What happened to Panoramic Ford

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Rik Hoving

WHAT HAPPENED to PANORAMIC FORD

One of the Custom Car Icons the Buster Litton Panoramic Ford has been lost for many decades. Perhaps this new info will lead to the answer to what happened to the Panoramic Ford.

With the help of Rob Radcliffe who interviewed Buster Litton and Don Schaedel, original and second owner of the car, about the Barris/Cerny restyled 1949 Panoramic Ford, we have created a two part article here on the CCC in 2015. With all the unique information Rob and me had gathered we were able to get an accurate history on this Iconic ’49 Ford Hard Top written down. We shared some never before seen material that was shared by Buster Litton and Don Schaedel, and were able to trace the history of the car back to 1957.

The Panormic Ford when Buster Litton owned the car.
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In 1957 Don Shaedel, who had owned the car since the early summer of 1954, traded the Hard-topped Ford for a sectioned Shoebox and never sees his beloved custom again. Despite all the efforts we have not been able to find any trace of the cars after 1957… until September 24th 2018. That day I received an email from Claudia, who had seen the articles on the Buster Litton on the Custom Car Chronicle and clearly remembers the car from 1960-62 time frame.

At that time Claudia was 12-14 years old she new this guy named Darrel Wienkuaf (Update correct spelling is: Daryl Weinkauf) from Pipestone, Minnesota. Claudia was friends wit Daryl brother Curtis, and she remembered the car here friends older brother had from 1960 till around 1962. She remembered the details on the car clearly, since she really liked it, and remembered the Barris Crest still being on the car, and the hard-topped roof. She has no idea what happened to the car after 1962.

I have tried to find out more about Darrel Wienkuaf (as Claudia spelled it) but perhaps it is spelled Weinkauf (which very much sounds like a German name) from Pipestone, Minnesota. But so far I have found nothing. So I hope that perhaps some of our readers know people from that erea, or perhaps know more about a possible car scene in Pipestone, Minnesota or surrounding area in the early 1960’s. Hopefully we can come up with some more info on the Panoramic Ford being owned by Darrel from 1960-62, and possibly what happened to the car after that.

The Panoramic Ford when Don Schaedel’s owned it parked on the drive way at his home in Lynnwood, Ca.
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Update October 02, 2018

Larry Pointer did some digging after reading this article, and this is what he came up with.

Daryl Eugene Weinkauf, born 29 July, 1938. Son of Arnold and Hazel, living in Sweet, Pipestone County, Minnesota in 1940, He was listed in the census as about l year old, with a brother, William age 2 1/2. I fount a South Dakota marriage for Darryl and I believe a Janice… 18, September, 1958, in Hughes, Pierre County South Dakota. BUT, a divorce in California from a spouse Janice J., 28 December 1984, San Bernadino.
The Find-A-Grave website listed his death, 27 May, 2015, age 76. He is buried in the Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside County, Califorinia.

On the Panoramic lead, I found Daryl E Weinkauf on the Camp Pendelton, CA US Marines muster rolls from July 1956 through January 1958. This puts him in California at about the time he could have seen that Panoramic Ford, and then purchased it and took it back to his parents’ home in Pipestone, by the time that your source Claudia would have seen it there.

On Instagram Joe Bronco did some digging as well.

Joe was able to get in touch with the son of Curtis Weinkauf, the boyfriend Claudia mentioned. The son talked to his father Curtis to ask about the car, and he could not remember much about it at this moment he for sure did not know what happened to the car after his brother sold it. But he would ask as around some more, perhaps some other family members might know more about it. Curtis mentioned that the time frame might be slightly off. So hopefully we will get more input on that as well. At this moment he thought there were no photos of the car, but they will be looking. Hopefully some family snapshot might show it.
Lets keep our fingers crossed.

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Timeframe on the Panoramic Ford

1950-1951 first owner Allen Anderson takes his 1949 Ford Coupe to the Barris Kustom shop to have them build a full custom out of the car. Allen requests the top to be chopped and turned into a hard-top style.
1951 the Barris Kustom Shop, most likely Sam Barris, create one of the best looking chops ever done, on Allen’s Shoebox. They also install one of the 1951 Studebaker front fenders
1952 Buster Litton buys the unfinished project from Allen Anderson.
1952 Buster hires the Barris shop to finish the started work on the car an has them create the custom grille.
1952 Buster brings the car home after the Baris shop has finished the work and painted the car with primer.
1953 Buster takes the car to George And Carl Cerny’s shop to have them restyle the rear of the car to match the work on the front.
1953 painted in a wonderfull deep coco rust lacquer by Doug Anderson, who worked at the Cerny shop.
1954 adding Ford accessory bumper gards up front and modified Kaiser bar with exhaust thru the bullets on the rear bumper.
1954 adding Barris crests.
1954 February, winning awards at the Motorama and National Roadster Show.
1954 May-June selling/trading the car to Don Schaedel. Don gives Buster his mildly customized 1951 Mercury Convertible in trade for the Ford plus some cash.
1954 Don removes the front Ford Accessory bumper guards since he felt they where to tall for the car.
1957 Don trades the Panoramic Ford for a sectioned Shoebox Ford, and looses track of the Panoramic Ford soon after that.
1957 – 1960 We have no info on where the car was during these years.
1960 – 1962 Daryl Weinkauf from Pipestone, Minnesota owned the car.
1962 and up We have no info on the cars wear-about after 1962

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If anybody knows anything more about Darrel Wienkuaf or Darrel WeinKauf from Pipestone, Minnesota. Or does know anything about a car scene from this area in the early 1960’s. Please let us know. We would love to get in touch with people who know more about the Panoramic Ford during this period, and possibly find out what happened to it. Please Email Rik if you can help us with the search from this long lost Iconic Custom Car. Thank you.

