West Side Speed Shop / "Chief Hocking" ?

Hello - I am new in this forum and want to say hello from Germany first of all.

The reason for my posting is a car a friend of mine bought shortly ago.
It is supposedly a 1937 Ford, but quite unusually modified.

The history file is more or less zero, so he is trying to find out as much as possible. He only got one photo with the car, supposedly taken in the fifties.

Has anybody heard of a West Side Speed Shop or a "Chief Hocking", as written on the side of the car ?
It is supposedly based on a 1937 Ford. The car was said to be located (built ?? ) on the East Coast, in later years based in West Virginia.
It then seemingly spent quite a few years in a container in Florida - from where it was sold to Germany shortly ago.

Since the bodyshape is quite unique (not quite beautiful, though...) - has anybody seen this car before ?

Any help/hints would be highly appreciated.

The car will be restored, with Flathead power etc. as is, so any more or better (possibly coloured) pictures showing the graphics etc. would also be very helpful.

Thank you all in advance for any effort.

Ralf

Good luck on your detective work.

I don't know the car, but a few observations from that picture. Looks like it was taken around 1953/4, certainly not earlier than that. The hood looks like it came from a 1940 Chevrolet. The front bumper has the shape of a rear bumper from something built in the early 50's. The bodywork just inside the rear wheels looks like it could be portions of 1942-48 Ford front fenders mounted backward. The fenders look like typical spare tire cover pieces with some extensions (maybe mudflaps? can't tell from the picture). The hubcaps have a Mopar-ish shape. Obviously a Ford flathead V8.

Bob, thank you for your reply- that might at least help with the restoration.

Yes, I do also guess that it will be quite some detective work to find any informations at all.

I have a few more photos here - they show the car as it was bought a few weeks ago:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9116697...7605441209622/



Regards,
Ralf

Cool!
With that rear end shot it now looks like those fenders would be from a '40 Chev also.

The whole vehicle might be some kind of car parts puzzle.....
Guess old "Chief Hocking" might have had some parts lying around ! ;)

Regards,
Ralf