Home-Built Heroes: Three Hot-Rod-Defining Cruisers

In case you don’t know me, I like to keep things personal around here. After all, the way I see it, I’m just one of you guys. The best way for me to include you guys and keep it personal, is why I have put together our Home-Built Hero segment that you see here. It gives you guys the opportunity to be a part of what’s happening here. I continually ask you all to send in submissions about your cars – and they do keep coming. I appreciate that.

Each week, I get images from around the world showing some really cool rides. So, because I don’t want to be known as a guy that does not share, I thought I would put a few of the more recent submissions together and let the rest of you take a look. Sit back, enjoy the view, and if you get the urge, don’t forget to send us a couple images and the pertinent information about your car.

Upscale Cruiser

When Chevrolet designed the second-gen Monte Carlo, many feel it turned out to be great looking car. Chris Capstick of Painesville, Ohio agrees. “I found the car by accident in 2002,” stated Chris. “I bought it from the second owner after it had sat idle for 9 years.”

The car had 76,000 miles on it, and weather had taken its toll. Chris did a quick overhaul of essential items, and then proceeded to drive the car for the next 10 years. When the decade arrived, that’s when he decided it was time to give the luxo-cruiser a rebuild.

Built in Freemont, California, this '73 Monte was loaded with options. Under the hood you'll find a 454ci engine, and inside, a tilt column, A/C, swivel bucket seats, console, and even power windows and locks.

“In 2013, I took the car apart and spent the next 9-months changing everything,” said Chris. “I repainted it, gave it a new interior, rebuilt the 454, and then added a set of 3.42 gears and a posi.

The Italian Job

“I would like to introduce my “Jewel” to the Chevy Hardcore group,” is how Pasquale started his email. “I live in Italy, and have been driving it since 2008.”

The ’67 Camaro SS has a small block that has received a .030-inch overbore, Edelbrock intake and carburetor, and an exhaust by Magnaflow. Behind the mill, we find a Muncie M21 sending the tire-melting torque to a 12-bolt rearend with positraction.

Home-Built Heroes

Pasquale finished by telling us the car is numbers matching (he still has original intake manifold and carburetor), and he enjoys it as much as possible.

Capric(ious) Classic

Like many enthusiasts, Van Crawford is a guy that likes his big cars. They’re roomy, comfortable on long trips, and could even be had with big-block power. “My Caprice’s story started when it was special ordered as a demo by our local Chevrolet and Olds dealership,” said Van. “The owner, Mr. Fred Wheatley, ordered it for him to drive while taking his family on a summer vacation in 1968. He ended up driving it for a year before selling it to a “little’ ole lady” here in our town of Brandenburg, Kentucky. She drove it back in forth to work until the spring of 1974, when Mr. Wheatley bought it back from her. He then parked it in his basement garage.”

Fast forward to 1986, and that’s when Van was able to acquire the car. “When I bought the car from Fred, it only had 1,500 miles put on it since 1974,” quipped Van. “All told, the car has a grand total of 83,000 miles on it. It is a number’s matching car with a 325hp 396 engine, backed by a Turbo 400 transmission.”

The car has been garage kept every day and night of its life, and from what we can see, it really shows it. “There is no substitute for keeping one out of the weather,” said Van. “The car now has 97,000 miles on it. In the fall of 2009, I finally had to give in and pull the engine out of it and overhaul it. The reason I’ve only put 14,000 miles on it the 30 years that I’ve owned it is, it’s just way to nice to take out in public very often. It is one the very few cars that I have ever seen that is truly museum quality and needs to be in one somewhere.”

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heroes? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we still want to see more – we can never get enough. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior, and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].

About the author

Randy Bolig

Randy Bolig has been working on cars and has been involved in the hobby ever since he bought his first car when he was only 14 years old. His passion for performance got him noticed by many locals, and he began helping them modify their vehicles.
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