Panoramic Ford Part Three

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Rik Hoving

NEW PANORAMIC FORD

Andreas Åberg from Sweden has re-create the Panoramic Ford and in the progress improved on its original design. Lets take a closer look at the New Panoramic Ford in the last article in this series, the Panoramic Ford Part Three.

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I have been gathering material for a Custom Car Chronicle Buster Litton Panoramic Ford article for quite some time. The Panoramic Ford as Buster named it has been on my list of personal favorite Custom Cars for as long as I first saw a photo of it. Fortunately for us the car has been documented pretty well back in the early / mid 1950’s with lots of photos, and even better in more recent years even more material has surfaced as in some amazing color photos and the best of all detailed information from two of the original owners of the car, Buster Litton, and Don Schaedel. The article started to really take shape when good friend Rob Radcliffe Spend a good deal of time with both Buster Litton and Don Schaedel. Rob was able to gather a lot of very interesting new information about the cars history. As well as some never before seen photos. With all this we have been able to get a pretty accurate time line on the car. This third and last, for now, part on the Panoramic Ford we want to highlight an improved re-creation of the original Panoramic Ford created by Andreas Åberg from Sweden.

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Andreas posing with his New Panoramic Ford at the 2014 Old Style Weekend event.
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Andreas Åberg’s recreation of a Classic Custom

After having worked on several car project since he was in his young teens, Andreas from Sweden has developed a passion for classic customs in the early 200o’s. One car in particular sparks his interest. The Barris/Cerny created Panoramic Ford created for Buster Litton. When you view part One and Two on this car, you can understand why. The Buster Litton Panoramic Ford is – for many Custom Car enthusiast – one of the most beautiful Customs ever created. In 2005 Andreas is able to buy an unassembled, but complete 1950 Ford Sedan at a car auction not to far from where he lives. He is able to buy the car for a very low price, which is perfect since the plan to recreate the Panoramic Ford means he will have to find and buy a lot of rare car parts from the US and have them shipped to his home in Sweden, not cheap.

First thing to do for Andreas is to put together the Ford parts he had bought at the auction and makes it a rolling project. While at it Andreas mildly customized the car using 1952 Ford headlights and nosed and decked the car before painting it with black primer. In the winter of 2007-2008 Anreas starts its major project of recreating the Panoramic Ford. After doing research on the Buster Litton Ford collecting every photo and info he could find he made a list of parts he would need and noticed a few things on the original car he thought could be improved upon. So he decided to not create a perfect replica of the original Panoramic Ford, but rather a refined version of it. The New Panoramic Ford.

The first time I saw Andreas’ Shoebox was at the 2007 Old Style Weekend in Sweden. I did not know Andreas at that time and came across this nice looking mildly customized 1950 Ford, and had to take a photo.
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The restyling started with chopping the top. The windshield was cut around 3 inches and the rear of the top was dropped in between the rear quarters enough to get the perfect profile. During this initial process the car was taken outside several times and compared to photos of the original Panoramic Ford, until the profile of the lowered top look just right. The flow of the top is crucial for this car, and Andreas decided to reshape the rear portion of the top to make it flow better, and to reposition the rear window in the top, again for a better flow. The lowered top was now much shorter, creating a gap from the trunk to the top, the catwalk.

Andreas created a new panel for this and also shaped new sail panels to make the whole unit flow as perfect as possible. With the basic top shape finished it was time to create the new hard-topped side windows. Not completely happy with the way these looked on the original car. Andreas asked Illustrator Janne Kutje, and Designer Rik Hoving along with input from good friend Wolf Christiansson for help to improve this on his car. Several Digital Restyling versions were created using styling elements from Wolf’s 1951 Mercury Hard-Top, which Andreas really liked.

Not to long after the OSW show in the summer of 2007, Andreas started to further customize his Ford. Chopping the top about 3 inches at the a-pillars and some more , until it looked right, at the back. These photos show how much catwalk needed to be added to fill the gap, how the bulge above the rear window was “flattened” for a better flow, and how Andreas reshaped the side window openings completely.
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With most of the hard work done Andreas made some photos and asked for some design help from Janne Kutja, Wolf Christiansson and me (Rik Hoving Kustoms). I “finished” the side view image in Photoshop and helped reshaping the side window opening and other details till Andreas was happy with it and he could transfer the changes into metal.
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The A-pillar width, the corner shapes on the front top, and the rear corners were all reshaped from their original shape to improve the overall look. In the design process it was also made clear that the section from the belt-line to the bottom of the window opening on the Fords is less than on the Mercury’s from the same year. And that the Mercury has a very nice balance between the lower edge of the windshield and side windows. It was decided to match the Mercury lines on this, and now the bottom of the side window openings is in line with the bottom of the windshield, and also with the lowered rear window. It is details like this what makes looking at Andreas New Panoramic Ford such a pleasure for the eye. A large portion of the new side window opening was hand made for the perfect flow. The rear corner of the side window opening was created using the corner of a 4-door Ford donor car. Andreas worked with Wolf Christiansson on reshaping the stainless trim around the new window opening.

