By Trevor Jackson
THE Majestic Vanners put on an impressive car show at the Valley Lakes recently, with vans being the main attraction.
However, one car which stood out from the crowd was a far cry from anything van-related.
The show included vehicles of special interest and the Dodge known affectionately as ‘The Sled’ was certainly one of those.
Owned by Mount Gambier’s Tyrone Mustey for the last 21 years, the 1956 Dodge has undergone major custom work to create what is seen today.
Originally a four-door vehicle, the Dodge has been cut and tucked in all sorts of places, now a classy two-door coupe.
A stand-out is the flame paint work, which was completed locally by Mark Fry, along with much of the panel work.
The Dodge runs a small-block 350 cubic inch Chevrolet motor, with a turbo 350 transmission and a Mustang eight-inch diff, completed by the owner.
Tyrone said he purchased the car “just up the road” from where he lived and drove it home.
The car was in original condition, with black paint, red leather interior and a bit of rust.
From there the work began in earnest.
“It took three months just to do the changes to the body,” he said.
“When I bought the car I got spare front guards, spare front doors, bonnet and boot.
“The only parts that have not been changed are the bonnet and boot.
“We de-scun the doors and made the new doors 150mm longer.
“We tried to make it look like a factory-produced two door.”
While the car looks the part now, it took many years to create the finished product.
“The car was flat black for the first 15 years,” Tyrone said.
“I couldn’t afford to do all the body work and paint it at the time, so we didn’t do the current paint job until 2015.
“Mark Fry (Custom Chassis Panel and Paint) did the panel work and chassis change on the front – it runs a HZ Holden front chassis graft.
“Mark did the paint and his son Taylor was 18 at the time and did all the pin striping.”
As for the flame paint job, Tyrone said that was as much Mark’s creativity as his own desire.
“Every 50s custom has a pretty wild flame job on it,” he said.
“I gave Mark a pretty loose hand – I told him I didn’t want the flames to start at the front of the car and I didn’t want yellow and white at the front.
“He started masking up and I just kept popping in to have a look.
“He has the forethought to see the finished job.
“I am stoked with the outcome.”
The interior was completed in Adelaide but Tyrone said if he was to do the car today, he would use Taylor, who has now set up a shop in town, churning out work “equal to anything in the world”.
While Tyrone said he had been offered “pretty good money” for the Dodge, he noted it is not up for sale but will be passed down through the family.
He also accepted the car may not appeal to everyone.
“It is not everyone’s cup of tea,” he said.
“It is very individual.”
