Warren Dorrill's 1949 Ford Club Coupe

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Warren Dorrell.

This is a short blog. I couldn't find a lot of information on Warren Dorrill. But I thought his car was cool and wanted to showcase it in my blog list. So, check it out. If your a car nut, you should enjoy it. And, thanks for stopping by.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 2-16-2026

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1949 Ford Club Coupe owned and restyled by Warren Dorrill of Gallup, New Mexico. Built over a span of two years, the car is also known as "The Shark".

Warren was a well-known bodyman and painter, and he began by building the "Shark" from a 1949 Ford Club Coupe. He had a basic design in mind, however, he worked it out in metal as he went along. The front was redesigned by extending the front frame rails to support the downsweeped front fenders and hood. The shark nose hood featured air scoops on each side. Another scoop was located beneath the front bumper to provide enough cooling, by this way a grille was not necessary. All body seams were filled, the deck lid seam as well. The front wheel wells were redesigned and fender skirts were added in the rear. Three Cadillac taillights were mounted on the rear end, and the exhaust was routed through were the stock taillights once was. Inside the car featured 35 different switches and signal lights and 11 gauges. November 10 thru 16, 1952 Warren's Ford was shown at the third annual Motorama.

Where is it Now?

According to rumors, Warren's Shark is still around, and last we heard it was located in Tennessee. Warren's family are currently trying to locate the old family custom, and if possible buy it back. Please get in touch with Kustomrama at mail@kustomrama.com if you know where the Shark is today, or if you have any additional info to share about the car.

Update ~

In April of 2018, after posting the car in the Kustomrama Lost and Found section, Benny Grable told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he saw the car in Jacksonville, Texas a couple of years ago. A couple of months later Sondre received an email from "Bill," who could tell him that he was the current owner. Located in Tennessee, Bill had owned it for more than 20 years when he wrote Kustomrama. When Bill bought the car it had been painted in black primer.

Besides building cars, Warren also rebuilt wrecked airplanes and he specialized in the old Beachcraft Bonanza models. The ones with the V tail. He traveled into Mexico to get wrecked planes and bring them back to rebuild them. He painted Ray Charles's Lear Jet, And one of Vic Morrow's Cadillacs. He also painted some of the planes in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. To name just a few. Most of his plane work was done in Salinas, California.

A secret about Warren is that with the exceptions of the guns, on every vehicle he painted or built somewhere on it will be a strawberry. This strawberry will usually be in the rear of the vehicle There is a certain way he drew that strawberry as a signature for his work. The strawberry may be a full color strawberry, or it may almost match the color underneath it. But it will be discernible.