Custom Car Builder's Dream Machine
By noderel:
Automotive dreams are funny things. One enthusiast falls in love with a Corvette and a Model T Ford entrances another. In the film Tucker: A Man and His Dream, we were told the story of Preston Tucker's advanced looking car that had a helicopter engine mounted in the rear. The famous "dream cars" of the 1950s ranged from cool-looking Buick Wildcats to rocket ships on wheels like the Lincoln Futura (that George Barris turned into a Batmobile).
Our feature car was purchased from the estate of a 96-year-old professional mechanic who was quite a craftsman. He built custom cars and played with Harley-Davidson motorcycles all his life. However, his dream car was the 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK roadster. That's the same car that inspired industrial designer Brook Stevens to create the Excalibur. This man went Mr. Stevens one better, by handcrafting his dream machine out of stainless steel.
He started this project in 1965 using the running gear from a late-1950s Ford. He set the 351-cid Ford "Cleveland" V-8 back 2-1/2 ft. in the chassis to improve his car's maneuverability. He then fabricated custom header pipes, also from stainless steel. The engine was attached to a three-speed automatic transmission that drove to a posi-traction rear axle. "Nothing-but-the-best" was the man's motto. As a hot rod aficianado, he wanted to build a quality ride.
For sure stopping, he adapted a dual reservoir power braking system to the chassis and for safe lighting, he mounted four headlights in chrome buckets and set things up so that two of them turned in the same direction as the wheels.
The hand-formed body panels were meticulously polished. He then added a copper hood and hood side aprons. The cycle style fenders - held on the car with curved and rolled stainless steel mountings - were finished with gold paint. A set of Goodyear polyester whitewall tires were mounted on Tru-Spoke wire wheels at all four corners and a fifth, matching wheel and tire were Frenched into the rear deck. Curved stainless steel bumpers protected both ends of the car and there are matching exhaust heat shields at each door.
The custom-formed bench seat inside the car is upholstered in Chocolate Brown leather and the seat tilts forward to give access to a luggage stowage area. Black "Turnpike Cruiser" carpeting with gold threads covers the stowage area and floor, coordinating with the black convertible top, which has a glass rear window. Even the door panels are trimmed in leather with black Turnpike Cruiser carpeting along the bottom.
The car has a 0-degree custom wood steering wheel and Smith & Wesson door handles. The dashboard was handcrafted out of mahogany wood and fitted with a full array of Stewart-Warner gauges. Custom made wind wings with chrome surrounds and chrome-plated outside rearview mirrors add to the car's well-finished quality.
Other features of the car include a louvered chrome air cleaner, a 6-blade stainless steel cooling pan, a clear see-through distributor cap, front air shocks, a chrome Ford gear shifter, Concho spur taillights, spinner hub caps, a stainless steel classic style grille and header panel and a custom windshield frame.