Denny Falschlehner, a.k.a. “FLINGER” (Jimmy’s dad), originally bought this coupe back in ‘59 for $100.

So the story goes, Sam Barris had done the chop in ’51—a fact that has never been 100% verified. It is also rumored to have raced on the Bonneville Salt Flats and El Mirage dry lake, powered by a S.C.O.T.-blown flathead Ford. When he got it, the car contained a blown-up 303 c.i. Oldsmobile engine, a ‘39 crash box and wasn’t running at all. That reality was soon to change. Denny got to work and built another 303 c.i. Olds but instead bolted it to a built Hydro transmission and an Olds rearend. The gravel driveway of his parents house was the build location. A rented ARC welder wasn’t ideal either but a kid has to do whatever necessary. Once the car was on the road again, it would be awhile before paint since he did the body work himself. Leo’s Auto Body in Temple City was the place for paint. Three coats of Roman Red lacquer were applied at $100 a coat. The coupe saw a lot of drag strip action and also some street racing.

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Denny sold the coupe for $1,500 in ‘63 to the Mayor of Temple city, who’d bought it for his son. Denny lost track of the ‘34 after a few years, and later, spent more trying to find it again. Thankfully, it surfaced in 2003—40 years after he sold it! A true ‘Cinderella story’, he was able to make a deal with owner George Wilson. George knew how far gone the car was in its current state and needed someone like Denny to preserve the car and not cut it up. Only then would it to be returned to its former glory. Working with his son Jimmy, the two spent years collecting the right parts and building the ones that couldn’t be located. Eight years into it and she was fired up and drove around the building at SO-CAL Speed Shop the first time in 48 years. The ‘34 still has a way to go but has already logged countless miles now powered by the 6-71 blown 324 c.i. Olds that Denny had always wanted. It has also been drag raced in Texas at “Day Of The Drags” where he got the coupe in the 100 MPH Club and also the “Mooneyes Drags” in Irwindale, California.

 

Paint and bobbed fenders will come in time—hey, if he can hold out for almost 50 years to see his dream car come to life, what’s another year or two?