Here is a link to some info from a HAMB thread quite a while back. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/remember-george-dorrs-taildragger.57422/#post-9596207 Note that the Dorr built 1948 coupe still exists, and is owned by HAMB'er reddevice in France.
There is some great information in that thread 'Mo, thanks for the link. Too bad that so many of the pictures in it are gone. What an awesome pair of cars he created! Sounds like Mr. Dorr had a thing for these Chevys. Sad to read in that thread that he is no longer with us..........E
A slight update for this week's W.E.H.T. (#34). After carefully reading through the thread in the link that 'Mo posted, a little more information was found. According to 00 MACK in post #7 in the link: "A big thanks to George Dorr for building these two cars. His first one, the coupe was a major part of the rebirth in customs. It got tons of ink in the early 80s. The second car, the Fleetline made its debut in Springfield in 85 and was edged out for paint in grey prime with 56 Packard taillights." It looks like the car was at the Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio in 1985. The first picture I posted from the Scott Pavey Collection must have been taken there. So it was at the Spectacular at least three years, '85, '87 and '88. Nice when all the little fill in details come together on these cars. Nice work 'Mo! E
I remember this car from the eighties KKOA shows. It was quite a sight to see in person. I am sure I have pictures of it at home, I will have to look and see if I can find em and post them here. Great job Ed!!!!
The really cool thing about George, was that he drove the wheels off the car! I traveled with him a couple times, going from car show to car show in the Midwest. He usually had his son, Chad with him. I wondered if Doug Dorr was another relation?
@49oldscoupe posted this in 2009: Maybe he can add to this.... Found his post in this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/dont-see-much-about-46-48-chevys-here.423316/
Thanks Mark! That's awesome @chopolds! Road trips are the cherry on top of the kustom car world. I think the journey to and from shows are where the best memories come from. It really saddens me to see how many of these custom guys have left this world. Not to get all sentimental or anything, but we all need to enjoy each other's company and the good times while people are here! Great pics, Sancho! I'm not really a flat black and flames kind of a guy on a custom, but it really works on this car! This version of Mr. Dorr's car is really growing on me. My favorite thing about this car is the crazy Desoto grille with all the extra teeth! I couldn't imagine trying to copy this grille today seeing what decent Desoto grilles and teeth are going for! E
Okay so what is the timeline of the photos? Obviously gray primer is first. Was the red second? That actually makes sense to me as it was jammed in red in the gray photo. Then the black/flames? I am assuming since it still looked like that in 2009..... Also want to point out that the scoop in the hood has been removed since the red version.
LOL! That's the one advantage of being short--like me. You can get in and out of most cars that are chopped, channeled or whatever. The only thing that I've noticed is that as I get older, it's not as easy to do as it used to be! Not sure of the timeline--I do think that the primered non-fadeaway fender version was first. I think your timeline is probably right. I didn't notice the hood scoop was gone 'til you mentioned it--there's those sharp eyes again (lol)! Maybe the scoop was necessary to get air to the healthy blown Chevy small block early on. Maybe there was an engine change somewhere along the line where the stout motor was changed out and the scoop was no longer needed--or maybe none of the above. I'd like to think that somebody out there has some answers for us..........E
Hey guys, I have a pic of it I took in Springfield Missouri KKOA show, The color appears to be close to the upper rear section of the two-toned Merc in the upper left corner.
I'm glad I found this thread. You guys always do a great job on digging up the history of some really cool stuff. Mr. Winkler's 59 buick is alive and well. It should be finished by the end of winter and will be out cruising the streets once again. It has been parked for many years. Since 1990 is has seen less than 3000 miles. things in the works are new interior, updated 4l60e and put the lake pipes back on.