In 2008, Andreas “finished” the hard-topped car in black primer and enjoyed it for the summer. The front and rear of the car remain mostly stock at this time.
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When the chopped top was handled the car was painted black primer again and enjoyed for the summer. Next winter it was time to add the 1951 Oldsmobile rear fenders that Andreas had found in the US and had arrived in Sweden. The Ford rear fenders were marked and sections removed to be replaced with the Olds sections. The Olds units had to be shaped a bit to match the Ford quarter panel contours. The radius on top of the Olds rear fenders is much larger than on the Ford so Andreas decided to replace most of the Ford top portion of the fender with the Olds unit to make them blend in with the body much nicer. Once the Olds fenders were mounted Andreas decided that the slight off vertical line of the taillights should be corrected and he cut off the taillight bezel surrounds and repositioned them. At the same tome Andreas also re-routed the gas filler to the back of the drivers side rear fender. He modified the lower portion of the 1951 Olds taillight and hinged it on the side so he could use it as a gas cap. The splash pan was reshaped and welded and molded to the body. A narrowed 1953 Ford rear bumper was added, and for this version Andreas reshaped 1950 Mercury bumper guards.

1951 Oldsmobile rear fenders were found online in the US and shipped to Sweden. During the winter of 2008-2009 Andreas reshaped the Olds fender sections to fit the Ford rear quarters.
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Andreas had been able to find a set of 1952 Studebaker headlights, but not the actual fenders. In He decides to mock up the 1952 headlights and places them several inches in front of the Ford fenders to where he thinks they need to be. He makes some photos and asked me to make more Digital Finishing images to see how the whole car now looks. At this point it is decided that the front fenders are extended to much. But then January 2009 Andreas finally finds a set of 1951 Studebaker front fenders, which will save him a lot of work on the front, and makes the front the same as the original Panoramic Ford. The stock 1950 Ford splash pan is molded to the front fenders.

More Photoshop help was needed to blend in and digitally finish the fresh body work to see if everything was looking good. In this phase Andreas had found the Studebaker headlights, but not the actual fenders, and was considering shaping the front fenders by hand. The top photo shows the headlights mocked up using welding rod in the right location.
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Andreas was not quite happy with the slight angled inwards look the Olds taillights had once the fenders were welded to the Ford. So he cut off the taillight mounting section and slightly rotated it so the light would sit perfectly vertical when viewed from behind. The splash pan was modified and molded to the body to make the narrowed 1953 Ford rear bumper fit perfectly.
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Andreas finally found a set of 1951 Studebaker front fenders in the US in January 2009. When they arrived home in Sweden he grafted them onto the Ford front fenders. It required quite a bit of metal work to make them fit perfectly.
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The original Panoramic Ford used the Studebaker front fender lip which oddly disappears halfway the wheel opening. Andreas never cared for that look, so he decided to change this detail. His first thought was using the popular 1952-54 Ford/Mercury units, but felt the lip would be a bit to wide for the looks he wanted. He looked at the lip on the cut down 1951 Mercury fender skirts he had for the car and decided to use those as a template. He cut the wheel opening from the fender at about half an inch from the opening, leaving only the bottom section attached to the fender. Then he pushed this section outwards until he had the look he was after. He welded some pieces of rod to hold the thin sections in place and shaped up pieces of sheet metal to fill in the gap and blend it in with the rest of the fender. The result is a very elegant wheel lip styled similar to the 1951 Mercury fender skirt for the perfect balance. The car was lowered with dropped spindles in the front and de-arched springs and lowering blocks in the back.

The front wheel opening lip was created by making a cut just above the wheel opening, pushing the opening out a bit, and filling the gap with shaped pieces of sheet metal. The new lip is more elegant than the Studebaker unit, and fits the lip on the skirt perfectly.
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Once again the car was pushed out for a good view of the new profile of the car. The Olds rear fenders and Studebaker front units make all the difference and the car was not looking very close, but more refined as the original Panoramic Ford. The 1950 Buick side trim has now also been installed.
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With the Studebaker front fenders now in place its time to get things wrapped up at the front. The Studebaker fender body crease is removed and everything metal finished. The original Panoramic Ford uses a 1951 Mercury lip on the lower hood section. But Andreas figured it would be far to hard for him to locate that part in Sweden, so he instead shaped a similar lip from sheet metal and made it fit the hood and front fenders perfectly. The hole in the hood from the original Ford grille was filled at this point as well.

Now things at the front were almost done. He found an 1953 Chevy grille bar with three teeth, and the 1951 Ford grille end bullets were also located and adapted to the Chevy bar. A new construction was created to make the bar float in the new grille opening. A window frame was created for the door glass, and separate units where made for the slide-in rear quarter windows. Time for another round of black primer. After that Andreas enjoyed the car for a few years while building a house and spend time with his young family.

The lower hood section was hand shaped. The grille was created from a 1953 Chevy unit with 1951 Ford bullets at the end.
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In the summer of 2009 Andreas once again painted the car in black primer. No all the body work was done, and the car looked stunning. Notice that the dash already has been painted body color. Andreas had heard George Barris would be visiting Sweden, and he wanted George to sign the dash on his Ford, so the dash had to be finished before the rest of the car.
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Time to finish the New Panoramic Ford

in late 2012 it was time to get back on the New Panoramic Ford project again. In the meantime Andreas had been looking for and found the last missing pieces for his project. The 1950 Ford Crestliner steering wheel, the Appleton S-552 Spotlights, convertible and victoria garnish moldings and a few more odds and ends. The car was taken apart, and finished where needed. Then it was time for paint. Andreas already had picked the color for his car a few years earlier when he had heard George Barris would visit a Swedish Car Show. To top of his creation he wanted George Barris to sign the ash in his car. So well before the rest of the car was ready he had detailed, finished and painted the 1949 Ford dash in a DuPont custom mixed Cocoa Rust-Red metallic paint. Johnny Ernflykt added the perfect color for the car.

