Buick 1950 - 1954 custom and mild custom galerie

The 1953 Buick Skylark convertible that Maratta displayed at the 1956 Hartford Autorama was restyled for a Doctor that Bozio can’t remember the name of. The Doctor worked at the Hartford Hospital, that was just down the street from Frank’s shop. The build was started in 1955, and completed in time for the 1956 Hartford Autorama in February. The build was not completed when the souvenir program for the show was made, so that contained under construction shots of the car. What is interesting about this custom is that it has quad headlights, or as the souvenir program described it “dual-twin headlights”! The first production cars in the US to have quad headlights could be seen on the streets late in 1956 as 1957 models. Titled “New Customizing Ideas”, the cover of Motor Trend June 1956 contains a quad headlighted 1954 Ford F-100 truck belonging to Martin and Morris Srabian. Known as the Wild Kat, the iconic truck was restyled by Barris Kustoms. Barris have for a long time been credited as the originators of the quad headlight styling with this truck. Andy Southard photographed the Wild Kat at the 1956 Monterey Kar Kapades in March of 1956. By then the scallops had been pinstriped. The photos that appeared on the cover of Motor Trend June 1956 shows it prior to the pinstriping, so those photos were at least taken before March of 1956. John Bozio believes that Frank finished the Skylark late in 1955, so it might happen that Frank was ahead of the famous Barris Brothers! According to the book “Barris Kustoms of the 1950s”, “the Wild Kat was the first vehicle ever to feature quad headlight styling, beating Detroit by two years.” Well, at least their production cars. In 1954 Cadillac debuted two concept cars named the “La Espada” and the “El Camino” at the GM Motorama. Both these featured dual headlights controlled with an Autronic Eye. Photo by John Bozio.

The Buick was a coupe that had the top cut off and made into a Roadster. The work look good to me as far as fit goes. No windows, windshield is good, has the original drivetrain in it engine runs good has aluminum Radiator, dynaflow trans. Car is a good looking car to me but shows some age in the restoration. Looks to be laquer paint that has some cracking in it and little flaws here and there. The chrome looks to be redone at some time and the stainless polished. Doors work good, needs some work on brakes, gauges don't work. Looks to be rust free, tires look good almost new. The interior, has a little tear on the driver's seat the rest looks pretty good. Packard Taillights.

54 Buick Full Kustom with 57 Buick/Olds roof with 3 piece rear window, chopped 3" in front and 3 1/2" in rear. Roof caricature lines carry through into trunk lid like 57's. Shaved door handles with electric remote solenoids. 57 Lincoln quad headlights with 49 Chrysler taillights. Rear 1/4's reworked to fit into bumper corners. Front hood corners rounded, front fender port holes moved below side trim. Complete rebuild of 65 Riviera 425 nailhead/4 barrel, rebuilt turbo 400 transmission, new NASCAR truck arm rear suspension and GM 10 bolt posi diff. Original power steering and front suspension with Fatman and dropped uprights. Comes with new tie rod ends and idler arm for installation. Coker Classic Bias ply wide whites and Caddy wires.

THIS 2 DOOR RED AND GREY ALL METAL BODY BUICK APPEARED ON THE COVER OF THE 2016 CRUISIN TIMES MAGAZINE FROM THE CAR SHOW AT HERITAGE DAYS IN GREENVILLE, PA. - THIS CLASSIC AUTOMOBILE HAS A 1957 BUICK 364 NAILHEAD MOTOR - A 1980 R4 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION W/OVERDRIVE - AN ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP - 1986 CAVALIER POWER RACK FOR STEERING - 4 BAR REAR END SYSTEMS - 12 VOLT BATTERY IN TRUNK - VELOUR GREY AND RED INTERIOR - HAS SHAVED DOOR HANDLES AND IS NOSED AND DECKED - PIONEER RADIO - NEON LIGHTS UNDERNEATH - AND MUCH MUCH MORE