I bet its this clone a guy posted on here in '04 that he was building this got pretty far and decided to bail out. he went by j maurice or something do a search. [told you I lurked here for a long time] Chopolds should remember. he was from maine or new york.
I never have really liked the grille/ front end treatment...but the rest is late 50's kustom kitsch at it's best. Didn't Jim Street aka Jim Skonzakis buy it from Barris? He's still got the Golden Sahara and Kookie T, right? Did he sell the Kopper Kart, or does he still have it?
looks like the close attempt showrod just posted...check out the grill surround in relation to the headlights. way off from the real thing. I was getting excited for a bit there.
If this isn't the real Kopper Kart, then someone got pretty far into a clone to let it end up like this. Maybe some of these parts could be from the real one. PA isn't far from Ohio where it was last seen.
I think it's an attempted clone, take a look at the headlight surround on the original, there's a peak down the centre line, doesn't appear to be there on this one, although hard to tell from the shots.
i'm going to call foul on this one. look at the upper A pillars. they appear to have never been finnished , and also, alignment of the pillars themselves. the piece between the headlights from fender to fender is not there. the rear fenders are bolted on and not molded in. that is not the bed box from the kart. the taillight almost got me, but, it appears to be much smaller than the lights on the kart. look how much space is between the edsel rings and the lense. . look how much smaller it is on the one laying on the ground..the scoops in the lower front valance aren't there. the front fenders on the kart were molded to the cab. this truck hasn't had the front fenders molded to the cab. i say it's the clone showrod posted
The chop on REAL truck was cut and welded at the bottom of the A pillars,this one is cut at the top and appears un-finished.I would also say that this was an attempt at a clone.
This shows the cuts on the A pillars. http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...barris-ccustoms-195/kopper_kart/p1020021.html
I am about an hour south of this spot...Might have a weekend mission on my hands...what gets me is why is the door pleated if the truck was never finished....
There's the biggest lesson from this post- if you find something interesting, don't post it up until it's in your OWN garage.
An over-the-top design by Barris, what are the chances? I'm on the "it's a clone" bandwagon here but if it should ever get finished it'd be a nice tribute to another lost custom. (Yes, George, it's spelled with a "c".)
Those are the original ribs on the lower half of the inner skin. For being an "over the top" custom, I don't see much custom work on it by comparison to the original. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see this truck finished, but I wouldn't get your panties in a bunch over this one. Aside from being a Big Back Window, there's nothing too out of the norm about it.
Where is Rikster when you need him. He'd have 10 pages of info on this bitch by now and he'd tell us exactly who built it, when, and have pictures of it getting built.
I don't know. The pictures of the truck from Maine are NOT the ones he is showing. Vic and I bought out the remains of the project J Maurice started. The truck had rust free fenders, front and rear, as well as other differentiating features. The history of the truck...post-Jim Skonzakes, is that Paul Blasdel bought it, and disassembled it. He was going to install a Caddy engine and race it. I would venture to guess the front end might have been taken off. The roof on the truck was upholstered, and one of the reasons they (Paul and a hot rod club from his area who volunteered to re-do it) abandoned it, was the rust formed under the upholstery. Good idea in SoCal, but not the rest of the country! So around the windsheild opening was rusted out on the original. I can see amazing similarities between the trucks. And I have been looking, measuring, and trying to duplicate it for 5 years or so. A lot of what has been observed is wrong, to say the least. A couple points are valid. The truck was also redone back in the day. Barris is shown standing next to it, with the nose in primer in a shot I have. In the Barris book, you can see the truck had been repainted, and other details are changed (i.e. no "art work" on the tailgate, different pipes, Barris lettering removed in some later pics...drawer pulls intalled in the grill). I am trying to contact this fellow to find out more.
wow the plot thickins .chopolds did you buy the cab and everything from j maurice was that the start of your clone? all I can say is if this was the original kopper kart I would expect it to be in much worse condition. the first time I heard of it [long ago] it was already lost in an Ohio field beyond repair. of course someone could of started a restoration and never finished.for the record I dont think this is it. but this is a fun thread showrod
Does Any Onyone Have A Pic Of The Dash From The Original Kart ? Looking At The Pics Of The Truck In The Woods, It Appears To Have A Gmc Dash By The Long Bump For The Instrument Cluster. I Could Be Wrong & It Could Be The Pics. Was The Kopper Kart Built On A Gmc Cab ? Or Chevy Cab ?
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