The Harry K. Jenkins Photo Collection

A photo of Harry with his first car taken about 1958. The car was a 1939 Ford convertible that his uncle customized in California around 1951. Shortly after the photo was taken, Harry's mother sold the car. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

The second version of Richard Korkes' 1954 Ford convertible. Richard ran Korky's Kustom Shop in Whippany, New Jersey, and the convertible, named The Parisienne is one of his most famous builds. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

Irvin Kirschner's 1955 Chevrolet convertible. Restyled by Tony Bruskivage, the car was shown as "The Princess and the Pirate." Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

Ed Roth's Beatnik Bandit. The Beatnik Bandit was Ed Roth's first bubbletopped showcar. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

Bill Cushenbery's 1940 Ford Coupe, The El Matador. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

A chopped 1957 Plymouth custom. Owner unknown. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

A fully equipped 1957 Chevrolet custom that seems to feature a sink, cooking plates and TV set in the trunk. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

An unknown 1933 or 1934 Ford 3-window coupe. The channeled and pinstriped hot rod was advertised for sale at the show. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

A custom painted Ford pickup truck. Photo by Harry K. Jenkins.

Harry K. Jenkins of Whippany, New Jersey. Harry's first car was a 1939 Ford convertible that his uncle Robert "Bobby" Jenkins customized in California around 1951. In the mid 1950s Bobby moved back to New Jersey, bringing the Ford along. It sat under a tarp in the back yard of Bobby's parents house in Marcella, New Jersey for a few years. Bobby remembers that is had an extra flathead engine in the rumble seat at the time. Bobby's father purchased the car from Bobby around 1957. In 2016 Harry told Kustomrama that he remembered that the car had Appleton spots, a chromed dash, 1937 DeSoto bumpers, 1939 Studebaker taillights, Lincoln push button door openers, an electric gas door, louvered hood, leather interior, necker knob, chromed moldings, wide whites with 3/4 single bar spinners, skirts, and it was lowered with dual glass packs. About 1958, before Harry got his driver license, his mother sold the car; "I didn't even see that coming. A fence was being installed around our back yard, I came home from school and the car was gone." Harry doesn't know what happened to the Ford after that.

Around May or June 1962 Harry attended the East Orange Autorama in New Jersey. The show featured cars by big star builders such as Ed Roth, Bill Cushenbery and Dick Korkes, so Harry borught his camera so he could document the happening.

Do You Have Photos to Share?

Each and every day important photos are lost and damaged. That is not only a huge loss for the owner of these photos, but it is also a huge loss for the entire community. If you have old hot rod and custom related photos laying around, we encourage you to scan them and share them with us. We will protect and save your photos in our archive, that is automatically backed up in the sky. This way the photos are preserved for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. We will also present your photos to our readers, so that everyone can enjoy them. So far, our archive contains photos from the collections of Bill Boren, Bud Unger, Ron Aguirre, Bengt Wennergren, Korky Korkes, and many many more. If you have photos to share, please email us today at mail@kustomrama.com. If you don't have access to a scanner, we can also assist you with this job.