chopolds

I was going through some old pictures of cars I did, and came across this one, Thought you guys might get a "kick" out of it! The owner was a huge fan of customizing cars, but at this point couldn't afford to buy a 40's or 50's car to start with. So he did it with his daily driver 82 Olds. I did the metal fab, bodywork and paint, but all by his design.
He started by flaring the wheel wells, and adding a pseudo running board/exhaust cover. He loved Trans Am scoops, so he added them to his quarter panel. Next a complete restyle of the front end. I made him a stainless tubular grill, with International truck headlights, and some sort of emblem in the center. I had to reshape the fiberglass nose of it to match. I frenched in the side marker lights, and he wanted Edsel bumpers, of all things! I also had to make a center piece, and splash pan, to fill in between the bumpers, and mount the front license plate.
The rear end also got the treatment. Kawasaki tail lights. Now, anyone who owns one, knows the tail light housings are plastic. I had to remove them completely, and fabricate them out of steel, to do any customizing. I also made panels to eliminate the stock lights. The rear got Edsel bumpers as well, with new pans, and 4 tailpipes filling the center!
Of course all door handles, locks, trunk locks, emblems, were eliminated and smoothed off. To match the car's shape, and be different, I did a square tunneled antenna. Rich found a bunch of 37 Ford tail light housings and put gauges in them, and set them on the hood.
The paint is what sets the car into crazy territory. I have NO idea where he got this concept from, but it makes the car pretty recognizable, at least! It was fun trying to figure out how to do it, and it was a blast actually pulling it off! A Mazda red pearl was used as a base, and I blended House of Kolor Pearls for the graphics (so it would have a softer look). Had to figure out a way to shoot the 'spots', so they were slightly fuzzy around the edges, not masked off with sharp edges, as it wouldn't' look right.
I called in the great NJ pinstriper, Anthony White, to edge the flames, and to put some designs wherever he wanted. His striping is a work of art in itself!
I'm sure a lot of you won't like it, and might even be upset, but the owner loved it, and drove it all over, both every day, and to car shows. He had to sell it after retiring, and I believe it went to Canada.

redoldsman

You are correct. I don't like it but I do admire the metalworking skill and amount of work that went into it. You give the customer what they want. You did an incredible job. I bet it drew lots of attention.

Olds64

You did so much work to that car it's amazing it isn't more wild. I can still see the Oldsmobile underneath all the customization. Very cool!

59-59-59

That is so ugly that I think it made me sterile. What a waste of some great customizing and paint skills. Too bad it didn't end up somewhere further than Canada

oldcutlass

Although not my taste I can see the nice work you put into it. It reminds me a bit of the 60's/70's styling influence from show cars.

olds 307 and 403

Those are great cars but not overly pretty stock anyways. It is OK, the bumpers make it look a bit funky.

Olds64

With the modifications, it reminds me of a Stutz from the same era.