World War Two changed the world in more ways than we as a society could ever understand, but as hot rodders we know all too well. Surplus military parts became some of the items in our playground. Knowledge and skills gained through fabricating military weapons for war turned into gifts that were utilized in making new machines. People were relocated to areas where manufacturing machines for the war created job openings.
Such was the case for Joe Wilhelm, a would-be worker that moved from his home in Nebraska to San Jose, California, in search of work at a defense plant in 1942. Wilhelm had been working in his home garage at 17-years-old, learning how to work with his hands. After the war was over, Wilhelm started doing custom work as a hobby on his own cars, then branched out to working on other people’s cars in 1945.
Starting with molding deck lids and hoods, he quickly moved into more difficult fabrication work and began doing mild customs for anyone that wanted a clean job done. Slowly but surely, his custom cars began to show up in the local car shows around 1945. His unique work started to get coverage in magazines and selected in the top ten at major shows. That was all Wilhelm needed to push him into doing wilder kustoms.
Working out of his own shop, Wilhelm’s Custom Shop on 23rd street in San Jose, he steadily became one of the customizers that people came to for top level builds. His popularity forced a move to a larger shop at 465 Stockton avenue.
In the golden age of Kustom car building when futuristic cars were popular, Wilhelm designed and built some of the most unique customs to come out of central California. Most notable of these builds was a hand built show rod called Wild Dream, a 1936 Ford Coupe he called Mark I Mist, a 1956 Chevrolet for Eric Bracher, and a 1957 Chrysler for Clif Inman.
Wilhelm also helped other up and coming customizers like Tom Viviano on his 1952 Oldsmobile Holiday 88. Sadly, Joe Wilhelm passed away in 1998.
Joe Wilhelm’s Mark I Mist may have been Wilhelm’s favorite build as he sought it out and purchased the car, keeping it until his death. The car was originally built in as a concept in 1959. Sectioned, chopped, and channeled, with major front end fabrication, this heavily modified car was featured as one of the nation’s 10 best customs in 1961.
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