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Bubbletops are a fascinating part of the custom-car world. Pioneered by such restyling maestros as Ed \u201cBig Daddy\u201d Roth and Darryl Starbird, Bubbletop cars wonderfully combine fascination of 1950s Americana with jet age fighter aircraft, rocketry, space travel and above all, the promise of the future, both real and imagined.<\/p>\n
The builder of this amazing car, Gary \u201cChopit\u201d Fioto, admits that as a kid growing up on Long Island, New York he was fascinated with bubbletops, particularly those of Darryl Starbird. Fioto\u2019s nickname, \u201cChopit,\u201d craftily describes his central customizing philosophy. After he impressed custom-car traditionalists with his new interpretation on an old theme, a chopped \u201950 Merc transformed into the sleek hardtop called \u201cTuf Enuff,\u201d Gary Fioto performed his unique take on the Bubbletop genre.<\/p>\n
As per his style, he executed it\u2019s design and build like no other: Fioto\u2019s resulting effort, dubbed \u201cBeatnik\u201d after his car club, the famed \u201cBeatniks,\u201d is a lavender 1955 Ford-based custom he\u2019s skillfully reworked into a Bubbletop. However, instead of lowering the roof of his donor \u201955 Ford, he raised it, handcrafting the largest-ever Bubbletop custom.<\/p>\n
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In 2006, \u201cBeatnik\u201d won the coveted $20,000 Grand Prize at Darryl Starbird\u2019s National Rod and Custom Car Show, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The win was a poetic one for Fioto, who read Starbird\u2019s magazine feature articles as a youngster and chopped his first top at age 11. \u201cChopit\u201d used aluminum detailing and a great deal of steel in the \u201cBeatnik\u2019s\u201d construction. He\u2019s immensely skilled in every car construction medium; he uses no written plans, and he thinks in three dimensions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t always know what I\u2019ll do when I start,\u201d Fioto says, \u201cbut I can see the result as I\u2019m working.\u201d He\u2019s an expert at taking seemingly disparate automotive elements and blending them to a state of perfection.<\/p>\n
This one-of-a-kind, award-winning effort is simply stunning with its scooped, full teardrop skirts front and rear, pancaked hood, rolled and pleated pearl white Naugahyde interior and razor-like tailfins. The radical interior, complete with its aircraft control yoke-inspired steering wheel and bulbous dash pod, \u201cBeatnik\u201d is a wheeled tribute to the late 1950s and early 1960s \u2013 and it\u2019s truly the work of an artist practicing his developed craft in the medium of metal.<\/p>\n
Chris Shelton from Street Rodder magazine spoke to Fioto about the elements he feels are essential for a great chopped car. “It\u2019s gotta have attitude. That’s what I look for when I chop a car,” Fioto said. “I look for coolness,\u201d he added, \u201cwhatever makes the car look good is what I go for — it’s just got to say something to me; it’s got to look like it\u2019s moving, even when standing still.”<\/p>\n
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Look closely at \u201cBeatnik\u201d and you can see that movement \u2013 that is, if you can stop admiring the myriad details that make this car so interesting. This success hardly evolved overnight. gry hazardowe hotspot za darmo<\/a> \u201cBeatnik\u201d was an extensive, four-year project. \u201cChopit\u201d started by completely removing the roof from a \u201955 Ford. There\u2019s not much left of the original Ford now. \u201cBeatnik\u201d rides on a modified \u201988 Lincoln Town Car chassis. Fioto likes to replace \u2018ancient\u2019 running gear with newer components, reasoning that if there\u2019s a mechanical problem, it\u2019s easier to find late-model, rather than vintage, parts.<\/p>\n For \u201cBeatnik,\u201d Fioto used an eclectic mix of Cadillac, Chrysler and Lincoln components, including the canted quad headlights. The front bumper was adapted from a \u201959 Cadillac, while the rear bumper was fashioned from the front bumper of a \u201958 Cadillac. zak\u0142\u0105dy sportowe<\/a> The finned taillights are 1960 Chrysler. The front and rear fenders, the door skins and the entire rear section of the car are all steel, hand-formed and oxy-acetylene welded.<\/p>\n The engine, with its period-style six-carb induction system jutting through a large hood opening, is a highly detailed Chevrolet 350 cubic inch small-block V-8 with stainless-steel braided hoses and polished components, plus a serpentine belt system, Hedman Hedders and finned Moon valve covers. And yes, there\u2019s air conditioning for those warm, sunny days under the big, tinted Lexan bubble, which was formed to a pattern and mold created by Fioto himself.<\/p>\n The \u201cBeatnik\u201d retains very few elements of the original \u201955 Ford; if you look closely, you\u2019ll note the cowl is still there, as are the insides of the doors and their hinges, the hood and its hinges, the trunk lock, and a few of the original trunk elements. The balance of the custom machine is hand-formed and custom-built.<\/p>\n \u201cBeatnik\u201d has received a plethora of top awards wherever it has appeared. It won \u201cBlackie\u201d Gejeian\u2019s 2005 Fresno Autorama Sweepstakes Award and made the \u201cTop 5 Customs\u201d list at Paso Robles in 2005. It was the \u201cOutstanding Custom\u201d at the 2006 Grand National Roadster Show and won the George Barris Kustom d\u2019Elegance Award. All these accolades are in addition to the $20,000 top prize at the Darryl Starbird Show and First Place in the \u201cFine Nine\u201d competition. \u201cBeatnik\u201d took the \u201cRoth Rageous\u201d trophy and was the First Place winner in the Hand-built Custom category at the Detroit Autorama. Fioto\u2019s \u201cBubbletop\u201d was also awarded the American Cup, the top award at Carl Casper\u2019s 2006 Custom Car Show in Louisville, Kentucky.<\/p>\n \u201cBeatnik\u201d is a truly exclusive custom and an inspired design statement that stands alone. Admired today, much like its talented builder, this extraordinary car will be even more highly respected in the future. It remains a fitting tribute to a creative era where a few imaginative builders tried to envision the future and succeeded in their own unique way.<\/p>\n Click HERE to view the FULL GALLERY<\/a><\/strong> (38 Photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/desert-motors.com\/cpg\/albums\/tempphotos\/1955-Ford-Beatnik-Bubbletop\/1955-Ford-Beatnik-Bubbletop-12.jpg\")
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