the last on is the 1949 Chevy of Richard Riuz. Look at the position of the Spotlights, very low above the beltline.
Yes I think you are right Rik,the spots seem to be in the exact spot as this picture. I really wish there were some more photos of this show,it was so good and not having many pictures is a tuff pill to swallow.
Jeff, I asked Memo Ortega, who owned this car from 1958 to early 1960's. This is what he wrteo back to me... "As far as I can remember when I got the car the plates were in the trunk and one of them had a licence light attached to it. It had a bracket for it on the two lower holes for mounting the plate to the bumper. The bottom of the bumper had two drilled holes in the center for mounting the plate. Thats where I installed it back on the car. Also I found the autobuchers plaque in the car. When I finished the car I hung the plaque to show it off and some so and so stole it. Good memories frome back then. I hope it will help."
So to me it seems as if the plate could be mounted but wasnt always being used.Maybe Gil didnt want to hang the plate since he was always racing the **** out of that car.It sure looks like he wouldnt run it when he went to a show like in this picture.Thats pretty cool Rik that you get to talk with this guy who owned such a heavy custom.
Update..... I have spent many hours in the city of Montebello researching this and looking thru a ton of microfilms of the 2 newspapers the city had back then.One of the papers didnt have anything about the show and the other city newspaper which was the more detail of the 2 was missing the last month of 1950 and the first 6 months of 1951.I have someone looking for it but there is almost no chance it will be found.So I have spent many hours trying to find out more info about this great show and I have not found much.It is very weird that almost nobody remembers this show but it had some of the heaviest customs in attendance.
I look at this picture and still have questions.... - since this thread was started we have found out that Sam's merc was at the 51(feb) oakland show foresure.So looking at this picture I just wonder why Jerry would want to bring this car to the show if it wasnt finished yet? No windshield wipers, no stainless trim around the side windows,it is a little weird to me if they had already showed Sams merc in oakland. I also find it a little strange that the Ayala's didnt bring any 49-50 mercs to this show.Louie's wasnt done yet and Wallys debut was in November 51.So that maybe narrows this Montebello show to being early 51 just liked we talked about earlier in the thread.This picture just still raises questions when I look at it.
Great you have been looking into this Jeff... Someday someone will show up remembering this show, and providing us with some more details. It has to be.
Bringing this back up for some history lessons. Maybe someone new might see the big difference in what was done back in the day. They did things the right way. not over chopping and having everything laying on the ground looking like its broken.
I'm just now noting the primer over spray in the wheel well. Jerry and barris put the side trim back on the car over primer. .. For shows. This is as said a heavy hitter show... Perfect place to debut the first 49 chopped mercury.
Great post John,I have always liked seeing the white primer in the wheel Wells,adds character. Long live the White Ghost.
I love the fact that he was running Hollywood Flipper caps on it. You never saw that on any other custom 1949-51 mercury.
i wish i had something useful to add, but i've really enjoyed reading these 6 pages....fascinating stuff...Columbo ain't got nothing on you dudes! every old time shot i see of Snookys car makes me smile and think to myself " i touched that car in January at the GNRS" simple pleasures n'all that.
It is nice to hear that somone else cares about this old stuff enough to read the thread.Glad you liked it and I also really Dig Snookys car too.
I still think he showed the car unfinished, in primer with the side-trim reinstalled, because like you said shows of that magnitude were rare, so this was an opportunity for him and Barris to show off their first chopped 49 Merc. Seems like between the old timers you can reach out to and Rik's vast knowledge, that the number of possible shows has been narrowed down. How many shows were there around then that pulled all those cars, say in the 12/50 to 8/51 time frame? And this is obviously an outdoor show in a tent. And I think Jerry pulled the car out on the last day of the show since he could just lift the tent up. Whenever I've showed cars indoors we all sit around Sunday and wish we could blow it off after lunch. I tried blowing up the reflection, nothing jumps out at me, was hoping to get a better idea of what car that is...
Great idea on trying to narrow down the dates. What are the chances that the 12 or so months that would be of interest to us are missing it just seems to be the way things go? Are their any cities close by that might have had some interest in the show and run something in their paper?
Notice the rope and the way it is tied on the upper part of the wooden post.It matches up with the TRJ pretty good.
Jeff have you tried contacting the Armoury to see if they have any sort of historical do***ents about when the tent was used? I would think the military would keep pretty meticluos records of when things were done and they don't tend to throw anything away. I know in the article Ron had asked some soldiers he ran into there but it didn't sound like he proceeded any farther than that.
I still cant get over the lineup of customs that were under this one tent at the same time.Whats even crazier is that we cant even see everything,we only have a couple of pictures of certain area's in the tent. This picture is like Murderers' Row the old yankee's lineup from the 1927 team.It was one Heavy Hitter after another.
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