When you spend your workdays selling restoration parts for vintage Chevrolets, what do you do with your evenings and weekends? If you're Don Hickey of C.A.R.S. West (Fullerton, California), you build a Chevy custom. Not only that, you nail the traditional look to a "T."
This fantastic '50 Fleetline is a testament to Don's eye for customs, although he refuses to take full credit for its creation. The design ideas are his, but Jim Bailie (of Bailie Customs) is the man responsible for executing the excellent custom bodywork and paint. And since we're setting the record straight, Don can't even claim ownership of the fastback anymore. That honor now belongs to Shelby Guthary, who made Don an offer he couldn't refuse a few years ago at the Goodguys Southwest Nationals. Still, it was Don's vision and initiative that put the Chevy on the road to customhood, so our story must begin with him.
Don says that he's always liked the Chevy fastbacks and feels the body style lends itself well to customizing. So when he spied a clean '50 in the local auto trader he knew he'd found his next project. Tapping Bailie for the project was another easy decision-his customizing talents are renowned and his Windsor, Ontario, Canada, shop is just across the bridge from C.A.R.S. headquarters in suburban Detroit.
Though it may look nearly stock at first glance, the Fleetline sports a host of modifications between its '56 Olds headlights (in peaked fenders) and frenched '41 Studebaker taillights. A shaved, filled, and peaked hood and vintage aftermarket upper grille bar (sans lettering) tidy up the front end appearance with the help of a one-piece Olds windshield. Pontiac window moldings and '53 Packard side trim add the right amount of brightwork to the full-envelope body, leading your eye back to the Fleetline's flowing roofline and rear fenders. Those distinctive rear wheel openings began life on '55 Olds fender skirts and do a great job mirroring the taper of the fastback roof.
The mods are many, but the overall look is subtle since they all enhance the Chevy's lines. "I think you have to know when to quit," Don says. "To me, the modifications are just right. It's a real test to recognize all the changes. If you read the 'little books' you can pick most of the mods, but only a few guys spot them all." Even the British Racing Green paint contributes to the car's simple, elegant appearance; the rich hue almost fades to black at dusk.
A '58 Chevy six-cylinder keeps the traditional theme alive under the hood, while making plenty of power (and noise) with the help of a Howard's cam, Offy dual-carb intake, '53 Corvette exhaust manifold, and Smithy's mufflers. A Saginaw four-speed connects the 270-cube inliner to a '68 Nova rearend sitting on Posies leaf springs. Fatman dropped spindles contribute to the slinky stance up front, while Cadillac hubcaps (with '51 Ford grille bullets) and radial whitewalls fill out the wheelwells.
Nothing beats rolls and pleats in a period-perfect Chevy, and this one even has vintage upholstery-'70 Chevelle dark green and pearl white vinyl. The material is from C.A.R.S., and employee Shawn Stadler stitched it at the company's Berkley, Michigan, facility. The rest of the cabin is equally cool-'59 Impala wheel, Patrick's shifter, teardrop dash knobs, and hidden Custom Autosound tunes. A Painless Wiring system keeps everything connected.