Custom vehicles are all the rage at collector car auctions these days, particularly ones that were designed and built by famous folks. We recently saw that via a very unique 1963 Ford Thunderbird built by Don Russo, who treated that model to a bevy of customization features such as a thoroughly revamped body and a totally custom interior, along with enough other nifty features to nab it some show trophies. Now, fans of custom Blue Oval models will soon get the chance to bid on this 1955 Ford “Beatnik Bubbletop” model, too.
This custom 1955 Ford is scheduled to cross the block at Mecum’s upcoming Larry’s Legacy auction next month, and if nothing else, there’s certainly nothing else quite like it out there in the world – at least, not that we’re aware of. It was built by Gary “Chopit” Fioto over the course of four years, a man inspired by the likes of iconic custom car designers George Barris, Gene Winfield and Dean Jeffries. It actually started life as the chassis of a 1988 Lincoln Town Car, which now wears some extensively modified steel and aluminum bodywork.
Donning purple paint, this 1955 Ford is chock full of unique features including a modified 1959 Cadillac front bumper and 1958 rear bumper, canted Lincoln quad headlights, Chrysler tail lights and fins, hand-formed oxy-acetylene-welded steel fenders, door skins, and rear section, and a custom-molded Lexan bubble top.
Inside, one will find a white interior with four bucket seats, a tubular center console, even more purple paint, and a yoke-style steering wheel. The result is one seriously wild machine, and also a car that has racked up loads of awards.
That list is quite long and includes a Blackie Gejeian’s 2005 Fresno Autorama Sweepstakes Award, Outstanding Custom and the George Barris Kustom d’Elegance awards at the 2006 Grand National Roadster Show, the Grand Prize at the 2006 Darryl Starbird’s National Rod and Custom Car Show, an American Cup win at Carl Casper’s 2006 Custom Car Show, plus Roth Rageous and First in the Hand-Built Custom class wins at the 2006 Detroit Autorama, to name just a few.
The perfect way to get to know the high-performance machine.
Enabling remote software updates and downloads.
Still a good looking truck by today's standards.
Yet another wild, one-off creation.
It's looking like it might actually happen.
