BEHIND THE WHEEL A one-of-a-kind automobile

BY MARIA ALLARD allard@candgnews.com

METRO DETROIT — While growing up in Detroit, one of the first modes of transportation Roy Lipanski ever made as a kid was his very own motorbike.

Using his engineering skills, the native Detroiter took the engine of a lawn mower and mounted it to a bicycle.

“I designed the slipper clutch to make it go,” Lipanski remembered. “I was always interested in doing things like that. I was always making stuff as a kid.”

The desire to build continued into adulthood. Many years ago, Lipanski — who resides in Warren with his wife, Barbara, of 69 years — decided he wanted to custom build his own car. The couple have five children and several grandchildren.

Lipanski, 89, had the mechanical abilities to take on such an endeavor. After all, he worked as a toolmaker building special automation machines, primarily for the automobile industry.

In 1965, he purchased a 1955 four-door Chevy Bel Air, rolled up his sleeves and got to work in the garage. He started the project by sketching out a design that served as a blueprint.

“It’s an automatic. I made everything you see. Everything is handmade. It was a lot of work,” he said. “All you see is handmade bumpers, hood, fenders, doors, headers and a walnut dashboard. It’s the only one like it in the world.”

For starters, Lipanski made sure he had enough sheet metal and steel for his one-of-a-kind production. Everything on the custom-made vehicle is metal, minus the fenders. Lipanski modeled his automobile after two designs he admired: that of the Duesenberg and the Cord styles of the 1920s and 1930s.

“I always liked them,” the 1951 Denby High School graduate said. “It took me only two days to strip the car down to the bare frame, and then I had the frame sand-

See LIPANSKI on page 13A

WARREN MAN BUILT CUSTOM CAR TO HAVE 1920s AND ’30s STYLING

In 1965, Roy Lipanski purchased a 1955 four-door Chevy Bel Air, stripped it down to its frame and then built his own car. Lipanski likes to take his convertible to the Woodward Dream Cruise and to Eastpointe Cruisin’ Gratiot. The rear of the car was partially made from a 1946 Hudson hood.