1950 Ford - Ron Dunn - Valley Custom Shop

1950 Ford Coupe restyled by Valley Custom Shop for Ron Dunn of Glendale, California. Ron purchased the car brand new in late 1950. He had always wanted a custom car that was low, but at the same time practical. Many custom cars had problems entering the slightest driveways and chopped tops on the other hand had little or no visibility at all. Around 1951/1952, Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen of Valley Custom began to transform the stock two door 1950 Ford into a real eye catcher.[3] The body was Sectioned 5 inches and the top was left un-chopped, maintaining great visibility through the windshield. To gain even more headroom, the seats were lowered three inches. The wheel cut-outs had a big impact on the design as well. The small amount of the fenders above the opening gave the car look lower by an optical illusion. As Dean Batchelor expressed himself in Hop Up February 1953; "a wheel is not ugly, why cover it up?"



The chrome trim pieces along the side were re-mounted to help protect the body panels from careless people in parking lots and they gave the car a longer appearance. The hood ornament was removed, but a 1951 Ford chrome strip was added in order to break up the expanse of metal. The headlights were frenched and a new custom grille was made. The The upper bar was from a 1951 Ford and the center bar was hand-formed and chromed to match the stock components around the edges. The door handles were removed and the doors were operated by small push buttons hidden in the chrome strips. Inside, the buttons were placed in the instrument panel; one on the passenger side and two on the driver side so the driver could open both doors from his position. The deck lid hinges were removed and new ones were installed inside the trunk, similar to the 1951 Fords. All chrome on the deck lid was removed in order to achieve a cleaner appearance. The rear bumper was replaced by a narrowed 1952 Ford unit featuring a 1946 Ford license plate guards that were custom made with sheet metal and integrated 1951 Ford parking lights. The taillights were designed to keep the units as prominent as possible. The frames were hand formed from half inch round rods that were welded to the body. The chromed inset panels were cut to shape and mounted in place. The lenses consisted of 1952 DeSoto taillights and 1951 Ford parking lights. Parking light rims from the same model were used to route the exhaust pipes through the panel as well. The car was lowered in the rear by adding 2 1/2" lowering blocks. The front was brought down by adding 2 1/2 blocks under the inner end of the upper A frame and a non-swinging shackle of the same length between the outer end of the lower A frame and spindles. The lost of weight due to the section job raised the car up to its stock ground clearance after the lowering.



Huth's Muffler Co installed the mufflers and the twin pipes. The engine was kept stock. Valley Custom Shop mixed a metallic bronze color especially for this car. After painting it, the car was brought to Floyd Tipton who stitched a completely new interior for it. The headliner and rug floormat were new. It was upholstered in two tone tan and beige. All the window frames were chromed. Dual spotlights were added to ggive the appearance of a lower roof line.[4]



The build took three months to complete and cost Ron $1500. The restyled version of the car became known as The "Monte Carlo".[3] After being completed, the car was first shown at the 1952 Los Angeles Autorama where it won First in Class. February 17-22, 1953 the Monte Carlo was exhibited at the 4th annual National Roadster Show in Oakland. The car won best custom trophy at the show.[5] In 1953 Ron's car was also chosen as "Custom Car of the Year" by the readers of Motor Life Magazine.[6]




Ron planned to drive the car until it collapsed, but fate had other things in mind as the car was involved in a traffic accident in 1957. After the accident Ron felt it was time to part company with his car and build a new kustom instead. Not being able to find a new car that looked so personal and modern as his sectioned Ford and since the trade in price was so low, Ron decided to have Valley Custom Shop do a makeover on his old Ford. Ron had definite ideas with his ride and discussed these with the boys at Valley Custom before they began to restyle it again. The rear bumper was removed and replaced with two chromed cold-rolled nerf bars. The gravel shield was cut away and the rear body line below the deck lid was carried under using 18-gauge sheet metal to hide the running gear. The taillight openings were left alone but Neil widened the leading edges and made new lenses consisting of 1955 Mercury and 1956 Mercury components. These were protected by thin pencil-line nerf bars. A custom made license plate bracket was made and installed on the deck lid as well. In the front, the hood was reshaped to make a lower and longer look for the car. A 1954 Ford nose was fit on the hood and the leading edge was stretched four inches toward the grille. The headlights were extended five inches with 18-inch gauge sheet and fit with 1955 Lincoln chrome liners to create a more modern look. The front bumper and gravel shield were removed. The front body line received the same treatment as the rear and the nerf bars were built in the same design as those in the rear. The oval grille contour was made by forming light-weight tubing. The grille mesh was cut to fit the opening and it was attached by hidden hinge tabs to give it a floating appearance. Parking lights from a 1956 Chevrolet Truck were used on both sides of the grille and the dual spotlights were removed.[3]



A few years after the 1957 makeover, the car was put into storage. In 1970, the car was passed on to Ron's nephew, Gary Rand. The car remained in Gary's possession for the next 35 years, but it was slowly deteriorating. In 2005, after seeing the great restoration job that Steve’s Auto Restoration did on Ralph Jilek's 1940 Ford, Gary contacted Steve Frisbie of Steve’s Auto Restoration in an effort to find a fitting home for his uncle's pride and joy. Steve jumped at the opportunity to own the historic custom and bought the car for himself. Steve has planned to restore the car back to its former glory but has not yet decided what version of the car he will bring back.[2]



In January 2011, The Monte Carlo was shown at the Customs Then and Now gathering at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.

