First published in the December 2004 issue of Street Machine

Customs. Not the unsmiling guys who stop you at the border. Not bizarre dances involving lederhosen and slapping. We’re talking cars that have been modified to enhance the design given to them by their original engineers. First you remove features such as badges, door handles, metal from the roof and height from the suspension, then you add things like fancy wheels, different grille inserts and — most importantly — eye-catching paint.

The master of this art is John D’Agostino and these three cars were designed by him. John’s skill lies in picking a rare and desirable car, usually a solid original, and getting talented body builders and painters to weave their magic according to his vision.

In the case of these three cars, the talents belonged to John Aiello and Darryl Hollenbeck from Acme Autobody in northern California.

Built in the late 90s, the cars found their way to Australia through a private collector but are now part of the Hollywood Classics fleet and can be hired out. Imagine rocking up to your wedding in one of these cars — or even better, all three!

MARILYN

Probably the best known of the three cars is the ’53 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. When it hit the show scene in 1998 it was judged the World’s Most Beautiful Custom and also earned the Goodguys Custom d’Elegance Award.

The modifications to this car are quite subtle but very extensive. Starting from the front, the stock grille has been frenched into the body, the windscreen has been chopped and a solid one-piece Carson-style top was built. Well actually, it wasn’t just the windscreen that was chopped; so was the roof. Chopped off in fact.

The car started out as a solid, bog stock, Coupe de Ville but as the plan was for a Hollywood Boulevard cruiser, the roof had to go. No point having a car this cool if people can’t see who’s driving it.

Most of the stock brightwork has been left in place but for a large piece which ran vertically, just behind the door. Instead, the trim was removed and the bodywork modified to form a scoop. The tops of the doors were also re-worked to form a sweetheart dip that follows the curve of the fender fade-away. Subtle, well thought out modifications, the kind you don’t pick up at first glance which is the sign of a good custom.

As the plan was for a Hollywood Boulevard cruiser, the roof had to go

Way out back, the fenders have been lengthened five inches and the Continental Kit (spare wheel carrier) has been modified to sit lower and closer to the body.

As beautiful as the outside of this car is, the interior is where it’s all going on. A herd of Swedish Elmo cows gave up their hides so that the acres of interior could be covered in an antique gold leather. With front seats sourced from a mid-60s T-Bird and a custom wraparound rear, the interior is a classy and cosy spot.

Behind the seats, the bodywork has been customised to finish flush with the seat tops and also dips down to meet the custom-made console which runs the length of the interior. To dress up the console, a Cadillac crest and V adorn the rear while at the front, a bumper over-rider has been modified to form a chrome ornament between the seats.

The crowning touch is the fade-away paint job applied by Hollenbeck. Using a combination of cream, yellow and gold pearls, the design highlights the features of the bodywork. It’s a very difficult paintjob to get right, but Hollenbeck learnt from the best. More on that later.

1. 1. Console is capped with a chrome ornament which was originally a ’53 Cadillac bumper over-rider. Dash insert is bird’s-eye maple and adds even more class to the luxurious interior.

2.That big bullet of chrome hanging off the front is what we call an Appleton or dummy spot. Reason it’s called a dummy? Because it doesn’t actually work, it’s just there for looks. Windscreen had around 41/4 inches removed but not before the whole roof went on the scrap heap. Yep, this sucker was once a two-door hardtop.

3. 3. Although the tail-lights and bumper are stock, the rear quarter panels have been extended five inches to accommodate the Continental Kit.

3. 4. Rear seat was found in a mid-60s T-bird but has been split and a console running the length of the interior fills the gap. The luxo look is completed with acres of leather.

IMPERIAL ROYALE

The other car featuring a fade-away paint job is the ’57 Chrysler Imperial. With bodywork and customising by Aiello and Hollenbeck again, it was off to the master of the fade-job, Gene Winfield, to lay on the blended mix of coppers and golds.

Winfield has been customising cars for close to 50 years now and he’s renowned for his fading and blending skills.

Before the paint could go on, the body needed massaging to bring it around to D’Agostino’s vision. From a rendering by brilliant automotive artist Steve Stanford, the team at Acme Autobody got busy with hammers and dollies.

Most obvious change is the roof, which has been chopped just enough and capped with stainless roof trim from a ’59-model Imperial. The stainless roof option was quite rare, with only 400 or so leaving the factory so equipped. When John went looking, he found two four-door cars at a wrecking yard, so it was out with the tin snips and back to the boys at Acme with the shiny stuff.

The chop meant custom glass for the windscreen. That involved creating a frame which matched the window opening and desired glass profile perfectly. That was sent to Europe where the moulds were made and a handful of screens produced. The frame alone took 16 hours!

The rear screen remains stock but has been laid forward and recessed into the rear parcel shelf. This is an old custom trick and is usually done because you can’t cut rear glass. To finish everything off, the rear window trim was also modified to suit the new opening.

Chryslers are renowned for their fins. The boys at Acme thought they could improve the design

1959 was a good year and the same model car donated its rear bumper which has been modified with custom tail-lights by Winfield. Front fenders were extensively modified to fit the ’57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser headlights.

