1953 Ford Victoria - Clarkaiser shop

The car was built in 1953/1954 by the famous Clarkaiser shop out of Detroit, Mi and was shown in 1955 and 1956 at the Ford Rotunda show. It was pictured in a bunch of the old car craft magazines which I do have. I had big plans to do a frame-off restoration and bring it back to the 2 tone silver/grey version, but started to realize time and space is going to be a problem for a while since we lost our shop/garage this summer and don't have to place to take it apart. Since I bought it, I made it a little more period correct and made it a cool driver.  When I bought it had a 289/auto on the floor with the tilt column and etc which looked terrible, so I was put a good running flathead and 3 speed in it with a nice original ford accessory K steering wheel, like how it was back in the day, also the rear was changed because I didn't like the 4.11s in the rear so I wanted something that was more highway friendly and the trans is actually an original 53 o/d trans but I never had a change to hook up the o/d.

Like I mentioned I had plans to restore the car, so that means this car DOES need work and was restored in the 80s and does show its signs of age which means, cracks,bubbles and etc so the body should be stripped down and done correctly. The interior a is actually in pretty decent shape, the headliner I was told is the original custom headliner and i believe the door panels and sun visors also may be the originals of when the car was originally shown as they look similar in age.

1953 Ford Victoria restyled by Clarkaiser Custom Shop for Frank and Charles Gilardone. Clarkaiser fit the car with a unique 1953 Ford Meteor grille assembly. The headlights were frenched and modified with handmade sheet-metal shades. Teeth from the upper bumper of a 1953 Mercury were installed inside the scoop in the hood. The front bumper was relieved of all trim. The taillight shades were also hand formed out of sheet metal. The rear license plate was inset into the rear deck panel. For a smooth look, the bumper guards were removed from the rear bumper.[3] The top on the car was chopped 2 1/2 inches. The restyling took place around 1953-1954. In 1955 the car was exhibited at Ford's own rod and kustom show at the Rotunda auditorium in Dearborn, Michigan.[1]This version of the car was painted black.[4] The car was also shown at the Rotunda in 1956. By then it had been painted silver.[5]

1953 Ford Victoria restyled by Clarkaiser Custom Shop for Frank and Charles Gilardone. The Clarkaiser shop fitted the car with an for the US rare 1953 Ford Meteor grille assembly. The headlights were frenched and modified with handmade sheet-metal shades. Teeth from the upper bumper of a 1953 Mercury were installed inside the scoop in the hood. The front bumper was relieved of all trim. The taillight shades were also hand formed out of sheet metal. The rear license plate was inset into the rear deck panel. For a smooth look, the bumper guards were removed from the rear bumper. The top on the car was chopped 2 1/2 inches. The restyling took place around 1953-1954. In 1955 the car was exhibited at Ford’s own rod and kustom show at the Rotunda Auditorium in Dearborn, Michigan. This version of the car was painted black. The net year the car was again shown at the Rotunda, by then it had been painted two-tone silver.

In 1975 Karl Gilewicz of Harper Woods, Michigan bought the car from a guy that lived far out on the 8 mile road in Detroit, Michigan. The old custom had been painted in gray primer, but it was still in its original custom configuration. It still had the stock Flathead V8 with a 3-speed manual transmission, and all of the chrome for the car was there with exception of the 1953 Ford Meteor grille. It still had the spotlights on, but the fender-skirts were missing. The doors were opened by solenoids, and as far as Karl could determine, the interior was still the original custom interior. The dash was original and unmodified, but painted in a sort of gunmetal gray as he could recall. Thinking back, Karl believes the front and back seats were done in either two tone dark blue and white or black and white rolls and pleats. The headliner was white with black piping. Karl was 18 years old at the time, and bought the car for $850.00. As the car would not stay running, Karl had to tow the old custom back home. He got the car running, and drove it around as weather permitted for about three years. Around 1979, he sold the car to a guy from Pontiac, Michigan.



After selling the car, Karl saw his old Clarkaiser custom advertised for sale around 1988. It was listed in Detroit News, and Karl called the current owner. The seller was asking $10,000 for the car, and by then it had been fit with a continental spare and a late model V8. In 1991 Rick Hines bought the car from a dealer in Jackson, Michigan. The car dealer had bought it from another dealer in Detroit. By then it was painted black and received a new grille treatment. The chrome trim was removed from the hood scoop. Rick later heard that the car had been sitting next to an old gas station for about 10 years before it was restored to its current condition. After installing new brakes, fuel pump, radiator and battery the car was back on the road again. Rick drove the old custom around for about 2 years before he put it in storage in a barn for about 15 years. November 2007 Rick advertised the car for sale. The asking price then was 25 000 USD.




Mikey Miranda of Bloomfield, New Jersey bought the car in 2013. While Mikey owned the car, it was featured as one of the historic customs at the first Customs by the Sea car show in Wildwood, New Jersey. In November 2015 the car was sold to a new owner in Texas.



Magazine Features
– Car Craft August 1955
– Car Craft November 1956
– Car Craft December 1956
– Car Craft March 1957
– Custom Cars September 1957
– Car Craft April 1958
– Custom Cars August 1958
– Trend Book 143 Restyle Your Car
– Kustoms Illustrated Issue 41