In the winter of 2012-2013 Andreas took the car apart for the last time, did the final body work and prepped the car for paint. The finished car debuted at the Elmia Custom Car and Hot Rod show in early 2013.
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After the car was painted it as a race against time to get the car finished for the 2013 Custom Motor show in Elmia, Sweden. where Andreas wanted to debut the car. The interior was done by USA Trading Upholstery Shop, who normally do not do vintage car interiors. Andreas wanted an little less busy interior in his car than Bill Gaylord had created for the original car in the early 1950’s. With as much photos of samples he could find, especially of the Jay Johnston Shoebox he had instructed the upholstery shop. The shop handled the tuck & roll interior in the Ford really well. The already finished dash wan installed and the stock steering column cleaned and detailed then painted body color before the restored 1950 Ford Crestliner steering wheel was added. The car was actually finished on the show floor at the Elmia show, but Andreas made it, and the car was finished when the show opened for the public.

The New Panoramic Ford in 2015 in Uddevalla Sweden. The angled Olds rear fenders give instand movement to the car. The lowered rear window flows perfect together with the bottom line of the side windows.
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Most cars have a preferred perfect angle, with The New Panoramic Ford I have come to the conclusion that it looks perfect from any angle.
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This low rear quarter view shows how great the angled fender lines on the front and rear work together and create instant speed. The flow of the top and the continues line of the side window and rear window helps with this flow. The lower door corners were rounded to echo the round lines used on the rest of the car.
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Front view shows the great looking grille from 1953 Chevy and 1951 Ford components, the peaked hood and the continues line of the bottom of the windshield and the side windows.
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Side view photo taken while Andreas drives his car to a photo-shoot location in 2014. Notice how great the home made lip on the front wheel opening matches the lip on the cut down 1951 Mercury skirts in the back.
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The restored 1950 Ford Crestliner accessory steering wheel looks absolutely stunning in the car. The dash is as perfectly finished as the outside of the car.
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Andreas demonstrating how the slide-in rear quarter windows work. Just like on the original Panoramic Ford the rear quarter windows are stored in the back, while cruising with all windows open.
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A few more details. Rounded rear hood corners and restored Appleton S-552 Spotlights and the home made hinged lower section of the 1951 Oldsmobile taillights to access the gas filler.
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Andreas loves to engineer and build his cars in such a way that he can also enjoy driving them. Just like back in the 1940’s and 50’s Andreas drives his New Panoramic Ford as much as he can, and to every car show he is entering the car in.
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Andreas filling up the car with more gas, for more cruising. The home built 1951 Oldsmobile hinged taillight gas filler cap works perfect.
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The New Panoramic Ford was build with the Custom Cars from the early 1950’s in mind. Back then most Custom Car owners used their cars on the road a lot, often the car was their only transporrtation. Andreas drives his Ford as much as he can… and is not afraid to use it in less than perfect weather.
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It does not get any better than this. Andreas perfect, improved Panoramic Ford parked with the Dick Dean created Lee Lucero 1951 Mercury. (The 1951 Mercury was owned by Palle Johansen in 2014 when this photo was taken.)
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(this article is sponsored by)

Panoramic Ford Part Two

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Rik Hoving

PANORAMIC FORD part 2

The Buster Litton 1949 Panoramic Ford changed hands in 1954. Don Schaedel became the new caretaker of this Milestone Custom Car. Lets take a look at how Don remembered the Ford in the Panoramic Ford Part Two.

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Don Schaedel the new caretaker of the Panoramic Ford

In July 2015 Rob Radcliffe interviewed Don Schaedel by phone about his years with the Panoramic Ford. A lot of this information was used in this part of the story on the Panoramic Ford.

Don Schaedel remembers seeing the Ford getting built at the Barris shop, while driving by, he spotted the car in the lot and that he stopped to take a better look at the car. He remembers how beautiful the chop looked on that car even back then in 1951, when it was just in primer. He found out the car was for sale, but Don was not interested to acquire the car at the time. Don was making plans to join the Navy and head for Korea. Soon after Don had seen the Ford at the Barris shop the car was bought by Buster Litton as we can read in Part One in this series.

Before going in the Navy Don owned a 1940 Ford Tudor Sedan that was conservatively restyled by George Cerny. The work on that car was done in February 1950.
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In 1950 Don had a conservatively restyled 1940 Ford sedan that was restyled by George Cerny. About a year later in 1951-52 Don drove a nice lowered, but mostly stock 1949 Ford convertible with some interior work done by Bill Gaylord. Don Schaedel was in the Navy from January 1952 to January 1954. He was a Machinist Mate on the DL2 USS Mitcher destroyer. He went to boot camp in San Diego, then transferred to Great Lakes, Michigan for Machinist Mate school before boarding his brand new ship in Boston.
When Don Schaedel returned from his time in the Korean War it was January 1954. Don felt it was time to get a full Custom Car of which he had day-dreamt a lot about during his time in the Navy. Don was not really interested in spending a lot of time to have a complete new Custom Car built, so he was on the lookout for a good looking finished project. At the time there where plenty of nice full customs on the market.

Don’s daily driver in the early 1950’s was this 1949 Ford convertible.
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While Don was taking his time to look for the perfect Custom for him, he bought a used ’51 Merc convertible, which he lowered, nosed/decked, and painted black. Just something nice to use as daily transportation. He only had this ’51 Merc convertible for a few months when he bumped into Buster Litton and found out Buster wanted to let go of the Panoramic Ford. Don of course recognized the car from the primer staged Shoebox at the Barris Shop in 1951. Don traded his 1951 Mercury to Buster Litton, in May or June of 1954, for the Panoramic Ford. Don mentioned he paid $1400 for the ’51 Merc convertible when he bought it in January 1954, and he added $900 cash along with the car when he traded it to Buster Litton for the Panoramic Ford. So in essence, he paid $2300 for the Panoramic Ford in 1954.
Don was making $1 and hour during the time he bought the Ford, so it was a very big deal for him at the time.