What Ever Happened To..........? number 35. 1956 Chevy Owner: Ron Channel Lebanon, Illinois Mr. Channel's Chevy has got to be one of my personal favorites. I remember seeing it in magazines a lot in the early 80's during the Leadsled Resurrection. I've had a thing for '56 Chevy's ever since I saw a custom, candy green custom '56 cruise by while I was waiting on a bus stop as a kid. That is another story that I've posted here on the HAMB before, and I'll post it here later if anybody wants to read it again. So, when this lipstick red '56 hit the books it really turned my head. Chopped '56 Chevy customs are pretty uncommon--even back in the 80s. Nowadays, forget about it. They are considered too valuable to a lot of people to cut up. But us custom guys, well, you know..........get the torch! This car was originally customized in the late 50s, and Ron found it in the late 70s and did a restoration of the customization of it. It featured a chopped top, 5 inches in the front, 7 in the rear, and a '50 Mercury rear window was installed. It had extended rear quarters and Packard taillights were installed. The car must have been a mover and a shaker as well, due to the fact that it had a worked over small block Chevy in it with six Strombergs linked to a four speed! Ron was a regular at the Leadsled Spectacular. According to my video research, he was at the second event in '82 in Des Moines, as well as '83 in Springfield, Ohio, '85 in Springfield, Ohio again, and in '87 in Springfield, Illinois. He might have been there in '84 and '86, but I couldn't find his car in the videos. He was interviewed at the '83 Leadsled by one of Rowdie's gals and she commented on how the car was a '56, but the plates read "LOW 55". He said somebody already had the "LOW 56" plates, so he took "LOW 55". After '87, I never saw the car on any of my later videos. As far as magazine appearances, there were many, mostly before 1983. It was a full color two page feature in the August '82 issue of Classic & Custom on pages 4 and 5. It was also in Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 1 #1 from 1982 in their coverage of the '82 Spectacular on page 6. It was also pictured in Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 1 number 5 from 1983 in their feature article about customs called "Express Yourself" on page 6. After this article, I found a few scattered pictures of it, but mostly in How-To articles as examples for dechroming and such. As far as photographs go, I found a few good ones on Rikster's site. Amazing how such a striking car that was around the KKOA custom scene for so many years just all of a sudden dropped out of sight. I guess that's the way it works. Maybe a guy figures that everyone has seen his sled and it isn't getting as much attention as it used to and he puts it away for "someday". Sure would be nice to know "What Ever Happened To" this one..........E What Ever Happened To..........? number 36. 1967 El Camino Owner: Howard Henry Dayton, Ohio Well, since Thanksgiving is just a few short days away, I thought I'd give all you faithful followers of this thread an extra helping of W.E.H.T. in honor of one of America's greatest holidays. I hope you enjoy it! Now, before I get started, I want to apologize up front for featuring a car that is just a little over the HAMB year cutoff. But, I figured that since it is done in such a nice traditional style, that we could slip this one by. I won't make a habit of it, I promise! Anyway, I've been digging deep on this custom for weeks now and there just isn't much information out there that I can find. I was only able to find one picture of it in a magazine, and that was a black and white front view of it in an article about scalloping in Custom Cars by Hot Rod Volume 2 #2 from 1984 on page 88. As far as videos go, it was at the '83 Leadsled Spectacular in Springfield, Ohio. I couldn't find it on any other KKOA videos. Maybe my subconscious has been working over time on this one and maybe it's on one of the many Paso Robles videos that @PasoJohn has sent me over the years. I just didn't have the time to sort through those videos--the Leadsled Spectacular, Sled Scene East and West and other KKOA videos are overwhelming enough to sort through. I'd love to do Paso Robles video research too, but unfortunately, I have to go out and try to scratch out a living during the week, get some car time in on the weekends, as well as get things done around the house and most importantly have some family time. I'm sure you can all relate. There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. Anyway, (sorry I'm rambling), as far as I've been able to try and figure out, this car (truck?) was built in the mid-west. Thanks to @stanlow69 we have found out that it was owned by Howard Henry of Dayton, Ohio. There sure were a lot of great customs being built back in Ohio in those days! Deeper searching, I found a picture of it on Rikster's site taken by Dave Dale in Paso but I can't say when. I talked over this El Camino with John Tretten a.k.a. PasoJohn a few weeks ago, and he sent me some pictures that he took of it at Paso in '94. John mentioned that at that time it had personalized California plates that read "LOORIDE". So, it must have left the mid-west and ended up there. So, that's all I have on this one. I really like it and I'd drive it proudly. With a heavy chop, super body mods like custom taillights, frenched antenna, shaved everything, tube grille, louvered hood and a very well laid out scallop job and striping everywhere, what's not to love? Before I sign off this week, I'd first like to thank PasoJohn for all his help and pictures on #36. I'd also like to thank @Ryan and all the HAMB staff for their hard work to give us a place to play, and @Rikster for all his hard work on his sites that really help this little project of mine keep rolling. I can't forget to thank all the photo contributors like @KustomLincolnLady, Scott Pavey, and our own @drdave just to name a few. You all know who you are. I also have to send a thank you out to Jerry Titus and the KKOA. Jerry's