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I have mentioned my dear late friend and mentor Greg Parker in my posts both here and on the registry. I have said what a huge influence he had on not just me but many people who were fortunate enough to have met him. His creative ideas sparked in us all a desire to think, build and try different things. The following pictures are of his creations during the last 10 years of his life.
In the late 90's Greg and his good friend Rodney Rucker (another Greg directly influenced) decided they would build an old west style wagon and stagecoach constructed on late model fullsize 4WD truck frames. Greg would build the wagon and Rodney decided he would do the Stagecoach. The stagecoach was of course far more involved as it would be all steel construction. I remember Greg telling me about the numerous trips Rodney took down to Disneyland to get detailed measurments off of thier stagecoach. They both eventually finished them and were the hit of the parades for all the years to follow.
There he is! Good old Greg with signature cigar in hand standing next to his first old western style creation. Those lanterns really worked by the way; Greg had wired in Halogen bulbs where the wicks used to be and they functioned just like headlamps.
Steel angle iron skeleton with wood planks. The occasional rain and harsh desert climate quickly aged the wood perfectly. Steel hoops for the top and a canvas cover just like the real deal. The cow head on the tailgate was some of Greg's plasma cut steel artwork.
Greg had alot of storage space there at the shop and Rodney kept his stagecoach with Greg. I should have taken a picture of it. At the time he had let the steel body rust over to age it and had this huge Diesel rig alloy wing on the back of it. Really cool looking creation! You could tell right away that Greg was a Stagecoach man and the wagon really did not do it for him. Anytime he took out friends and vistors for a ride he always fired up the stagecoach.
About a couple of years later Rodney was moving to AZ and was taking his stagecoach with him. I remember a visit shortly after it left; Greg was so bummed! The following trip I found him laying out the basic steel framework for his own stagecoach.
Unfortunately this was the only shot I took of it during the build phase. As with anything lesson were learned from the first build and Greg applied them to this new body making a cleaner end product. I was right in the middle of doing the bodywork on it and getting it ready for paint in this photo. This was a well constructed body; 1X1 square tube frame with 20guage sheetmetal panels. Greg had hundreds of man hours building it.
Here is the near finished but functional end result. It really turned out beautiful. The only thing it really lacked was upholstry to the coach. Its on a late 70's Bronco frame with 12 inches of lift and giant 44 super swampers which balanced out the hight of the body pretty well. Among other things a fully enclosed functioning trunk with lid(improvement over Rodneys) One of his trim screw holes was misaligned so Greg cleverly added that arrow to fill the hole.
All the black trim was hand formed from heavy guage steel strap. Greg had almost as many hours building this trim as he had spent building the actual body itself. The door handles are each half of a real horseshoe that I later had chrome plated for him. You can see a stereo mounted to the underside of the roof. It was fully mufflered and ran super quiet. I remember riding "shotgun" about 20 feet up in the air on clear, still, cool evening right at dusk with a perfect view of the surrounding desert with western style frontier music playing low in the background.(movie soundtrack style) A great memory!
This is how you got up there; you had to go through coach, then up through the roof and onto the front seats. You can see the basic bench seats are in but no cushions.
as you can see it was a fully functioning off-road vehicle. This was one of many short rides out to see this 40 ford coupe that had been in this wash since the late 60's.
Greg next to this long lost treasure.
The smile on his face says it all. Fortunately he got several years of enjoyment out this rig before he passed. Looking back on it now I feel very thankful that I was able to contribute something to this special vehicle that gave him so much pride and joy. Thanks for reading this! Justin
In the late 90's Greg and his good friend Rodney Rucker (another Greg directly influenced) decided they would build an old west style wagon and stagecoach constructed on late model fullsize 4WD truck frames. Greg would build the wagon and Rodney decided he would do the Stagecoach. The stagecoach was of course far more involved as it would be all steel construction. I remember Greg telling me about the numerous trips Rodney took down to Disneyland to get detailed measurments off of thier stagecoach. They both eventually finished them and were the hit of the parades for all the years to follow.
There he is! Good old Greg with signature cigar in hand standing next to his first old western style creation. Those lanterns really worked by the way; Greg had wired in Halogen bulbs where the wicks used to be and they functioned just like headlamps.
Steel angle iron skeleton with wood planks. The occasional rain and harsh desert climate quickly aged the wood perfectly. Steel hoops for the top and a canvas cover just like the real deal. The cow head on the tailgate was some of Greg's plasma cut steel artwork.
Greg had alot of storage space there at the shop and Rodney kept his stagecoach with Greg. I should have taken a picture of it. At the time he had let the steel body rust over to age it and had this huge Diesel rig alloy wing on the back of it. Really cool looking creation! You could tell right away that Greg was a Stagecoach man and the wagon really did not do it for him. Anytime he took out friends and vistors for a ride he always fired up the stagecoach.
About a couple of years later Rodney was moving to AZ and was taking his stagecoach with him. I remember a visit shortly after it left; Greg was so bummed! The following trip I found him laying out the basic steel framework for his own stagecoach.
Unfortunately this was the only shot I took of it during the build phase. As with anything lesson were learned from the first build and Greg applied them to this new body making a cleaner end product. I was right in the middle of doing the bodywork on it and getting it ready for paint in this photo. This was a well constructed body; 1X1 square tube frame with 20guage sheetmetal panels. Greg had hundreds of man hours building it.
Here is the near finished but functional end result. It really turned out beautiful. The only thing it really lacked was upholstry to the coach. Its on a late 70's Bronco frame with 12 inches of lift and giant 44 super swampers which balanced out the hight of the body pretty well. Among other things a fully enclosed functioning trunk with lid(improvement over Rodneys) One of his trim screw holes was misaligned so Greg cleverly added that arrow to fill the hole.
All the black trim was hand formed from heavy guage steel strap. Greg had almost as many hours building this trim as he had spent building the actual body itself. The door handles are each half of a real horseshoe that I later had chrome plated for him. You can see a stereo mounted to the underside of the roof. It was fully mufflered and ran super quiet. I remember riding "shotgun" about 20 feet up in the air on clear, still, cool evening right at dusk with a perfect view of the surrounding desert with western style frontier music playing low in the background.(movie soundtrack style) A great memory!
This is how you got up there; you had to go through coach, then up through the roof and onto the front seats. You can see the basic bench seats are in but no cushions.
as you can see it was a fully functioning off-road vehicle. This was one of many short rides out to see this 40 ford coupe that had been in this wash since the late 60's.
Greg next to this long lost treasure.
The smile on his face says it all. Fortunately he got several years of enjoyment out this rig before he passed. Looking back on it now I feel very thankful that I was able to contribute something to this special vehicle that gave him so much pride and joy. Thanks for reading this! Justin
Needless to say its very thirsty and pricey to opperate. But like the Blastolene Brothers motto states: its not about the "miles per gallon" its the "smiles per gallon". 
Its a deathtrap and really needs a full cage. If this ever got off its wheels it would wad up that old body like an empty cardboard box. This is one creation that truely lives up to its name. So Gregs old stagecoach is with a very worthy new owner. Thanks again Craig!
That thing looks awesome and must be an absolute blast to ride in!! I love race parts!!! Thanks again Loved them! Justin
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