Ina Mae Overman Lincoln Part Three

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Rik Hoving

ANOTHER ROUND OF RESTYLING

Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln Capri was customized by the famous Valley Custom Shop in Burbank, California. The car was customized, and finished in four different versions. This is the third article in a series about the Lincoln Capri, showing the third and fourth version of the car.

In 1956 Ina Mae decided it was time for another update on the Overman Lincoln. The last round she had already punched louvers in the hood to help cool the engine better. And now it was time to get a hotter engine to set those louvers to work. Some of the new car designs in 1955-56 had elements that Ina Mae really liked and wanted to incorporate in her Lincoln from 1952. To make it more modern, up-to-date. She choose a set of 1955 Lincoln headlights to replace the stock 1952 units.
[box_light]Ina Mae Overman documented her Valley Custom Shop created, 1952 Lincoln Capri very well. She took plenty of really great color slides of all three versions of this car. Fortunately for all of us she has always kept those slides and other material. Her daughter Marry Ellen Marcy started to scan and share them several years ago. The Custom Car Chronicle is proud to be able to share these amazing photos with you.
Check out the rest of the Ina May Overman Collection on the CCC-Site.[/box_light]

These three-side view photos give a good view on how the changes affect the overall feel of the Lincoln. The reshaped wheel openings front and rear, from the second round of modifications, give the car a much more sporty look. The extended front fenders clearly ad overall length to the car. (The center photo is mirrored on purpose to help better show the difference in the two versions)

The photos of the engine were taken after Fleishmann Automtive had completed the rebuild. The bill from 1956 shows that the total cost for the job was $253.75.

The engine was taken out and dropped of at Carl Fleischmann of Fleischmann Automotive. The engine was painted bright red and got a makeover, including internal speed parts. Continental Mark II valve covers were used for their great design.
For the cosmetic updates, the car was brought once more to the Valley Custom Shop. Here the team added a set of 1955 Lincoln headlights which were frenched into extended front fenders. After that the car was repainted gold and some less wide white wall tires were mounted.
Some time after the car was finished for the third time, Ina Mae took the car on a trip from California to Las Vegas. She was caught in a huge sand storm in the middle of the desert. The hard wind and sand blasted the paint from the front of the car. The guys at Valley Custom repainted the front in gold again, but it never matched the rest of the body the way Ina Mae had liked it to be. By now it was the early 1960’s and she decided to repaint the car once more. She asked a friend to repaint the car in a light gray green metallic paint. Perhaps it was this guys first metallic paint job, or just a bad batch of paint, but the end result was not very attractive.

Close up of the rear from the 1956 version of the Lincoln shows nothing has changed here from the first round of customizing a couple of years prior.

The extended front fenders and 1955 lincoln headlight look very elegant on the car. The longer front fenders look great with the extended rear fenders. Like the whole car is now in perfect balance.The Lincoln appeared on the cover of the February 1957 issue Motor Life magazine. Only showing the nose section on the far left side of the cover shot taken at the Valley Custom Shop.

Ina Mae was not happy with the new paintjob in light metallic gray green. Soon after this photo was taken the car was sold.

In 1962 Ina Mae decided to sell the car. The new owner added some personal updates including dummy spotlights and after this owner sold the car again Ina Mae lost track of the car for more than a decade. In 1979 she was corresponding with mr. and mrs. Donnelly who owned the car at that time. They had found Ina Mae and wanted to let her know the car was still in good condition.

One of the letters Ina Mae send to mr. and mrs. Donnelly who owned the car in 1979.

The car now has thin line white wall tires.

The car has wide whites and dummy spots added, Everything still looks to be in good shape.

Then in 2006 the car was resurfacing again when it was offered for sale online. The car was shown with a lot of (surface) rust, but other than that it looked to be remarkably complete.
The next owner of the car did his share of research and was able to contact Ina Mae. During the correspondence with the new caretaker she was told the car had been sitting in a parking lot for many years, which explained the surface rust. Surprisingly the car came with a lot of historic material and info. There were invoices and magazines with features on the car. There was also a bill of sale from a salvage yard that the car was sold for $100 at one time. Most of the material had been collected by Ina Mae and went with the car when she sold it. She was very happy to hear most of it survived all those years. The then owner realized that even though how much he loved the car he would never be able to do the perfect restoration the car needed, so he decided to found a new more suitable owner for the car.

In 2008 Larry Gesiakowski of WGM Auto in Chicago, Illinois heard about the car and the fact that is was for sale. Larry decided to buy the car to when time is right, restore the car back to its 1956 version in gold. The way it is shown in this article.

In 2011 Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln was invited to the historical Customs Then & Now exhibit at the 2011 GNRS. The car was displayed unrestored with surface rust from sitting outside, but everything is still there.

