.
OK, second treat. Same place. Just a few years later. I can’t give
you as much detail on this car, in words or pictures, because I never
wrote a magazine feature on it. And I just grabbed these quickie photos
of it when it was done because Lee was getting ready to move to Austin,
Texas. Of course I was around when Lee was building it, but I wasn’t
paying strict attention because (a) Lee was always working on two or
three cars at a time and (b) this one kept morphing in terms of grille,
taillights, side trim, and driveline as it progressed. 
The
final color combo was the big surprise–and I think a wonderful one. I
recently asked Lee if he was copying the second paint job on the Rev.
Ernst Barris Chevy, and he said, “No, I was just using some paint I had
left over from another project that didn’t get used–the bronze. And I
just thought the green would look good with it. He also came up with the
idea of using ’56 Chevy 210 side chrome, turned upside down, to
separate them. One thing I do remember was watching Lee cut, shape, gas
weld, and grind those rear bumper guards with the exhaust tips running
through them. They complement the round, bullet tail lights he molded
and frenched in from a ’53 Olds–one of the better replacements I’ve seen
for the cat-eye Shoebox Ford’s. You’ll also notice all seams have been
filled on the rear, but Lee retained the chrome ’49 trunk hinges. 
This is strictly a traditional ’50s mild custom, so yes it has spots and skirts, frenched lights, wide whites, and modified ’56 Buick wheelcovers on gold rims. No top chop needed on a Shoebox coupe roof. But Lee did fill the hood, round the corners, and mold-in a ’50 Merc grille surround and splash apron. Then I remember him trying all sorts of grille variations. That nice floating bar you see originated in a ’52 Olds, but Lee did a whole lot of cutting, smoothing, and filling before chroming to make that shape.
I apologize that I don’t have interior or other detail photos of this
car. In this photo you can see the pearl white steering wheel. In a
prior one you can glimpse a chrome speaker grille and window frames with
a bronze dash. The upholstery was pretty simple white with bronze. I
should mention that Lee found this straight, stock, unrusted ’49 coupe
sitting on a trailer in red oxide DP primer at the Long Beach swap, all
there but unrunning. So Lee swapped in a running flathead, added some
heads, carbs, and typical detail, using dropped spindles, cut coils, and
blocks to lower it to his preferred ride height. Then he drove it to
Salina, KS, for the Leadsled Spectacular the year Gary Howard was
inducted into the Hall of Fame. Next he was headed to Baltimore, MD, for
The Rodder’s Journal’s big one-time car show. However, Lee seems to
have a penchant for punching holes in oil pans on his low-slung custom
cruisers. This wasn’t the first, but it was the last for that flathead.
What comes next will probably surprise you. It certainly surprised me. First, I’ve already mentioned that Lee and his new wife (and artist) Suzanne moved from the Brewery to a striking new home on the outskirts of Austin, TX. You can see it in the background of the cover of TRJ No. 63, featuring Lee’s restored purple ’55 Nomad. That house included a large shop where Lee built the Nomad, worked on other projects of his own, plus continued working on “customer” cars, such as Mike Young’s gorgeous, Cad-powered, traditional ’33 coupe that deservedly filled the cover of TRJ No. 72. Mike was one of the original Austin gang that hung around Steve Wertheimer’s Continental Club down on South Congress, and who owned the white pearl, purple-flamed ’60 Impala that shared a very memorable Rodder’s Journal nighttime feature shoot with Jimmie Vaughan’s lavender ’51 Chevy and gold ’63 Riv way back in TRJ No. 3. I mention all this because I never knew what became of Lee’s ’58 Impala. It seemed to disappear. When I asked yesterday, Lee said, “Mike Young bought it.” That was the first surprise. The kicker was, “And I don’t think he’s ever driven it.” We can’t really blame him, given Lee’s examples. He’s afraid it’s too low to cruise Texas’ tarred highways, and doesn’t want a hole in its oil pan. So he’s considering a set of air bags.
But the bigger surprise was when I saw Lee, along with most of the Austin crew, at the West Coast Kustoms meet in Santa Maria, CA, about three years ago with his ’49 Ford. At first I didn’t even recognize it. He had the hood propped up, and inside was a startling, much-chromed, beautifully detailed Nailhead Buick engine. I can’t even remember what it had for carburetion, and I didn’t have a camera with me. But then I stepped back and took in the whole car. He had repainted all the bronze in Vanilla Shake which, as its name implies, is a creamy white. The lime green panel stayed the same–but what a change! Of course I don’t have photos. You’ll just have to imagine it. But it completely changes the look of the car. If you want to see, I’m sure you can find it somewhere on the Jalopy Journal. Because that well-known web site’s owner-operator, Ryan Cochran (whose headquarters is also in Austin, TX)), is now the new owner of this excellent Shoebox. As for Lee, he and Suzanne decided to move back to SoCal, and build a new, big shop/art studio around a tiny house, where Lee finally finished the chopped and channeled, Olds-powered, throwback Deuce coupe he’s been piecing together for years, just in time to briefly show it at the last Grand National Roadster Show. Since then, we’ve all just been sort of waiting (patiently or otherwise) to be released from home detention to find out what the next chapter is going to be. Stay healthy. Respect others. And be hopeful.
