When we saw Dave Show’s 1965 Acadian Wagon, sitting in The Grove at Famoso Raceway during DragFest, we fell in love with the killer stance, insane paint, and cool cruiser vibe. The fact that Dave saw our coverage of DragFest, and thanked us for including a photo of the car in our coverage, was a cool bonus. Finding out that Dave was interested in letting us shoot it for a feature, was just a bonus.
Dave lives in Northern California, where this half of the BangShift contingent grew up. So heading up north to shoot this feature was like old home week. The weather wasn’t exactly perfect for our shoot, thanks to some intermittent showers, but Dave was a trooper and said he built the car to drive so rain wasn’t going to stop us. We like that attitude.
Observant readers will undoubtedly notice that Dave’s Acadian isn’t. It’s actually a Nova, with an Acadian grille, but we say who cares. It’s ultra bitchin.
Originally built for his daughter Cierra, the little Acadian features in-line 6 cylinder power, a turbo 350, and 10 bolt for motivation. More than enough for any 16 year old, but alas Dave drives it more than anyone. He says that she has had little interest in driving at all. Kids! We don’t get ’em.
Besides a bulletproof drivetrain, Dave incorporated Ridetech components, steelies and wide whites, along with bitchin Mexican blanket interior to create a cool custom flavor that proves the right component, not cubic dollars, makes a killer custom ride. The satin blue metallic paint really stands out, but the real wow factor comes from the killer panel, lace, and flaked roof. The great thing about a wagon is that it has a lot of roof to customize, and Dave took it to the limit. We also love Dave’s attention to details, like the Chevrolet bottle opener, blue glass over the gauges, custom striping details, and clean understated engine compartment. If Dave would give up the keys, we’d cruise this bad boy coast to coast. Wouldn’t you?
I do like the vibrant blue color with white and underhood neatness.
Very nice ride. And the fact that it gets drove makes it even nicer!
A truely bitchin’ engine and engine compartment
Wow! I am seriously in love with that car. The powerplant is totally bitchin, as you might have guessed.
What a sweet custom.
Any idea on the brand/type of satin paint used on the body?
Meh. A prime example of the overly-conservative “custom-by-paint” genre. Nice workmanship, though.
Not a fan of the busy spatter trunk paint under the hood. And the Vent-a-Shades are too “J.C. Whitney” for a true mild custom. The mill looks too tame, as well.
I’m not surprised the at the builder’s kid wasn’t stoked over it, because it doesn’t look much like what the kids “drive” in their video games. That’s sad.
But it’s increasingly typical. Fewer kids are into cars and driving. From 2001 and 2009, the average annual number of vehicle-miles traveled by young people (16 to 34-year-olds) decreased from 10,300 miles to 7,900 miles per capita – a drop of 23 percent. And the share of 14 to 34-year-olds without a driver’s license increased from 21 percent to 26 percent.
Still, if this guy’s enjoying the car, I say kudos to him. Maybe his kid will ride along and figure it out eventually. It’s just not something I’d enjoy very much on a
“coast-to-coast” cruise.
Sweet car! I would have loved it at 16!