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[box_light]Go to: Part one or Part two, in this series on the Ina Mae Overman 1952 Lincoln Capri.[/box_light]

Resources and more info

Mary Ellen Marcy website
Motor Life Magazine, February 1957
Gasoline magazine, February 2013

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Mid 50’s Outdoor Car Shows part 4

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Rik Hoving

OUTDOOR CAR SHOWS 4

Part four in the series of Ina Mae Overman’s mid-late 1950’s outdoor car shows. This time more photos from Hollywood Park, and a close up of the 1950 Ford “Del Mar”

This is the fourth article in the out-door car show series of photos taken by Ina Mae Overman. A few more photos taken at the Hollywood Park Parking lot Hot Rod and Custom Car show. So far we have not been able to find any info on this show. How many times it was held, the winners or the show promoters. In none of the magazines we have from around the period this show was held, we can find anything written about the show. No advertisements, no show features… nothing. And by the looks of it it must have been a pretty big show with some of the best known custom cars from that era.
If you happen to know anything more about this show, please let us know.
[box_light]When Ina Mae Overman showed her Valley Custom Shop created, 1952 Lincoln Capri at some of the 1950’s Californian Car Show, she always brought her camera. At these shows she took some of the most amazing color slides. Fortunately for all of us she has always kept those slides and her daughter Marry Ellen Marcy started to scan and share them several years ago. The Custom Car Chronicle is proud to be able to share these amazing photos with you.
Check out the rest of the Ina May Overman Collection on the CCC-Site.[/box_light]
The Barris shop built this 1953 Cadillac Le Mans for Harry Karl and his wife (actress Marie MacDonald) based on one of the three experimental Cadillac General Motors built for the 1953 Motorama shows. The body of the two-seater was made from fiberglass. The Barris shop designed and built the chrome plated reverse fender cut outs below the gold plated side trim, as well as the chrome panels for the rear fenders with taillights based on turned upside down 1955 Chrysler units. The Barris shop also created the new removable top with a separate clear plex front section. The car was painted bright silver and had a red interior with a full bar behind the seats. The brass or copper plated parts really make this car stand out from the rest.

Interesting color separation on this 1955 Chevy 3100 Pick up. The pick up bed has nicely finished wood boards with chrome plated strip on the ends and exhaust pipes following the bed. The taillights have been molded into extended pods on the rear fenders on. Note the nice cars in the background.

Don Coulter from Pittsburg, California had Barris do the customizing on his 1955 Oldsmobile 88. The body was shaved, headlights were frenshed with custom made extensions. At the rear two pairs of 1955 Plymouth taillights were used in the extended and reshaped rear fenders. The grille was replaced with perforated metal. On its right we can see the side of the Sam Barris personal 1952 Ford convertible.

Nice photo of Ina Mae’s 1952 Lincoln Capri at the Hollywood Park parking lot. The main building on the Race track still looks the same today. But the last news we heard that there is a plad to tear down the building to make place for something new. Ina mae’s Lincoln looks very good with new reshaped wheel openings.

Dick Colarossi’s 1940 Ford custom was built at the Valley Custom Shop. It was relatively mild with radiused wheel openings. Lowered suspension which included major frame reconstruction. And a chrome plated nerv bar which constructions was used in the R&C March 1955 article. Also interesting to note are the exhaust tips that were routed thru the ends of the running boards.

Tad Hirai 1950 Ford “Del Mar”

One of the cars that Ina Mae liked to photograph was Tad Hirai’s 1950 Ford Coupe. The took at least three photos of the car. And it looks like all three were at different shows. Here is some more info about this R&C cover car.

Tad Hirai wanted his 1950 Ford coupe to be different than all the other shoebox customs he had seen. To do so he teamed up with stylist Lynn Wineland who would create the design sketch which was used on the cover of the February 1955 issue of R&C. The body shop to turn this design into reality was the Valley Custom shop, which was a natural choice not only since Tad worked at the shop, but also since this shop was always looking for projects that could set them apart from the rest. Projects where their creativity could be used and Tad’s Ford was just that. The team created a new grille opening using 1953 Studebaker front pans. A new grille was created using steel bar, shaped and welded before getting plated. A steel bar bumper was created for the back to tie the front and rear of the car together. 1952 Mercury headlights were frenched and small custom scoops created above them. Taillights were created from 2 ‘49 Mercury taillights and a 1953 Chevy unit in custom openings and custom shades above them. The chrome A-pillar covers are an unique touch and give the Ford a complete new look. The car was painted solid white and metallic purple. R&C used 6 pages showing how the shop performed all the modifications. The April 1955 issue showed the car completely finished in another 6 page article.

This photo taken at the Hollywood Park parking lot shows that the car has different hubcaps than the 1953 Cadillac hubcaps that were used originally on the car.

1950 Ford “Del Mar” parked in a Valley Custom Shop line up. Next to Tad’s coupe sits Glen Hooker’s 1939 Mercury convertible, and next to that we can see Ina Mae’s own 1952 Lincoln Capri. The modified 1951 Mercury fender skirts hides an opened up original wheel opening. We can see that when this photo above was taken, probably in late 1955, Tad has his Ford for sale. The asking price of $2,500.-

The cover of the Rod & Custom Feb 1955 that showed the Illustration the car was based on.

