Making its way down to Florida for RM Auction’s annual Amelia Island event on March 2, is this 1955 Ford “Beatnink” Bubbletop custom concept inspired by futuristic design studies from the 1950s. Despite its name, the Beatnik is a fairly new creation built by Gary “Chopit” Fioto. It is based on the body of a 1955 Ford model but rides on a modifies chassis of a 1988 Lincoln Town Car and is powered by a Chevrolet 350-cubic inch small-block V8 engine.
The brand mixing doesn’t stop there as Fioto used a variety of components from Cadillac, Chrysler and Lincoln, including the canted quad headlights. The front bumper was adapted from a ’59 Cadillac, while the rear bumper was fashioned from the front bumper of a ’58 Cadillac. In addition, the finned taillights are sourced from a 1960 Chrysler. However, the front and rear fenders, the door skins and the entire rear section of the car were all hand formed.
The one-of-a-kind model, which took four years of hard work to create, also features a bespoke interior complete with an aircraft control yoke-inspired steering wheel and a rounded dash pod as a tribute to the late 1950s and early 1960s concept cars from Detroit.
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