Last week I picked up this '51 Victoria. 4" chop, '55 DeSoto trim and '55 Chrysler taillites. Im told was built in Oildale, CA in 1956 The only other history I have on the car is from this Yesterdays Young Guns piece from the November 2007 issue of R&C... ...and a story from a previous owner that the guy "Shorty" mentioned in the article didnt chop tops, so he farmed that work out. As is usually the case with relatively unknown customs, a well known name was tossed in for good measure...in this case, Harry Westergard, which sounds far fetched since I believe he was killed in April 1956. Does anyone remember this car, or possibly have any pictures of it from its better years?
Very nice find! Car should restore very nicely...assuming you can find photos of the front end as it was done originally...and looks to have been a very nice looking custom back then. Excellent.
A previous owner removed the hoods over the headlites as he said they were "butt ugly"...good thing he did, there was rust out beneath them...The rest of the car is surprisingly solid. Id love to find a front view of the car, I just cant picture the '56 Chevy grill mentioned in the article...