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[box_light]Go to: Part one, Part two, or Part three in this series on outdoor car shows, photographed by Ina Mae Overman.[/box_light]

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Mid 50’s Outdoor Car Shows part 3

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Rik Hoving

OUTDOOR CAR SHOWS 3

Part three in the series of Ina Mae Overman’s mid-late 1950’s outdoor car shows. This time we take a closer look at the Car Show photos taken at Hollywood Park.

This is the third article in the out-door car show series of photos taken by Ina Mae Overman. Ina Mae had entered her car at a pretty large Car Show held in Inglewood, Ca. on the huge parking lot at the Hollywood Park Horse track. By the looks of the cars that Ina May photographed this must have been a pretty important show. The year was either 1955, or early 1956. Ina Mae’s Lincoln can be seen in the white version which dates the show. A little while ago we did another article on this same show based on a series of black and white snapshot photos. Lets take a look at some of the wonderful cars and photos that Ina May took that day.

There will be more exciting Ina Mae Overman photos of this show in another upcoming article, so stay tuned.

[box_light]When Ina Mae Overman showed her Valley Custom Shop created, 1952 Lincoln Capri at some of the 1950’s Californian Car Show, she always brought her camera. At these shows she took some of the most amazing color slides. Fortunately for all of us she has always kept those slides and here daughter Marry Ellen Marcy started to scan and share them several years ago. The Custom Car Chronicle is proud to be able to share these amazing photos with you.
Check out the rest of the Ina May Overman Collection on the CCC-Site.[/box_light]

Mildly customized 1949 Oldsmobile Coupe shows that some cars do not need a lot of customizing to look absolutely stunning. Shaved handles and trim, lowered suspension, frenched headlights, a set of Appleton Spotlights and 1954 Oldsmobile hupcaps on wide whites was all it took to create this head turning custom.

Interesting two tone separation on this first generation Corvette.

A cropped section of the photo above, show Chuck deWitt’s Shoebox behind a fence, Not that the car has 1953 Cadillac hubcaps then. Last in the row is an lowered 1949-50 Merc. In front of Chuck’s Ford is a 1940 Ford Pick Up (most likely Fuzzy Luscari’s 1940 Ford pickup) and Tom Love’s dark purple 1947 Ford sedan.

Amazing looking model T Roadster painted a wonderful dark metallic green with big & little white wall tires, bright yellow wheels and 1950 Mercury hubcaps with beauty rings. The engine appears to be a four banger painted bright red. Despite Ina Mae was much more into Custom Cars she took some photos of good looking Hot Rods as well. And clearly this fine looking model-T fitted here criteria.

This amazing photo captured by Ina Mae, shows the back of some very famous customs from the early-mid 1950’s. We can see from right to left; Don Coulters Barris created 1955 Oldsmobile followed on left by Sam Barris’s personal 1952 Ford convertible. Followed by a rare color photo of Louis Bettancourt 1949 Mercury originally built by the Ayala’s and rebuilt by Barris. This must have been shortly before the car was sold to Johnny Zupan and had Barris redo the car once again. This photo shows the car in the Barris added Tingia maroon paint. Next to the Bettancourt Mercury we can spot Tad Hirai’s 1950 Ford by the Valley Custom Shop. What a line-up!

Ina May thought this Model- A Hot rod looked really great in the reflection of this smooth aftermarket hubcap on a Shoebox Ford… and so did we. We have added a cropped version to show some more details.

Interesting combination from 1954 Oldsmobile for the front section and same year Cadillac for the rear section of this car. It looks more like a factory custom with most of the trim and handles still in place and the rather high stance. Ina Mae’s 1952 Lincoln can be seen on the far left side of this photo.

In the second part of this series of articles we showed you another photo of this Dick Kraft Roadster. This photo shows the wonderful color of the car a little better. Barris Custom Shop did the paintwork on the Roadster hence the Barris crests on the cowl.

In the back ground of the photo above we can see this chopped padded top 1941-48 Ford.. I guess once a custom now turned Hot Rod?

Another great reflection photo shows a similar hubcap as the one above, but this one with a line of cars getting ready to enter the show.

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Go to part one or part two in this series on outdoor car shows photographed by Ina Mae Overman.

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Mid 50’s Outdoor Car Shows part 2

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Rik Hoving

OUTDOOR CAR SHOWS 2

Part two in the series of Ina Mae Overman’s mid-late 1950’s outdoor car shows. More photos from the High-School sport-fields.

