You might not recognize car customizer's name - Rick Dore - but you can't mistake his remarkable style. His custom cars have been on the edge of custom rods for years. And at the January, 2020 Barrett-Jackson auction held in Scottsdale, AZ one of his creations was for sale. Dore seems to focus on the cars from the 1930-1960's which offers him some iconic looks to start with. Lately he did some one -off creations that were just stunning with a capital S. He passed through Arizona before setting up shop in Carlsbad, CA. He had a shot at TV stardom co-hosting a show on the Discovery Channel, Lords of the Car Hoards. But the show only lasted one season.
A collection of his craftsmanship is presently on display at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, CA. He has crafted quite a few cars for James Hatfield, from the band Metallica. So Hatfield loaned out some of his cars, including a slew built by Dore, for a showing at the museum. Dore's cars are always featured at the SEMA Show and at the Grand National Roadster Show and while his cars have a certain look and flair, they never become cookie cutters just copying that same look over and over.
He built this 1940 Pontiac a while back. He molded in the front grill, nosed the car, rolled the front pan and chopped the top three inches. That roof is modeled after a Carson top, but made out of metal and lifts off for a roadster look. How about frenched headlights, which looks just right on this Poncho? Fender skirts help hide the wheels at the rear. The original trim was shaved off for a sleeker look and running boards were added on, but who would dare put their grimy shoe on that flared running board? The interior is a custom build in white with the seats coming from a T-Bird. You can drop it in the grass with an Air Ride suspension and he tacked on some Cadillac hubcaps to complete the period look.
As for the muscle department, Dore threw in a 350 V-8 engine and an automatic transmission. But really the true star component of this car is that body. Dore called the car "Decadence" which fits. It bounced around the car show scene for a spell and then in 2009 it was offered for sale at a Mecum auction with a high bid of $55,000. Guess that wasn't enough but later ended up in Sam Pack's collection. Pack is a car dealer in Texas with his own collection and museum. Pack is selling off some cars from his collection and phase one, including Decadence, was for sale in Scottsdale.The car sold for $77,000 (including buyer's premium) and is now off to points unknown. But you can enjoy looking at these pictures now and wipe the drool off your lips!
(c) 2020 Mark C. Bach
Some photos courtesy of Barrett-Jackson
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