Don Schaedel also had a bone stock ’51 Merc coupe he used as a daily driver while owning the Buster Litton Ford. He was a member of the Ram Rods car club in South Gate, California. Don still has his original club plaque from his Ford.

Don Schaedel with the conservative restyled 1951 Mercury convertible which was part of the trade/sell on the Panoramic Ford with Buster Litton. Buster ended up with the Mercury convertible, and Don with the Ford.
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Don Schaedel used to date Von Dutch’s sister in 1950. Von Dutch painted and striped the dash in the Ford. Don said Von Dutch’s sister would show him the drawings made by Dutch at their house.

Herb and Junior Conway and Don Schaedel on the right in front of Herb Conway’s 1954 Mercury in 1954.
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One of the photos from Don Schaedel’s Collection shared by Octavio Shavez shows the Ford on Don’s drive way in Lynnwood, Ca. after he has removed the bumper guards from the front bumper.
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Same photo location as above, only this print shows the whole car.
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Don Schaedel owned the Panoramic Ford from May/June, 1954 up until 1957, when he traded the Panramic Ford for a 4″ sectioned 1950 Ford coupe. The sectioned coupe was painted seafoam green but had no other custom work done to really distinguish it (we have tried to see if this was a car we might recognize from old photos or possible magazine pictures, based on description, but so far we have not being able to find it.) Don does not remember the guy’s name who traded the sectioned Ford, and many attempts to remember or track down the new owner of the Panoramic Ford by Don have been unsuccessful… so far.

Don wasn’t crazy about the sectioned Ford, so he put it on consignment on a used car lot in Lynwood and used the money to build a 5 unit apartment building in Garden Grove, California, then went on to build mobile home parks and eventually bought a 1744 acre cattle ranch in Raymond, California (60 miles from Yosemite), where he has lived for the past 32 years. He raised cattle for 11 years on the ranch, but now leases the land out for grazing.

CCC-schaedel-panoramic Rob Radcliffe took a picture of a color copy of this photo at Dick Jackson’s place in July 2015, hence the not too good quality. But, its always great to see any new-old photo of any famous custom. I really love the angle and back ground in this photo, and it showed off the wonderful stance of the car really well.
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CCC-schaedel-panoramic-02 Close up of the same photo shows the Barris Crest and the front bumper guards, so we know this photo was taken not too long after Don had bought the Ford from Buster.
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CCC-don-schaedel-panoramic-ford-05 Don’s girlfriend posing with the Panoramic Ford in 1953.
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Parked in front of Don’s house.
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This photo was taken at the 1954 parking lot car show at the Thrifty Drug Store at Rodeo Rd and LA Brea in Los Angeles on Saturday May 15 1954. That is Don Schaedel rubbing the top of his Ford. Don was just 22 years old when this photo was taken shortly after he had bought the Ford.
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Included in a collection of photos Dave Cook bought where fur wonderful color slides of the Panoramic Ford. We do not know who took the color slides, but it was Greg Sharp who identified the location as the Long Beach Marine Stadium. From what we know now it is most likely that Buster Litton was still the owner when these photos where taken.
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A nice view of the Kaiser overrider with the integrated exhaust ends in the bullets.
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A view at the front shows the Ford accessory bumper guards as well as the Barris crests.
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Two more color slides show the Bill Gaylord interior and show how close the dark orange matches the exterior paint of the Panoramic Ford.
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[box_light]Not to long before Don let go of the Ford something bad happened to the car. Don drove the Ford to a party one night and a jealous 18 year old kid decided to take a hammer and dent up the body in about 5 spots. Don had to have them fixed and the car had primer spots until the day he sold it. He never had a chance to repaint it. Don said he got even and two years later returned the favor to the kid’s car with his own hammer.[/box_light]

Parked in front of Don’s house, this is the only photo we have seen so far that shows the car with some different (Oldsmobile) hubcaps.
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CCC-schaedel-panoramic-03 Close up of this photo shows the white paint detailed 1954-55 Oldsmobile hubcaps on the Panoramic Ford.
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Timeframe on the Panoramic Ford

1950-1951 first owner Allen Anderson takes his 1949 Ford Coupe to the Barris Kustom shop to have them build a full custom out of the car. Allen requests the top to be chopped and turned into a hard-top style.
1951 the Barris Kustom Shop, most likely Sam Barris, create one of the best looking chops ever done, on Allen’s Shoebox. They also install one of the 1951 Studebaker front fenders
1952 Buster Litton buys the unfinished project from Allen Anderson.
1952 Buster hires the Barris shop to finish the started work on the car an has them create the custom grille.
1952 Buster brings the car home after the Baris shop has finished the work and painted the car with primer.
1953 Buster takes the car to George And Carl Cerny’s shop to have them restyle the rear of the car to match the work on the front.
1953 painted in a wonderfull deep coco rust lacquer by Doug Anderson, who worked at the Cerny shop.
1954 adding Ford accessory bumper gards up front and modified Kaiser bar with exhaust thru the bullets on the rear bumper.
1954 adding Barris crests.
1954 February, winning awards at the Motorama and National Roadster Show.
1954 May-June selling/trading the car to Don Schaedel. Don gives Buster his mildly customized 1951 Mercury Convertible in trade for the Ford plus some cash.
1954 Don removes the front Ford Accessory bumper guards since he felt they where to tall for the car.
1957 Don trades the Panoramic Ford for a sectioned Shoebox Ford, and looses track of the Panoramic Ford soon after that.
We have not been able to find any info on what ever happened to the car after 1957.

