1958 FORD CUSTOM 300 SCREAMER The Gold Digger

Now how’s this for a sneaky lil sleeper!

I’d seen this gorgeous car a few times at different events around the country but never really climbed over it to see just how tough it actually is.

This classic 1958 Ford Custom here packs some serious Muscle Car goodies under that hood, yet it still retains its classy 58 factory appearance with the molded side trims and detailing that the cool era of wings had.

These Custom Tudor Sedan’s as they were known way back then were the bread-and-butter car for Ford company.

As the little brother to the Fairlane with a smaller engine, they were sold as the economical version with business owners picking them up as their fleet cars.

I’m not sure if this one still classes itself as economical now though. When I jumped in for a ride with Graeme, the first thing I noticed was the floor shift four speed gear lever poking up from the floor. Then when Graeme flicked the key, it was very apparent that things had been altered a tad under that long hood up front as well.

This beautiful looking cruiser now packs a tough 351ci Windsor backed by a four speed Top Loader to shove the revs back to the rear wheels.

Graeme has done an awesome job with the rebuild of this automobile.

The full bare metal rotisserie rebuild with a bunch of modifications including swapping the steering wheel over to make it a right hand drive, has all been done to such a standard that you would think this had just rolled off the factory floor.

Being a good ole American desert car for thirty years of it’s life, this fully original car was perfect for what Graeme had in mind for it.

The body being straight and clean of the rust problems often encountered, made life a lot easier for the finish to capture the gloss and reflection of the modern Tangerine Scream paint that simply glows in the sunshine.

The rebuild didn’t stop at the body here. The interior has been fully refitted with leather upholstery to the original styling to keep the classic fifty-eight look going. The original gauge cluster moved to the opposite side and finished to look as if factory.

The engine bay where the growly ole

Windsor sits in place of the original engine, is also detailed to a show standard with polished aluminium rocker covers framing the polished ribbed air cleaner. This entire creation looks to be straight out of the factory which is probably why I hadn’t climbed over it earlier. It sits with a low stance but not over done taking on the unassumed sleeper styling that it has. Of course, with these sort of engine mods going on, you can bet Graeme didn’t leave the brakes and suspension alone!

The front received a set of Wilwood calipers and rotors to help pull it up, while the rear received a set of Caltrack traction bars for when the torque from the tricked-up Windsor hits the tarmac to get her going without hesitating too much.

This ride isn’t just a show piece though, Graeme and Robyn have been clocking up the miles from the day it hit the road. We seem to be following each other around the country from show to show which is absolutely awesome! Driven-not hidden is definitely the moto here!