I cruise Craig’s List fairly frequently.  Last night I saw a minor ad (no pictures) for a 1953 Studebaker Custom.  Advertised as being in the 1959 Oakland Roadster Show and reported to have been done by George Barris. I’m a sucker for an outing to see a “different” Studebaker and this one was close…Anacortes.  I took Jon along to help evaluate the car.  This is what we saw… It was actually attractive.  Fairly straight, no rust.  Real ugly wheels, tires and stance.  The guy wanted $9k for it with a worn out

I offered far less than his asking…without the Chevy motor and transmission.  Brian and I loaded it up…

Since the new Custom doesn’t have an engine/trans, it had an super ugly nose high stance. I pulled the front springs out and just put a 2 x 4 between the lower A arm and the upper spring pocket. Now it sits approximately right (temporarily). I also tossed the wheels and tires that were on it and put on some 205 75 15’s on 4 1/2″ Lark wheels temporarily. At least they fit under the car 😃. Should these be in here? I think these are the right ones here The car is sits right now (front vs rear height), but is

The parts were all wrapped in copies of the 1964 Oakland Tribune.  The story was that the owner at that time had torn the car down for a color change, then died.  The car had sat in a garage in Concord, CA, from then until when it was dragged out about 3 years ago and sold at a Pleasanton, CA swap meet.  The guy I bought it from had gotten it there…

I got in contact with George Barris.  No go.  He didn’t do the car.  I kind of thought that.  It wasn’t wild enough. Then Scott Rodgers from the Studebaker Driver’s club forum found this photo in the latest issue of Hot Rod Deluxe… There was my car in the center of the picture of the 1959 Oakland Roadster Show! With that confirmation, I got a copy of the 1959 ORS program from my friend Gary Minor… There was my car.  #706! (700A is Ala Kart and 1959 would be the second year in a row that it won the AMBR trop

Well…the letters section. But a full page there! HRD is a spin off or Hot Rod Magazine. It is devoted to retro hot rods and customs. The May issue… …has some of the correspondence I’ve been exchanging with the editors. Here it is… The editors want to do a feature on the car when it is finished. Motivation to get my rear in gear and get going on it. It will get a ‘55 President V8, 3 speed OD with a Jeep top shift conversion courtesy of Gord Richmond. I’ve got the 2×2 intake with a couple of backdraft Strombe

I don’t check the Studebaker Swap Page as often as I should. BAMS emailed me with a car posted there that he thought I’d be interested in. I’m over inventoried right now, but I checked it out anyway. Right above the ad for that car was some vintage engine dress up parts. I bought Offenhauser valve covers, a finned valley cover, and a chromed oil filler stack from that ad. A premonition... These will go on the Ute’s ‘55 President motor (thanks Gord!) along with the aluminum 2 x 2 intake with backdraft Stromb

I’m stoked 😝 😎 😄 Just received this from the Producer of the Grand National Roadster Show… Hi Dick, I have a neat surprise for you. I am working on the 60th Anniversary currently, and we are going to attempt to recreate the building that your car was in back in 59! I would love to see you and the car there. The plan is to have 10 50's cars from the show in the front of the building and then timeline back to current in the back of the building. We are going to recreate the overhead signs as well as try to

I’m in California doing a little beach sitting and other unproductive activities 😉. I checked my voice mail at my home phone yesterday and there was a message from Chris Talbot. Chris explained that his father, Lee Talbot, and his partner Sam Chakries are the ones that originally built the Ute for the ‘59 Oakland Roadster Show. I called Chris back. He explained that they had seen the article in Hot Rod Deluxe on the car and that his Dad is STOKED that his old custom has surfaced. He gave me his Dad’s phone

I just had Jerry Forrester redo the chrome on the grill surrounds and tail light bodies of the Ute. The tail light bodies had some major dents and dings. The grill surrounds were distorted and dull. The pieces were not only done quickly by Jerry, but is the best chrome plate I have ever seen (I’ve seen A LOT, and I’m super fussy). They look much better than Studebaker ever even THOUGHT of doing. The model of show chrome. I’ve had a lot of chrome done by various shops and Jerry beats them all…by far! Anybody

