This year’s 2020 Detroit Autorama had a lot of extraordinary cars, but this show-stopping 1960 Plymouth Wagon definitely caught our attention, and everyone else’s. Sporting a naturally aspirated, fuel-injected 528 Hemi, with Jeffco four-speed transmission with a Gear Vendor overdrive, and a Winters Quick Change rear end; this custom-built beauty is built for speed.
We were thrilled to spend a few minutes with its proud owner, Greg, as he talked us through the build process and highlighted some of the remarkable details of this 1960 Plymouth Wagon.
Interview Transcription:
Rick: This is Rick Drewry. I’m with Classic Auto Insurance at Detroit Autorama 2020. And what I have here is, I think it’s a showstopper because everybody that’s walked by it has to stop and take a look at it. What year Plymouth?
Greg: It’s a 1960 Plymouth.
Rick: Cool. And your name is Greg?
Greg: My name is Greg.
Rick: From Gizmos?
Greg: Yup, Minnesota.
Rick: Awesome. Is this the kind of stuff you do all the time?
Greg: This is what we do every day. Build cars like this.
Rick: Now what inspired you to build a Plymouth wagon that looks like it goes 300 miles an hour?
Greg: Well, I went to the Bonneville Salt Flats a long time ago and fell in love right away. So to make a long story short, I got involved in another racing program. We’re able to drive a ’34 Ford out there, drove it on the street, raced it all the way through Speedway and drove it home. We did that 14 times with that car, driving it from Minnesota to Bonneville. We’re going to do the same thing with this one.
Rick: Are you really?
Greg: We are.
Rick: Wow.
Greg: So we did all the work in our shop, this car is a hundred percent metal. It was a four-door car. We turned it into a two-door car. It’s chopped.
Rick: Fabulous metalwork.
Greg: Yep. All the metal work is done in house. The chassis is hand-built.
Rick: What kind of a drive frame are you running?
Greg: This a 528 Hemi, a naturally aspirated fuel injected. It’s a Jeffco four-speed transmission with a Gear Vendor overdrive. And then we have a Winters Quick Change rear end in it.
Rick: Very good. So you can drive it on the street, switch it. Now on your other car, what was your top speed?
Greg: Our goal was 200 miles an hour on there. We got to 190.
Rick: Do you think you’ll crack 200 with that?
Greg: That’s what we’re trying to do. We got to go 200.
Rick: Yeah, I don’t blame you. I mean, the car is a showstopper. Now color. Where’d you pick the color out of?
Greg: This is a House of Color paint on here. And we’re not real flashy people and House of Color, they’re very bold and very in your face paint. It’s just not what we wanted on this project. So we used their paint, which was great to use and that we just applied a satin clear over that to kind of dull it down a little bit. So this is their galaxy gray, and then we added a green pearl to it to kind of give it that greenish-gray look.
Rick: I mean, this is a compliment, it looks very industrial.
Greg: Yeah.
Rick: I mean, that is a very cool look on there. And the glass, is it all?
Greg: It’s all LEXAN, all the windows are LEXAN, including the door glass, goes up and down. The tailgate goes up and down, which takes an enormous amount of time and effort to make that work with LEXAN.
Rick: Yeah. And this thing’s street legal?
Greg: A hundred percent street legal. Yeah.
Rick: That’s awesome.
Greg: We’re going to need some insurance.
Rick: I bet you will. You’ve got to come and see me. Awesome. Man, you guys do great work. Is this the first time at Detroit Autorama?
Greg: We’ve been here before.
Rick: Have you?
Greg: Yeah. We love the show. It’s great. It’s a great show.
Rick: Yeah, you can’t beat it. For indoor shows, there’s nothing better.
Greg: That’s where it’s at.
Rick: Awesome. Great work, awesome car, and I cannot wait to see it on the Flats.
Greg: Well, keep to it and we did an entire build process that was documented by a production crew and we’re releasing episodes via social media.
Rick: You’ve got a website?
Greg: Gizmoscustomcars.com.
Rick: Okay.
Greg: Yeah.
Rick: All right. Check it out. It’ll be worth your time. Thanks man. Appreciate it.
Greg: Take care.
Rick: Gorgeous car.
Greg: Thank you.
Collector and Classic Car Insurance for Less
Whether your garage is filled with one of a kind custom-built specialties or performance-inspired street rods, you can rest easy knowing your investment is as important to us as it is to you. Let us customize a policy to fit your needs. We offer affordable, Agreed Value coverage for a variety of collector, classic and custom vehicles. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff can answer your questions and give you a quote on the spot. Call 888-901-1338 or get an instant quote online and see how we can help safeguard your dream car.
