Clif Inman’s 1957 Chrysler (Joe Wilhelm built)

Most HAMBrs know this car from the the cover of “Andy Southard’s Custom Cars of the 1950s” (which is ironic, because Andy took that picture in the early 60s), but some may not know how Clif Inman’s chopped  ’57 Chrysler came to be, or where it ended up. The story is best told in a California custom car history text book:

“The elegant black lacquered ’57 Chrysler was modified twice for San Jose rodding enthusiast Clif Inman, a Willow Glen High School alumnus who caught rodding fever hanging out at Tut’s Auto Supply on Lincoln Avenue. Inman, now a global computer expert, had in the late ‘50s seen a sleek, slinky ’57 Chrysler cruising John’s Drive-In, San Jose’s premier rodding hang-out. Selling his hot rod Olds, he bought a ’57 in 1960 and took it directly to Wilhelm for installation of quad headlamps, a tube grille, custom hub caps and lowering. The car was in an accident two years later and Inman was back: “fix the quarter panel, and while you’re at it, chop the top.�? To retain the long, low smooth lines, Wilhelm not only took three and one-half inches out of the top, but installed a ’58 Dodge front window and a ’61 Comet rear window and frenched in the taillights. The vehicle was a 1963-64 Grand National custom champion at the Oakland Roadster Show and a custom Sweepstakes winner at the Sacramento Autorama. Inman sold the coupe to a Fresno party in 1965. Then it was purchased in the early ‘80s by filmmaker and record producer (William) McEuen, whose collection also includes other period customs. Noted custom designer Rod Powell assisted in the vehicle’s restoration to its sleek, gleaming 1962 showcase condition. The car is a reminder of how a little restraint can work wonders on late-’50s customs.”

Text from “Hot Rods and Customs: The Men and Machines of California’s Car Culture”, written by Michael Dobrin 1996

More backstory on the car here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2961030

Editor’s note: I’ve interviewed a lot of big names in the custom world such as Gary Howard (the biggest), Dick Bertalucci, Larry Watson, and others… It’s always amazed me how many of them list Inman’s Chrysler as one of the cars that influenced them the most. – Ryan