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The postwar era of car manufacturing produced iconic cars aplenty for the hot rod crowd. Shoebox Fords and Mercurys, Tri-Fives, station wagons, and other models all soon fell into the kustom fold as enthusiasts took hold of the high-speed sensation sweeping the nation.
Tri-Fives in particular became the fresh symbol of hot rodding, with their glistening chrome, robust suspension, and stout V8s like the 265ci and 283ci providing plenty of get-up-and-go. Novices and professionals tore into them, chopping roofs, frenching headlamps, and equipping flame-spouting exhausts to make the cars as outstanding and eye-popping as possible. But what of the cars that came just prior?
1953 was the first year that Chevrolet had launched the 210 and Bel Air models, and represented the new wave of postwar motor vehicles meant to distance themselves from cars of the late 1940s (which were essentially early 1940s cars, slightly refashioned). Marketing campaigns touted the “high-compression” engines like the Blue Flame inline-six, good for 115 horsepower and mated to a Powerglide two-speed transmission. “You probably expect greater acceleration. And it’s yours,” said one print advert. “You enjoy faster getaway and increased passing ability.”
This was all well and good to the average Joe, but guys like Alex Gambino viewed their Chevys in a different light. Combining both his artistic talents with his knowledge in fabrication and planning, the man had all the skills he needed to take his ride to the next level. His creamy orange Bel Air, dubbed the “Fuck You ’54”, is a mid-50s coupe that had us stunned and amazed when we first laid eyes on it back in August 2014 at the Goodguys West Coast Nationals.
We recently got the chance to speak with Gambino and get a clearer understanding of his and the car’s background. In doing so, we learned what compels a man to include an expletive in his creation’s nickname, the complexity of part compatibility, and some hard truths about rat rod culture.
We Walk Down Koolsville And Enter The Mind Of A Beatnik
Rod Authority: What do you do for a living?
Alex Gambino: “I am a traditional hot rod and kustom car builder.”
RA: Could you give us some background about yourself so our readers can get a sense of you who you are?
AG: “I had asthma real bad as a youth and missed a lot of school, so I built model cars to keep me busy. I was into Hot Wheels and slot cars. I built my first minibike when I was 10. I started building my first kustom car when I was 14, it was shaved, nosed, decked, and had frenched antennas. I remember seeing frenched antennas on cars at the car shows. I guess you can say my life was always heavily consumed by cars.”
A badge bearing the name of Gambino’s club, the Beatniks.
RA: What was your first car-related memory?
AG: “I put Baby Moon hubcaps on my mom’s 1965 Impala around the time I built my first mini bike. I remember seeing them in the little books. I made my mom take me down to a place to where I could buy them and I put them on. I was probably ten years old and was building model cars at that point too, so I was putting two and two together.”
RA: Who would you say is your biggest influence when it comes to cars?
AG: “Gene Winfield. There are other guys too, like DiAgostino and Rick Dore. Guys behind all those great cars being built (John Aiello, Oz at Oz Kustoms, ACME Customs). Those cars were spot-on as far as modifications and painting. All those names I just mentioned are my biggest influence and inspiration.”
RA: What is the most important car-related lesson you’ve learned?
It’s a thinking man’s game. You can’t just do things blind, you’ve gotta be thinking about what you’re doing, because one thing inevitably leads to another. –Alex Gambino
AG: “When building a car, one thing relates to five things. Like, let’s say I wanted to do Mustang II front setup on a vehicle. When you install the Mustang II kit, the motor can’t just be inserted without any consideration. There’s still the exhaust, the steering, et cetera. The exhaust ends up wanting to be where the steering is, for example. And then the motor mounts get in the way. So it is that with most things, it always leads to something else or else you’ll paint yourself into a corner. It’s a thinking man’s game. You can’t just do things blind, you’ve gotta be thinking about what you’re doing, because one thing inevitably leads to another.”
The car’s unique hue is a blended combination of five oranges made by House of Color.
RA: What motivates you to build or collect classic cars?
