Lansing

George Wiegand's 1930 Ford Model A Roadster Pick Up of Lansing, Michigan. Known as The Barracuda, Jerry "Spider the Crazy Painter" Drake gave the car its flame paint job in 1959.

Larry Cooper's 1954 Ford of Lansing, Michigan. In 1959, after Jerry "Spider the Crazy Painter" Drake had been pinstriping for about a year, Larry Cooper approached him about scalloping his mildly restyled 1954 Ford. By then, Jerry had been pinstriping for about a year and eagerly took on all the jobs he could. Larry’s dad, Lloyd, ran Cooper Body Shop in Lansing, a traditional paint and body shop, that also took on some custom bodywork. After Jerry had masked up scallops on Larry’s car, Larry applied gold and silver faded scallops on the car in his dad’s paint booth. Satisfied with the result, Larry asked his dad if he and Jerry could do custom painting on the weekends when their body shop was closed. Lloyd gave them thumbs up, as long as they cleaned up and were out of the shop by the next Monday. Larry’s Ford was the first car Jerry ever scalloped. Photo from The Jerry Drake Photo Collection.

Ken Foress' 1952 Mercury Convertible of Lansing, Michigan. In 1959 local pinstriper and custom painter Jerry Drake, aka Spider the Crazy Painter, gave the car a flame paint job at Cooper Body Shop.

Rudy Rodriguez’s 1954 Ford of Lansing, Michigan. Rudy's Ford was restyled by Cooper Body Shop around 1956 - 1957.

Terry Smith's 1954 Ford of Lansing, Michigan. Terry was a member of the Capitol City Customs, and his Ford was restyled by Cooper Body Shop. The work was done sometime around 1956 - 1957.

Jerry Drake's 1955 Ford Fairlane of Lansing, Michigan was restyled by Ed Blaisdell of Blaisdell Body Shop. Jerry is a well known Michigan pinstriper that operated under the name "Spider the Crazy Painter." He bought the Ford, known as "India Ivory" in 1957, and it went through several modifications between 1957 and 1959.

Russ Edgers' 1957 Ford Convertible of Lansing, Michigan. In 1959, Russ' Ford received a scallop paint job by Jerry "SPIDER" Drake and Larry Cooper at Cooper Body Shop.

Jerry Drake's 1957 Ford Fairlane of Lansing, Michigan. Jerry was a custom painter and pinstriper, operating under the name "Spider the Crazy Painter". He was also the President of the Injectors of Lyons car club. Jerry's Ford, known as the Candy Cane, received a custom paint job by Jerry and his buddy Dave Edmonds in July of 1960.

Dell Chandler's 1960 Pontiac Ventura of a Lansing, Michigan. Dell's Pontiac received a scallop and panel paint job by Jerry Drake and Larry Cooper in 1960.

Gary Glenn's 1957 Ford of Lansing, Michigan. The Hyde Brothers gave the car a panel paint job in 1961.

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. Michigan is widely known as the center of the U.S. auto industry. In 1903 Henry Ford founded Ford Motor Company in Detroit. 10 years later he introduced the assembly line, an innovation that reduced the Model T’s chassis assembly line from 12.5 to 1.5 hours. Ford Motor Company could now produce affordable cars at a faster pace than anyone else. In 1914 Henry doubled the pay rate for the factory workers, and he reduced their workday from nine to eight hours. The day after the “$5 Day” was announced, an estimated 10,000 people lined up outside Ford’s employment office hoping to be hired. Henry eventually filled Detroit with automotive workers, and in the 1930s his River Rogue Complex employed over 100,000 hard-working men and women. Even though Detroit and Michigan boomed with automotive workers, it took almost half a decade before Ron Clark and Bob Kaiser would open up what is known as the first custom shop of Michigan. Clarkaiser Customs Shop was established in 1948, the same year as Robert Petersen’s first issue of Hot Rod Magazine went into print. As the hot rod and custom scene spread across the country, the Motor City would breed several talented builders such as Mike and Larry Alexander of the Alexander Brothers fame. The capital of Michigan, Lansing, is located 100 miles West of Detroit. While Detroit had Henry Ford and his Ford Motor Company, Lansing was the home of Ransom E. Olds and his Olds Motor Vehicle Company. By the mid 1950s the hot rod and custom craze had also reached the state Capital.