History The Kustomrama Survivor Truck - 1955 Ford by Barris & Dick Richardson

Just got some fresh Firestone tires!


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This thing is gonna look so neat!


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This is one of the best things about the HAMB! Awesome stories like this.
Thanks for sharing. Totally dig it!!!

 

oober-cool story. would love to see some pics of it when it was all down low and kustom. would also love to own an old kustom with some history. thats just a special experience in itself.

cant wait to see how this comes out. and btw that green fasback chevy or whatever it is you have there is SWEET.

 

Exactly !

 

Great story!!!

 

Yep Awesome find !great story and i feel theres a lot more to come.i,m never going to look at a 41 tudor the same way again.That thing has the greatest stance I've ever seen on one of those!Its so refreshing to see old original photos like those you are sharing.
johnny

 

What an amazing story, thanks for sharing!....and keep sharing!!!

 

Bad ass!

 

One of the best threads I've seen on here lately.. Awesome


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Amazing story Olav! Congrats!

 

Here we go again! Kustomrama presents, George Contaoi, And The Raiders of the Lost Appleton.



Yesterday, I went to visit George to help load up the engine. It is a 1969 Chevy 350. He took the engine out of a low mileage wrecked camaro in the 1970s. He planned to install it in the Ford. He bought a brand new Chevy 283 in 1955 when he bought the car, and he wanted to upgrade it a bit.



He found his old club plaque from The Krankers. He was so happy when I showed up in the fastback, he was dancing in the driveway when I arrived. He first got in the Krankers in 1949, with his 1941 Ford. He was an active member until the late 1950's. He actually arranged a lot of car shows in San Bernardino as well.



George had a friend that worked at the studios in Hollywood, and he gave him Indiana Jones' hat. Here he is, doing the Indiana pose!



Then we went out to explore the town, different hang out places, old custom shops, and etc. He loved riding in a chopped car again, he especially enjoyed it along with a song from The Five Keys, called Ling Ting Tong.



This is the shop where George, Al Andradeas and Dick Richardson restyled his 1947 Mercury, and parts of the truck, along with the 57 Ford and 49 Olds he had.



They sure did a fine job on his 47 Merc!! We spent almost 12 hours searching through 2 storage containers and his packed garage, collecting all the old photos he had. We ended up with two full cardboard boxes with old car photos!!



He then took me over to show me his sister's old 65 Impala SS. She bought it off the showroom floor, and she has only put 35 000 miles on it since! All original!



This is the Hells Angles headquarter. We only were there for a brief second, because there were a lot of Angels checking us out.



He was not sure where he had stored the Appletons and photos, so we went to his storage containers to take a look.



We looked high and low, but no Appletons.. We did however, find a whole bunch of old photos!! Nice color shots of Barris cars and other famous cars! I will try to publish at least one pr day on Kustomrama.



Incredible enough, he still had the Lacquer paint from when he painted the truck. 1953 Buick Red for the dash, and 1956 Cadillac Gold for the exterior. I will paint the truck eventually in lacquer, so when it begins to get patina, it will get that ol' custom look.



We also found an old trophy he got at the drag races with his 1949 Olds. The tag was missing, but the trophy was still there.



No Appletons in the storage, so we went to check the garage.



Finally, we hit the jackpot!! He took them off when he went to the army in 1957, because he was afraid they would get stolen. And since then, they have been in his garage. He bought them from Rose Auto Supply, on second E Street in San Bernardino.



The clock was about 10:00 pm, so it was time for me to go back to LA. But he insisted to take me out for a cup of coffee and a piece of Cherry Pie before I had to leave.



This morning, he woke me up at 7 am, and asked if I wanted to join him to the Long Beach Swap Meet. Of course I went along with him. He ended up buying a set of beauty rings for his 72 Chevy Pickup. I bought a nice Appleton S-551 to use parts off.



He liked the progress on the Ford, and was very happy seeing it coming to life again!



Here he shows me where he placed the 6 rows he had of louvers. He installed a solid hood, because the carb would be filled with water each timed it rained. He actually had photos from when he swapped the hood.



Notice the striping and Belly Burner pipes.



The first version had 41 Chevy lights. He told me he gave Barris strict directions when they filled the tailgate to leave the Von Dutch art work alone. The filler panel is only tacked with a few spots, so I might take it off. It came with a second tailgate too, because he was planning to take it off himself and hang it on the wall.

 

This is from when he had white seats. He reupholstered it because they became so quick dirty. Here it has the 47 Merc radio, he said the stock radio reminded him off a silly Mickey Mouse head.

So, keep tuned folks, for the upcomming photo collection of George V. Contaoi!

 

Wow super cool! This just keeps getting better. Thanks so much Olav I can't wait to see what comes next.

 

WOW.....what a GREAT story!!!!!
Any color pictures of the PU when Mr. Contaoi finished it?
Thanks Olav for sharing here on the HAMB.

 

Very kool thread!

 

Wow, better and better....

 

Good story, great pics, thanks

 

Thank you for sharing this great story!

 

Here we got first photo out from the George Contaoi's photo collection. Dick Jackson's 1957 Ford Fairlane 500. The photo might be taken at at a Squires Charity Auto Show May 5, 1957. The photo is developed in July 1957, and the banner says "Squi 52 Po", which might be when Paul Lehrbass' 1952 Pontiac was given away.

http://kustomrama.com/index.php?title=The_George_Contaoi_Photo_Collection

 

Great thread.
It would be amazing if that Von Dutch art work were still on the tailgate under the filler panel.
We are all watching....
Torchie.

 

Great story. Look forward to more.

 

Close but no cigar The Lehrbass Pontiac was given away in September of 1957. A great photo, and that flamed shoebox entering the show from the upper left part of the photo looks great! Anyone recognize it? My first though went towards the Lowell Helms shoebox that Watson painted, but the flames looks too light, and it seems like this one maybe has the stock grille? Here is Lowell's Ford: http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Lowell_Helms'_1950_Ford

 

Fantastic story.. and great photos.

Looks like Bill "Smilley" Polk, Jeffries flamed Shoebox "the Curly Flame" to me.

 

WOW!! One of the best and most interesting reads that have come along in a long time.
Thanks

 

Oh yes! That must be it

 

Unbelievable thread!! Can't wait for the next installment!! Keep up the good work on the truck!!

 

get that filler panel off already haha!

Harley

 

This is a spectacular thread. How lucky are you to be able to hang out with this man and learn about his life of cars. This and the old Winfield custom being redone have to be the best posts going right now. I love this old history.

 

great thread! amazing