In fact, we had the answer for him six years ago, in the very first issue of Hemmings Classic Car, when we showed this same car in the Lost and Found section. For those of you without a copy of HCC #1 handy, at the time the car was owned by Bob Ewing, whose research showed that Harry Dundore, owner of Die Craft Corp. in Baltimore, had the car built on a 1957 Chrysler 300-C chassis by Gordon Vann’s Custom Shop in Berkeley, California. Dundore’s inspiration for the car came from a drawing he brought back with him from a business trip to Ghia in Turin. Ewing spotted the car years later at a service station in Stratford, Pennsylvania, and when we last spoke with him, he’d gotten it running and driving, but was unsure about whether he intended to fully restore it. See more at Hemmings.

We found a post on an Aussie drag racing site featuring the freaking awesome 1958 Chrysler Saratoga Top Doorslammer that Pete Kapiris’s shop has just finished prepping and he just started testing. This monster is definitely a runner as the team laid down a 6.20 lap on the first day of testing! The national record for the class is down at the bottom of the 5.80s, but a first day 6.20 is nasty!

Murray Anderson built the chassis and Kapiris just kind of fell into the Saratoga body. According to the story, Anderson had finished this chassis for another customer who pulled out of the deal half way through the process. He told Kapiris it was available and voila! He now has one of the most distinctive doorslammers on the planet!

Hit the link below to see more photos of this truly evil car!

Source — FastDoorslammers.com — Kapiris Brothers Racing Batmobile

After reading this thread on Moparts.com about Rustoleum, I decided to give it a try. I had never painted a car before, so how did it turn out? Continue reading after the jump!

Let me start off this article by saying that I’m on a tight budget. I’ve got two beautiful daughters under the age of three and a mortgage. The idea of painting my truck cheaply appealed to me. My truck has over 200,000 miles on it, so if the job turned out bad it wasn’t a huge loss.

Before starting I scoped out the price of Rustoleum at Home Depot. For about $90 I got all the paint and primer I needed. I decided on white because I heard it was the easiest.

My first step was removing the bed. I figured I could start on the bed and not have to mask anything-then the sanding started. I knew that my truck had had body work done. The passenger side of the truck had been repainted. Until I started sanding, I didn’t realize how much work had been done.

With the bed removed, I could see the entire passenger skin had been replaced. The door and fender were different colors underneath the paint. The truck either had a bad sideswipe or was rolled on its side.

There was a lot of sanding involved. I didn’t do any bodywork or filler because I honestly didn’t care. I just roughed up the passenger side, while on the driver side I took it down to the metal. Here’s the passenger side of the bed after sanding.

The original thread on Moparts.com discussed using a roller to apply the paint. I figured that spraying would be quicker and leave a better finish-without having to wet sand. So, with an inherited paint gun that was made in the ’60s I started spraying.

I sprayed two coats of primer, did a quick wet sand then sprayed two coats of color. To my eye, it looked pretty good. I didn’t even get many bugs stuck in it.

The cab was a lot more work than the bed. There was a lot of sanding and a lot of masking.

The cab was also harder to spray without getting runs due to things getting in the way. For example, while spraying the door, the gun hit the mirror which momentarily stopped the gun. This made a thick spot and the paint ran. In spite of all my blunders, it turned out okay. Yes, those are old towels covering the grille area.

While I had the truck apart, I sprayed the grille, trim and bumper with Rustoleum Epoxy Appliance paint. I had heard good things about this paint and so far have no complaints (or rock chips).

Soon after the truck was back together, I had to put a new clutch in it. While working over the fender, I noticed that my plastic buttons were leaving marks in the paint. The gas filler door had also chipped when it was opened. I was starting to wonder if this paint was all it was cracked up to be. I tried not to think about all the work I’d done if indeed this was crappy paint.

Fast forward to this spring. Here in the State of Jefferson, we burn wood in the winter to keep warm. Which means my truck gets used like it should- driving up into the mountains through brush and loading it down with wood. I was a little nervous about the paint, but decided not to care. I drove through bushes and slid heavy logs across the bed rails when loading. How did it fare?

It appears that my initial worries were unfounded. The paint must have still been soft when I saw the first chips. There were some minor scuffs where the firewood dragged across the paint, but the paint did not come completely off. All in all I’m happy with it. Go ahead and give it a try yourself. It will either be a great adventure-or a great story.