He says he couldn’t have pulled it off without Darren Wenzel’s help, as he “pulled out just about every paint technique they would have used back in the day from his bag of tricks. He wanted to come up with something that would look period correct for a ’60s mild custom but with a modern twist. Once the emblems and side trim were shaved and he’d tackled the bodywork, the paint was, as Kevin admits, the most challenging part of the project. Just as it was with mild customs back in the day, it’s the paint that makes this car such a standout. The valve covers are Offy, and a PerTronix ignition provides the fire. The suspension is otherwise stock, as is the running gear, though Kris Abe assembled the 394 motor with a custom grind cam and 3x2 Offenhauser intake with a trio of Rochester 2G carbs. I drove it that way for a couple of years before painting it the way you see it now.” That air suspension consists of 2500 Dominator airbags all round, with the chassis notched to allow full travel, yet lay frame with the ’bags deflated. “The paint on the body was in decent shape and went well with the original aqua color interior so within a couple weeks of having it in my hands I ripped the hydros out, installed air ride, painted the roof pearl white, and fitted black steel wheels with wide whites. The Olds was a garage-kept-since-new, 60,000-original-mile granny car, to which he had installed hydraulics, 13-inch wires, and put an awful paintjob on the roof. So before he could change his mind I had the Dodge on a trailer and made the haul from Virginia to Kentucky to make the trade straight up.” The owner of my Olds at the time wanted a rat rod bad and loved the look of my Dodge so he had to have it. I had $3,500 in the truck and decided to sell it. Or as he puts, “I built a rusty turd of a ’37 Dodge truck with junk parts I had laying around and cheap parts I could find. The Olds came into his possession via a straight-across trade for a Dodge truck he’d built. He now works painting Hayabusa-engined three-wheelers for a living (check out making painting his own car more fun than a work-related chore, for sure. Hanging out as a kid with your dad at custom paint shops, then working in one after college is likely to have that effect on a guy. It probably won’t come as much of a surprise to discover that Kevin Petitt, the owner of this ’64 Olds 88 Holiday Coupe, is an automotive painter by trade. The car was fitted with chrome wire wheels, adjustable air suspension and modern air-conditioning, and the chromed engine compartment is highly detailed. The interior was reupholstered in white leather, with diamond pleat, button-back and tuck-and-roll flourishes. The grille from a 1959 Imperial was adapted, with the taillights from a ’59 Cadillac. The leading edges of the hood were reworked, as was the trunk. The windshield was cut down four inches, all three top bows reworked for the correct shape and a custom top installed. A very sound original car, D’Agostino took it to Bill Hines in Long Beach, California to be customized to his “Aladdin” design. It had been brought from Northern California to be sold “and there were four or five guys behind me,” he recalled. Oldsmobile sold 7,800 Starfires.Ĭustomizer John D’Agostino found this car at a Good Guys show at Pleasanton, California a couple of years ago. All Super 88 options were standard, and the Starfire also had power bucket seats, a console-mounted tachometer, and a dual exhaust system. Its unmistakable signature was a wide brushed aluminum side sweep, which ran the length of the car. It shared its wheelbase with the 88 but had a more powerful 330-hp, 394-cu. Oldsmobile launched the convertible Starfire late in the 1961 model year, on January 1st, 1961. Adjustable air-ride suspension, modern air conditioning Candy-apple red with white leather interior, four-inch chop First year for Oldsmobile Starfire convertible, one of only 7,800 built International award-winning John D’Agostino custom OHV V8 engine, four-speed Hydramatic transmission, air-ride front suspension by wishbones and air ride rear with semi-solid live axle, four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes. 1961 Oldsmobile Custom Convertible "Aladdin" - John d'Agostinoģ30 hp, 394 cu.
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