Polynesian is a customized 1950 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 built by Neil Emory and Clayton Jensen at Valley Custom Shop. It was built at the request of original owner Jack Stewart in 1952.Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018) Inspired by Ron Dunn's sectioned '50 Ford, the car and its design were featured and described in multiple magazines over the 1950s.
Construction Unlike most owners at the time, Stewart wanted the car built all at once.Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018)
The car was inspired by Ron Dunn's sectioned '50 Ford, also built by Valley Custom, essentially to Stewart's original design;Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018) only his desire to have the top chop was changed, under persuasion from Emory.Hot Rod, September 1953.
The car was built over a period of nine months. It was sectioned , wheelwells re-radiused, and the rear fenders bulges fitted with brake vents. (retrieved 28 July 2018) It was nosed and decked, and the doors converted to electrically operated solenoids.Hot Rod, September 1953. 1947 Studebaker taillights were tunnelled into the rear fenders.Hot Rod, September 1953. The exhaust pipes exited through a modified rear bumper.Hot Rod, September 1953.
The engine was a Olds from an Oldsmobile 88, with 1952 heads and 4-barrel (4-choke) Rochester carburetor.Hot Rod, September 1953.
The interior was done by Wayne Tipton of Burbank at a cost of US$450,Hot Rod, September 1953. It was finished in lemon yellow and eggshell white tuck-and-rolled Naugahyde.Hot Rod, September 1953.; Ohio.com (retrieved 28 July 2018)
The car was finished in a shade of purple dubbed Orchid Flame, which lent the car its name.Hot Rod, September 1953. The total cost was US$1800.Hot Rod, September 1953.
Shortly after taking delivery, Stewart showed Polynesian at the Detroit Auto Show.Hot Rod, September 1953.
Polynesian was featured in the August 1953 issues of Hot RodRod & Custom, 8/89, p.68. and Rod and Custom in September, and also saw 54 pages of construction details in Motor Trend Custom Car Annual in 1954.Rod & Custom, 8/89, p.68.
History Stewart bought the car in 1950. After customizing was complete, he used it as a daily driver for several years before selling it to John Zagray.Custom Cars, December 1958. Zagray made some modifications of his own.Custom Cars, December 1958. Some time later, the car disappeared.
It resurfaced in 1971, when the owner of the Red Lacquer Room body and restoration shop, Gene Blackford, found the car in a barn near Robertsville, Ohio, where sixth owner Warren Wise had stored it.Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018) Blackford, who had first seen the car in its original custom form at age 12, paid Wise $1000 for what was left and put it in storage for thirty-three more years.Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018) In 2004, he and six friends began a complete restoration to the Valley Custom standard, a process which took nine months.Custom Rodder online (retrieved 28 July 2018)
The newly restored Polynesian won the Preservation Award at the 2006 Detroit Autorama.Ohio.com (retrieved 28 July 2018)
Blackford gave the engine a rebuild in 2006, and rebuilt the transmission in 2007.Ohio.com (retrieved 28 July 2018)
Polynesian went on display at the Peterson Car Museum from 2006 to 2010.Ohio.com (retrieved 28 July 2018)
Polynesian is currently owned by Ohio car collector Myron Vernis.
Copies The car inspired John Ballard's 1950 Oldsmobile, Polynesian II.
Magazine appearances Hot Rod, September 1953 Rod & Custom, September 1953 Trend Book 109 Custom Cars 1954 Annual Car Craft, March 1954 Auto Craftsman, December 1956 Custom Rodder, June 1958 Custom Cars, December 1958 Custom Rodder, February 1959
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