This is the second article in the out-door car show series of photos taken by Ina Mae Overman. Most of these photos Ina Mae took were taken before the public was allowed in the show. Which is nice so we can see the cars in the foreground and even in the back ground really well. We can see the car owners or sometimes even whole “teams” getting the cars in the best possible shape for the show. And make sure the owner returns home with yet another trophy. Most of these photos were taken at South Gate High School on Firestone Blvd. in South Gate. (thanks to Billie Kennish for identifying the location)

South Gate, CA 90280

Special thanks to Marry Ellen Marcy for providing the scans of her mothers slides.

Dick Gonzales from Long Beach brought his 1955 Studebaker mild custom to the show. The car has a 1954 Chevy grille set in a modified opening. The body was shaved and smoothed before it was painted Oldsmobile Rose Mist. The low stance looks great with the 1956 Chrysler hubcaps and white wall tires. Dick would later take his Studebaker to Larry Watson were it would get the famous candy yellow with white outline paint job. In the back ground on the left side we can see Kermit Hanson 1957 Buick with Larry Watson flames.

The Rod & Custom Dream Truck.

Ed Cousin 1932 Ford Pickup restyled by Dick’s Body Shop. Ed, dressed in all white cloth – typical for the era – smoking a cigarette in a long holder is cleaning the engine before the public is allowed to enter the high school sports field. The truck has a mild chop, 1937 DeSoto bumpers, and full paint detailed three bar custom hubcaps on wide white wall tires. The trophies in the front show it was very much liked. Ed Roth’s F-100 is parked behind the pick up.

Paul Richards 1950 Ford convertible was another mildy custom that was looking really great. The combination of modifications worked really well on this car. The scooped and frenched headlights, rounded hood corners, 1956 DeSoto grille and 1955 Buick side trim give the car a whole new feel. Paul used 1957 Chrysler Imperial components combined with 1953 Olds taillights to create a much more modern look at the back.

1956 Ford F-100 with nicely done maroon to silver scallops over white paint. Bob Erwin’s 1956 Mercury can be spotted on the left side of the photo.

Very nicely done ’53-55 Ford F-100 Pick-Up with a perfectly proportioned chopped top and wonderful two tone maroon and gold paint job. Hubcaps are modified 1957 T-Bird units.

Scotty’s Muffler Service ’23 T roadster with the body taken off. Cub Barnett and his brother Bud drove the car. The team is working hard to get everything polished before the public is allowed on the field.(thanks to Curt Iseli for this info).

Silver scalloped Corvette with chrome plated full moon hubcaps on white wall tires and full lake pipes create a wonderful dry lake style.

The Chrome plated Moon disks on the corvette show reflection of Kermit Hanson 1957 Buick. Bold white pin-striping was hot back in 1957-58 when this photo was taken.

This wonderful sports car roadster was built by Dick Kraft with a body done by Art Ingles. The roadster had a state of the art truss-tubular chrome-moly frame contructed by Dick. The Barris Custom Shop did the paintwork on the Roadster. The wire wheel were created by cutting down four sets of Rudge wire wheels to 15 inches before they were chrome plated.

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[box_light]Go to: Part one, Part three or Part four in this series on outdoor car shows, photographed by Ina Mae Overman.[/box_light]

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Mid 50’s Outdoor Car Shows part 1

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Rik Hoving

OUTDOOR CAR SHOWS

Ina Mae Overman took her Lincoln custom to many outdoor shows. She captured the feeling of these shows in a series of wonderful color slides.

We have created several articles on the CCC with the wonderful color photos taken by Ina Mae Overman. Articles on her own 1952 Lincoln Capri, as well as an article about a series of photos taken at 1954 Peterson’s Autorma show held at the Pan Pacific Auditorium. Ina Mae’s photos create a wonderful look back in time at locations and car shows she visited when she was showing here own 1952 Cadillac around California.
Ina May always carried here camera with here and took photos of everything she wanted to capture. For this first article on the out-door car shows Ina Mae Overman took photos at, we selected a series of her High School Car Shows photos taken at several SoCal shows.

Sadly Ina May is no longer with us, she passed away in early December 2013.

Lets take a look at the first series of out door car show photos from the Ina Mae Overman Collection.

[box_light]When Ina Mae Overman showed her Valley Custom Shop created 1952 Lincoln Capri at some of the Californian Car Show she always took here camera with her. At the shows she took some of the most amazing color slides. Fortunately for all of us she has always kept those slides and here daughter Marry Ellen Marcy started to scan and share them several years ago. The Custom Car Chronicle is proud to be able to share these amazing photos with you. Check out the rest of the Ina May Overman Collection on the CCC-Site.[/box_light]

The late Norm Grabowski built this iconic hot rod in 1952. He started with a 1922 Model T Ford touring body which he shortened, to that he added a shortened Model A pickup in the back. The front axle was placed forward of the front cross member, “suicide”-style. Later Norm agreed to have the car appear in the 77 Sunset Strip TV show. After a mishap during a movie shot, Norm decided to repaint the car in 1956 Dodge Royal Blue. Dean Jeffries added the short flames. The T-bucket was used by actor Ed Byrnes, who played the role of Gerald Lloyd “Kookie” Kookson III on the TV series from 1958 to 1964. This was how the car ended up with the nick name the “Kookie T”, or “Kookie Kar”. In the background we can see the 1956 Chevy of Carol Lewis. Who’s boyfriend Dean Jeffries also painted the flames on her car.