Late 50s Chryslers are renowned for their fins. The boys at Acme thought they could improve on the factory design so they got out the cut-off wheel and removed a triangular chunk from the rear of the fin. All up, around thirteen inches was taken out of the length of the fin. Finally, the fins were flattened for a sharper profile.

Ever wonder where all those Hemi engines come from? You’re looking at it. The Imperial came from the factory with a 392 Hemi. This one has been souped up a little with a dual-quad Weiand intake and a couple of Edelbrock carbs. There’s also a fair bit of shiny stuff in the engine bay, something you don’t see too often in customs as the bonnet usually stays shut.

When the factory comes up with crazy gear like swivel seats and square steering wheels, why would you look anywhere else for interior details? Seats from a ’59 Imperial and the wheel from a ’58 Chrysler add to the style. Covering the seats is a pearl white leatherette and copper fabric.

1. 1. With the back of the fins chopped off, new pieces were formed starting from the bottom and working up. Horizontal relief cut was required to narrow the profile of the fins and remove the hump where original tail-lights once lived. You can see the stock ’59 bumper before the custom tail-light lenses went in.

1. 2. Pretty easy to see here the amount of work that went into the fenders. Profile is formed using round tube, then sheet metal is used to fill in the gap. Front of the fender was heavily worked to bring it down and in to meet the new headlight treatment.

1. 3. A heap of work went into fitting the ’57 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser headlights. The fender was split lengthways and heavily massaged to meet the new light set-up while the leading edge was extended to meet up with the bumper.

1. 4. Not an optical illusion caused by the wide-angle lens. That steering wheel is actually square and was originally bolted to a ’58 Chrysler. Seats swivel and were another Chrysler option, this time from 1959.

1. 5. Fins copped a major reworking with the original tail-lights and a fair chunk of metal removed to give them a forward rake to match the angle of the roof pillar.

1. 6. Nicest engine bay of the lot belongs to the ’57 Imperial, and yep, it’s a Hemi. So now you know where those old drag racers nicked their engines from!

’57 COOL

Is it okay for a guy to like a pink car? We reckon it is, especially when it starts off as a ’57 Cadillac Eldorado Seville. If you’ve got some knowledge of D’Agostino’s history, you may be thinking that this car should be candy apple red. Nope, that’s his other ’57 Cadillac, an Eldorado Biarritz he customised and chopped a few years earlier.

This one managed to keep its roof at stock height and is painted in a custom candy raspberry and magenta, once again laid on by Hollenbeck. You may wonder why this car, unlike the other two, didn’t received a bit of a haircut. Part of the reason may be that the car was built in just 87 days! The reason for the mad rush was that it was to be the centrepiece at Cool Caddy Nights, a show held in Reno, Nevada.

Although it doesn’t have the major modifications of the other two, a lot of work still went into this baby. Stock ’57 Cadillac grilles are quite plain, so to dress things up the boys at Acme created a clean boomerang-style grille.

While we’re up front, those big chrome bullets pointing the way are a combination of the stock over-riders with ’53 Cadillac bullets welded on to form one serious set of Dagmars. Headlights were also slightly tunnelled.

When it comes to customising Cadillacs, especially the 1957 models, you have to be pretty careful. They’re pretty much custom cars straight from the factory and customising is the art of improving a car, not changing it just for the sake of change.

Out back, four exhaust pipes rumble out the sweet song of the 365 Cadillac engine. So that people don’t run into you and ruin all that nice work, a set of ’53 Buick tail-lights replace the stock units.

The car was built in just 87 days to be the centrepiece at Cool Caddy Nights

Other subtle modifications to the body include filling all the seams, rounding off the door corners, removing badges … and, of course, those door handles just had to go.

More of Elmo’s white cows met their maker so that this cool custom could get trimmed in a beautiful tuck and roll design. Raspberry-coloured carpet covers the floor and the rest is pretty much how the boys at Cadillac built it.

So it’s okay for blokes to like pink cars.

1. 1. Cadillacs of the Eldorado variety are pretty much factory customs. Some bullet tail-lights and knockout paint is about all that’s going on here. Four pipes let the world know that there’s 365 cubes of Cadillac V8 getting things moving.

1. 2. A classy interior is a must for a top custom. Acres of white leather stitched to a pattern designed by D’Agostino adorn the seats and for a bit of contrast, some raspberry carpet got the nod.

1. 3. Most obvious change here is the boomerang grille. Replacing the stock egg-crate grille, the custom piece gives the car individuality. Other mods include the removal of the bonnet ornament. The front edges of the bonnet and fenders were also moulded to follow the contours of the bumper and grille more closely. Massive Dagmars are a combination of the stock units enhanced with bullets from a ’53 Cadillac.

DAGMAR

Dagmar? What’s that? Dagmar was the nickname for a 50s TV actress whose real name was Virginia Ruth Egnor. She gained fame in the early 50s for appearing in figure-hugging outfits that accentuated her assets. When you see her in profile, you can see the connection between the automotive bodywork and Dagmar’s.