Info Requested on Wardy "Spud" Longboard

Hi Everyone,

I have a Wardy “Spud” longboard that I pulled out of my brother-in-law’s garage in the mid 90s.  I surfed on it a few times then hung it on the wall in my garage.

The dimensions are roughly

9’ 5 3/4" in length

22" wide and 2 3/4" thick

The board width is 16" when measured one foot from the front tip.

I’ve heard that Fred Wardy had a shop in Laguna Beach so assume it was built there in the early 1960s.  Other than that I have no info.

Haven’t decided to keep it or sell it.  Any thoughts on what it might be worth?

Thanks!

Scott

 






Fred Wardy’s shop was at 525 Forest Ave. in Laguna Beach. He did a few models, but never one called a “Spud”. My guess is that someone added that lettering after the fact. Wardy was known for making quality boards and that crude lettering is not in keeping with what I’d expect on a Wardy.

This board was likely made around 1964, from the general looks of it and fin style. Otherwise, it is a typical stock board from the period. The person that added that leash plug lowered the vaule of the board by doing so. Stock 60s longboards have dropped considerably in value since the peak of the collector boom 20 years ago. If this board was in mint condition it could maybe fetch $1500. As is, you will be lucky to get $1000 unless you find a person that is Wardy obsessed.

thanks for the info.  Funny, until you mentioned it I never really noticed what a poor job someone did lining up the lettering on “Spud.”   

 

Scott

I failed to mention this.

If you are looking for a valuation on a board, complete and comprehensive photos are required. You show no pics of the bottom except for the fin area.

For all we know the bottom could have some ugly bits that are not shown.  Pics that clearly show any and all damage should be included, as well.

 

We have the same shape, mine is 9’7, board #4615.  There never was a ‘spud’ model…our boards were the last of Wardy’s modified D fins before he went to his first speed fin, which was on my first custom, a late 64’ Wardy…

Suggest Google Fred Wardy’s life…when he left shaping, moved to New York where he became a well known sculptor and artist, and opened up NY’s first co-op art gallery.  Also one of the early pioneers of the surf breaks around NY.  Last I heard Fred had moved back to CA some years ago to be by his daughter, and was living a quiet retirement in Long Beach.  Wardy’s in the wild are actually fairly rare boards, as he shaped less than most of his peers, many of who hired shaping crews to ramp up production, which Fred never did.   

Agree it’s likely a $ grand board with that leash cup…definitely hurts the value…if wanting max value, find a pro repair dude, have him pull it and match the foam color and use volan glass best he can.  Even if somewhat noticeable, it would be more acceptable to a serious collector.


True, Wardy’s production numbers were quite low compared to other brands of that era. He did employ a few other shapers but not to the extent of other brands like Hobie, Weber, G&S, etc. In the period this board was made other shapers that Fred employed were Pat Curren, Del Cannon, and Larry Bailey. Carl Ekstrom shaped some Wardys around 1960.

great info, did not know that…killer lineup…always admired Del Cannon’s boards…stopped in his shop once on a Baja run from NorCal…maybe 67’ or so.

Ran into Greg Noll and his wife Bev in a diner outside Crescent City, shared a booth for a couple of hours…Dora, early North Shore, 60’s board scene…Greg called out Wardy as one of his fave’s back in the day…personally love old unrestored longboards, war horses that endured.

cheers

As stated;  Not many Wardy’s out there.  Be wary of Wardy boards that have been pigmented/restored etc.  May not be Wardys at all.  Yours and lcc’s are.  The shape, stringer, fin and clear finish are the identifiers.  But other than Noll’s “Da Cat”,  Wardy’s are probably #2 when it comes to fakes.  At least up here in the NW.

At an annual Lincoln City surf shop board swap, older gent shows up with an 11’  full on Wardy rhino chaser, said he’d picked it up years back in a garage sale ‘down south’ had been hanging on a wall ever since…he was moving to a smaller place, didn’t want to lug it with him…had an obvious recoat of white pigment over the entire board excepting the 2" solid stringer…bitchin shape…had to weigh over 50#…was very tempted, thinking power sand the recoat off to get back to the volan sun cancer patnina…got my LED flashlight from the truck, shined it through the bottom to the deck…obvious board had been snapped in half, stripping glass as it did…passed on the board, wondering where it came from, the stories it could have told…had to have been a Waimea gun, where else could have snapped it like that back in the day…based on Sammy’s comment about Pat Curren having shaped for Wardy, very likely…

Great discussion - exactly what I was interested in.    

I’ve attached two photos of the bottom since I neglected to do that in the original post.

Thanks and Happy New Year.