AG: “I guess it’s the artistic side of me. Ever since I was young, I always had to modify or change things. I used to build models without the directions, taking parts out of other model kits, and back then you had more variety with the 3-in-1 kits. Seeing stuff at car shows just kept right on going into bikes and choppers. It’s like whenever I got a new car to work on, I always shaved the door handles. It became something of a trademark.”
RA: Do you have any other automotive passions aside from kustoms? Off-roading, drag racing, drifting?
AG: “No, kustom cars are my life.”
RA: What would you say to someone who has an interest in our culture but has no prior experience? What can they do to immerse themselves?
AG: “Go to car shows, take the Gene Winfield Custom Metal Working Class he puts on. Or find a hot rod or kustom car shop in your area and ask to sweep the floors. Follow your dreams!”
RA: What do you think about the current state of classic car culture, what are some new trends/what is dying out?
AG: “Kustom cars are hot right now, but I hope the rat rod thing dies out. The trend, as I saw it, started with these cars that weren’t finished, and somehow they got coined as being “rat rods,” owing to the lack of paint and polish that hot rods came to identify as. They were basically unfinished cars.
It became a sign of rebellion to have rat rods. Guys were starting to essentially give up on completing their rides. So now, you have guys that are purposely building crap, and that’s not how it was supposed to be. And on top of looking crummy, some of these rat rods were unsafe; cracked brake lines, rusty parts, all this stuff wasn’t being replaced, it was just being left on in the name of retaining the car’s “soul.”
Rat rods essentially led to people building unsafe, uncompleted cars, and it’s become heavily misconstrued by enthusiasts. It’s gotten real blurry, to the point that there’s some traditional hot rods that are taking on the rat rod moniker now too. In my opinion, people have taken the idea too far.”
A F#&!in’ Amazing ’54
First purchased in 2002, Gambino bought the ’54 off of a man with what amounted to a pile of parts taking up space. “The guy that owned it had to move it from where it was, since it was going to get towed one day,” explained Gambino. “The guy that owned it had nowhere to put it, and he’d noticed people were stealing parts from it. I told him I had a place to put the car, gave him a $20 deposit, and never saw him again. To this day, I still owe that guy about $400.”
After a month was spent fixing the little issues keeping the car from rolling, Gambino would go on to spend the next several years doing a frame-off restoration. “I’m actually doing a complete refresh on it right now,” he admitted. “But I’m keeping it under wraps for the time being.”
Nevertheless, the state of the car as we saw it back at the Goodguys show could only be described as “regal.” That striking orange–House of Color shades, five in all, according to Gambino–shined brilliantly amidst the chrome, rear Wheel Vintique smoothies, and front Rally America OEM-style rims.
The car earned its nickname as a tribute to Gambino’s friend, Johnny Chop, who built a custom motorcycle called the “Fuck You Bike.”
And this was to say nothing of Gambino’s clever handiwork, with the chopped roof, nosed hood, decked rear, and shaved door handles. Other custom touches included 1953 Cadillac headlight rings, 1953 Chevy front sheet metal, 1946 Chevy rear window, and 15 grille teeth from a 1953 Chevy.
As mesmerizing as the outside was, we were pleased to find the inside was just as beautiful. Pearl white tuck-and-roll seats and carpet, leopard-print inserts in the doors and seats, painted dashboard, aftermarket gauges; all were installed and fit to a “T,” and constituted just the sort of quality expected of a Gambino kustom.
And what would a hot rod be without a killer motor? For the ’54, Gambino went with a 327 cubic-inch V8 from a ’64 Chevy. He had it bored .030-inches over and fitted with a mild camshaft, alongside an Edelbrock four-barrel carb, intake, and valve covers, as well as Power Pak heads and Pertronix Ez-Wire kit on the stock distributor.
If this is the level of work devoted to the first go-around of this classic Bowtie, it’s quite certain that Gambino’s current reinterpretation will shock and amaze once again in the near future. Whatever direction the coupe heads in, it won’t be aimless and haphazard as long as Gambino is in control. We invite you to check out more by visiting the man’s website, or by giving him a call at (408) 479-4812.
