Tony Bruskivage's 1952 Lincoln

The first version of the Pearl was featured on the cover of Cars August 1960. Photo courtesy of www.99wspeedshop.com.

The front on Tony's Lincoln seems to be heavily inspired by the Barris Kustoms built Golden Sahara.

A photo of the first version of the Pearl from the souvenir program from the 1961 Ram Rods Rod and Custom Car Show.

A second version of the Pearl was featured in Custom Rodder May 1962.

The Pearl as she appeared when she was featured in Custom Rodder May 1962. This version featured side fins on the rear quarter panels. Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

A front end shot of the Pearl. The pan and grille shell were hand-made, and the overall design looks like it was inspired by the Barris Kustoms built Golden Sahara. Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

The license plate on the Pearl was tunneled into the body below the trunk. Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

The custom made top was covered with tufted Naugahyde. Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

The interior was upholstered in two-tone tufted, rolled and pleated Naugahyde. Photo by Ralph Warthog, courtesy of Custom Rodder.

The Pearl as it appeared when Tom Doorly owned it. Photo courtesy of Tom Doorley, from the HAMB.

Photo courtesy of Tom Doorly, from the HAMB.

The Pearl as it appeared after Tom Doorly sold it. Photo courtesy of Tom Doorly, from the HAMB.

Photo courtesy of Tom Doorly, from the HAMB.

The Pearl as it appeared at the 2008 Lead East. Photo by Luke Karosi, courtesy of Rik Hoving Custom Car Photo Archive.

1952 Lincoln convertible owned and restyled by Tony Bruskivage of Hawthorne, New Jersey. The front fenders on Tony's Lincoln were extended and modified to accept canted quad headlights. The headlights were set into plastic backing plates. Below the headlights, 1955 Buick bullets were installed for protection and styling. A large grille opening was made and fit with horizontal bars. The grille opening was molded to the lower pan, and the overall appearance of the front end is very similar to the Barris Kustoms built Golden Saharah. All chrome was removed, giving the car a one-piece appearance. The rear fenders were extended over a foot. Double fins were added to the top and bottom of the fenders. The rear bumper was removed and replaced with a molded rear pan. Hand-formed oval taillights were installed along with sunken back-up lights. The front part of the rear quarter panels was dressed up with Buick portholes. Once completed, Tony named the car "the Pearl."

Cover Car

The first version of the Pearl was featured on the cover of Cars August 1960.

The 1961 Ram Rods Rod and Custom Car Show

May 12-14, 1961 the Pearl was shown at the Ram Rods Rod and Custom Car Show in Washington, D.C.

The 1962 Version

In 1962 the Pearl was featured in Custom Rodder May 1962, by then the Buick portholes were removed from the rear quarter panels and the car had received hand-formed side fins, custom mesh-covers over the tail lights, and a custom designed tufted top. The interior had received a tufted and pleated Naugahyde upholstery. Power came from a 1956 Lincoln engine. According to Custom Rodder May 1962, "this version featured a pearl paint of Tony's own formula."

Tom Doorly

Tom Doorly of Pottsville, Pennsylvania bought the car in 1994; "At the time in 1994 I was collecting Chevy Corvairs and I met an older gentleman that had two Corvairs sitting in his yard that I bought off him. He said he also had an odd custom car sitting in a garge. I couldn't believe my eyes when he showed it to me. It was a 1952 totally rad custom Lincoln Capri convertible. It was covered in dust and 2 tires were flat. I wanted it, he had no use for it and I ended up buying it for 275.00. I waisted no time getting a guy with a rollback to pick it up for me which was only about 15 miles from home. First I gave it a good washing and it didn't look to bad with a metallic red paint. It was complete had the original V8 engine auto tranmission., and a custom black and white tuck and roll interior in fair shape. The top needed replacing but was intact. We had the car running in a week. Only had 56K miles on it. I rebuilt the complete brake system and I drove it with the top down at a local cruise twice without state inspection and registration and had a blast seeing peoples jaws drop." Tom sold the car to a guy on the cruise commitee, so they could chance the car off the following year. They gave it a flame paint job and installed a new top on it. It was won by a lady from Langhorn, Pennsylvania. After selling the car, Tom found out that it was built by Tony Bruskivage, and that it was pictured in a few old custom car magazines; "I'm still kicking myself in the ass every time I think about it." Later on Tom saw the car advertised for sale in Hemmings. It was located in Broomal, Pennsylvania, and the asking price was 35.000.00.

Flamed

In 2008 the flamed version of the Pearl attended the Lead East.

Magazine Features and Appearances

Cars August 1960
Customs Illustrated September 1960
Custom Rodder May 1962