John Anton Jr.'s 1955 Dodge

A photo of John with the Dodge. Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

Photo courtesy of John Anton III.

A photo of John's Dodge from The Roger Lick Photo Collection. Taken at an outdoor car show, this photo was developed in June of 1959. Photo from The Roger Lick Photo Collection.

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1955 Dodge owned and restyled by John Anton Jr. of Midlothian, Illinois. John bought the Dodge brand new in 1955. At the time he ran a custom body shop named J&J Kustoms together with a friend. After buying the car, he drove it straight to his shop, where he spent two months restyling it.

Candy Paint Job

John had heard about Candy Paint, and he figured it was just a toner mixed with clear. In 2017 John's son told Kustomrama that he experimented and figured out how to mix what is known as Candy; "Dad was before his time. He laid a Gold base on the car, and he had 14 karat Gold crushed up and added to it. He said he had to wear dark glasses because it was catching the light, and he had a hard time seeing," John laughs. "Back then you couldn't put toner over the base. It would turn brownish over time he said. He had to clear over the Gold, then add the Red toner over it. Layer it."

According to John Anton III, his dad actually beat George Barris for best paint at a car show back in the days. "Everyone thought Barris built it he said. He said Barris was really pissed off. Barris ended up offering him a job to come work for him but my dad couldn't move out there. They had my sisters who were very little and he had a shop of his own."