Love the car. Just enough to really look sorted. Stance, fit and finish, tasteful changes. I like no blue oval option but that's minor compared to the overall good looks. Sweet ride.
Love the car-nice work! Looks much better without the oval. You said you restored it to 1960 and emulated the Super Sabre grille, but neither had the Ford oval. The modern day Ford oval reminds me of all the full custom Merc's that were done in the 80's featuring period perfect Buick side trim, Desoto grilles and bumpers, etc, but the owners felt obligated to put late model, square side view mirrors on the car...
Cool car we had a 55 Ranch for few years & often wondered how to go about customising it without loosing too much of its identity. I love the way your car looks, agree with no badge but a period badge like one of the ones shown would be fine. No badge moves it further into the custom world, badges move closer to a factory thing, maybe a factory design team effort. Cool car, thanks for sharing with us
The emblem is just two bolts holding it on so took it off to get a few pictures. I didn't dislike the emblem as a solution to trying to obscure the radiator from certain angles but of course that’s not a period piece. Since I was trying to put it back to how it was in 1960, it always felt a little off. Of course, you HAMBers (thanks Trevorsworth and Squablow) had the obvious solution which never occurred to me. Think I'll work on a blacked out screen approach to mount behind the grill. I'll probably keep thinking about what else might work better as an emblem that’s period. I guess when I get bored I can cycle thru different looks for this item. Thanks again for all the comments on the car (both positive and constructive criticisms).
Thank you Trevorsworth. I'll be working on the mesh behind the grill and will run it without the badge most likely.
I like it! Clean. The Dodge tail lights are very fitting, and the Pontiac emblem in the trunk is a nice subtle touch. Which brings me to a suggestion since you're now contemplating taking the blue oval out of the equation. In the period, speaking as someone who was actually alive then, a common custom touch would have been chrome drawer knobs....there's a world of choices out there, size and shape would dictate quantity. But, if it were mine I'd opt for another Pontiac piece of trim. On the quarter panels of '57/8 models was a star shaped emblem, I'd think three equally spaced would have good proportions. A clean alternative in keeping with the theme.
I LOVE THAT CAR !!!! However, I would have a stock grille, !!!!!! (or maybe , paint stock vertical pieces flat black ) I believe the piece in the trunk is an "upside down" Pontiac trunk exterior piece. I have those hubcaps available under "Parts"
Looks good. One of the go-to materials for stuff like that back in the day was the aluminum screens you used to be able to get to go over the eaves on your house to keep leaves out, often called "gutter mesh". Cheap to buy, easy to form, although it might be hard to find now that most of that stuff is plastic. I like the 60 Dodge tail lights, they fit the car well.
Removing the front license plate mount did more for me. Less is always more for me. Black mesh to obscure the radiator would be a nice invisible solution. Beautiful car no matter which way you go.
Very clean car. I really like that body style. The grill badge wasn't a big deal for me, but I subscribe to the less is more theory. Either way, it's very nice.
The car is clean and cool and respects the original builder, that is refreshing. I have some copper fireplace screen with age and patina on it squirrelled away for a someday grille project. I remember the first time I noticed this body style. I came through the cattails at the rural autowrecker and he had 3 of them separated from the herd. One was blue and white, with no engine it had sort of a gasser stance, I remember thinking that this was some real styling genius. Enjoy your car.
Ken Smith, thanks for your comments. Your inset picture helps make a good comparison between the two. Notice that they are both, red, white and shiney?
Uncle Bob, thanks for your suggestion on the Pontiac trim. I had over looked that item. It is a bit elongated like the grill opening which I feel anything that goes in there needs to be. I kinda like the fact that Pontiac called a model the Star Chief. That would go along with the theme the original customizer was working with. The F-104 Star Fighter while made by Lockheed and not North American would kinda tie it in too. Its all Jet Age. I think right now, I’ll work on a wire mesh for behind the grill. Might fool around a bit with this idea to see what I think. Thanks again!
Verde742, yes, the trunk piece is from a '56 Pontiac trunk and was installed "upside down" compared to the way this is mounted.
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