Ken FriantPleasant Grove, UT1955 Ford Crown VictoriaOur next custom offering comes from Ken Friant with his '55 Ford 'glass-top Crown Victoria. Ken pulled most of his influence out of an old "Trend 1959 Custom Car Yearbook" when choosing a theme, and what he came up with is frenched headlights, a shaved and scooped hood, a custom tube grille, shaved body trim, emblems, handles and trunk lid, and the most noticeable custom modification-the '60 Chrysler taillights. Ken had well-known artist Dave Bell design the paint scheme, and then had Triple R in Pleasant Grove, Utah, spray it. From the dash to the trunk lid, everything has been treated to rolls 'n' pleats-even the back half of the roof got the treatment! After collecting pieces for years, Ken says he has at least 20 complete sets of flipper hubcaps and he likes to change them once a month just to keep his friends guessing. Power comes from a 351 Cleveland backed by a C6 automatic transmission.
Howard (Spider) ZimmerFinleyville, PA1954 Mercury MontereyIt would seem that custom car owners have noticed the increased presence of their favorite form of transportation and sent in some great examples of their own personalized rides (i.e. customs)! Howard Zimmer's '54 Mercury Monterey starts off this batch of killer whitewalled cruisers. The two-year build features frenched headlights, a shaved and scooped hood, shaved handles and decklid, and a pair of inverted '56 Packard taillights. The slicked-up bodywork has been coated in a hue Howard calls "Bittersweet" topped by a tan top. Inside is a rolled 'n' pleated interior, and a dressed-up 312ci T-bird Y-block is under the hood. A set of '57 Caddy caps rolling inside a set of Coker wide whites finishes off the look.