Customikes Artistic Metal Magic

OK so I’m being asked to supply a story to describe how the 55 ended up at Customikes. “Just a few short words” he said. Well it may be longer than he asked for or wanted but here it goes.

Growing up our family was pretty much GM buyers, my grandfather drove Buicks from the 30s through the 60s. My earliest memories of cars was my grandfather’s and uncle’s 54 and 55 Buicks which were in the driveway when we gathered for Sunday dinners at my aunt and uncles house. My dad bought a 57 Chevy wagon then a 60 Pontiac Bonneville station wagon and we used that to move to our new home in Downey when I was 5 plus some memorable vacations to Yosemite and the like. Dad had a “work” car that varied from a Vespa to a Vauxhall to a 64 VW to a couple of VW buses, Toyota Coronas, a 53 Chevy (I drove it in high school) to a 72 Mazda RX2 (don’t ask him about that one) to inheriting my grandfathers last car a 65 Chevy Malibu. We also had a 68 Olds Delmont 88 with a 455 that we drove to Washington DC and back when I was 13. I learned to drive with that car (although he didn’t know it at the time!).

I caught the old car bug when my dad bought a 37 Buick 4dr sedan to restore. He never really started on it but I was always climbing it and pretending to drive it and checking in Hemmings for parts, so one Christmas he gave me the pink slip! No money and still in high school, it sat until I reluctantly agreed to sell it to someone at his work so that it would get done (never heard if that happened). I bought a 58 Buick convertible my last year of college and set about to do the 100 point restoration (didn’t happen). But then I got the bug for a 57 Pontiac Safari wagon which happened to turn up in Lakewood, but I had to buy his brothers 57 Transcontinental wagon to get it. I fixed that up and sold it to my brother (another story for another day). Then there was the 32 Pontiac Sedan with a rare factory V8 (another story for later). Then I sold my Toyota Celica for a 67 Camaro RS convertible and drove that to school and work off and on for the next 30 years (still have it!). Then the 41 Pontiac coupe, the 59 Chevy truck, the 68 Cadillac flower car, the 64 Bonneville wagon, the 71 Pontiac LeMans, the 64 Bonneville coupe, the 60 Morris Traveler. Some got done, some got halfway done, some got sold.

Somewhere around 5 years ago I started thinking about doing a hot rod rather than a restoration. I had always like the 50s Buicks and especially the 55s with the scalloped quarter panels, portholes and the cool grilles. I thought this time I would go low tech, just a rat rod with a good motor and not much else. I started to look a bit but no real candidates until one day at the Pomona Swap meet this salmon colored rolling pile of parts was sitting in a space. I had my son and a couple of his friends with me and we started to check it out. All the chrome was there but in the trunk or the back seat, the radiator was gone but the motor and trans was still intact. The roof had some dents and the passenger quarter panel showed obvious Bondo but little rust otherwise. The price was reasonable so I called my wife and she gave her approval. But by this time there was about 4 people crawling around the car, asking questions and trying to lowball on the price. I figured I had to make a move so I offered a deposit and the rest in 24 hours, he agreed and even delivered it to my house on his tow truck.

So it arrived and made its way into the garage where it sat for about a year or more while I gathered up parts and decided what to do. I wanted a reliable driver so instead of rebuilding the 264 nailhead I opted for a 72 455, that meant getting another trans and that meant a different rear end to replace the torque tube and that meant………well you get the idea. What was to be a cheap fun car became something much bigger. Having grown up in Downey I used to go past Watson’s Paint and Body on Firestone Blvd all the time. I know now that the “real” Watson’s was somewhere else but I saw cool cars getting metal flake, flames and candy paint jobs there. I once had a flyer from them I saved for when I got my first car; they were doing roofs in pearls for $120! Back then if you couldn’t get your whole car done if you could at least get the roof you were still OK. Plus I realized my wife was not going to enjoy riding in a rat rod (not that they aren’t cool in their own way, but I have to provide the creature comforts if she is going to be willing to ride in it). So I went to a mild custom vision and maybe recreate something like I would have seen coming from Firestone Blvd when I was in high school. I originally name the car “Lo Tekk” but I think we have passed that point a while ago. Nosed, decked, frenched antenna, etc we are on our way to something out of an old Rod & Custom magazine photo.

I have abandoned the idea I will get anything done by my self anymore, between work and family and whatever else comes up it will be forever before I get it done (if I do). So I started looking for someone to help make things happen. I talked to a few people and found Mike on the HAMB. We talked on the phone then I met him out near the shop and went back to have a look at the place. The 56 Ford wagon and 57 Buick were there so I could see what kind of craftsmanship Mike can provide. His knowledge and skill was quite apparent, his experience with other cars and what looks right is very helpful to me and the way we work together make this fun and enjoyable instead of the drudgery some of my past projects became. We’ll keep the photos coming as we progress (I’ll be the old guy with the moustache!)

Jon.