"Boy, I don't know whether you should have that stuff in the article or not. I don't want to seem like a deviant or pervert of something, and I don't want Connie, my wife, mad at me after she reads the article. But, can I help it if I see hips on my '51 Chevy and cleavage in Mike's Impala?

"I have always liked all kinds of wild custom paint-pearls, candies and even metalflake, they're great. The names of a lot of colors-candy apple, for instance-just sound like stuff you could eat. When I'm thinking of what color a car should be, I try to pick something that would make people want ot come up and lick it.

"There is a lot of talk about trophies these days, and for me they're kind of like the icing on the cake. You don't really need them because the car's already cool, and you know it. But significant trophies are really cool. When we won the Barris Kustom De-elegance award, it really meant a lot. George Barris-you know, he rally likes customs and he's seen a lot of them, and to have him say he really likes your custom is great. Awards are like affirmation, 'cause building these customs is like baring your soul. You're making good and you hope someone else sees it the way you do. In particular, the Barris and Harry Bradley awards I've won mean as much to me as my Grammy. I'm serious about customs. The Bradley award was when I started to realize we were at the forefront.

"I am even having the Barris award duplicated. The original trophy should go to Mike as the car owner. I put a lot of time and effort in that car. When you get a gold record, you get more than one, so you can show some appreciation to people who helped on the project. It was in that spirit that Mike and I decided to get another one made. George Barris doesn't mind; in fact, he ordered the duplicate for us.

Now that it's done, Mike Young has no intentions of trading the Impala for Jimmie's Riviera. He is justifiably proud of the car, as are Gary Howard and Jimmie Vaughan. Plans are now in the works for Mike's second custom. He's actively looking for a Lincoln Zephyr coupe on which to turn Gary Howard loose. Plans call for a '50s-style tail dragger.

Our only questions are...how wide will the whitewalls be, and is the world ready for a metalflake Lincoln Zephyr?