The Ute is looking less and less like a vehicle ☹️. It always gets worse before it gets better, but it is currently torn down to nothing. 😬. Pretty much just the body on the chassis sans doors, fenders, etc. as various body pieces get prepped for first primer. I’ll post some pics later. In the meantime, I have been hunting for the right Kart to display in the bed of the Ute at the GNRS as was done 50 years ago at the Oakland Roadster Show. I found it and bought it today… It’s a Dart “A-bone” with two West

I think I mentioned that I was able to hook up with Lee Talbot…the original builder of the Ute…due to the article about the car in Hot Rod Deluxe. Lee is 80 years old and now lives in Astoria, OR. He was up visiting his brother in Olympia, WA today, so I made the 2 1/2 hour drive to Olympia to meet Lee personally. What a great guy! Friendly, sincere, interesting, lively. He’s been a “gear head” since the early 40’s when he built his first hot rod…a ‘28 Ford roadster with a Riley 4 port head. He bought that

Gord shipped me the T86 OD with top shifter that he built for the Ute. It arrived yesterday at the DHL terminal in Abbotsford, BC…about 15 miles from my house. Saves a bunch of customs paperwork and expense to just go get it and declare it coming back to the US. The crate is a work of art! 😝…but to be expected from Gord 👍… Check the rubber tube covered rope handles 😬 It is nicer than the coffee table in my house, so Jon and I thought we should use it as such at the “clubhouse”… Inside was the T86 and par

I’ve been agonizing over how the Ute should “sit” almost as much as which color to paint it. Here’s the final, final, final tires, wheels and stance… G78 15’s with 2 3/4″ white walls. ‘55 Plymouth caps. Stock 5″ Stude wheels in front. 6″ with 1/2″ less backspacing MoPar wheels in back. It sits 2″ lower in front (bottom of the rear of the front wheel well, to the bottom of the front of the rear wheel well)

I seem to remember the grill surrounds on my ‘54 hardtop did not fit perfectly even after a lot of messin’ with them…AND, I’ve gotten even more anal retentive in my old age 😉. I’m trying to fit them on the Ute. There is a vertical “shoulder” on the fender that the surround fits to… It would be great if the grill surround followed the line of this “shoulder” on into the hood, but it doesn’t… This is the surround just sitting in the opening. I can make it fit a little better and even weld up the hole if it e

…well, actually, K36 primer 😁. I’m still up in the air on the final color. Sticking in my mind this week is cream, with blood red and cream interior, red wheels, red engine, red go kart. I’ll change my mind a couple more times before I have to make a final selection I’m sure. 😉 All the body work is done. We DP40′d and K36′d it last night. It’s nice to have it all one color again 😎. We’ll block out the K36, primer it again, block that out, then final paint. The clubhouse is about 60′ long. We tarped off t

I’ve chosen the color for the ute. Art’s (and Brian Curtis’) LEAST favorite color of those in the running is seafoam green. That’s what I’ve picked. Sorry Art and Brian ☺️. Actually it is 1953 Studebaker Chippewa Green. Same as the lower color on Jeff H’s beautiful ‘53… The interior will be cream and the Chippewa Green vinyl done in a 50’s style. I know the seafoam green got other thumbs down and that it is not EVERYBODY’S favorite, but it just kept coming back to me. I think it will be beautiful on the ute

We put the ute in final primer yesterday. Another week or so of sanding and we should be ready for finish paint. This car is going to be SOOOO straight…I shoulda painted it black 😉 I’ve had a change of heart on the engine color. Now leaning towards Oldsmobile Gold. The Kart will still be red.

