Carmen Customs

pudge444 · Addicted!

Carmen Customs

beaumontguru · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I've seen that car before, it sure looks familiar. but it was a long time ago

I wonder if that is corvette 1975 GM bright blue, Sure looks the same color as my convertible!!!!!!!!

There is another one almost identical. I remember it had black painted A-pillars and when it first was out i think it even had BC plates, but i think it is a different car

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Hmm, I don't recall seeing it there. I'll have to ask Brian. I don't know where that is in Carman.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I just noticed it's in Michigan!!!

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

I just looked at their website. Isn't his employee, Jeff Friesen, a member here on CP? Pretty sure he is. I think he has been asking questions about 67 Beaumonts, so that would make sense.

pudge444 · Addicted!

Carl Stevenson wrote:
I just noticed it's in Michigan!!!

Ya It's in the US, not Carmen, MB

I also emailed Carmen Customs to see where that car came from.

-- Edited by pudge444 on Sunday 8th of January 2012 03:39:06 PM

forespeed · Poncho Master!

Carmen Customs is in Freeland, Michigan about 8 miles from my house. The shop that has done most any work I have needed in the last 5 years is also in Freeland, MI. The name of that shop is ASI and RaceFab is under the same roof. They painted the 63 Acadian SD.

I talked to Jeff at Carmen a couple times about working on my Acadian shortly after I bought it. The only thing I was leery about was they did not have an in house painter. They were doing mechanical and fabricating and then bringing in someone to paint the cars on a contract basis. At the time, they had a backlog of business and I wasn't happy with the wait time.

Ed Belfour bought a home here and built Carmen customs next door back when he was playing for Chicago. I believe he married a girl from this area. Jeff was a childhood friend of Ed's and they worked on cars together back in Canada. Jeff was hired to manage the shop after it was built. Ed has had a number of ground pounding vehicles over the years. I heard several years back, he was spending most of his time in Texas now.

pudge444 · Addicted!

Turns out the car is from Portage. Below is the reply I received from Jeff.

Hey Kevin,

No, I got it from my cousin in Portage La Prairie, close enough to Brandon though, he could of had
in there many times. He had it for about 20 years. It was my dad's car when I was a kid, & when he
passed away last spring, I had to get it back. My cousin wasn't driving it & luckily he agreed it
meant more to me than him.Should be shooting some primer in a couple weeks, metal work & fitting
all done. Look for updates in a few weeks.

Jeff

cjfreez · Veteran Member

Just thought I would ask the question here. This is Jeff from Carman Custom. Were we in between painters or something when you were here? We have always had an in house painter unless 1 quit or we were replacing one. Just wondering.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

When Ed played for the Leafs he had a tremendous mid 60's Belvedere and Custom '39 shown at Speedorama at the CNE grounds. A friend of mine played for the Leafs for a long time and one day when I was at the rink I mentioned seeing the cars to Ed. He sure loved his cars and talking about them. I guess you built these ones Jeff.

cjfreez · Veteran Member

Yes those are a couple of cars we did, I loved that Belvedere. I wanted to correct a couple of things Forespeed mentioned. We may have been looking for a painter when he was here to replace 1, or 1 may have left. We have always had an in house painter since we opened. Ed's wife is not from this area, & I was here long before (7 years) we started working on cars as a business, not hired after the shop opened. Just trying to keep that facts straight, that's how stories get messed up.