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Friday, June 3, 2011
This is a famous car I was reading about a short time ago, the well crafted custom was Harry's first car, and he'd made a deal with his parents not to customize it. Ha!
As Harry put it in a 1985 article in Super Rod & Custom magazine, "They had gotten to me -- 'they' being Pinin Farina, Harley Earl, Joe Bailon, the Barris brothers. My parents didn't have a chance against the likes of them." Harry immediately began an extensive customizing process.
Harry Bradley, was one of the most respected custom car stylists in history. A well-known designer for General Motors and Mattel's Hot Wheels brand, Harry kept his hand in the custom car arena throughout his career. The La Jolla was acquired in 1954 when he was still in high school in La Jolla, California. 
Stricken with polio at a young age, Harry couldn't drive a conventional car, so he had friend Floyd Martin make hand controls for the throttle and brakes. Under the hood, Harry installed a new 283-cid Chevy V-8 engine. For paint, he chose a deep chocolate-ebony candy pearl color. The La Jolla is unique among custom cars in that Harry owned it for more than 45 years, driving it much of the time. It followed him through college, family, and his automotive design career. Harry eventually sold the car in 1999 to noted custom collector Jack Walker. Jack worked with Harry to restore the car, adding two Bradley-approved changes.
Jack has an extensive collection of customs and even replicated the Hirohata Merc, except for Von Dutch's pinstriping on the dash and bumper guards
images from http://onlycarsandcars.blogspot.com and http://designyoutrust.com/2009/07/20/icons-of-speed-and-style-auction/
info from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/la-jolla-custom-car.htm
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Coincidental parking of 3 1966 Chevy trucks let me compare short bed, long bed, and Custom editions
0 comments Posted by st at 11:27 AM
the reddish truck is owned by a guy with time and appreciation for woodwork, it's the custom, and has the crhrome work around the rear of the cab, and the big back window 
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Nice cars that need a new home were scarce at the Big 3 this year
0 comments Posted by st at 3:31 PM
The 69 Camaro was up for grabs for 7500, tubbed, maybe back halved
Hudson
Never seen this semaph0re turnsignal before
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Captain America rides a Custom Special Harley, drives a Chevy Van
0 comments Posted by st at 1:01 PM
Just thought you might find this interesting tooWednesday, January 5, 2011
suspension takes a lot of abuse, here to demonstrate, a crash test dummy. Behind him is the demo of how well suspension smooths the ride for passenger
0 comments Posted by st at 7:52 PMMonday, December 6, 2010
ordinary Chevy trucks looking great due to a restoration and perfect paint.
0 comments Posted by st at 8:32 PM
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Remembering veterans (I'm a 10 year Navy submariner vet) on Veterans Day here in the USA
0 comments Posted by st at 9:03 PM
For photos of military stuff that I think was great: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search/label/Military
Thursday, July 22, 2010
I dig the hydraulic lifts mounted to the car chassis for faster tire changes
Monday, July 5, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Why doesn't the truck and trailer have moon hub caps on the passenger side?
