SLIPPERY GYPSY – SEAN HAMMOND 1957 FORD RANCHERO
Like most of us gearheads, Sean Hammond had a mental collection of cool cars that he dreamed of owning and enjoying. With a shoebox spinner and kick-ass Model A coupe already ticked off, a 1957 Ranchero has been sitting at the top of the list.
With both aforementioned vehicles now resembling long-term projects (aka in pieces), he bit the bullet on a good driving Ranchy imported from the motherland of cool classics, the good ol’ USA, in 2014.
Sean’s intentions were to give it a tidy up, cruise in it over a summer, then move it on to finish his Model A coupe. While he entertained a few offers to sell, nothing solid eventuated and he became more and more attached to his new possession.
“It showed up looking like a Four Wheel Drive, so I basically just slammed it, put the wheels and wide whites off my spinner on and cruised it! It was presentable and a great no-fuss kind of ride.”
After refusing some lowball offers, Sean attended one of his favourite runs and returned home with a revised plan for the ’57.
“The day after Chopped 2015, I pulled it apart and started to get stuck into the bodywork with the goal to get it all done and back on the road by Queenscliff Rod Run in early Feb… because there was no way I was going to have three unfinished projects!”
Considering that Chopped was the first weekend of October, this was going to be a hefty exercise, even for an experienced bodyman like Sean.
From early childhood, he’s been involved with the automotive scene and fondly recalls constructing and painting model kits of his favourite cars as a young teen. These days he is an integral team member at CAD Custom Elite Body & Paint, which regularly knocks out award-winning vehicles under the direction of owner Carmine De Maria.
“I feel lucky and grateful being born into hot rodding; my dad Don has been into early Holdens and hot rods since the 60s, frequenting places like Riverside Raceway as a teenager in the early 60s. I sorta took the hobby to another level though. I knew pretty early on that there wasn’t really anything else I wanted to do but work on and around hot rods and custom cars, so I can thank or blame Dad for that!”
Cutting his teeth in the automotive refinishing industry has served him well, and once his sleeves were rolled up for duty, nothing was going to deter his dedication to achieve his new goal.
“The body was super solid, but super ripply,” he admits. “Once I decided that I was going to give it a birthday, I spent about three months after hours and on weekends getting the body straightened out at home in the shed.”
While the sea of ripples was nauseating, the discovery of remnants of red pinstriping bordering the side stainless moulds led him to believe that it was someone’s mild custom truck in the sixties. One of Sean’s new skills cultured at CAD Custom is the art of splining, which he practised over time, reshaping the 60-year-old sheet metal back to dead straight lines. He rightfully boasts that all the bodywork was completed using the spline method, which consumed around 250 hours alone!
“Every night for four months I’d come home from work and go straight into the shed, doing some crazy late nights. Apart from a cheeky trip to Yokohama for the Mooneyes show, I basically didn’t do anything but work on the car, listen to music and eat pizza.”
As a side note, Sean estimates about thirty pizzas, four KFC trips, two cases of Canadian Club and Cola and numerous other ciders and beers were consumed during this part of the project. Lucky he has a young man’s metabolism, I say!
While the factory ’57 is essentially stock, it now has a healthy nod to traditional mild customs by Frenching the headlights, shaving badges all round, smoothing the tailgate and integrating a 1965 Pontiac GTO scoop into the hood. All subtle and applaudable in their own right, but the “piece de resistance” for many are the 1958 Edsel Wagon taillights. It is also one of the easiest mods to do, if you can find them!
With the Ranchy now a bare canvas, Sean harked back to his childhood models and paint hero of a past era for the inspirational exterior design and colour palette.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to paint a car this colour,” he explains with youthful enthusiasm. “When I was around 14 or 15 building model cars, I built a chopped and channelled ‘34 five-window coupe and painted it an earthy bronze colour (I think I may have even submitted a pic of it to Cruzin!). From then on, I knew that style of car is just me.”
With colour choices locked in, Sean tapped Troy Palmer for some custom Glasurit mixed hues they now affectionately call Slippery Gypsy Bronze and El Rancho Mofo white.
With paint in hand, Sean then channelled legendary painter Larry Watson while designing the tasteful layout of panels, scallops and flames. It is written that at the age of just 16, Larry began his pinstriping career, inspired by watching Von Dutch striping while sitting on his bicycle outside of Barris Kustoms in Lynwood, California. In 1956, Watson shot his first metallic paint job and masked his first scallops on Bob Schremp’s 1954 Chevrolet. From that day on, the Watson name has become synonymous with flamboyant paintwork that masterfully turned factory vehicles into instant customs without major body modifications.
It’s a creative deception that Sean drew from while eyeballing the huge rear quarters and hood of the Ranchero now resting before him in All-U-Need Polyester primer, expertly applied by Carmine. As the deadline was fast approaching, late nights continued, and Sean hit the Ranchy hard as soon as his workday was done.
“About ten days before Queenscliff, the car and all its big ass panels were all blocked, ready for its first coat of colour. We painted the whole car white after hours during the week, then assembled and gapped it up. The night before the big panel-paint fest, I blocked the outside of the car back, thinking the late nights were finally over!”
Sounds like last words, right? With just six days to go before the run, Sean and a bunch of his mates pushed the car into the booth armed with six-packs and encouraging energy.
“I had designed and laid out a couple of panel paint jobs before, but it must have been long enough ago for me to forget how time-consuming and mind-boggling it can get,” he quips.
“Before we knew it, it was around 12 am before the car was fully masked and ready for the ground coat! We finished up around 3:30 am, and Carmine and I came back the next day to apply the Glasurit 109 Clear. Every night from then until deadline, I had mates come past the shop lending a hand until 1 am… more pizzas were inhaled, and bourbons savoured. A good mate of mine, Andy Colalillo, always used an acronym… “M.I.H. – Make It Happen”. Although simple, it kinda stuck in my head and about 6 pm Friday, we were finished enough to jump in the car and drive to Queenscliff. The first beer upon arrival at registration never tasted so good! Good friends helping one another out on their cars is what hot rodding is all about.”
Since completion, Sean has piloted the Slippery Gypsy to as many hot rod and car events as he can, driving to Port Fairy, then onto Phillip Island in a weekend which clocked around 1400 kms in 35-degree pie warmer heat.
“The Ranchy drove perfectly,” he grins. “The crossply front and cheater slick rears drove fantastic, and it even won the Kewlest Cruiser award at the Kustom Nats! Hopefully 2017 sees more smiles and miles, and we get its matching Model A coupe done.”
With dedication, passion and great mates on his side, it’s only a matter of time. This is Rodding 101.
