Adam Smith’s 1950 Chevy Fleetline Deluxe
We have all been there, I imagine. You see something in the lines through the primer. You can envision a gold jewel emerging from the blacktop and rolling low and slow into the dappled sunset with your bride by your side.
That’s what happened when Adam Smith was looking for a Model A Coupe flipping through AutoTrader. This ’50 Fleetline caught his attention. The windswept lines of early space-age styling in the fastback Fleetline, sent his mind into outerspace.
In a flash he got the keys to the then black primer mild custom, 235 straight 6 and after tearing the car down enlisted his old boss to help show him how to start blocking the car for paint. Soon enough they sprayed it a Mercedes blue over the black primer. From there, this was his daily for 6 or more years. Getting the usual touches and maintenance of the Offy dual intake with Fenton split manifolds and four speed.
Not soon enough he brought the Chevy to his friend Kirk Browns house where they swapped out the spent 235 with a 350/700R4 combo. Airbaggin’ the back to get to that creeper stance and Kirk ran the custom exhaust. Drove it all over the south for another 5 years and decided to do a complete rebuild 10 years ago.
Adam found a keeper when his then girlfriend Nyki came in to help. They got it down to bare metal and primered it. Knowing there will be some extensive metal work to fix previous work done on the car, it was pushed on the back burner as life, and the budget took precedence. The car was worked on between other projects for about 7 years. In May of 2018, after getting engaged, Adam and Nyki made a pact to have it done for their wedding since they worked on it together in the beginning of their relationship.
Jeremy Smith, Adam’s older brother came over for a couple of weekends to help with the tailpan and driver-side quarter panel repair. Their shoulders got a workout starting on the body work. Adam had been following the smooth work that Derrick Hathaway had been doing with paint body and his own builds. When Hathaway moved to Phoenix, Adam knew he was the one to finish the bodywork and spray the car.
Blocking, tons of blocking, late nights of blocking, more blocking than Adam cares to remember, Gaps checked, more blocking and finally it was ready to paint. Hathaway worked his magic (skill) to make sure his custom mixed (mustard custard) paint was good before adding a super subtle fade on the bottom and laid on the clear. After Color sanding buffing and polishing it was ready for final assembly. Jeremy came back every night after work and weekends to get it done for the wedding coming up in two weeks. Daniel at Bell Auto Upholstery installed the white and gold interior during the week before the wedding and Jeremy came over to help complete the car by midnight before the wedding day.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith now have a few more projects to keep them busy. If you know what I mean. Mrs. Nyki Smith has a ’41 Cadillac Sedanette series 61 to build and Mr. Adam Smith a ’60 Chevy Wagon, I wonder what his vision is for that…