Norman Rector’s sectioned 1949 Ford sedan. Norman did most of the work on his car in his own body shop including the 4,5 inch sectioning and 3,25 inch chop. Norman added a 1950 Olds chrome surround, and 1951 Chrysler rear fenders to further change the character of his Ford. He also installed a 1950 Cadillac engine which was detailed to the max (see photo below). A reshaped hood to clear the huge engine was also made for the car, but apparently not ready for this show. Jim MacNeil from the Gaylord Top Shop did a wonderful interior in orange and white.
Hard to see, but the two people on the right are looking inside the “panoramic” Ford original owned by Buster Litton and built by the Barris Kustom Shop and George Cerny his shop.

Dick “Peep” Jackson’s 1957 T-Bird before he changed it in the more famous Sam Bronze version. Dick’s first version of the car, as we can see it here, was Golden Rod yellow with a white top and gold scallops. The car was near-new when Dick started to customize it. Lowered suspension, new grille created from chrome tubing and custom made taillights which were based on two 1958 Chevy taillights and two Buick bullets set on a flat round cut piece of red plexiglass. Dick would later sell this design for the taillights to Cailifornia Customs who started to produce the and sold them as “Satel-Lites” taillights.

Bob Metz took his 1950 Buick the “XM105” all the way from Schelbyville, Indiana to show it around in Sunny California.
Bob “the fin man” is best known for his creative body work and wild ideas. His personal driver is a perfect sample for that. The Sedanette body was chopped, sectioned, hard-topped, finned, you name it and it has been done on this car. 1955 Buick windshield and front roof section was grafted in and the chrome plated side window frame does not only look good, it was made very sturdy to make up for the loss of the B-Pillars. The rear fender fin’s are completely scratchbuilt from sheet metal and work extremely well with the flow of the top and 1953 Buick side trim. Bob painted his car in a wonderful champagne lavender metallic color.

1951 Ford Victoria mild custom with shaved body, aftermarket grille bar four bar spinner hubcaps and a great bronze and black scallop paint-job outlined in white.

Unidentified 1951 Ford Coupe which was wonderfully restyled around 1954. The grille opening was extended at the sides and a 1953 Chevy grille bar was set inside. Frenched headlights, shaved handles, hood and most likely the trunk as well. White interior with an Accessory black and white steering wheel and a set of Appleton spotlights. The suspension was lowered, but remained still at a practical heights indicating this might have been a daily used car. The 1949 Plymouth bumpers and 1954 Oldsmobile hubcaps are the perfect finishing touch.

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[box_light]Go to: Part two, Part three or Part four in this series on outdoor car shows, photographed by Ina Mae Overman.[/box_light]

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R.I.P. Ina Mae Overman

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Rik Hoving

Mary Ellen Marcy, Ina Mae Overman’s daughter reported on her Facebook today, December 10, 2013, that her mother passed away December 7th, 2013.

by Mary Ellen

It is with great sadness that I must tell all those who knew or knew of my mother, Ina Mae Overman, that she passed away December 7, 2013 at age 91. She will be sorely missed by those left behind which include a grandson, Walter Marcy and his wife Kristin Sergent Marcy; a granddaughter, Lorraine Marcy Hunting and her husband Jason Hunting; and four great- grandsons, Cj Marcy, Carter Marcy, Jackson Marcy, and Matthew Hunting.

Mom will be buried with my father at the National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Hawaii. Per her request, there will not be a service.

In lieu of flowers, I have created a scholarship in her name to help art students at our local High Schools. Any support for this project will be much appreciated by the family and future artists of the Central Coast. To contribute, please go to this link.

Thank you, Mary Ellen

Ina Mae Overman Lincoln Part Two

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Rik Hoving

RESTYLED AGAIN

Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln Capri was customized by the famous Valley Custom Shop in Burbank, California. The car was customized, and finished in four different versions. This is the second article in a series about the Lincoln Capri, showing the second version of the car.

These two-side view photos give a good view on how the changes affect the overall feel of the Lincoln. The reshaped wheel openings front and rear give the car a much more sporty look. (The bottom photo is mirrored on purpose to help better show the difference in the two versions)

Ina Mae enjoyed her car like this for a little over a year. During that time she already made a list of things she would like to change. Improvements to make the car look even better. And once again she took her Lincoln to the Valley Custom Shop where Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen took her notes and sketches, and updated the car once more.

The most obvious changes were the radiused wheel openings front, and rear giving the car a new sporty look. The removal of the door handles, which were now operated by a push button hidden behind the newly added Lincoln emblem on the rear quarters. A set of chrome plated wire wheels were the perfect addition for the new sporty look. The stock side trim was removed, and replaced by a nice curved unit from a 1954 Buick, which worked really well with the customized vertical trim piece on the rear quarter panel.

