Lets start a thread about John The Rebel!The coolest son of a ***** to walk the face of the planet.Who has pics?
Its amazing that no one knows what were talking about.Lets just say theres a guy named John the Rebel that drives shoebox fords,once whacked the roof off a nice 51 Merc to put a 51 Vicky top on it.He runs 5 motors a month,the more cubes ,the better....He never broke down.Hell race anyone anywhere!
Story 1.One time when his chopped shoebox was white,He asked me to put "John L "on the doors. The whole time I was doing the lettering he kept saying,"That looks like chon-fowah" I didnt know what he meant so I kept workin and when I was done I left.Later that night I got a call saying "John thinks you painted a 4 next to his name."
Hey, White, tell 'em about the time his daughter had to hold the door closed with a rope in the 51 vicky all the way home from ohio...or about the time he drove up from Alabama with a bad alternator, and bought 9 new batteries to make the trip...or about the time he smelled something burning in the victoria, pulled into a gas station, and saw the rear smoking like crazy, pulled the drain plug, and, bone dry..filled 'er up, and away he went ...the man never broke down!!
John could walk into a junkyard and drive home in any car there the same day.What about the time his starter fell out on 95?
this is a great thread i know rebel john from the late 60,s when i was a bartener in the old embers in irvington john drove a truck for a &p i had a 55 chevy park in back i have to look in my old pictures i know i have some of him and his cars me and cowboy vinnie were comeing back from a cruse and saw john walking we grave him a ride home he had the bigest collection of tri -power set ups i ever saw
I can't believe this is a thread on the rebel. Thats great. I went to carlisle with him a ways back. All he did was by intake manifolds. I think he bought 4 that day. The man changes engines every other day. He is tuly one of a kind and I know he will do any thing for you if you asked him. I actually bought his daughters chevelle.
I am the owner of the 1951 Ford Victoria he owned for a while in the early 80's, the one i spoke of in my earlier post on this thread...my father bought it from him in 1985 and we sold it in 1988...i found it in Pittsburg 2 years ago and bought it back....it was my first car......i got a top 9 award at Lead East this past year with it......
Hahahaha When I traveled with the Rebel out to the Leadsled in Ohio, back in the 80's, I had to really refine my driving skills. Parts kept falling off his car, and I had to dodge them at 70 MPH! Wiper blades, lake pipe, alternator..... That and the constant bathroom stops.....hahaha....what can you expect from a man who ALWAYS had a Big Gulp in his hand! And I MEAN always! Rebel's a great guy....with great stories, in that cool southern accent he has. "Ah woun dat ****a up, and it jus wen boom. Ah jes took offa lissen plate en lefit at da side uh dah road."
Mark,That must have been on the way home from Springfield in 85.I was with Nitti and we found him on the side of the road after the door sprang open and the striker fell off!Dana was in the back holding the door closedwith a rope and the Laks pipe was sicking out the window.We had to stop in West Virginia for a grease job for his Vic.John ****in rules and I feel sorry for anyone who never met him.
Wow. I have a few. Well...first off the starter story....Coming up 95 he hears this clunking....getting worse. All the sudden miles later he runs over something ::thud:: All the sudden, noise is gone. Keep rolling! Pulls in miles and miles later for gas, after filling up goes to start the car and nothing. Not even so much as a click. Trucker pulls in and hands him a starter. "This fell outta your car about 50 miles back!" I heard he came up from the south one time in some shoebox, got up and I think saw Ant Bastio and when asked how the ride was replied "Dang, there wasnt nobody behind me for the last 200 miles!" Johns decklid was clear open. My story....I rewired my chopped 50 Merc as it had a date with the inspection machine, post haste. So it was a mess under the hood. One night at Dunkin he was lookin for someone to finish wiring the hardspots on his 54. I told him Id help and not judge me by my awful sloppy mess on mine. He said how neat mine looked. Uh-oh. So I swing by and not to my surprise his was a ratsnest. I wire it up with what he had there and told him do NOT drive it until you secure all the bare hot wires. Yeah, no problem he says. That night the car is out, Im sure sparking all over the place....not a care in the world, he just cruised along! Anyone have any contact with him now? I think hes in Alabama?
For those who dont know him and will never neet him let me give an example of how cool this son of a ***** is......John style quote..." I rememuh nynteen fity nyne ,I saw a 51 mercry with a 50 Studebaker back winda and 57 Desoto taillights ...had quad headlights with a 54 Chevy grille!prettiest ****a I eva saw!****a had a 392 wit two fowas.....man that ****er would run!!!!!!
On the way to Gettysburg John and I ditched the Kustom Knights so he could show me how fast he could shift,He then proceeded to beat the living **** out of that tired flatr head for the next hour!In the years to come the car had a 327,a 350,a 428 and a 429!This was just after he bought "Whispering Sorrows "from Cecil Proffit.
