After a successful drag-race career, the body of the 1932 Ford Coupe had been sectioned and channeled. In 1959 Clarence Catallo brought the " Silver Sapphire" to the Alexander Bros. As an example he mentioned that someone could drop by asking them to chop their 1950 Mercury 8 inches. The Alexander Brothers wanted their creations to be clean and neat, and In an interview with The Rodders Journal, Mike said that they would often turn customers away because they knew what a customer was asking for wouldn't look right. Mike and Larry didn't paint Candy, so Bill traded work for Candy instructions and paint on their jobs. Bill had his hands' full painting candy, so he hired the Alexander Brothers to do bodywork. About the time when Mike and Larry were working on the Victorian, Bill Hines moved back to Detroit from California. Mike and Larry redid the Victorian three times. The Victorian was the first car ever to wear the Alexander Brothers' Trademark Badge. The Victorian, Sy Gregorich's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria gave the brothers good West Coast coverage. George was impressed by their work and got the brothers into the West Coast magazines. The aircar was broken, and George headed over to the brothers shop in order to fix it. The people were George Barris and his crew that was attending the Detroit Autorama with the XPAK 400. called and said he had some people he'd like them to meet. This changed one day when Bob Larivee Sr. The Alexander Brothers had a hard time getting press in the West Coast magazines. " Clarkaiser was one, the other was the Alexander Brothers," Dick's son Keith Dean told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2021. When he was low on money, he would contract out to different shops. In the mid- 1950 Dick Dean opened up a custom shop in Wyandotte, Michigan called South End Kustoms. They showed the car for the 1958 season before they sold it in 1959 to buy a brand new 1959 Chevrolet El Camino. It got its name from the paint job, who was also done in Glade Green Metallic. The car called Grasshopper, won a trophy for best paint at the 1958 Detroit Autorama. The purpose of the car was to attract higher-end business. In 1958, Mike and Larry bought and built a 1931 Ford Model A pickup in order to promote their new venture. Keith Ashley lived a couple of miles away and ventured by there often to see what was being built. Later on the same year, Mike and Larry opened up the "Alexander Brothers Custom Shop" on Northwestern Highway near Evergreen Road in Southfield. Īt one point Mike and Larry realized the work coming in was enough to sustain a full-time endeavor, so in 1957 they quit their day jobs and concentrated on growing their business.Īlexander Brothers Custom Shop - First real shop on Northwestern Highway It had a bored and stroked 4-banger in it probably with Offenhauser heads and intake manifold and 2 - 2 barrel carburetors." The A bone was painted Glade Green Metallic. " I remember it had big chrome tips on the exhaust and a great sound. Lee saw it many times in the neighborhood when it was completed and painted metallic green. " I loved seeing that car driving around, and it prompted me to buy a Model A and fix it up." Rumored to be the first creation to roll out of the later "Alexander Brothers Custom Shop" on Northwestern Highway near Evergreen Road in Southfield, Lee is 100% positive that the coupe was painted Glade Green Metallic in Larry's garage. Lee recalled Mike and Larry driving a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe around the neighborhood. " My street was Blackstone, and that second garage they worked in was on Westbrook," Lee told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2014. Lee Ewald lived on the next block over from Larry. Larry's burgeoning family prompted him to buy a house in the Brightmoor section of Detroit, and the brothers quickly reestablished the shop in its two-car garage. After learning the trade of bodywork and paint, Larry and Mike began to work in their father's one-car garage after hours, shaving trim, filling holes, and doing regular repairs. Mike joined the Army in 1952, and after his discharge in 1954, Larry convinced him to also study bodywork and paint theory under the GI Bill at the Wolverine Trade School. After being discharged he began to study body and fender work at a trade school under the GI Bill. In 1948 Larry, who was the eldest brother, joined the Army. Working out of their father's one-car garage 22 Cars Built, Restyled or Painted by the Alexander Brothers.18 Victims of Another Freeway Expansion.14 Harry Bradley and the Ford Custom Caravan.13 Freeway expansion and third shop at Schoolcraft Road.12 Second shop at Littlefield and a booming business.4 Alexander Brothers Custom Shop - First real shop on Northwestern Highway.
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