The addition of the Buick side trim blends the shape of the top, and the shape of the custom scoop trim piece in a whole different way than on the first version. The whole car has become more swoopy now.

Ina also had plans to dress up the engine, and had the team at the Valley Custom Shop already punch some louvres in the hood. But for this version the engine stayed factory stock. When all the body work was finished, the car was repainted in white, but the top remained the same Nash gold as before. This is how the car appeared in the 1954 Motorama show.

Ina May entered the car at the Peterson’s Motorama in 1954.

The chrome wire wheels give the car a completely different look over the first version with full hubcaps. The long rear fenders covering the spare tire cover look very natural.

The boy was the son of Ina Mae’s best friend. His name was Steven Bovan. Since his parents were much older, they had no interest in cars. Besides the car shows, Ina Mae would take her daughter Marry Ellen and Steven to the drags where Steven developed his interest in that form of racing. After high school he went on to race professionally, racing early funny cars for his employer, Blair’s Speed Shop. He was murdered in the 70s.
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“Please do not handle”, reads the hanging sign in the Lincoln used on an outdoor show.

A closer look at the the extended rear fenders.

Ina Mae also entered the Lincoln at the outdoor show, held at the Hollywood Park Horse race track parking lot. More about this event can be seen in this CCC-Article.

The December 1954 issue of Motor Life magazine devoted a full spread on the new version on Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln.

[box_light]Go to: Part one or Part three, in this series on the Ina Mae Overman 1952 Lincoln Capri.[/box_light]

Resources and more info

Mary Ellen Marcy website
Motor Life Magazine, December 1954
Gasoline magazine, February 2013

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Overman Lincoln part One

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Rik Hoving

AMAZING CRAFTSMANSHIP

Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln Capri was customized by the famous Valley Custom Shop in Burbank, California. The car was customized, and finished in four different versions. This is the first article in a series about the Lincoln Capri, showing the first and possibly best known version of the car.

We have already shared some of the many amazing color photos from the Ina Mae Overman Collection in our “1954 Peterson Motorama” article. One of the photos in this article showed Ina’s own 1952 Lincoln Capri Custom, restyled by the famous Valley Custom Shop in Burbank California. The combination of the original designs provided by Ina May, and the restyling skills of the Valley Custom Shop lead to this well balanced Custom classic. This article tells about the history and several versions of the car.

The two photos above show the stock Lincoln Capri Ina took to the Valley Custom shop.

In the early 1950’s Ina Mae Overman worked as a draftsman/designer for the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering. She had lost her husband in the Korean War. One way to deal with her loss was buying a 1952 Lincoln Capri, and using her draftsman skills to redesigned the car on paper to her own likings.

She ended up creating a set of scale drawings of her personalized Lincoln. Next thing to do was finding a way to have these plans transferred onto here Lincoln. It happened that one of Ina Mae’s co workers was the father of Dick Flint, who had his Hot Rod cover 1929 Ford Roadster designed, and built by the Valley Custom Shop. She was so impressed with the craftsmanship on that car, that she decided to have a meeting with Neil Emory to talk about the possibilities for her Lincoln based on here own designs. The meeting went very well, and ended up in a long lasting friendship with the shop. Eventually the Valley Custom Shop would redo the Lincoln several times for Ina Mae, and they would also built a 1955 T-Bird mild Custom for her later on.

The Valley Custom Shop is best known for their finely designed, and grafted Custom Cars that are like a crossover between regular custom cars, and factory design studies. Ina Mae delivered her pale yellow, and black top Lincoln at the shop. The first thing to do was removing all the exterior emblems, and fill in the holes left. Next up was reshaping the rear quarter panels. The stock vertical chrome strip was removed, and the panel reshaped.

A new more stylish lazy “S” shaped trip was created, and later chrome plated to form the new base of this fake scoop. Ina Mae wanted to have a Continental kit on the back, but did not want to make it look like an after thought, like most kits do. To make this work, the crew at the shop extended the rear fenders with 12 inches. A new splash-pan was created to house the spare tire cover. The stock rear bumper was narrowed almost 3 inches to fit the new longer rear fenders.

This was needed because the body tapers at the back (when viewed from above) and with the 12 inch extension the width of the rear of the car was narrowed over the stock measurement, and the stock rear bumper was simply to wide after the modification. The section between the bumper guards with the Lincoln letters was removed, and a new piece hand shaped. In the lower portion of the new much longer rear fenders, 8 holes were cut, 4 on each side. This would become the new exhaust outlets. 1952 Ford back up light bezels were reshaped to fit the body around these holes. The exhaust system had to be modified to end in all 8 holes.

A few photos from the Valley Custom Shop Archives show the initial work on the extended fenders. Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen can be seen at work.

Clayton and Neil putting adding the last details on Ina Mae’s freshly finished 1952 Lincoln Capri.