OH! Going to Conn behind him...what a trip. Long story short, we pull over when I think Eddies 55 Holiday blew the motor....caravan of cars. Long and short, starts to rain and Im back by Rebel's Ford (pronounced fawd) lol...and he says "well bawt tawm i put dem wipaus on" With that he pulls the radio out and takes a few wires, starts twisting em together. On about the 3rd set of wires sure as ****, the wipers turn on! A freaking mazing. Stayed one night in Conn then took off for Alabama in the Ford. The Lord was his copilot for sure, NEVER broke down. Went out to Las Vegas in that thing with not so much as an oil change.
Vic Collins still hears from him often, and he stops in to see him, and sometimes me at the shop when he's up north. I can get contact info from Vic, if you want. John spent a whole lotta time putting a big *** Ford engine in the shoebox, to race it at the Old Time Drags at Englishtown. Six Deuces, four speed, and all. Ran like a 20 second quarter. That night he was back out pulling that engine and changing it, instead of trying to get it running right. That's the way he does things!
Actually, he told a good story about when he broke down in a REAL bad section of Washington DC, I believe. He was a "litta skaid" when he saw those "wimen you cood rent" walking around!
John has a cross the size of a Lancer spinner around his neck.He told me that he found the lord and was sure of his presence becaise he didnt kill the dispatcher where he works.
Ant, remember in Conn when he lost his cross? What a sight...a ton of tough greaser dudes on thier hands and knees trying to find this thing! He is he man.
Seeing as I somehow missed this thread, how bout the time he got crabs at a truck stop. Mark what was the real story with the whole starter falling out on the highway didnt you tell me what really happened with that one?
Billy...Dont ruin the folklore with actual fact.Were talking about a legend here!!!!!!The only thing Rebel John dont know about how motor vehicles work is haow a tow truck works...Hes never needed one.
I was there for that story. I had stopped by Park Auto in Linden, NJ to look for a beater car for myself, I pulled up in my 57 Chevy, and I was only 17 and way intimidated by these guys. Phil and Nitti were there, then Rebel John shows up. God only knows what we were talking about, but Rebel John, holding the 64 oz. Ultra-Big Gulp, proceeds to tell everyone how he got crabs from a truck stop bathroom. He was like, "I got da cray-abs. They was on duh toyo-let seat. My bawls, day itched so bay-ad." Me and Nitti were nearly crying it was so funny.
Next story... So at the time, I was a member of the now defunct Hellcats Kustoms, and an all-Olds club had sprouted off of us called the Rocket-8s. Mike "King" Ward had a 53 Olds 88, had just popped the 303, and dumped in a 425/TH400 out of some early 60's Olds donor vehicle. He always used to brag about how fast his Olds was, and since King was genuinely an ***hole, he talked a ton of ****. Enter Rebel John... Rebel John says his "Whispering Sorrows" shoebox with a 460 (straight out of like a 77 LTD with A/C and all) will whoop King's Olds. They agree to a race, a time and place is set, mid March, Linden Ave behind the GM plant. That night, we all met up at Dunkin and drove over from there. I was behind Rebel John on the way over, his tires must have been aired down to 7 psi, and he was chirping around every corner. Sure enough, he welded the spider gears on this haggard 2.73 open rear. They line up, Anthiny Bastio flags the race and they're off. Even Rebel John couldn't lose this race, he won by like 10 car lengths. Fast forward 2 weeks... I'm down at Park Auto again talking with Phil and Nitti. I mentioned that King was gonna be working on his Olds and would want a rematch. Phil looked me dead in the eye, which was kinda scary, and says, "King will never beat Rebel John." I said, I dunno, he has a 455, etc...So Phil says, "No, King will NEVER beat Rebel John" as he points to a Big Block Chevy with 2x4s sitting on an engine stand. These crazy old *******s would do a complete drivetrain swap just to win a dumb street race for bragging rights...unreal
I think Rebel John liked intake manifolds more than cars themselves. He asked me to come over his house and see the "Wild Child", this outrageous 60's custom with enormous tailfins, an Olds dash, and beautiful 6 carbed 365 Caddy mill. He hands me a Diet Coke with a flexi-straw, and I stand in awe not so much of the freakish car, but that he has every intake manifold for every engine ever made. Even for engines he never owned, and would never own, he has 2x2s, 4x2s, 6x2s, 2x4s, 3x2s...you name it and for every mill. i swear if the made a Studebaker 289 manifold for 30 Briggs and Stratton carbs, he'd own it. What a piece of work
Those guys are un****in real.All they give a **** about is peanuckle,chopped or sectioned 49-51 Mercs and street racing!
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