Text & Rendering by Tavis Highlander

hanks to air suspension, this custom ’55 sedan delivery is going to sit really low. The wheels tucking up into the fenders are Schott Venoms with tri-bar knockoffs. A cleaned-up body with tight tucked bumpers will show off the gloss black paint. Blue line tires finish off the look and tie into the dominant interior color.

The interior is where I spent much of my time as a designer on this project. Coming up with flowing lines was paramount to the builder and owner. In the end, the seats and all panels follow the theme of a narrow suede inset with a small group of perpendicular accent seams. A little bit of polished trim breaks up the almost-all blue interior.

t can start in an instant and last a lifetime. You’re driving with your folks or riding in a school bus and a cool car rumbles by. Stopped at a red light, you press you nose against the glass for a few fleeting moments of visual and audible contact only to see that cool shape slide away, probably never to be seen again. Regardless, you are never the same.

For Bo Juniel that irreversible change came courtesy of a ’66 Chevelle that was parked near his home in the Antelope Valley, north of Los Angeles. The classic GM A-body shape was to cut an indelible pattern into his memory, building up like the layers of dust that would grow to envelop the cool Chevy over the years.

This occurrence is not unheard of with car owners looking to do some minor upgrades; although every situation is unique and outcomes vary, Mike’s ’67 Camaro is now an absolute gem.

BY Nick Licata Photography by John Jackson

ave Timm has been around cars for as long as he can remember. Working in a car audio shop during his late teens exposed him to the custom car world. That’s when he caught the bug—or as his wife, Andrea, refers to it as an “addiction.”

“I built my first car in 1996. It was a Dodge Neon and knowing nothing about cars I decided to supercharge it. I believe I was the first person in the world to supercharge a Dodge Neon,” Dave laughs.

ack in 1977 John Koch was 17 and working his way to purchasing his first car: a ’69 GTO with a 400ci powerplant, 400 trans, and a pair of Hush Thrush mufflers that ended behind the driver seat. It sat high and level with the look and sound John wanted.

Scenes from American Graffiti were playing out daily on the streets of John’s hometown of Whitestone Queens where kids cruised Francis Lewis Boulevard and raced stoplight to stoplight just for the thrill of it. The serious racers would head off to the connecting highway, a stretch of roadway that connected the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the Grand Central Parkway for quarter-mile showdowns. It was there that races for cash played out on a regular basis and spectators flocked to overpasses to check out the muscle car battles.

BY Scotty Lachenauer  Photography by The Author

few years back, Mike Pugliese of Staten Island, New York, was picked to be a participant on television’s reality series Biker Build-Off. “I had been building motorcycles since I was a teenager here in New York, but I wasn’t really known outside my area. Then they picked me for the show,” Mike states. “I was the only guy who didn’t do this full time. I just worked out of my garage.”

Well, that didn’t stop this two-wheel wizard from picking up a big win on national television. “Going up against all these famous and amazing bike fabricators was a very cool experience. I had a great time and learned a lot about myself and the business,” Mike points out. “I was grateful for the chance to show my work to the Biker Build-Off audience.”