At the front the lower portion of the chrome bumper was stripped of its chrome, cut and set back a few inches to form a roll pan. The wider portion of the original chrome bumper remained and a 1953 Kaiser bumper over rider was mounted on top of bumper where the dip in the center is. This way a new shaped opening was created and the Kaiser unit acted as semi floating grille bar inside the main grille opening. With all the body work completed the car was painted Mandarin red (Buick color) with gold (Nash color) top. The interior was left as it came from the factory, except for the dash which was painted mandarin red the same as the body color.

The Lincoln fresh from the shop at Ina Mae’s home. The Lincoln is different from most other custom cars from the day which were lowered to the max. Ina Mae opted for drive-ability, and style. The extended rear fenders with the four exhaust ports, and the reshaped rear quarter scoop ad elegance to the car which is very evident in this side view.

When the car was assembled, Ina Mae came up with the idea to replace the original three piece rear window with a 1953 Lincoln one piece unit. A very simple but effective touch. The 1951 Lincoln hubcaps were modified, using aluminum cooking pan lids to which 1953 Lincoln medallions were added. Again a simple but very clever, and good looking idea. In its day, the Lincoln won many trophies, was written up in several magazines, and was shown at the Petersen Motorama in 1953 and in its second version in 1954.

This photo gives us a good look at the modified grille/front bumper combination. It also shows the 1951 Lincoln hubcaps really well.

Ina Mae drove the car a lot. This photo was taken on many of the trips she made. The Valley Custom Shop made the extended rear fenders and narrowed rear bumper look like it came like this from the factory.

The magazines back then picked up on the beauty of this unique custom car.

More road trips for the Lincoln.

Ina Mae enjoyed the first version of the finished car for a little over a year. And during that time she already made a list of things she would like to change. Improvements to make the car look even better. When the time was right, she once again took her Lincoln to the Valley Custom Shop where Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen took her notes, and sketches. And they updated the car once more. More about that in the part two of this article, stay tuned….

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[box_light]Go to: Part two or part three , in this series on the Ina Mae Overman 1952 Lincoln Capri.[/box_light]

Resources and more info

Mary Ellen Marcy website
Hop Up Magazine, November 1953
Custom Rodder magazine, May 1959
Gasoline magazine, February 2013

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1954 Petersen’s Motorama

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Rik Hoving

AMAZING 1954 COLOR PHOTOS

The Petersen’s show, held at the Pan Pacific Auditorium, was THE place to be, and the place to be seen in the automotive world.

A short introduction to the Petersen Motorama
In 1950 Robert E. Peterson wanted to organize a special automotive exhibit. The intention of this event was to show the most interesting, spectacular, and unusual innovations in the automotive, and in particular the hot rod world. On display for the first year of the show, were a large number of automotive creations, spanning in type from cherished antiques, through the entire range of motordom, up to the most revolutionary styled custom cars, and hot rods of that time.

Motorcycles, competition styled cars, and boats of championship caliber, have also been a large part of the show. Thus making it a very interesting exhibit for a large audience. Robert E. Peterson named this show the MOTORAMA. It was held from November 16 through 19, of 1950, at the Convention Hall in Los Angeles, California. For the second year, the 1951 show, Peterson moved the show to the prestigious Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. A building with a characteristic Art Deco styled entrance, that suited the character of the shows better.

The show was well organized and promoted, and a lot of effort was taken to make the cars on display, look as attractive as possible. Many magazine ads announced the event far ahead of the show dates. Huge amounts of velvet type curtains were used to divide individual display units. Many displays were further divided from the main floor by the use of wooden planks that formed boxes in which plants and flowers were potted.

Rock salt was used to cover the floor were the cars were displayed. Display cards were all created by the same show sign writer, again to make sure everything was uniform and all individual cars attending created one uniform show. Some individuality was allowed, but everything needed to be styled to fit the rest of the exhibit, and kept to a minimum. Even though the Motorama show covered a wide array of automotive subjects, it is best known for the Hot Rods and Custom Cars on display.

A new name for the 1954 show

In 1954, the show had already established a big name for itself and car, bike and boat builders worked year round to get their cars finished, especially for this show. The Petersen’s show was THE place to be, and the place to be seen in the automotive world. 1954 was the first year the show changed names over the original MOTORAMA name it used since 1950. General Motors had announced its GM MOTORAMA shows, and MOTORAMA show cars. Not wanting a conflict with General Motors, nor creating confusion with the audience, Petersen and team (Motorama Inc.) decided to renamed the show “International MOTOR REVIEW and (Motorama)”.

Ina Mae Overman was asked to display her Valley Custom Show built 1952 Lincoln Capri, at the exhibit. Along side several other Valley Custom Shop created cars. Ina Mae’s Lincoln was first built in 1952-53, and had just been redone, and repainted in white with a gold top. The car was a typical Valley Custom Shop creation, which was styled with an interesting mix of custom touch, combined with styling elements for the Detroit factory design teams. Ina Mae always had her trusty camera with her, and shot a great number of 35 mm Kodachrome slides at the event.

