THE WHOLE JOLLY STORY

by Curt Chivers

6/1/2024

THE WHOLE JOLLY STORY

by Curt Chivers

6/1/2024

OK little Fiat. Where are you? We are still here on the HB Pier waiting for you. I’m keeping a look out over the ocean. Mostly for fish.

The tow driver answered my call the next morning. He did not know about the fire. We were all happy, feeling lucky, and waiting at home.

A little blue ‘63 Fiat sedan finally arrived in HB on July 18, 2015. My Grandson, Tim, and I were anxious for the arrival.

That’s my 1968 Chevy C 10 pickup at the time.

Each Jolly was converted by hand by Ghia craftsman in limited production. It is believed that fewer than 100 Ghia converted Jollies exist today, and Fiat 600 based Jollies are considerably rarer.

Famous Fiat Jolly owners, at that time, include Aristotle Onassis, Yul Brynner, Grace Kelly, Mary Pickford, Mae West, Gianni Agnelli, Lyndon Johnson, as well as others.

The Fiat Company gifted a Ghia 500 based Jolly to Lyndon Johnson between 1963 to 1969.

President Lyndon Johnson, his daughter Luci, his Grandson, Lyndon Nugent, and family dog Yuki.

President Johnson, at a height of 6’4”, could almost see over the windshield of his Fiat Jolly.

This is the first Jolly I ever saw in person. Wicker or rattan seats were the standard Jolly seats while Surry Tops were a standard option.

This is a House of Ghia “Factory photo” of a 1963 Fiat Jolly. I prefer the earlier Jolly look much more.

The rattan seats are cool looking, but I would use my original Fiat sedan seats redone with Sunbrella fabric fashioned over new boat-seat foam.

My Jolly would be converted to match the body style of the coral-colored Jolly above.

I would fabricate unique rear armrests with steel reinforced wooden grab-handles that look like the handmade wooden tail blocks of vintage longboards. Original Fiat 500 and 600 sedans had no armrests.

Structural Strength Goals: A standard Fiat sedan is a six-sided rectangle enveloping the weight of up to 4 adult passengers.

The sedan has the strength and rigidity to resist flexing and twisting when rolling over potholes, speed bumps, etc.

The biggest challenge was how to re-engineer and fabricate this frameless car to be strong and rigid once the top and doors were removed.

The Fiat 500 and 600 sedans do not have a frame under the car body. These are “monocoque” chassis cars. These are single-hull or single-shell structures like the shell of an egg.

My final design may be a bit heavier than the factory Ghia Jolly, but it may be stronger.

My longboard roof idea changed in

July of 2019.

The change was inspired by a vacation bus tour ride Joanne, Tim, and I took while on Vancouver Island, Canada.

This is a basic two-tone paint scheme on an early Jolly 600 with a Surrey top, Rattan Seats, and a standard Jolly Grill.

Aqua-blue and off-white colors are a fun Beach Ride look in my opinion. These colors are of a Custom 1955 Chevy Bel Air Show Car I saw in Sept 2018.

My custom-built handmade grill before chroming and polishing. June 2019.

The grill uses the standard center horn hole cover, and center aluminum whiskers. The stainless mesh was donated by my friend Ken Sheldon. The grill surround

and mesh were fabricated by my Grandson, Tim Chivers, and I in 2019.

The Fiat 600D Jolly Engine Story.

Pictured is Alberto Ferroni, owner of an auto performance and repair shop in Huntington Beach named Ital Meccanica. Alberto Ferroni standing next to my rebuilt Fiat 600D engine and Zbigniew.

Alberto and his shop were hired to completely overhaul and rebuild my 600D engine. The engine was in a rather attractive shape except for the cylinder head.

Alberto and Zbigniew still help me to this day. Alberto was hired by Fiat out of High School in Turin, Italy when he was 17 years of age.

Fiat’s corporate headquarters are in Turin, Italy. Alberto worked for Fiat for about 35 years and knew my Fiat.

August 2017, doors removed, rust repair, and structural strengthening and stiffening steel welded in.

Part of my strengthing plan was to strongly tie the newer 16-gauge floor structure to the newly added 2” by 3” 16-gauge steel tubes. I was building a 5-sided rectangle that would be skinned by new thick steel sheet inside and out. The skinning will also add to the structural strength and rigidity of the car.

Sept. 2017 shot of one of the two strong side

structures installed using rosette welding

and grinding.

Both the above 17-gauge steel side structures strongly tie the 16-gauge floor to the stout 2”x 3” 16-gauge frame quality reinforcement tubes and the 16 gauge round tubes above due to the short square truss-like tubes and the added stiffeners at the wheel wells. In addition, this will all be skinned in welded-on steel sheet.

To my knowledge these 2” by 3” rectangular frame quality tubes were not installed on the Ghia Jollies. The beads add stiffness and strength too. It was finished welded and ground smooth before more primer was added. Both sides and floor beef-up work were performed between 10/2016 and 9/2017. Nearly a year.

June 2018 photo of some steel and structural build-up and steel skinning work inside and out.

The added structural steel tubes, strong internal and external steel skinning adds both strength and style.

Much cutting, fitting, welding, and finish grinding of steel tubes and sheet steel was done DIY in my garage. It ended up a six-year total DIY journey. I continually learned more and enjoyed it. Strong and nice was my goal.

Woody roof design of choice for my 1963 Jolly.

