One of the most influential vehicles that I knew from my days at “the yard” was a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu. It came in on a trade for an older Chevy pickup hot rod that had enough issues to be it’s own Hollywood starlet, but it showed up somewhere between the strip-down and re-do phases of a restoration. It was a solid runner, though…it’s 327 was a bonafide howler that somebody had built right. Over the course of several months, enough sanding dust to choke out the northern hemisphere of Mars and a very sketchy quarter-lip repair that involved chicken wire, the Chevelle morphed from a blotchy, stripped beater into a primed, smooth and more-or-less ready for paint machine. And it did get painted. First, it got shot in white and that lasted…well, not too long. After a bit of time the owner had a change of heart and shot it black instead, a move I certainly approved of. But once that happened, he had a dilemma. You see, when the car was rough and rowdy, he’d beat on it like it owed him money. But now it was pretty. The paint was good. The shine was brilliant. There wasn’t a speck on it. Suddenly, what had been drifting in the dirt at 6,000 RPM was now looking like a million bucks.
It’s a common theme: it’s too pretty to thrash anymore. Is it? Paint’s expensive, I get that. But there is a bit of a psychological frame to the argument, and oddly enough, it’s the same one my grandfather used on me when he saw how I dressed in high school: Look rough, expect rough treatment. Look polished, expect polished treatment. Go to somewhere where nobody knows you dressed to the nines, cleaned up properly, and see what happens versus showing up in the black t-shirt and jeans. You’ll see what I mean. Does that apply to cars as well? For the sake of this 1972 Oldsmobile 442, we hope not. One monster tire fire like this with fresh paint and new stripes would be poster-worthy!
Well he would give y’all a good showing all dressed to the nines.
If i remember i think there was about 2 gallons of regal red color from Dupont .unfortunately he sold the car last year and bought a new ZL1 a step downd in some eyes . He is happy and that is all tha matters . That video is about 10 yrs old i think