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Go to Part 3 of the Panoramic Ford story.

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(this article is sponsored by)

Contact Rob Radcliffe at King Kustoms for more info on these T-Shirts Email Rob

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Buster Litton Panoramic Ford

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Rik Hoving

PANORAMIC FORD part one

The Buster Litton Panoramic Ford is really what Customizing is all about. Created by the Barris Kustoms Shop and Carl and George Cerny enhancing all the lines on this 1949 Ford to create this wonderful flowing Custom Car Milestone.

I have been gathering material for a Custom Car Chronicle Buster Litton Panoramic Ford article for quite some time. The Panoramic Ford as Buster named it has been on my list of personal faborite Custom Cars for as long as I first saw a photo of it. Fortunately for us the car has been documented pretty well back in the early / mid 1950’s with lots of photos, and even better in more recent years even more material has surfaced as in some amazing color photos and the best of all detailed information from the two of the original owners of the car, Buster Litton, officially the second. Owner of the car, but the one after who the car was named, and Don Schaedel, who owned it after Buster sold the car. (we will name him third owner of the car) We will all get into that much more detailed in a bit. With the help of good friend Rob Radcliffe we have been able to get a Pretty good view of the cars history. In fact we have so much information, that we might need more than just one article to cover it all.

Allen Anderson 1949 Ford

The story on the car starts with an owner from which we do not know much, basically just his name, Allen Anderson from Compton California. Allen is the owner of the 1949 Ford Coupe who takes his car down to the Barris Atlantic Blvd. Kustom Shop to have it converted to a wild, but ellegantly looking hard-topped full custom. With a wonderfully shaped hard-topped style top and both front and rear completely restyled.

This photo appeared in the December 1952 issue of Motor Trend article “What is the cost of Customizig”. George Barris was interviewed in this article and some of the past and present shop projects were used to illustrate the MT article topic. It shows the 1949 Ford how it looked in primer at the Barris Shop. It is unknown if the car still belonged to Allan Anderson at the time of the photo, or if it already was owned by Buster. We can see the stock Ford side trim, and interesting to see is that the cut down 1951 Mercury fender skirts are already in pace. This is so far, the earliest photo we have seen of the car.
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According to Buster Litton, as well as the later owner Don Schaedel, it was Sam Barris who tackled the increadible chop, by removing the B-pillars completely, welding the tops of the door frames to the top, reshaping the A-pilars and reshaping the entire roof and turret panel to one of the best looking chopped cars ever created. Sadly, so far, no in-progress photo of the cars initial restyling have ever showed up. The numbers on the chopped top listed in the old and newer publications have varied quite a bit, and both Buster and Don are not sure about the amounts either. The only number that seams constant is that the windshield was chopped 3 inches. We assume that Sam dropped the rear just as much as it needed to look right, and never really took any measurements. Shoebox Ford convertible side windows where heavily modified to fit the car. With the chop in primer it was decided the Ford’s front end needed more “movement” and a set of forward raked 1951 Studebaker front fender headlight units was bought, and one, the drivers side, was tacked in place. Then, for reasons unknown at this point, Allan decided to sell the the unfinished project.
(Both Buster Litton and Don Schaedel mentioned the car started out as a Coupe model, but after doing some research and talking with Andreas Åberg, who built a near clone of the Panoramic Ford, we have come to the conclusion that the Panoramic Ford more likely was based on a Sedan model. We will get back to that in part two)

Buster Litton buys the Ford

Buster Litton was in the market for a new Custom Car / project at the time and approached George Barris and Allen about the car. Buster bought the unfinished Shoebox project from Allen for $1500. He kept the car at the Barris Shop to have them finish up the work they had started.

Buster’s Ford at an outdoor show in 1953. Notice how the show card hides part of the front of the car.
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The 1951 Studebaker front fenders installation was completed and a new grill opening was created using the top portion of an 1951 Mercury grill surround welded to the bottom of the 1949 hood. The stock half round opening in the hood was filled in at the time as well, and the center hood peek extended down. The new forward portruding hood lip worked really well with the pointy Studebaker front fenders and headlights, making it all flow together like it belonged on the car in the first place. A new grille for the new opening was created from a 1953 Chevy grille bar with 3 grille teeth. To the end of each side of the grille bar The Barris Shop added a 1951 Ford grille spinner.

The Fords front bumper was kept, and even it stock position was working really well, but the spash pan did need some work and was molded into the fenders and lower grille opening to work with the rest of the new front end. All the work on the top, including the sliding rear quarter windows, and weather proofing the top was finished at this time. The Ford was already lowered when it was still owned by Allen. At this point Buster takes the car home and anjoyed it like this for some time.

Before there had been any of the color photos published or shared I did this colorized version of the Panoramic Ford for an article in the Rodder’s Journal.
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Buster Litton demonstrating how the sliding rear quarter windows work.
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Carl and George Cerny get to work on the Ford

In early 1953 Buster takes the car to George and Carl Cerny’s shop, (Cerny’s Auto Paint & Metal Shop) to have the car finished. Buster had been really happy with the way he top and front end of the car looks, but the rear now needed some attention. Together with the Cerny’s it was decided that the Ford rear fenders needed some more length and that the 1951 Oldsmobile 98 units, which George Cerny loved so much, would suite the car really well. The Stock Ford rear portion of the rear fenders was cut off and the Oldsmobile units grafted in place creating a nice counter weight for the overhang on the front created by the Studebaker front fenders. To make everything look like it actually belonged on the car, the stock Ford rear bumper-end pieces were cut off and 1952 ford rear bumper ends were welded in place. The shape of the 52 Ford units folowed the shape of the Olsmobile rear fenders really well and the larger wrap around section tied everything wonderfully together.