vision of an organization for customs, kustoms, leadsleds, kemps or whatever you prefer to call them helped boost the strong return of customs in the 80s. From that, a whole new batch of (then) young kids got a taste of what customs were, not only from our day dreams and magazines, but real life moving pieces of automotive art that showed us anything is possible with hard work! Thank you Mr. Titus! A special thanks goes out to Doug Reed a.k.a. @49toad and Rowdie productions as well as to Video Bob Huff and Action Video--I couldn't do any of this without your hard work! I'd also like to thank all of you who visit this thread every week, whether it's to contribute like @Sancho, @Moriarity, @stanlow69 and the many more kustom people out there that share their expertise and knowledge, or just to read some and give likes to everyone that participates in this thread. Without your participation this thread would have ended long ago. Thank you all! During this special upcoming holiday, please remember to take some time to count your blessings, and tell those around you whether it is family or friends, that you appreciate them and thank them for everything they do for you. Believe me, they will love to hear it and it will make you feel great too! Until next Tuesday, Happy Thanksgiving! E
Ok, I'm not able to go digging for pics at the moment, but not too long ago I saw pics of Ron's '56 and because of the rear window got to wondering if it was Lanny Erickson's, but I had forgotten his was a sedan. Anyhoo.... Also, I loved that El Camino and always thought those tail lights were so cool. Guess I musta saw it in the Custom Cars mag. Man I wanted and El Camino. [emoji16] Ed, thanks for all your work each week to bring us one of my most favorite threads on the H.A.M.B.!! [emoji106][emoji106] Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Lets see if this works. It was featured in Truckin magazine in August of 81. When I saw this issue back then, I already loved customs. You just never knew where you would find information on them. This truck is one of my alltime favorite customs. I have no idea why I didn`t take a pic of it in 83 in Springfield. See the matching speedboat. Howard is the builder of this truck also. Looks like I`ll be busy posting pic`s I`ve mentioned earlier in this thread. So check back often. Thanks Ed and everybody for making this a great thread. I always loved the chop top on the 56.
this car was for sale in Hemmings about a year ago still in black and seemed cheap at something like 20 grand
I'm with you, Doc! I've wanted an El Camino for years, especially a chopped one. Wish I would have bought one before the prices started getting high. Who knows, maybe I can still get one someday. Thank you for the kind words! Hey Jim, great pictures man! Thanks to your post I can update the owner information on the El Camino. Note to self: Find a copy of the August '81 Truckin' magazine! Appreciate the credit, Jim, but also thanks to guys like you for all your input on this thread. It has really helped a lot of the history of all the featured cars come together! Oh yeah, this is really gonna get good! Jim is a walking kustom encyclopedia with a great memory and lots of custom information. He was also one of the lucky guys that was at many of these great events as they happened, so I think we are all in for some great things ahead! Great detective work, as always Sancho! I really liked the car in red, but the black is gorgeous, too! Has that sinister, gangster look! I've got a feeling that this sled is still lurking around the scene somewhere..........E
I'm glad to see my guess was right and the '56 is still around. I figured the information would pop up sooner or later. Leave it to you, Mark! Question is, who is the lucky one that bought it? Or, if any of us were the owner, why in the world would you want to sell it? Cars like this don't come along very often! E
Speaking of El Caminos, most here are certainly aware of Harry Bradley's "Blind Faith", with work by Cushenberry and Rod Powell. Besides the bi-polar paint job, what really set it apart was the 455 Olds motor mounted behind the cab!
That's a cool El Camino 'Mo. I can't say that I've ever seen it before. If Cushenberry had a hand in it, it had to be built some time ago as he has been gone for quite a while.........E
This truck has QUITE a history! Bradley bought it new in 1964, while designing for GM. After failing to convince management to employ "Fleetside" sail panels for the newer models, he had the A Bros. chop and reconfigure the roof to convince them. It worked, as the 1968 models will attest. Later, when launching the "hot Wheels" cars for Mattel, Bradley's El Camino (first version) become the FIRST (number one!) Hot Wheels car produced! You can read about it HERE:http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0207cr-1968-chevy-el-camino/
#36... 67 El Camino. Howard sold it to my dad in the mid 80's, Chuck Sides. it was in Classic & Custom magazine as well. photographed by Lee Pratt. we had that car everywhere and to this day no car/truck sounded better. 283 duels with woodpecker mufflers. Howard painted that car to match the speedboat. Artic white & hugger orange. we were in a small town in Kentucky 4th of july weekend. the local police thought that car was the coolest.they called the sheriff in from a murder scene to see it. haha. that's the truth!
Great read, 'Mo. Thanks for posting. Great story @sideswipe! Posts like this are what this thread is all about. Putting the stories of these customs with the pictures and the people who built, owned or just saw them at a car show a long time ago! E
Here are a couple more pic`s of Rons 56. Also is a pic of a chopped 56 that looks similar to the black version of Ron`s. All three shots were taken in the 80`s. Lee Pratt owned an El Camino(same body style) at one time. It was yellow and black back in about 2000. Sorry, I don`t have a picture of it. Siedeswipe, when did your dad sell the El Camino, and where was the buyer from.
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