Inside the spacious cabin, a ’56 Cadillac dash was installed because Roger felt its center glove compartment would work better with the Vintage Air A/C unit, essential for those long summer trips (yes, this cruiser gets driven). Ed Banes at Banes Interiors stitched the stock power seat—as well as the balance of the interior—in pearl white Naugahyde and contrasting purple fabric similar to a stock ’55 Cadillac material. Grape carpet covers the floors. The dash was stripped of its leather and painted roof color, as were the door moldings.
Speaking of color, did you notice the car is two-toned? Very subtle. The top is painted 1955 Ford Regency Purple. The paint on the body has been kustom-mixed to match a pearl printing ink—Roger calls it Lollipop Lavendar. The trim separating the two colors at the rear window has been lengthened 6 inches on each side to bring more color onto the deck. And did you notice those two scoops at the rear of the roof? You’ll never guess what those came from. No, they’re not a ’58 Impala. Thinking outside the box is of prime import when building a kustom—so, too, is keeping a few secrets!
Once the body mods were finished, Roger drove the car to Len Hoogland for finish bodywork, and then to Wright Weldon’s paint booth, where Weldon applied the glossy PPG finish and did the polishing. Final assembly took place back in Roger’s backyard garage. On its first outing—Greybeard’s Crème de le Chrome Auto Show in November 2010—the Coupe De Ville captured a First in the Full Kustom Class, plus Outstanding Use of Color-Kustom, the first of many awards the huge Cadillac has received. That’s one more reason bigger is better—the Cadillac’s massive trunk will come in handy for hauling home all those trophies.