The woody roof of a large 1949 Dodge Power Wagon 4x4 Fire Truck Fire Battalion Chief’s Woody Wagon with fire axes in the back. Many fully equipped First Responder/Fireman

could fit in this large working woody.

In research I had looked at and measured many Woody roofs. They are quite different.

I like these bows, the headroom, the tight-fitting roof slats, and style of this roof.

Perhaps I could hand-build, customize, and size it to fit my Jolly. I had fun thinking, designing, trying, and fun doing the work.

October 2019 photo of first band saw cut of Woody Roof rail.

The rails were next machine planed then belt sanded by hand to matching final dimensions.

The five roof top bows were

all cut on this bandsaw.

I still wondered if I could somehow add a strong steel tube to reinforce the whole oak frame. I got an idea later and decided to just try it. More on this below.

November 2019. Assembly work being done of the roof bows and roof-end shaping on the roof-rails.

The roof height is slightly lifted to supply easy passenger egress while also providing nice open viewing during driving and riding. The roof rear is lifted to match the 3” higher rear seat. The top will be covered with long white oak slats of ¼” x 1” x 7’ long. All are fitted close together, edge-routed, wood-filled, sanded, tapered to fit at the ends, waterproofed, and finished for UV resistance and

waterproof good looks. Fun garage time and many weeks of work.

In March of 2020, a finished roof frame and bows awaits the fitting of about fifty

custom made white oak slats.

In July of 2020 slat work began. Each roof slat required custom work. Four to six slats installed per day was about my limit. About ten slats on each side were tapered on the ends for proper fit. Each slat was cut from a thick white-oak board, planed for correct thickness, edge routed, sanded, glued, and double air-nailed in fourteen places.

A total of about fifty slats were needed. We had twenty or thirty “do-overs”. Oh Yeah, we grew our “Experience” too.

This is a driver’s fun view of the Woody Roof.

The slats were finally edge glued, filled, and finish sanded before four brush coats of Varathane Spar Urethane was brushed on for waterproofing and UV resistance.

Total time for the Jolly Wood Roof project was about twenty-eight months of good garage music fun.

Stanley Chavik of “Hot Rod Chavik Speedsters, USA”, Orange, CA.

Stanley is an extremely skilled and talented metal fabricator and custom car designer and builder.

In June of 2020, Stanley Chavik fabricated the future brightwork and custom bumpers on my Jolly by precisely measuring, cutting, TIG welding, and fitting the one-inch DOM steel pieces. Each piece was later precision

ground at these precise TIG welds and triple chrome plated at an excellent chrome

plating shop named D&R Chrome

Corporation located in Huntington Park, CA.

Stanley also fabricated my new front and rear Jolly bumpers. He matched the curve of my old bumpers and the car front body line curves. June 2020 photo.

August of 2020.

More to do and still fun. The color is PPG’s Reef Aqua and off-white. Beach Cruiser Perfect!

Putting the shiny bits on this freshly painted little surf tribute Jolly Woody is like putting beautiful jewelry on a pretty Surfer Girl. It’s fun and it looks so good.

January 2021. Engine all restored and all in.

A fun little 767 cc, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke, water cooled 29 HP engine, and a 4-speed Jolly Beach Cruiser.

That radiator on the right is about the size of a phone book. Fun and fast enough!

Finally driving with only one seat, no top, and no wheel caps. Still more fun work to do. March 2021.

Finally completed June 5, 2021, after about a six-year journey.

Photo of my now “Jolly Woody” in Belmont Shores, California.

Reef Aqua and Off

White. Strong and nice was my goal. The result was pure fun!

Paint and color sanding by PCC Auto Body in Huntington Beach.

June 20, 2021 on the Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach. This sweet little ride is now a “Car Guys Oreo” sitting between two serious Hot Rod 60’s era Cobras. Beach Cruisin begins in a Huntington Beach Jolly Woody.

August 1, 2021 Huntington Beach Concours d’Elegance Classic Italian Car Class First Place Win.

This win was an unexpected surprise to me. When I think about everything starting in July of 2015 the whole six year build journey was so special to me.

Driving it around Huntington Beach and the SoCal coast is really fun and special.

Hmmm! So what might be next?

You are never completely finished with a car like this. There are lots of ideas and it is fun to keep going.

I love my new custom Shift Knob hand made out of beautiful dark and light hardwood.

2021 Seal Beach Car Show

October 9, 2021.

Proud win of

Best Special Interest Car Class

Beautiful sunset at the new Huntington Beach Pier dedicated in July 1992.

October 2022, I finally received my new custom 60’s style license plates.

I was even able to buy my first choice: “63 JOLLY”

December 2022 Morning in

Huntington Beach.

Pretty cool photo that Joanne doctored. She removed all the beach trash cans, fire pits, and a big white truck from the HB Pier. I like it!

On a sunny but cool day on January 24, 2023, I took a nice Jolly lunch drive to Belmont Shore

and Long Beach.

I had to turn around, park, and run out in the middle of Ocean Boulevard to take this photo

4/29/2024 Class win at 2024 Seal Beach Car Show. It was a fun day talking about this unusual and rarely seen car. Joanne and I enjoyed the weather too.

Huntington Beach Pier north side surf spot looked like great fun. And sometimes it was

“Going Off”.

Steep, Hollow, Overhead, Smoking Offshores, Glassy Faces, and Small Crowd!

Jolly Good Fun!