Wonderful rear 3/4 view of the Ford with an 1953 tag on the License plate.
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Side view photo from a higher point of view shows the wonderful lines on Buster’s Ford. The forward angle on the front fenders, the wonderful sloping top, the Buick side spear and the Oldsmobile rear fenders work all wonderfully together.
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A coupe of scans from some photo proofs taken of Buster’s Ford by George Barris. (Taken from the Mad Fabricators Barris Photography DVD)
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The rear spash pan was molded to the body, and the stance was fine tuned. Most of the work was done by Carl Cerny before brother George Cerny and Doug Anderson, who worked at the Cerny shop at the time, painted the car with a wonderfull deep coco rust lacquer. The paint was picked from an excisting car color, sadly none of the people involved remember whick car color was used. But Don mentioned that the base color was mixed with toners or other colors to reach the perfect color for the car. A 1950 Buick side trim had the absolute perfect shape for the car, so the stock Ford side trim which had stayed on the car was removed an the Buick unit was mounted in its place for a much more elegant look.

The Panoramic Ford was also used in the Barris list from 1953-54 illustrating number M64 Chop and Hard Top Coupe version for $650.-.
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Car Craft magazine did this nice four page full feature on Buster’s Ford in the December 1953 issue. One spread was done in sepia tones and the second spread in greenish tone rotogravure print.
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This snapshot of the Panoramic Ford comes from the Bill Gaylord photo album. This photo was most likely taken by Bill’s wife who was also model in a color photo-shoot at this same location (see photo below). Sadly Bill’s photo album did not include any close up photos of the actual interior work done at the Gaylord’s shop.
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Dick Jackson had this great photo of Bill Gaylord’s wife posing with the Panoramic Ford. Dick most likely got the photo from Junior Conway. There is at least one more photo from this photo shoot where Bill’s wife stands besides the front fender of the car. Most likely she took the black and white snapshot above with the camera in her hands. The photos were most likely taken just after Bill had finished the interior work on the car.
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Up to this point buster had a mild Custom interior without any tuck & roll panels in his Ford. Nobody remembers who did this early version of the interior, but Buster remembers that when the car was nearly finished at the Cerny shop he decided the simple interior was not enough for the car and sold that complete interior to Junior Conway, who used it in his famous Shoebox Ford. Buster then took his car to Bill Gaylord for a full custom interior with wild rolls and pleats in off white (antique white) and dark orange (bittersweet orange). He added a set of 1953 Cadillac Sombrero hubcaps on wide whites, and a set of appleton spotlights and the Panoramic Ford was born.

This photo comes from an article about the Gaylord shop in Rod & Custom magazine. It shows the car with the nearly completed upholstery and one of the employees is refitting the steering wheel horn ring on the Crestliner steering wheel.
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Buster proudly showing the fully rolled and pleated headliner of his car. Notice the chrome plated windshield garnish molding.
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A good view on the uniquely styled interior in the Panoramic Ford. The Gaylord shop really outdid themselves on this one. The antique white and bittersweet orange must have looked so great with the coca copper paint on the car. This photo also shows that the side window garnish moldings were chrome plated as well.
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Cropped photo shows the Gaylord interior in color. The wide and very round pleats give the interior a very luxurious look and feel. The Steering wheel used in the Panoramic Ford is an Ford Crestliner Accessory steering wheel.
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Updates on the Panoramic Ford

Buster Litton owned the Panormic Ford from 1953 till the early summer of 1954. He showed the car at several in- and outdoor car shows in California winning quite a few awards with the car. During the period Buster owned the finished car he made a few small changes to the car, which help us identify the date some of these photos where taken. The first modifications made are the installment of the Ford Shoebox dealer accessory bumper guards on the front bumper. And a 1951 Kaiser over-rider on the rear bumper which was modified to have the exhaust tips run true the bullets. A little later the Barris crest was added on the front quarter panels just above the Buick side trim.

Buster Litton and his Ford with some of the other original Kustoms of Los Angeles club members at the Barris Kustom Shop on Atlantic Blvd. Possibly gathering to drive to one f the Car shows. We can see the following cars in the picture from L-R: Nobby Miyakawa 1952 Mercury “The Japan”, Chuck DeWitt 1950 Ford convertible, Louis Bettancourt Ayala/Barris 1949 Mercury, Buster Litton’s Panoramic Ford, Tommy Thornburg’s 1947 Studebaker, and an unknown 1946-48 Ford Coupe. The guys are all posing for the unknown photographer.
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Not sure if this photo was taken at the same day as the one in front of the Barris Shopm but we do know that this photo was also taken at Atlantic Blvd. not to far from the Barris Shop. Just driving away from the corner is Buster, with Chuck DeWitt behind him, Louis Bettancurt is speeding up in the middle of the street.
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This Custom Car Chronicle article contains a lot of information gathered by Rob Radcliffe and his good friend Octavio Chavez on their meetings with Buster Litton. First hand information which has helped us solve a lot of mysteries about the Panoramic Ford.

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How Rob Radcliffe got in contact with buster Litton and Don Schaedel.

By Rob Radcliffe

Long story short, my best friend Octavio Chavez has worked in the bodyshop of our local Ford dealership for the past few years and about a month or so ago he walked into the front office area on his lunchbreak and happened to walk past a cubicle and spotted a picture of the Buster Litton shoebox hanging on the wall with the Ford dealership’s shuttlebus driver Ron standing in front of the car. The particular photo was taken in the mid 1950s.

