Always loved that car from when I first saw it in R&C. I need to dig through my old magazines and re-visit it.
It’s the car Chrysler should of built ! absolutely clean and smooth ! Would love to see that whale in person ! it had adjustable suspension on it as well .
what a great car, I have always loved it... I am pretty sure that car is still around and in the same family....
I think Gary Meadors found it in the early 90s then had Rod Powell restore it… I believe Bruce Olson owns it now.
"It's like, how much more black could this be? And the answer is none... none more black." - Nigel Tufnel
Smooth and sinister. I consider it perfect BUT I don't really think it needed quads. Would have looked good either way.
The story of it's resurrection of sorts is in the December 1991 Rod& Custom magazine. It is void of any fads and that makes it timeless. And as @Dan Hay mentioned @Gotgas' car is a beautiful car in it's own right that evokes the Inman car. Here's another cool comparison to stock picture.
What a coincidence, @Ryan! As you said, Clif's Chrysler is a subtle classic! A week or two ago Clif sent me some new photos of the Chrysler, and the Oldsmobile he sold to buy the car, and I have been working on adding these to Kustomrama. Above is a photo of the Chrysler taken in 1963. The 1928 Ford roadster belonged to Clif's mentor Warren "Tut" Brown. Clif sold the Chrysler in 1965....but he actually owns the roadster today Here is another new story about the car that Clif told me that I thought some of you might enjoy. The car didn't have lifts installed, but around 1964, Clif had Abe Heinrichs at Heinrichs Auto in San Jose install Packard Torsion-Level Ride leveling motor and arms so he could raise and lower the torsion arms to lower the car. He told me that he used to fool the cops when they pulled him over. "They went away scratching their heads, mumbling that it sure looked a lot lower coming down the street." Unfortunately, Clif kept having trouble with the operation. It was too much pressure, so it kept malfunctioning, so he took it out six months later.
I knew Joe for a short while before his passing, and learned a lot in those few short months. Then about a month after the dust had cleared, I called Mrs. Wilhelm from where I worked in San Francisco. She had stayed pretty much in the background all during Joe's car building career, and post funeral, his friends kinda went back to their lives. Well, Joe was Mrs. Wilhelm's life, and wasn't real happy, to say the least. I left work and drove to San Jose (I did know the way) and the rest is history. Mrs. Wilhelm and I remained close friends 'till the day she made the trip to Wilhelm Customs up there with the rest of the great builders. I could write a book about Joe from all the insight into his life that she shared, but that's not what she would want. It doesn't surprise me that Joe put the touch on Clif's Chrysler the way he did, nor did it surprise me that he hand made a SBC intake manifold that put the carbs lower than the top of the valve covers on the "Wild Dream".... It was all about low. Many people didn't appreciate what Joe did when he was doing it, as he was not one to sing his own praises, but listen to the music now.... I miss Joe and Marion a lot, and feel that I am all the better for having known and learned from them.
The Inman Chrysler got little ink because of the color, or lack of it. The magazines wanted bright colors for their covers, an all-black large car didn't photograph all that well for an eye-grabbing cover. And while I don't know this for sure, I suspect that Cliff's marching orders to Wilhelm is the reason for the restraint shown, given Joe's other efforts during this time (Mark Mist, Wild T to name two of his other more famous cars). And Cliff apparently resisted the trend of further mods to keep the car 'current', causing it to sink into magazine obscurity quickly. Cars that were restyled every year for show points and/or ink rarely got better looking. With that said, it was undoubtably one of the cleanest and understated elegant customs of the time. The combination of Virgil Exner's peak styling efforts during the Forward Look era along with the removal of all extraneous trim distilled the design to its essence. The body is remarkably stock, with the top chop the only major mod; the quad lights are OEM, Chrysler sold them where they were legal in '57, used singles where they weren't. According to Kustomrama, the car was originally equipped with singles, the quads were added later. The taillights were changed out, a tube grill added, and that was it. I've always suspected that these cars were the inspiration for Gene Winfield's 'Jade Idol', just a more over-the-top version.
Beautiful car. Brother had a 57 300 c with dual quad hemi which I borrowed couple times at age 16… Wilheim’s car stock shows slight roof overhang of front windshield which he eliminated in chop. Really looks smoother. Wonder how he handled that front windshield.
Beautiful build. the quad headlights are great. I think they became standard on all mopars in '58. The only way to make it better would be with a 300 grill and 9:00 x 14's from the imperials if they arn't on already.
As I reccomember, Clif took the critter to Joe with a little body damage, and along with suggestions, told Joe to do whatever he wanted to "clean it up".....
You are right about that. Joe did a mild makeover in 1960, then after an accident in 1962, Clif brought it back to have it fixed up...that's when they chopped the top. Here is a photo of the car in 1962 that Clif shared with me, showing it after they had chopped it
Here's a little side story...Doug Osterman worked with Clif at the Star and Bar gas station in San Jose, and a few years ago he told me that he bought his 1957 DeSoto in late 1958, two years before Clif. The two of them shared some of their thoughts and ideas as they were restyling their cars. Doug never chopped his, but after a couple of local shops had restyled it and Bailon completed it off with one of his signature Candy Apple Red paint jobs, I must admit that it turned out pretty hot as well: A photo of these two cars together would have been really cool. I have gathered some more info and photos of Doug's DeSoto here: https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Doug_Osterman's_1957_DeSoto
That car is the embodiment, of what a true time machine, should look like ! " Indeed, less is more " when it comes to NOT over doing it ! @Gotgas is so fortunate to have his car, and to be able to enjoy it and show it off !
The Jalopy Journal
