The House of Kolor Drag Strip

At the 2018 SEMA show, the theme of the House of Kolor booth was nostalgia drag racing.

Henry Jaded

Dave Shuten of Galpin Auto Sports built this gasser-themed 1952 Kaiser-Frazer Henry J for owner Daniel Nelson. The car is powered by a Chevrolet Performance 572 crate engine bored out to 585 cubic inches by QMP Racing and is fed by a Holly 1150 carburetor atop a Chevrolet Performance ZZ572 intake manifold. The paint is a mix of House of Kolor Orion Silver with Teal Kandy Koncentrate, with the leaf and striping work done by Pete Finlan.

Dr. Moon’s Rage

This 1948 Anglia gasser owned and driven by Howard Moon is powered by a supercharged and injected 427 cubic inch Chevrolet engine, connected to a 2-speed Powerglide transmission and a nine-inch Ford rear end. The car is finished in House of Kolor Violet Shimrin Designer Pearl with the striping and lettering by “flea.”

Helmet display

The House of Kolor booth also had several displays of nostalgia-themed racing helmets.

Photos by the author

Is this wildest DIVCO ever built?

 

 

At the 2017 SEMA show in Las Vegas, the House of Kolor pain company showed off a custom delivery truck finished by Count's Kustoms the hometown hot rod and chopper customization shop featured on the History Channel’s “reality” television show “Counting Cars.”   

 

 

 

Ryan Evans, Lead Painter from Las Vegas-based Count’s Kustoms, led the customization job on 1954 DIVCO  (Detroit Industrial Vehicles Company) Model 13 truck along with Lonny Speer Mike Taylor and Ron Fleenor.

 

 

The DIVCO was painted exclusively with House of Kolor products including Limetime (S2-PBC38), Meteor Maroon (Kustom Mix S2-06), Planet Green (S2-09) and Kosamene Brass Pearl (S2-FX21), all from the Shimrin2 Basecoat System. The DIVCO also features House of Kolor Shimrin2 striping enamels. KD3000 gray primer and UC21 Universal Acrylic Urethane Klear.

 

 

This is the DIVCO’s second appearance at SEMA- it was first shown in 2014. Prior to its rebuild the truck sat in a scrapyard for close to 30 years before it was rebuilt by Jus Cuz Customs and Studz Customs in Edmonton, Alberta Canada.

Besides the extensive metal work required to repair the rust damage, the DIVCO’s Continental flat-head four-cylinder engine was replaced with an 6.2 Liter LS Series GM crate motor and four-speed automatic transmission in a custom built frame.  The truck uses an air-ride system over the 20-inch front and 22-inch diameter rear wheels.

 

All photos by the author  

A Corvair Low Rider  

 

 

 

 

This radical 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Monza low rider, shown in the House of Kolor booth at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) booth, perked a level of interest because the author drove a red 1967 Chevrolet Monza in high school. Needless to say, this Corvair is way cooler than that long-lost ride.  

 

 

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If this finished low rider Corvair is not unique enough, consider that it was originally assembled in the General Motors Suisse assembly plant in Bienne Switzerland, one of the four Corvair assembly plants still in operation in 1966, along with the Willow Run Michigan, Oshawa Ontario Canada, and Van Nuys California.

 

The second generation restyled Corvair was released in 1965 known as the "Z-Body" with elements of the 1963 Larry Shinoda Sting Ray design. The second generation Corvair was longer and lower and used a three-link rear suspension and coil springs instead of the original swing arm suspension which had attracted the ire of consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

Upon its release, Car and Driver  editor David E. Davis wrote that "the new Corvair is — in our opinion — the most important new car of the entire crop of '65 models, and the most beautiful car to appear in this country since before World War II."

 

 

This Corvair was customized in 2012 by Romain Roulleau’s “New Ride” shop in Norges la Ville, France, with the door handles removed and doors mounted suicide style and the hydraulic system installed before the car was painted Djoce Custom Paint using House of Kolor products, an American company founded in 1956 and a division of Valspar since 1977.   

 

click to enlarge

 

The 161-cubic inch 140-horsepower air-cooled "boxer" six-cylinder chromed and detailed engine was built by Julien Pitault in Dijon France.

All photos by the author