The art of crafting a low-buck, high-impact custom seems to have been lost in this era of six-figure machines assembled on television by celebrity car builders. Take a look at Jeff Early's bold '55 Buick Special, however, and you'll become a born-again believer in homebuilt hot rods.
Jeff had just launched his Duluth, Minnesota-based airbrush and painting business when he bought the $500 Buick, so he couldn't spend a fortune building it. Yet by choosing components carefully, retaining some stock parts, and turning wrenches himself (with help from friends), Jeff got the car together for an estimated $10,000.
Starting with the frame, Jeff employed MIC air springs on the stock front suspension and an SW Race Cars four-link setup to locate the air-suspended rearend. He researched NAPA parts books and learned that, with some machining, mid-'70s Cadillac Eldorado rotors would fit on the Buick spindles. Then he designed plywood caliper brackets, had a local machine shop cut them out of 3/8-inch steel plate, and connected a Corvette master cylinder to the stock brake pedal. Polished 17-inch American Torq Thrust IIs and Nitto radials got things rolling.
"Although I knew the purists would have a fit, and I personally think the Nailhead is a great-looking engine, the budget prevented me from doing a rebuild on both the engine and trans," Jeff says. "I had a source for a new overdrive transmission, and a great deal on a new crate engine," so the Buick is motivated by a ubiquitous 350 Chevy and a TCI Automotive 200-4R transmission.
Friends Todd Doyle and Dan Waterhouse pitched in to help Jeff with bodywork, which included shaving the hood and trunk and frenching the headlights with Merc rings. They cut extra portholes in the fenders because, as Jeff says, this Buick is now extra special! Todd laid down the DuPont black base, and then Jeff helped mask and airbrush the bright traditional flames before laying down the pinstripes.
With his budget nearly depleted, Jeff scrounged junkyards and scored a '73 Buick bench seat for $50. It already had tuck 'n' roll-style black vinyl upholstery, so he found matching material to cover the other soft parts. He then added a custom console, Sony stereo, Summit gauges, Painless wiring, and a Grant wheel, and got George Barris to sign the glovebox.
Jeff quickly notes that the two-year project wouldn't have come out so well without help from his aforementioned friends and other fellow Delinquents car club members. "Friends who share the passion, busted knuckles, and hot rod dreams are what this hobby is all about," Jeff says. "An understanding wife and family doesn't hurt either. With the exception of chrome, wheels, and tires, it was all done in a backyard garage, on a budget-the old-school way!"