On paper, I would 100% agree... But the soul feels connected to Inman's car to me from not only the black paint, but my life experiences. I'm a weirdo. For those curious, here's a photo from Kustomrama (those guys are soo good): A lot of similarities... and I guess Doug and Clif were pals that compared notes... But Doug's car has a much more cheery disposition to me. It's rad obviously, but I still prefer both Clif's and Danny's...
Amazingly, Clif and Doug are lifelong friends and still keep in touch. You could almost say my car is an amalgamation of the two.
I love these Chryslers, my grandmother (R.I.P.) had a '60 Imperial, and it had a very unusual AC in it, with vents coming up from the rear deck above the rear seats, they were kinda L-shaped plastic tubes that could swivel about 180 degrees to adjust where you prefer. The dash had some unusual types of vents also. Unfortunately she sold the Imperial and bought a '66 New Yorker, but the '60 Imperial was much cooler, IMO. And all the other grandkids thought the same, we used to fight over those rear vents.
So love this car and loved the build. I about died when he started in with the Jeep hood scoop. Talk about vision!!!
I honestly couldn't find a thing I would change on this car. Nothing. I have a '59 Regent that may be a mild custom just for fun.
Nice write up. This is one of my very favorite cars. I really enjoyed Gotsgas's build thread, he really nailed it. I had some communication with Danny, and his influence led me to seek out and purchase a 57 DeSoto of my own.
I can only find one thing wrong with it...that it ain't in my garage! Anything on it can be changed...in this case it just doesn't need it. LOL
Beautiful - I'd say the only flaw with this car is the flat spot in the lower front bumper (originally for the front plate mount) between the bumperettes.
I remember seeing pictures of a very similar car but it had a lift off roof & was sitting in California on an open carport at a biker gang safe house..... any ideas or weird memories, thanks!
One of the great modern customs and Danny deserves any honor bestowed upon him for this build. It's a great example. Secondarily, it's also a great example of how stunning of customs mid 50s MoPars make. Some of them take some real vision and cleaning up, there are some real ugly ducklings in there. But they have some of the sharpest roof lines of the era, and the factory drivetrains are among the best of the era. These cars are like Rachel Leigh Cook from the movie "She's all that", take the dorky glasses and frumpy clothes off, replace with a dress and let her hair down.... now she's the prom queen. The potential is clear if you look for it.
That flip top custom was in a circa '66 issue of Hot Rod, I believe the one that had an Offy engine on cover!
I am a little biased as a Mopar tragic but it is fantastic to see Danny get the recognition for his efforts on this build. I am looking forward to seeing this in the flesh one day now that international borders are open.
Hello, If anyone wanted a version of a cool 50s-60 custom car, this Chrysler two door hardtop is a prime example. Not too garish, but with the added accessories, although it is Texas, looks like So Cal area customs from back in those early days. Pure admiration was what my brother and I had seeing such cool cars on the street and those early car shows in the big auditoriums and sports arenas. The other nice touch is the swivel seats. We wanted bucket seats in our 58 Impala and no one had any that looked good. But the Chrysler corp brought out swivel bucket seats and that was then a necessity for the custom touch on a lot of cars. We kept the vision in mind and although the original swivel seats left much to be desired in nice bucket seats, at least they would be a custom accessory for any other car, other than a Chrysler product. Red swivel bucket seats in our 58 Impala with the similar upholstery pattern would have been the coolest thing in custom accessories for any hot rod or custom car of the era. Jnaki Besides the @Gotgas and his black Chrysler, the only other car to showcase the actual 50’s-early 60s look is from @firemangordy. His 1955 Chevy two door is the nicest version of what we used to ride in, admire from afar and wish our friend and his 55 Chevy looked like that cool custom. Both of those custom cars should be noted as the best examples of the custom style of that time period. IOHO Thanks, @firemangordy
The look and the car’s simplicity is killer. Some builds just check all the boxes like this one does.
The Jalopy Journal
