Gary Ruddell's 1955 Pontiac

An early iteration of Gary's Pontiac as it appeared before he had given it a Pearl Green paint job. The original paint on the car was green and white. "This was my first car, it was 1959, and I was a senior in high school and working at a doughnut shop making $1.00 an hour. I bought it from a used car lot for about $300.00. The first thing I did was take it to a muffler shop and had them heat up the front springs to lower it and then I installed lower blocks in the rear." Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

A photo of Gary's Pontiac as it appeared after it had been upholstered and painted. "The paint was pure luck, I think it was a Coachmen car club poker run and the first prize was a $100.00 paint job. Well, I got lucky and won. The original paint on the car was green and white so when I took it to the paint shop to have it painted I told them to paint it candy green and pearl white. When I came back to pick it up it was painted a pearl green that matched my tuck and roll. they had made the right choice and I have never seen that color on any other car." Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

After Gary had lowered the car he crossed the border to Mexico to have a mint green and white tuck and roll interior done in Tijuana. The door panels featured heart-shaped pleated inserts. Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

This iteration of Gary's Pontiac is running Dodge Lancer hubcaps. Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

A photo of Gary's mildly customized Pontiac from Jackie Beeson's Collection. This photo was taken circa 1960. Photo courtesy of Jackie Beeson.

Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

A photo of Gary and some of the guys in the Seagrams. Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

Gary's Seagrams plaque. Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

Gary's Seagrams courtesy card. Photo courtesy of Gary Ruddell.

1955 Pontiac owned by Gary Ruddell of Norwalk, California. In 2018 Gary told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that the Pontiac was his first car; "This was my first car, it was 1959, and I was a senior in high school and working at a doughnut shop making $1.00 an hour. I bought it from a used car lot for about $300.00. The first thing I did was take it to a muffler shop and had them heat up the front springs to lower it and then I installed lower blocks in the rear. The next thing was the interior, I went to Tijuana to have the tuck and roll done." Gary was the President of the Seagrams of Norwalk car club, and the Seagrams and the Coachmen car club participated in many charity events in Norwalk from 1959 to 1963. "The paint was pure luck, I think it was a Coachmen car club poker run and the first prize was a $100.00 paint job. Well, I got lucky and won. The original paint on the car was green and white so when I took it to the paint shop to have it painted I told them to paint it candy green and pearl white. When I came back to pick it up it was painted a pearl green that matched my tuck and roll. they had made the right choice and I have never seen that color on any other car. The engine was stock."

Gary's Pontiac was dressed up with dual dummy spotlights and Dodge Lancer hubcaps. Gary was a friend of Jackie Beeson in the spring of 1960, and in 2016 Jackie told Kustomrama that she remembered the beautiful paint job; "The car had such a pretty Pearl Mint Green paint job. The tuck and roll upholstery was mint green and pearl white." Shortly after, Gary sold it and bought a 1958 Corvette.