Green Goblin - Chad Hiltz.

“Because I said I can do it.” The Green Goblin cab-forward custom takes shape



Chad Hiltz describes himself as “just some mojo” who lives up in Canning, Nova Scotia, a town of a few thousand people that seems to be no closer geographically or culturally than East Erewhon to the hot rod and custom Mecca of Southern California. But Chad has a plan to make a name for himself in the custom car scene, and he intends to do so with his latest build, a 1962 Chrysler Newport that he calls the Green Goblin.



While most people familiar with hot rod and custom history will immediately think of the Deora, the Dodge A100-based cab-over pickup that the Alexander brothers built from a Harry Bradley design and used to win the famed Ridler award in 1967 – and, indeed, Chad’s Newport would share similar proportions and a single Isetta-like front door with the Deora – other car-like cab-forward customs used similar lines over the years, including the 1973 Ford Explorer concept and (to a lesser extent) the 1988 GMC Centaur concept and the Dean Moon Cheetah transporter (and, though only in the realm of fantasy, the dozens of cab-forward photochops that we managed to inspire in recent months).



Chad said he certainly appreciates the Deora, but wasn’t necessarily inspired by it or any other existing custom or concept, more by his desire to push the boundaries of modern customs and to get name recognition for his restoration and rodding shop, Green Goblin Customs. “And mostly because I like doing this,” he said.



Of course, in the tradition of radical customizers, there isn’t much left of the Chrysler that he got for free last July, a four-door sedan that had been stripped for parts for use in the restoration of another car. No drivetrain, no interior, hardly any suspension or glass to speak of, and plenty of rust chewing through what was left. “I just didn’t know what to do with the car after I got it,” he said. It wasn’t until he spied the roof on a 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass two-door he already owned that inspiration struck – he’d plop the Cutlass roof on the Newport’s body, but not where most people would put it. And for good measure, he’d power the thing with a Cadillac Eldorado front-wheel-drive power unit, but again, not where most people would put it.

So he started by cutting off the roofs of the Newport and the Cutlass and welding the Newport’s doors shut and fenders to the body, then positioning the Cutlass’s Colonnade roof over the Newport’s former engine bay. In the process, he cut away the Newport’s cowl, rear bulkhead, floor, and much of its trunk lid.



He eventually ditched the Newport’s frame altogether for a custom frame built from two-inch-by-four-inch box steel, connected to the partial frame that the Eldorado V-8 and driveline came on, positioned to get the wheels to line up with the Newport’s wheelwells.



He then edged the bed opening with exhaust pipe and filled the open spaces at the rear left behind by the removal of the bumper. As for the front door, he began mocking it up out of square tubing, intending to hinge it in the middle of the leading edge of the roof.



For the interior, he intends just some simple steel paneling to simulate the interiors of Hot Wheels cars. The seat will slide back and forth to make entry and exit from the cab easier. With a bulkhead/seat back in place, the engine and radiator will draw air from underneath. Chad apparently plans to have the exhaust stacks exit zoomie-style through the hard tonneau cover he’s fabricated for the bed.



The whole build has also been full of experimentation as well. While Chad considered front skirts to match the rears, he later ditched them for open front wheelwells. He’s also played with the length of the rear skirts and gone through at least a few different front end designs.



As far as the chassis goes, Chad used a basic airbag suspension with rack and pinion steering, Volvo control arms, and drum brakes up front with airbags over torsion bars for the rear suspension. Chad said the Green Goblin stands about four and a half feet tall overall, and with the airbags dumped, it’ll drop another six inches.



As it sits now, the grille features a goblin-esque beak over Mercury grille pieces, and the body has been filled, block-sanded, and primered with the help of a few friends. While Chad initially intended to have the Green Goblin ready to show in time for the Detroit Autorama next weekend, he said he’s now shooting for the Boston World of Wheels show at the end of March. To keep up on Chad’s progress, visit Green Goblin Customs on Facebook.