http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Ron_Dunn%27s_1950_Ford

Magazine Features

Hop Up February 1952
Hot Rod Magazine January 1953
Hop Up February 1953
Rods and Customs May 1953
Hop Up July 1953
Trend Book 109 Custom Cars 1954 Annual
Trend Book 116 Custom Cars 1955 Annual
Trend Book 143 Restyle Your Car
Rod & Custom October 1957
Auto Craftsman December 1957
Rod Builder Annual 1957
Custom Cars January 1958
Hot Rod Magazine May 1958
Custom Cars August 1958
Hot Rod Magazine October 1958
Rod & Custom May 2006
Kustoms Illustrated 8

Crowned as “Custom of the Year” in 1953 by Hop Up magazine, Ron Dunn’s Ford was the styling handiwork of known customizers Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen of Valley Custom Shop located in Burbank, California. Ron Dunn debuted the car in 1952 at the LA Motorama where it won First in Class and then went on to win First Place in the Custom Coupe class at the Oakland Roadster Show in 1953. It has been featured in many publications which touted it as “a study in styling.” Later in 1958 following a re-styling, the car was again recognized in Custom Cars Magazine as one of “The 10 Best” customs.

In late 2005 Steve Frisbie rescued the car from open air storage in a fenced off driveway in Burbank, California where it sat out in the weather for many years under the ownership of Ron’s nephew. During that time the car was partially disassembled and left to the hazards of the elements, though being in Burbank for all those storage years the deterioration was at a minimum. Steve brought the car up to Portland, Oregon where it immediately went into heated dry secure storage awaiting the chance to be restored. Over the years Steve had tried to begin restoration on the famous custom, but as is the case for many shop owners, customer cars always took priority. Finally the time has come. In the process of restoration every magazine article which featured the car will be examined to ensure an accurate restoration back to the exact same configuration that it was when the second customization took place in 1956/1957. Other supporting documents include 19 letters from Ron’s nephew to Steve spanning the time from when the car was acquired by Steve until the passing of Ron’s nephew. There will be literally hundreds of documentation photos taken as the car comes apart to ensure an accurate restoration.

The car was originally customized in 1951 and then suffered a side-swipe type accident resulting in a re-customizing by Valley Custom Shop in 1956/1957. Many opinions regard the first version to be a better example of early fifties styling compared to the second. Therein lies the big question, does the restoration follow the first version or the second version? Steve feels that it would be sacrilegious to dispose of “Valley Custom Shop” sheet metal work, or to hang it on the wall, only to then shape new S.A.R. sheet metal to mimic the first version. Thus Steve has decided to restore the car to the existing version that it is now. Then at a later date acquire a 1950 Ford coupe and build a “clone” of the first version utilizing all of the knowledge and tear down pictures that were gathered during the restoration process. This seems to be the most logical thing to do. And given Steve’s extensive background in concours restorations, the resurrection of the Ron Dunn car will be nothing short of amazing.

Steve is seeking any and all information on this car that anyone can provide to help aid in this restoration process. Everything from pictures to articles to stories about the car will be of great use. You can help be a part of saving the history of this well-known custom. The restoration process is now underway and can be followed on S.A.R.’s website at the “current projects” section.





http://www.customcarchronicle.com/custom-cars/ron-dunn-ford-rest-begins/

Restoration has begun at Steve’s Auto Restorations, Inc. on the 1950 Ford custom coupe once owned by Ron Dunn. The car was rescued by Steve in 2005 from open air storage in a fenced off driveway in Burbank Ca. where it sat out in the weather for many years under the ownership of Ron’s nephew. The car was an Oakland Roadster Show winner in 1953 and has had many magazine articles done on it since its first restyling in 1950 at Valley Custom Shop of Burbank California at the hands of Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen. Under the care of Ron’s nephew the car was partially disassembled and left to the hazards of the elements. Luckily it was in Burbank for all those storage years so deterioration was at a minimal. When Steve purchased the car it was brought up to Portland Oregon where it immediately went into heated dry secure storage awaiting the chance to be restored. That time has now come. In the process of restoration every magazine article featuring the car will be examined to make sure it will be put back into the exact same configuration that it was when the second customization took place in 1956/1957. Those articles along with 19 letters from Ron’s nephew spanning the time from when the car was acquired by Steve until the passing of Ron’s nephew will aid in documentation and accuracy. There are going to be literally hundreds of documentation photos taken as the car comes apart to insure an accurate restoration.



The car was originally customized in 1950 and then was in a side swipe type accident some time after the restyling and was re-customized by Valley Custom Shop in 1956/1957. The first customization was better looking than the second attempt as many opinions have determined. So the big question is does the restoration follow the first version or the second version. Since it is felt that it would be sacrilegious to take off “Valley Custom Shop” sheet metal work and throw it in the garbage can or hang it on the wall, and then make new SAR sheet metal to mimic the first version, it has been decided to restore the car to the existing
version that it is now. Then at a later date acquire a 1950 Ford coupe and build a “clone” of the first version utilizing all of the knowledge and tear down pictures that were gathered during the restoration. This seems to be the most logical thing to do.



I am seeking any and all information on this car that anyone can provide for me to aid in this restoration process. I am looking for everything from pictures to articles to stories about the car. You can be a part of saving the history of this well known custom. You can also follow the restoration process on the website www.realsteel.com in the “current projects” section.



http://www.realsteel.com/projects/1950-ron-dunn-ford-coupe/#gallery