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Classic car ownership is, in many ways, a relationship. Once you’ve owned a car long enough, it starts to become a part of you. Everything starts to fit perfectly. You know all its quirks, its idiosyncrasies, its strengths and weaknesses, and it can begin, in a way, to define who you are.
In the same way, you become a part of the car. There’s a personal mark that gets left, whether it’s major customization, fastidious restoration, or something as simple as your favorite air freshener.
I’ve definitely left my touch over the years on my 1972 Pontiac Le Mans, ranging from custom-designed paint, 15” American Racing Torq-Thrust O wheels, a minor front drop, and a brand-new exhaust system. It’s all my unmistakable mark on the car, and sets it apart from any other.
Now we’re turning it over to you: How have you left your personal mark on your car?
Nice article, well there are different ways to leave a personal touch to you vehicle. And the most important way is to decorate your vehicle if you want to look stylish and lavish and most probably selecting the right wrap that shows your professionalism towards your car. But yes [url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck00JQnMuKE”]classic luxury cars [/url]don’t need any wraps to show they are precious.
Probably the most unique modifications I’ve made to 2006 Mustang is a one-piece aluminum drive shaft and a little aluminum nobby that replaces the rather horrendous stock cover for a 9 volt plug in the center of the dash
Aside from that, GT500 lower control arms, sequential taillights, blacked out trunk deck lid panel, hidden foglights behind aluminum bar grill, 17” bullitt wheels with 275’s and a 1.5” Eibach rear wheel spacer. Along with a custom tune and aftermarket polished aluminum intake, everything I’ve done is mainly to customize the appearance of an already beautiful car. I’ve just tried to clean the lines up and fill up the wheel wells. Everything else is either an appearance mod or functional. I don’t want a firebreathing demon. Just one that I never get tired of walking up to in a parking lot.
I’ve made custom pistol grip shifters for both my cars. Used a set of grips from a Colt 1911 for my toyota, because I had them laying around. When I installed the manual transmission into my Mercedes, I decided to get cute. I used a set of grip for a Mauser broom handle. Figured German grips for the German car. Actually the wood grain on the Mauser grips matched the wood trim in the car perfectly. It looks almost factory.
My ’87 911 Carrera (which I just sold and replaced with a ’04 C4S) I wanted it to look different than all the other guards red 911s out there but stick within past and present Porsche design queues. I wanted an aggressive look so I powder-coated the Fuchs black, cut my own PORSCHE stripes, used a fiberglass wing off a 911 race-car that was campaigned in the UK and placed Mobile one pegasus on the fenders but made them black to stick with the theme. It sat about as low as it could get away with on the street on Elephant racing ST2 suspension package. The interior got the usual RS door panel + seat and stereo delete. It was a fun car.
My current project which is in the paint shop is a ’68 Firebird 400. Simple, clean and brutish is my vision. Minimalist chrome, removing front “firebird script emblems, no wing on the rear, stereo delete, (can’t hear it over the rumble anyway) Missile switches on the center dash panel for aux, Torque Thrust Ds shod with white letter BFGs of course. I going to let it be what it is and not go with the pro street build. Simple, fun, reliable, and understated…in appearance anyway.
Don’t give up hope on your Dart Zak, those cars are tough as nails and you may not have the money right now, but some day you might. Body work isn’t all that bad if you go to the right person, and learning to do some of your own repairs can save a lot of money too. I never though I’d be able to do what I did for sure with my 70 GTX I had (which someone bought for really good money off of me and took it to Sweden) but it didn’t cost as much as I thought and was a great car. Don’t give up, there is always hope.
I’m working on it. I haven’t done much to my Mustang (’68 fastback) since I bought it a couple years ago other than get it running somewhat reliably. I plan to keep it pretty stock looking on the outside (other the torque thrust Ds that came on it and some debadging), but I’ve definitely got some plans for the interior. I want to keep the basic look of the original, but black out a lot of the chrome trim pieces and just give it an overall meaner and more utilitarian look, probably update the seats with ones that hug a little better while I’m at it, and add a means to easily (and stealthily) connect the stereo to an iPod/MP3 player. The ultimate performance goal is to drop a modern fuel injected engine in it mated with a 5 speed, but at the rate it tends to take me to even get minor projects done, that’s looking like a bit of a pipe dream at the moment 🙂
Cool site by the way. I started poking around it the other day and it’s done wonders to rekindle my desire to get my car back on the road where it belongs.
Hey man, you got it running. The way I see it, you brought it back to life, and that’s part of your mark right there. Cheers to that! I daily drive my 1998 M3 (not really a classic, but whatever). It gets crappy mpg, it’s loud, and it does not like the many potholes here in NYC but I live with it because every time I get in it I get this big stupid grin on my face because I know I’m about to have fun, whether I’m going for a nice late night cruise or driving my 5 minute commute to work. As for my mark? Nothing crazy really, just a little drop, some wheel spacers, and a Nardi Classic wood steering wheel 🙂