(Thanks to Andy/HarborIndiana for pointing out Chad’s work.)
- See more at: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/02/28/because-i-said-i-can-do-it-the-green-goblin-cab-forward-custom-takes-shape/

When we last left Chad Hiltz and his Green Goblin cab-forward custom 1962 Chrysler Newport, it wore a coat of primer, but Chad had yet to iron out a number of details – like exactly how the door would hinge up, the paint, and whether he would make it to the Boston World of Wheels show as planned. From the looks of things, though, Chad has managed to pull it all together in just the nick of time.
From perusing Chad’s Facebook page, we see that he did indeed paint the Green Goblin a pearlescent green with Hot Wheels-inspired metalflake silver interior and engine bay/bed.
 




As one would expect for a radical custom, though, Chad didn’t stop there. Metalflake red scallops now tear down the flanks and roof of the Goblin, and a lighter green highlights the roof pillars and zoomie openings. He also molded some red-tinted acrylic (in his oven) for at least the side windows, and went with a simple black-and-white scheme for the custom-built and upholstered seat. Moon caps on the wheels are understated, yes, but fit the Goblin nicely.



Oh, and before spraying the paint, he reworked the nose to do away with the beak and the Mercury grille inserts.

There still appear to be a few details to attend to, but Chad has a truck and trailer lined up to take the Goblin to Boston for this weekend’s show nevertheless.










- See more at: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/03/25/green-goblin-is-green-headed-to-boston-for-its-debut/

CANNING — Chad Hiltz is no ordinary car aficionado.

He is a custom car builder like no other. You could even say he builds the cars of his dreams — from the fanciful to the futuristic.

“I’ve had a passion for cars for a long time,” he said Friday at his shop on Highway 358 near Canning.

Anyone who has driven by would recognize it, with the large retro FINA sign on the roof and the walls covered with oil, gas and other 1950s-era signs, making it look like one of the locations on the popular television show Canadian Pickers.

“Every job I worked at, I usually got fired,” said Hiltz, showing no signs of regret. “They just couldn’t occupy my mind long enough. So I thought I’d better do something that I like and that I’m good at.”

Hiltz, 42, restores antique and old muscle cars. That’s his passion, and he’s getting international recognition for it.

Owner of Green Goblin Customs, he recently won three awards at the World of Wheels, an international car show held in Boston. A television crew from Germany flew over to film his excursion to the U.S. car show.

Prior to that he took home four awards at a speed sport show in Moncton.

So why all the fuss?

The Green Goblin, his latest car, which won the master builder’s award and placed first for radical custom, was a 1962 four-door Chrysler given to him as junk.

He cut the top off and welded the doors shut. Then he mounted the roof of a 74 Oldsmobile Cutlass on the front fenders where the engine was and moved the motor to the back of the car. He put a lifting door in the front, where the driver climbs in. The vehicle is more than five metres long.

“I knew it would work,” he said when asked if it was meant to be experimental.

“I’m going to show it for a little while and then I’m going to drive it. I took it for a drive Wednesday.”

The vehicle is registered for the road, as are all his custom builds.

Another car he calls Bat out of Hell, looks like, well, the Batmobile. It’s a white car with large fins. It’s the car he drives the most.

The Way to Heaven, is a brown coupe chopped really low in the roof, while the Canning Kid, is a futurist-looking hotrod with a blown Plexiglas bubble dome for a roof, like something out of the Jetsons.

He also built his 1939 Cruella De Vil, named from Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmations. It won two awards at the Moncton show.

He’s currently restoring a 1956 Crown Victoria for a client.

“I’m just trying to restore one car at a time. I live beside by my work. So I walk in to the garage every morning and try to do something. Not a lot of people are building stuff like this, or at least not finishing it,” he said.



“It’s what I like. I like old stuff. I’m kind of a rockabilly guy. I like old music, I like old cars, old dress, everything old.”

He also likes the response he gets from people when he drives by in one of his creations. They usually stare and point. Some will give him a thumbs-up.

To see more of Hiltz’s creations, check out his Facebook page.

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