great site. i been in to kustom kars since i helped my uncle harry build a 57 ford kustom sold it for 350 dollors said wow made lots of money. think 55 56 57 fords and 62 53 54 55 56 mercs. keep up the so called newer ones stink. thanks bill bender
Hi, How fun to see my car that I owned and worked on back in1958 to 1960. I took the old flathead out and replaced it with a Cadillac engine. This car when sold allowed us to have the down payment on our first home in southern California. We currently own a 1939 Chopped Mercury Coupe. Thanks again for bringing back memories!!! Best regards, Bob Jones from Colorado
Rik, great site, what a collection of photos and information, fabulous job. I'm trying to locate a 1951 Cadillac 2 door hardtop that was built in the San Francisco Bay Area about 1956 and hope you can help. it featured 1954 Cadillac front fenders, grill, hood, front and rear bumpers, shaved all around, 2X4's, wide whites, and was painted metallic red. it was near Modesto, CA in the early '60's then went to Arizona. I have the license and serial numbers and the original engine. send me an email and I'll shoot you a photo. many thanks, Tom
rik. on the ayalas front mag covers i like the one with the pool best. the whole front cover is just awesome. i still have that mag. im one of the old guys thank you for working so hard to bring all of us that history and photos. memo.
hi ric my name is bob barker from van bc canada i have a 53chev ht and a chopped 50merc i am looking for info on a friend of mines 1952 ford convertable that was customised brand new with a 53 chev grill in a 49 merc surround the owners name at that time was bob casey have you heard of it and do you know what magazines it was in my email is mailto:robbar3054@yahoo.ca thank you for your time bob
I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING COLLECTION OF MATERIAL ON CUSTOMS! I BELIEVE IT IS IMPORTANT TO LEARN OF THE PAST SO WE CAN THANK THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE AND UNDERSTAND AND BUILD ON THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. YOUR ARCHIVE IS AN INVALUABLE RESOURCE FOR ALL WHO APPRECIATE THE MACHINES AND CRAFTSMEN WHO MADE THEM SPECIAL. FOR PLASTIC MODELERS OF TODAY THIS SHOULD BE A "GO TO" PLACE! THANX FOR THE PIX, TIME AND EFFORT IN BUILDING THIS ONLINE CUSTOM ENCYCLOPEDIA! THANX SO MUCH!!!!
Regarding the pics of George Cerny's cars, my cousins are still in touch with his boys and I am told that they found the Plymouth wagon and plan to restore it. His wife used it as a grocery getter and for trips to church in N Long Beach while it was still under construction, while it was in process of the top chop. Still had the flathead six in it then. What I have never seen a pic of is the car he really considered his baby, an Olds hardtop, 1952 but with the mods it appeared to be a 1953, with a highly modified caddy engine. It had a maroon body, white or cream top, louvered hood, great upholstery job, drove it for quite awhile with burned paint in the center of the hood due to an engine fire which fortunately they were able to put out in time to save the car. Pretty sure he ran it at Santa Ana. Wonder if it's still out there....
I was conned by a master con-man to help him steal the 41 Merc in 67 or 68. Led to the biggest adventure of my young life. When Mr. Stengel got back from Europe, the car was in rough shape due to the "con-man". Stengel was not upset with me in the slightest, but with the perp, who lived across the street from me. Stengel went into the house with a tire iron and whacked a piano, artwork, walls & furniture. He left the house, crossed the street and had a most animated one-sided conversation with me, until the cops showed up. I heard that the judge was very lenient with him.
Hello Great stuff really like what you have done with the 35 coupe. I have a 35 4-dr delux which I am mounting on a 1995 ford 1/2 ton frame. I have change the rear end out and replaced it with a continental rear end with disk brake. I need to replace the front end and have a chev camero front end which I intened to use. Question is I am not sure of the wheel base as I have checked online and they seem to vary between 108" all the way to 128". I tried to measure by using the center line of the fenders and I estimate the dimension to be 118". Dose this seem reasonable. I am not a young man and am somewhat disabled,but really want to build this car. I have a chrysler 440 7.2 which I will use. Any info you could offer would be most appreciated. Jim My e-mail address is mailto:mailto:jameslenning@ymail.com thank you
Please wait...