Very special thanks go out to Ina Mae Overman, and her daughter Mary Ellen Marcy. Ina Mae for taking these wonderful photo’s, and Mary Ellen for scanning them, and sharing them with us. These color photos really give us a fantastic look at the shows in the early part of the 1950’s. Very unique material.

1937 Cord was just one of the many Classic Cars that attended the show.

The Valley Custom Shop created this wonderfully styled 1951 Chevy HT Custom for John Dietrich. It has a ‘50 Olds grille, ‘53 Lincoln taillights, 53 Dodge rear bumper with Kaiser guard, and a stepped frame in the back. A technique that was covered in an article in the October 1954 issue of Car Craft using this particular Chevy.

Chuck Porter showed his 1948 Ford shop truck at the show. This truck was chopped sectioned and had a full custom front end. The velvet blue curtains make the car a stand out.

Next to the Chuck Porter pick up, the Pomona Valley Timing Association (PVTA) showed this Chrysler powered drag car. The car ran very fast, with driver Chuck Griffith winning several class trophies.

Barris Kustoms had a large wall display to show of their latest line of Custom Cars, which can be seen on the left side of this photo. But the Barris highlight at this show was the Barris/Skonzakes Golden Sahara. This show car debuted at the 1954 show, and was displayed on a large turn table, so spectators could look at this amazing car from all angles.

The Carson Top Shop was responsible for the very classy interior in the Golden Sahara. The removable top, made from plexiglass, was left at home, so the audience could view the interior at its best.

Unique photo of the Valley Custom Shop-built “Polynesian” Oldsmobile for Jack Stewart, shows the second version of the car in a two tone paint-job. The top is still the original metallic orchid paint, but the lower body was repainted a gold tinted color in 1954. The car has been modified with new side trim (which is mostly hidden behind the wooden display) from its original built.

Wonderful chopped pick up truck for Tim’s Precission Engines. The white wall tires, red wheels and hubcaps look great on this bright red hot rodded pick up.

This photo shows Mary Ann Ubrun’s midget racer in the foreground, as part of the Quarter-roadster Association display. It also shows the use of shop window mannequins to create an interesting drag race pit crew display. In the back we can see the Gaylord built 1952 chevy of Tommy D’Amico in white, and sea foam green.

The Valley Custom shop also built this wonderfully styled 1939 Mercury convertible with 1940 Mercury front crafted on. The bottom of the fenders were cut off to sit at the same height as the bottom of the doors after the running boards were removed. The wheel openings were enlarged, and the windshield frame chopped to fit a Carson Top Shop built top. Glen Hooker was the owner.

Liberace’s Cadillac was mildy customized, and the Carson Top Shop did the unique musical theme interior.

Bob Casey’s mildly customized 1952 Ford Convertible was painted an unusual white color with a bright red, and white tuck & roll interior. The custom side trim, and low stance were enough to have Ina Mae take this great color slide.

Barris Kustoms created this mild custom 1954 Oldsmobile for Joy Ferguson. The car had extended rear fenders to which 1954 Packard taillights were added, as well as extended front fenders. The Carson Top shop created the pink and white interior.

Ina Mae’s 1952 Lincoln Capri custom at the show. The Valley Custom Shop extended the rear fenders, and radiused all four wheel openings among many other subtile modifications.

[box_light]About Ina Mae Overman, as told by her daughter Mary Ellen Overman-Macy
Ina Mae Overman had a long history with the Southern California car scene. She served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII where she met her future husband at Camp Pendleton. He was later killed in the Korean War when Mary Ellen was 4 months old. As a way of dealing with the loss of her husband, and raising a daughter while working full-time as a civil engineering draftsman/designer, she bought a new 1952 Lincoln Capri. She spent her spare time drawing, and redesigning the car.

As an admirer of the Dick Flint ’29 Ford roadster (Hot Rod, May 1952), – she found out through Flints father, with who she worked -, that it was built by Valley Custom (Clayton Jensen and Neil Emory). Ina Mae decided to have Valley Custom execute her designs for the Lincoln. In its day, the Lincoln won many trophies, was written up in several magazines, and showed at the Petersen Motorama in 1953 and 1954. When Ina Mae showed the car at the 1954 Show, someone else had to pick up the car after the show, because she had left with her brother for Mexico to go to the Carrera Pan Americanna (1954 Mexican Road Race).

All the entrants of the Petersen’s show received a watch for participating. Since Ina Mae Overman was the only woman entrant, they had to special order a lady’s watch for her. She had to pick it up later after her return from Mexico. Obviously, women weren’t thought of as participants in the automotive world.

Ina Mae Overman’s 1952 Lincoln Capri. On the left we can see Clayton Jensen and Neil Emory from the Valley Custom Shop stands on the right.

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