1960-64 Chrysler - Desoto custom & mild custom

1961 Chrysler Newport - Danny Dornan
There definitely seems to be a theme to cars built by members of the Persueders Car Club out of Hollister, California. Big ’50s and ’60s cruisers in suede paint sitting low seem to be the club’s mainstay. You might remember Ki Hansen’s Mercury featured on these pages back in April 2009. Hansen is a buddy of Danny Dornan, who owns this ’61 Chrysler Newport, and knowing Danny was looking for a project, he called him when he spotted an ad for this car in the local paper.



According to Danny, “The grainy black and white picture just showed the front of the car, but I was intrigued. Two days later I met the owner, a nervous-looking guy standing next to an 8-foot fence with a locked gate. Turned out he was getting divorced, and his soon-to-be ex-wife was on the other side of the fence. Before we went in he told me he had to sell or move his cars by the end of the week or she was having it all taken to the dump. His collection included Mopar muscle cars of just about every model packed in so tight we could barely walk between them. The Chrysler was wedged between a rusty Dart and a Challenger. It had a little surface rust, but all the trim was present and the glass was in good shape. Then I saw them! The biggest fins I had ever seen on a car, starting mid-door and launching off the back like some wild ’60s spaceship. It was just what I was looking for.


“The guy was now pacing and nervously looking at the house and the figure staring at us from a window. Then he hit me with the price. He muttered “$2,000 and it’s yours.” I thought to myself about how he had to move these cars by the end of the week and figured I was in a good position to negotiate. I offered $1,000, which of course got me back to the gate and on my way with no car. I kept my fingers crossed and two days later he called. He took the $1,000, and wasn’t happy that I wanted it delivered to my friend Junior’s shop, Aldape’s Automotive, in Salinas, as part of the deal. I guess the timing was right as that afternoon the car showed up at the shop! Junior thought the car was crazy, but I had big plans.


“After a couple of days I had a running car with new brakes. Now it was time to start the transformation. I wanted a mild custom, not straying too far from the factory looks, but low and super smooth. I looked to Pep’s Customs in Salinas, California, who molded the front turn signals, reworked the taillights, shaved the door handles, mirrors, antenna, and emblems, and repaired some rust in the rear quarters. Lionel Duran, at Spectrum Auto Body, then shot it in Prowler Orange basecoat. Yeah, I know it’s green now, I’ll get to that!”


With re-chroming handled by Best Chrome in San Martin, California, and Mirror Image in Salinas restoring the stainless trim, the Chrysler was taken back to Aldape’s Automotive to get it sitting right. The torsion bars at the front were turned a few notches, and 3-inch lowering blocks added at the rear to achieve the desired stance, just in time to throw some old blankets on the seats and head to Paso Robles for the West Coast Kustoms show. This was back in 2003. Danny says, “Nothing beats that feeling I had when I pulled onto Spring Street. The sun was going down and the Friday cruise was in full swing. I had Skratch pinstripe the decklid at the park, and was amazed as I watched him lay out the intricate pattern. I had always wanted to be able to paint like the greats and ever since my dad had his truck painted by Rod Powell back in the day. I asked Skratch how I could learn to pinstripe and he simply said, ‘Just go for it man.’


“Fast forward a couple of years and though I was having fun with the car I was tired of the orange color. So after a lot of sanding and some more bodywork Duran once again painted it, this time a lime green basecoat. Up to this point I’d been cruising with not much of an interior. I kicked around the idea of swivel seats from a Chrysler 300 but couldn’t find a decent pair. I wanted something custom yet comfortable for my wife and kids. I got word that a local junkyard had an old Chrysler in it, so I headed over there. It turned out to be a ’60 Imperial with a cool bench seat with bucket backs and wraparound trim. At my wife Alysha’s suggestion I went to Ray’s Upholstery in Watsonville. He helped me select the pearl white with Lumia Green piping and matching green headliner. While the car was apart I pulled the dash and my dad helped fill the speaker hole and smooth the corners before I shot it in heavy green ’flake with a little panel fade.


“Once again I got it back together just in time for the West Coast Kustoms’ show, this time in Santa Maria, where, to my surprise, it was voted one of the Top 5 mild customs. On the ride home I reminisced about the day I first saw it, how Junior thought it was a crazy-looking ride, how I dreamed of building this uncommon mild custom, all the late nights working on it, and whether I was done building. I’m sure there are more changes coming, and I’m sure Junior still thinks it’s a little crazy looking. But for now, I think it’s just right.”



Rod & Custom Feature Car

Danny Dornan
Hollister, California
1961 Chrysler Newport

Chassis

The big hardtop employs the stock chassis and suspension, though the front torsion bars have been cranked down to bring it closer to Terra Firma, while 3-inch blocks lower the rear.

Drivetrain


El Camino Machine and Welding in Salinas, CA, machined the stock ’61 383, to which Danny added finned valve covers and an Edelbrock Performer intake fitted with a Demon 625-cfm carburetor. A Cadillac repop air cleaner from Mooneyes tops it off, while the stock exhaust system was Jet-Hot coated and uses Blue Streak glass pack mufflers. The stock TorqueFlite trans still performs its duties, though it has been rebuilt by Cesar at The Transmission Center in Salinas.