I just received the Ute’s official invitation to the Grand National Roadster Show. Included are some of the things to do that separate the winners from the losers. Are the tires indexed correctly on the wheel and aligned so that the valve stems are placed at bottom as the vehicles rests on the ground? Are the tire nibs removed and the tread dressed so you see no factory blemishes? Is the wiring loomed with wire ties spaced one inch apart? Are all the fasteners lined up (clocked) and are they of the same typ

The Ute got color yesterday.  It went to the paint booth Friday evening and we painted it Saturday.  About 12 hours in the booth (we’re slow ). Here it is set up in the booth… Everything in sealer… Color going on… Here’s the three stages in the engine compartment.  Sanded primer, sealer, color… Here’s a short video of the first color on the left rear quarter… The color is a lot more “minty” in the pictures than in person.  Might be all the florescent lights in the booth.  I’ll try to get some pics in the na

These give you a better idea of the actual color… …but even they aren’t quite right…a little too blue relative to the actual.

I installed new inner seals in the rear end of the Ute and slipped the axles back in. That’s when I noticed that BOTH axles were slightly twisted where the key ends up in the keyway… It’s a little strange that BOTH were twisted since the car has an open rear end (factory 4.56/1). Although Lee had a Supercharged Golden Hawk engine in the car, I don’t think it would have done this kind of damage to the axles. When I got the car, it had indications that a brand x engine was installed sometime after Lee sold it

A nice mention about the Ute in the latest issue of Hot Rod Deluxe by the editor, Jerry Pitt…

Pekka got me motivated to get the ‘55 President V8 detailed for installation. Gord Richmond built this motor. I couldn’t help kind of setting it together. The carbs are old ones (the ones going on it are apart at this point). The oil pan will be replaced with a later style one I have that is also freshly gold painted. The intake needs to be shined up a little. I love the old skool Edmunds air cleaners 😝. The car is at that stage where the shiny, as shot paint, has been sanded (1500) and looks like H E doub

Probably one of the many “gotchas” I’ll encounter during the assembly process of the Ute. I thought I had rounded up all the clutch linkage parts, but ran into two problems. The trans is not drilled and tapped for the bolts that would either mount the trans in a car that didn’t mount off the bell housing, or (for our Studes) would mount the bracket that holds the clutch operating cross shaft. I’ve not seen one like this, but there must have been SOME Studebaker application that did not need these holes dril

Making progress, but continue to run into snags and surprises. Brian Curtis came over yesterday and we bled the brakes, found and fixed all the leaks, installed the emergency brake system, throttle linkage, drive shaft, loosely put the front sheet metal together and maybe 10 other things. It helps to have another pair of hands…especially an expert pair like Brian’s. It’s looking more like a car… The paint’s not buffed out yet, so the rest of the sheet metal assembly will have to wait for that. Dash is in… T

A while back we did a thread on the fit of 53-54 C/K grill surrounds. Matthew won the prize for best fitting grills with his rusty ‘53 Coupe. 😎 This is how the Ute’s turned out… Not as good as Matthew’s, but acceptable. The good news is the hood gaps are spot on perfect! That must have been an coincidence more than skill because some have been just terrible no matter how hard I tried. In this picture, the Ute is loaded up on the trailer to go to the muffler shop today. It gets a simple 2″ exhaust system. A

I got some chrome back from Jerry Forrester today… It is frickin PERFECT. If you looked up “show chrome” in the dictionary, Jerry’s work would be there. 😝 I also received the following from the GNRS along with a note that they have ripped up my check for the entry fees… Dear Twice in a Lifetime invitee, Your vehicle has been specially chosen to join an elite gathering of vehicles celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Grand National Roadster Show. Twice in a Lifetime will take us all back in history to th

Coming down the homestretch on the Ute.  The rear part is done.  A little color sanding and buffing to finish on the front, and the front bumper isn’t fitted yet.  Other than that, wiring, and assembling the windows into the doors.