Octavio recognized the car immediately and had also known Ron from talking to him at work, so he asked him about the picture and it just so happens that Ron and Buster have been friends since High School in Huntington Park. Octavio called me up and I ran over to the dealership after work to meet Ron and hang out for some time, talking about the cars from back then and of curse Buster Litton. It was really one of those small world/too good to be true coincidence stories…

Ron told us that Buster Litton would park the car at his house in South Gate while he went up the mountains to go skiing with his girlfriend and Ron would take it out cruising and hit the Drive-In movie and the Clock Drive In. I kept in touch with Ron and got to meet him and Buster Litton on a Saturday morning at the Rod Run over breakfast and talk about Kustoms… it was pretty damn kool! We have stayed in touch ever since.

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Rob Radcliffe with Buster Litton and Octavio Chavez with Rob’s just finished 1950 Ford Shoebox.
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Beautiful birds eye view of the Panoramic Ford.
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This is one of the photos that got us puzzled a little. Buster has mentioned that this must have been taken after he sold it to Don since Buster was not in the King Pins Car Club. But the car does not show the Barris crests. So we do believe Buster must have still owned the car when the photo was taken. That is Buster in the black and white shirt with his back towards the camera, talking to Jack Stewart.
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Close up of the King Pins Huntington Park Car club plaque and the Ford Shoebox accessory bumper guards Buster had installed.
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Chris at Shoebox Central send us this photo of a NOS set of the same bumper guards used by Buster on the Panoramic Ford.
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The car always had a great running stock flathead motor and Ron, Busters good friend, remembers it very vividly when Buster and him both drove it up to the Oakland Roadster Show in 1954. A long drive, but with no problems what so ever. Ron mentioned that the motor was untouched and always filthy dirty from oil leaks and road grime, but nobody at the shows cared because the hood was never opened and mechanicals were not important to show judges back then.

Buster Litton accepting the award for Best Custom at the 1954 National Roadster Show in Oakland California. By now the car has Barris crests mounted on the front quarters and not visible in this photo the Ford Shoebox Accessory bumper guards.
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Two snapshots taken f the Panoramic Ford at the 1954 National Roadster Show. (photos shared on the HAMB).
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In early summer of 1954, when Buster’s son was born, buster decided he needed a more practical car for his young family, and decided it was time to let go of the Ford. Don Schaedel, who remembered the car from its early primer stages at the Barris shop in 1951, decides this car is perfect for him and made a deal with Buster. More about that, and many more photos and interesting info including a full time line on the Panoramic Ford can be seen in the second part of the Panoramic Ford story here on the Custom Car Chronicle….

Go to Part TWO of the Panoramic Ford…

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(this article is sponsored by)

Contact Rob Radcliffe at King Kustoms for more info on these T-Shirts Email Rob

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Jack Stewart MG part ONE

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Rik Hoving

CUSTOMIZED JACK STEWART MG

After selling his famous Ayala-Barris built 1941 Ford, Jack Stewart bought something completely different. A MG Sports car, which of course had to be customized as well, this time by his friend George Cerny.

When Palle Johansen and me were on our Jack Stewart Ford research trip, we interviewed Jack about his other cars he had owned over the years. And one car that was talked about was Jack’s customized MG. Jack had quite a bit of very interesting material on his old MG. We used some of it in the Jack Stewart Ford book, but now its time to share the other great photos Jack had saved since the early 1950’s.

Jack’s MG was restyled by his good friend friend George Cerny at Cerny’s Auto Paint Body & Fender Repair shop in Compton. And during the customizing photographer Felix Zelenka was at this shop. He decided Jack’s MG would be the perfect subject for an feature article on customizing Sports Cars. So the whole process was photographed. And after the car was finished Eric took many more photos comparing the customized MG with a stock one, to show the readers the difference between the two. Jack had several contact sheets from these photo shoots and in this first article on Jack’s Cerny built MG we are showing you the photos Eric Rickman took at the Holiday Motors, a local Foreign car dealer that was the perfect location for the comparing photos.

Eric Rickman’s and Felix Zelenka photos were used in a massive 10 page article in the May 1954 issue of Car Craft magazine. Besides the regular feature article on the car, including a small color photo on the cover. Jack’s MG was also used to show some of the styling ideas George Cerny came up with for the MG. Customizing Sports Cars was getting more and more popular in those years, and the article on Jack’s MG helped grow this even more.

May 1954 issue of Car Craft Magazine.
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Jack Stewart on the left and George Cerny on the right showing the old flamed hood side with stock louvers. This was to compare it with the custom unit with three rows of louvres George created for the car.
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This photo show the difference in shape on the back portion of the MG Jack’s customized MG is on the left.
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Comparing the front we can see the reshaped front fenders which look much smoother on Jack’s car. The chrome plated bumper created from round rod and shaped metal plates adds to the sporty look as well.
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At the back George also created a new custom bumper. The spare tire was lowered 4 inches to give the car a better profile. Notice that the car did not have hubcaps installed on the passenger side during this photo shoot.
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Another look at the back shows the difference of using wide whites and custom hubcaps (’53 Studebakers with fake knock-offs).
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George Cerny used an chrome plated MG accessory grille insert for Jack’s car.
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Jack’s MG was lowered a few inches for better looks and handling. Jack had a custom Tonneau Cover made that could be removed in sections.
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Eric Rickman took many photos of Jack’s finished MG at the Compton Drive-In movie theater. We will be showing many more of those in the next article.
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Jack Stewart has these two photos from this series framed on his office wall.
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