Article and Photos by
Bryan Fross

   In the Southern California show scene there are several different groupings that enthusiasts fall into covering all facets of customizing. There are custom trucks, import cars, sport utility vehicles, and many other types of vehicles at each and every show. Vehicles like this 1958 Buick Century happen to fall under the radar of most custom enthusiasts when building a show worthy ride. Jon Collins is a resident of Lake Forest, California and owns Coyote Fabrication along with his brother Nate and Brother-In-Law Josh Burns. They have been working on making this car lower and cleaner than most other "Old School" rides in the So. Cal. Show scene. This car commands attention from enthusiasts from all facets of customizing. It is low, two-toned, and cool to see rolling down the highway.

   Jon and Nate opened their shop in Orange, California to do what they love which is building custom rides. At Coyote Fabrication, they used AutoCAD which is a computer-aided drafting program, to design custom tubular upper and lower control arms. The frame is also tubular from the rear doors back to allow maximum axle travel when aired out.  Yes, that's right, most people tend to think this Buick is lifted up using hydraulics but Jon and Nate have it riding on Firestone air bags with two ViAir compressors and two 5-gallon air tanks. The set of 20-inch KMC SS wheels are tucking nicely in the front and over half in the rear.

   Although his car looks fairly stock on the outside, it has been changed in ways that most other people never even have to think about for their projects.  When it was released it 1958, industry magazines called this car a "chrome tank". To get it into a style that people could appreciate in this century, the stock gun sights and mirrors on the front fenders were removed. The door handles were removed along with the fender, hood, and trunk holes being filled up and smoothed out. The windows were given a tribal tint treatment by Joe at House of Tints in Tustin, California. The difficult front corner windows and severely curved rear window were perfectly matched by Joe and add even more modernized style.

   The interior was kept fairly original but Jon recently modified the dash panel with fiberglass. The seats were replaced by the previous owner and to this day, Jon is not sure where they came out of. They are wrapped in black and white vinyl to stick with a two-tone theme. Controlling his air system is a MIC skull switchbox.

   The engine compartment has also remained stock except for 2 Optima batteries running the motor and accessories. The horn was replaced with a train style horn that runs off of the air tanks in the trunk. The trunk also houses a 22 gallon fuel cell that was reinforced to keep it from becoming a bomb if the car was struck in the rear in a car accident.

   This was Jon's first car at 15 years old and he has been wrenching on it ever
since. He would like to thank his brother Nate and anyone else who has helped along the way. Special thanks to Bree for bringing her classic looks to go along with Jon's Old School ride.

Model: Bree Andre

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