"MY 1951 HENRY J" by BILLY MARKS                                                                            I was thirteen years old in 1964 growing up in New Castle, Pennsylvania. I was becoming increasingly interested in cars, especially cars of the early 1950's. I simply became intrigued by the first Henry J that I saw. Even at that time, Henry J's were becoming rare. I can only remember a very few on the road in the mid 1960's. It took me a while to figure out exactly what they were, especially since some had "ALLSTATE" script on them. Finally I became somewhat educated about them and set out to find one.      Those that I knew about in junkyards were rusted into the ground. This is typical in Pennsylvania. Finally at age fifteen, I found my Henry J, which I own to this day. It was wrecked in the front end. An elderly couple wrecked it and it ended up on its way to be a dirt track stock car. I saw the car from the road and inquired about it. It was perfect timing. The owner lost interest in the project and sold the car to me for $40. It was badly smashed in the front, it was an ugly shade of gray and I loved it.       I worked on the car for nine months. It ended up with a set of Corsair Deluxe front fenders. The corsair script is still on it. I kept the four cylinder "Super Sonic" engine but equipped it with a Stromberg  two barrel off of a Studebaker. The car was painted Chevy truck forest green. It was beautiful!       I turned sixteen and got my drivers license. I couldn't wait to drive my Henry J. I drove the car to school for a few weeks. It was very popular. Then tragedy struck. It was a rainy Saturday and my friend and I decided to go for a ride. The roads were slick and my rear dual 90's Cadillac hearse tires lost grip. I lost control of the little car and hit an embankment. It was the worst day of my life as I saw my Henry J all smashed up again. This time it was both front fenders, hood, both doors and rear quarter panel. Not much to work with. It was back to the drawing board!       The next two years were spent finding or making parts and equipping it with a 331 c.i. Cadillac engine with three deuces and an Isky cam. I bought this powerplant dirt cheap out of a 1932 Ford street rod. Before I ever got the car on the road, I was in the Marine Corp serving in Vietnam.       When I returned, the car just got towed around as I moved from place to place. Slowly I worked on it when I could. The way too heavy Cadillac engine has long since been replaced with a 250 c.i. Chevy with an Offy intake carrying two carbs. The body has been restored and it still has the Corsair Deluxe script on the front fenders. As a matter of fact, it's been over thirty years and I'm still working on it!! I don't know what it is about the Henry J, but I still love it. Now it's retricted to a parade or two in the summers and an occasional summer drive. 2-1-2003