Written by Chadly Johnson
Artists, it seems, have a bit of an unfair advantage when it comes to building a custom car. Their artistic eye can bring together all the elements of design, color, flow, and proportion in a way that results in a true stand out. Sometimes the artist executes the build themselves, while some entrust others to bring their visions to reality. In the case of Cleen Rock One, owner and founder of Chrome Gypsy Tattoo in Las Vegas, it was a bit of both.
Cleen grew up around classic cars, but always migrated towards vans. Cleen stated when he looks back at old photos of himself as a young man attending car shows, he was always posing next to a van for the photo. That early attraction to vans led to the ownership of several once he hit driving age…most often in the form of 1st generation Econolines. With several van builds under his belt, Cleen has come about as close to perfection as possible with his latest masterpiece.
As with many amazing builds, Cleen’s ’64 Econoline had humble beginnings, starting out as a stocker purchased off E-bay. Cleen recalls winning the auction, then having to drive down to a small ski town in New Mexico in the middle of a snow sotrm to retrieve his new prize. The van was dropped in Austin, Texas as Cleen was planning to move to the Lonestar State, but after a year of sitting, the van and Cleen settled in Las Vegas. Cleen drove the stock ’64 for a year before the engine blew, and it once again became idle. After a period of time, Cleen decided it was time to get back on the van. The body was blasted and the tedious task of body working the 50 year old panels was tackled by Larry Dolton. Once the body was arrow straight, a rendering of the van was commissioned by artist Jeff Allison, which brought Cleen’s vision to life on paper. The paint concept was amazing, so Cleen turned to friends Ryan Evans of Kaotic Paint, and Joseph Torres to bring the paint concept from paper to reality. The guys pulled off one of the most gorgeous and complex paint jobs I’ve ever seen, a true rolling piece of art.
At this point a friend of Cleen’s suggested that he try and get the van into the SEMA show, so a few teaser shots along with Allison’s rendering were submitted. The van was accepted by SEMA with open arms, this was great news…what wasn’t great was that SEMA was only 30 days away! The rest of the van came together in time for the SEMA show thanks to countless hours put in by Cleen, and a host of good friends. Even during this crazy period, Cleen took the time fab up the awesome side pipes, tube grille, and unique bumpers himself. Some of the financial and timeline burdens were eased by the fact that the van got picked up by some SEMA sponsors who graciously donated their products towards the build. Cleen laughed thinking back at how insane the last week was before the SEMA show. The van had to be dropped off each day at Unique Upholstery by 7:00AM so their crew could work on it all day until 5:00PM when Cleen would pick it up and trailer it home so he could continue to work on it until it once again had to get dropped off at 7:00AM…repeat, repeat, etc.
As you can clearly see, all the hard work and sacrifice by all involved was worth it as the final product is no less than perfection. Cleen is quick to give thanks to all his friends who were involved and the generous sponsors who donated parts. They include: Cragar rims, Dynamat, Optima batteries, dxGrafix, Al’s liner, Scorpion, MS Metal, and Best Muffler Shop. The van was so well received at the SEMA event that Meguires Polish Company asked that it be put in their display right at the front of the show, and Cleen even got pulled up on stage to be on a TV show.
If you find yourself in Vegas, you may see this timeless Econoline cruising the streets of Sin City, or parked in front of Chrome Gypsy Tattoo where Cleen will be laying down killer ink, or out back wrenching on his next amazing creatiion…either way, I can’t wait to see what this artist turns out next.