Body & Paint

Pep’s Customs molded the front turn signals and taillights, shaved the handles, mirrors, and trim, frenched the rear bumper, and moved the brake lights to the backup light locations, using ’59 Caddy lenses. Lionel Duran at Spectrum Auto Body sprayed the PPG lime green basecoat. The pinstriping is owner-applied. Both front and rear bumpers have been smoothed.

Wheels & Tires

A quartet of 15x7 Wheel Vintiques chrome OEM-style wheels are wrapped in Coker Classic 205/75R15 whitewall radials.


Interior

The ’flaked and panel painted dash sits behind the stock steering wheel, though the bench seat is from a ’60 Imperial. Pearl white vinyl with green piping cover the seats and door panels, with moss green short loop carpet on the floor. Jesus Arellano helped Danny fabricate the armrests for the doors.



Article complet: http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/featuredvehicles/1112rc_1961_chrysler_newport/viewall.html

Richard Zocchi's 1962 Chrysler 300, winner of the George Barris Kustom D Elegance award
America's Most Beautiful Roadster 2013


This eye-popping 1962 Chrysler 300 is Richard Zocchi’s latest masterpiece in his long line of custom beauties. It debuted at the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, CA in January 2013 and was awarded the coveted George Barris Kustom D’Elegance Award, which is his pick for the Best Custom in Show. Master painter Art Himsl applied PPG toners and pearls which were custom mixed by Art and then topped with gold pearl. The colors are a soft and medium orange sherbet.


http://www.zocchicustomcars.com/

Richard Zocchi has debuted a new car at nearly every GNRS since 1964—almost 50 years! This year he competed against his son, David, in the Radical Hardtop class (Richard owns this '62 Chrysler while his son came with '62 Bel Air), and David edged out his dad taking Second in class while Richard took Third.

Representing the custom world, we have a stunning ’62 Chrysler 300 created by well known builder Richard Zocchi of nearby Walnut Creek. Known as “Cool 300″, this the latest in a long line of Zocchi’s custom creations.


While the body of the Chrysler has been heavily massaged, the angled headlights are a factory feature that was left intact. An example of some of the bold styling features seen on American cars of the early ’60s.



It’s hard to think of a more fitting wheel and tire combo for this car than wires with knockoffs and wide whites. It just fits with the high end custom style so well.

To show just how well this car has been received, it was selected as the winner of the George Barris Kustom D’Elegance Award at this year’s Grand National Roadster Show.


http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/03/spotlight-o-rama-an-all-american-selection/

Glancing through the heavily chopped roofline, you can see an interior that’s been done in the same “sherbert” color scheme.

Rod & Custom Feature Car
Richard Zocchi
Bay Area, California
1962 Chrysler 300 Hardtop

Typically, pastels are reserved for spring/summer dresses and bathroom décor. That manly (loosely interpreted) rule of thumb is completely erased, however, when it comes to custom cars. And no man speaks pastels louder than Richard Zocchi—with his countless customs, that is.

A NorCal fixture, Richard's been messing around with custom cars since he first obtained his driver's license, and along with another Bay Area namesake or two, can be credited with the revival of customs/kustoms in the 1970s, following the debut of his memorable Merc "Cool 50". On through the '90s till pretty much this day, Richard has managed to unveil new rides almost on a yearly basis. With no preference to any one particular marque—he's owned everything from a 1962 Pontiac to a 1939 Dodge, 1957 Fairlane to a 1960 Olds—about the only real constant: pastels! And that's not a dig in any way, shape, or form, either...soft hues and customs go hand-in-hand, like mossy oak and beards.
1962 Chrysler 300 Hardtop Taillight

Richard's latest, which he debuted at last year's Grand National Roadster Show, goes to further reinforce the fact that there's no such thing as "hands off" when it comes to potential makes/models. In stock form, the early-'60s Chrysler Imperial is as close to a factory custom as you'll find. That obviously had no bearing on Richard; his 1962 300 hardtop is a perfect exercise in fair game-netting, excellent results.

As he's done in so many years past, Richard relied on another area local icon, John Aiello, to handle the Chrysler's body transformation. That consisted of, among other things, chopping the top (4 inches, with a 1967 Camaro backlight used), sinking the stock headlights in a "faux-frenched" manner, reverting to a 1961 Windsor grille, and incorporating 1960 T-bird rockers. Art Himsl followed step by applying the custom-mixed PPG pastel toners and pearls topped with a gold pearl (which Aiello painstakingly buffed out). Inside, Concord Auto Upholstery's Freddy Diaz laid out white alligator and vinyl appropriately to accent the exterior. A stock but air-assisted suspension accommodates a quartet of custom knockoff-equipped chrome wires, sporting Coker radial wide whitewalls. The brightwork (both chrome and stainless polishing) was aptly handled by Sherm's Custom Plating, while the stock 383 underhood was rebuilt by Rich Garcia.

Whether it's a soft pearl yellow, cool yet vivid mint green, or a blended, peachy pink, Richard's preferred color palette always seems to hit the mark—but don't let that distract from the underlying customs that each custom paintjob drapes. Each of his vehicles speak for themselves design-wise, as well.

Read more: http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/featuredvehicles/1406_1962_chrysler_300_hardtop

1962 Chrysler 300, 383ci, candy tangerine, flaked out top, static dropped