The Ute found itself out in the daylight today…so I had to take a few pictures 😉…

Delivered the Ute yesterday to Howdy’s Place in Fremont, CA for the interior. Here’s Howdy Ledbetter… Here’s the Ute… Howdy talked me into some changes to my original plan. Should be about 3 weeks for him to do the job.

My buddy, Pekka in Finland, had alerted me earlier to another picture of the Ute in the 1962 Custom Cars Annual by George Barris.  It was a picture on the inside cover of the 1959 Oakland roadster show… Lately, he informed me of the Ute on the cover of another magazine in his collection… (TODO: find three missing images that have dicks-ute-on-the-cover-of-carcraft-july-1960 in the filename)

My buddy (and college room mate) Tom, lives in Howdy’s neighborhood. He was over to his place today to check out progress. Howdy calls me every few days with an update, but Tom took pictures…

Larry came up with some killer signs to display with the car at the GNRS…

My good friends Tom and Larry picked the Ute up at Howdy’s yesterday and brought it to my son’s house in San Jose. I’ll go down before the show and finish the car there. Here’s a few quick pics… Howdy saw a little ding in the stainless strip on the left rear quarter and couldn’t stand it. He took off the strip and sent it to his stainless guy to be made perfect. The strip is not back on in that last picture. Here it is going on the trailer at Howdy’s and coming off at my son’s house…

I had a local glass blower make a shift knob for the ute… First one he’s ever done.  VERY nice work.  The perfect finishing touch for the interior. If you want one for your ride, contact Ed at… www.glassmtn.com

I’m at my son’s house in San Jose, madly trying to cram two weeks’ worth of finish up work into one! Today, I installed the stainless strips in the bed… I also got the residue from color sanding and dust off the chassis… The dash is coming together… Still too many items left on the punch list…

The highpoint of the day was Andy’s visit. Great to meet forum members in person 👍…and Andy brought donuts to boot! 😄. Andy cruised down from San Francisco in his beautiful GT with an awesome family history. A VERY special car 😎. Later in the day, my son and I loaded the Ute for the ride to the GNRS. Deb and I leave tomorrow for San Luis Obispo and our youngest daughter’s place for a few days.

Well, at least done ENOUGH for the show. Here’s the stainless strips in the bed and carried through to the package shelf in the cabin… The engine is all wired and ready to go, but not fired. At this point I don’t want to deal with the oil and water leaks I might have, sync’ing the carbs, and burning the paint off the exhaust ports. A drive will have to wait until after the show…Well, maybe until I get home. Hot Rod Deluxe wants to do a photo shoot the Monday following the show in LA. I’m half thinking about

I’ve been away from a computer for 6 days. The good news is, the “shakes” stopped after about the third day 😃. My only regret is that I didn’t get to meet everyone from the SDC Forum that attended the show and didn’t get to spend enough time with those I was fortunate enough to bump into. I’d have to say that the Ute was well received. It was quite an honor to be staged alongside such milestone cars as Ala Kart, the Sam Barris Mercury, the Glass Slipper, Blackie’s 1955 AMBR winning roadster, Roth’s Outlaw,

The Ute went to the GNRS not running. I just flat ran out of time prior to the show. A couple of weeks ago, I started into wiring it, getting it running, and working out some bugs. The biggest issue was that dummy me had put the clutch disc in backwards 😤. A real rookie mistake. It is now running good enough and driving good enough that Brian Curtis and I took it out for a photo shoot in several different locations. Here’s a few of what I took. Brian is the REAL photographer and his will be much better tha

My house was built in 1929. The same family (mother, father, son) lived in it from the late 30’s until 2001. Just by accident, I met the son a few years ago. Great guy. He gave me tons of pictures of the house over the years and even the original paperwork when his parents purchased it ($20 a month for 10 years). These pictures were in those he gave me. It’s him and his “new” custom he had just purchased in California. It was 1958… I was out cruising the Ute today and couldn’t resist taking a few in a simil

Hot Rod TV recently aired a episode about the 2009 GNRS.  Included was a short feature on the Ute and Lee.  Here it is…