Owner: Caylor Kapner
Vehicle Year/Make/Model: 1930 Plymouth Roadster
Built By: Caylor Kapner
Engine Details: 225 Odd-Fire V-6 from a 1964 Buick Special; custom Edelbrock dual-plane manifold with Edelbrock 600-cfm 4-bbl carb., intake runners, heads, and gasket port matched and smoothed; custom home-built headers, heat wrapped
Transmission: T5 five-speed built by Quinn Trans (Lompoc, CA)
Chassis and Suspension Details: Custom 2×3 rectangular tube frame; front suspension utilizes an assortment of swap meet springs, Lincoln Zephyr friction shocks, and Speedway steering stabilizer; rear differential is a late-model Chrysler 8.25; QA1 adjustable coilovers with sway bar from a Ford Escort, three-linked with reversed wishbone upper link
Wheels & Tires: Early Plymouth steel wheels with Firestone bias-ply 670-15s in front and 890-15s in the rear
Brakes: Drum brakes at all four corners
Interior Details: 1955 Austin-Healy bucket seats, Lam’s Upholstery (Lompoc, CA)
Body and Paint Details: Body was sandblasted and powdercoated before bodywork; distressed paint by Caylor Kapner, lettering by AC Vintage Designs (Orcutt, CA)
Body Parts: 1928 Pontiac cowl, 1941 Oliver tractor grille and insert, 1965 VW Beetle roof split in half for door sides, 1951 Ford F-100 hood, 1938 Chevrolet Sedan clam shell hood, 1930 Ford Model A louvered hood side for rear valance panel, 1930’s Rite-Way headlight bucket for driver side fairing, hand-formed aluminum hood
Miles Driven in a Year: As many as I can, only 500 miles to date
Favorite Shows to Attend: TROG, WCK Cruisin’ Nationals, and RPM Nationals
Any Awards: During its debut show at WCK 2025 the car was awarded #2 Best Early Hot Rod, Best Kustom by the Critics Car Club of Santa Maria, and Best Owner Built Car from Dman Kustoms.
Special Thanks: Lawrence Orlick, The Critics Car Club, Pico Wheel Service, Ricardo Guerrero at RKG Fabrication, Jordan Graham at Stainless Specialties, Danny Willett at DW FabWorx, and the Caron Family
Background on the Car: At 16 years old I was driving my first car, a 1957 Plymouth two-door Savoy sedan that I got and began customizing when I was in seventh grade. I attended the Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso Dragstrip in Bakersfield, California, in 2009 with my pops and then wanted to build a hot rod. I had some metal fabricating skills acquired from building the 1957 Plymouth, but not much money. I had worked all summer installing solar panels and had brought $500 with me. I was in the swap meet area of the dragstrip when I saw a 1951 Ford F-100 truck hood. Right next to that guy, another guy was selling a 1938 Chevrolet Sedan clamshell hood. I envisioned the Ford truck hood as the top back of a car and each half of the Chevrolet hood for the lower quarter-panels. I thought to myself, “This is great, I already have half a car!” Right across from these guys, I saw a 1928 Pontiac sedan cowl. It was solid, no rust, the top windshield frame was cut off. The lower driver side was bent in at a 30-degree angle. The sticker on it said $50. I told my dad, “Hey, I just found some parts that we could make a roadster with!” I told him how we could stitch the parts together to make the body. He wasn’t getting the picture and told me he knew how hard I worked for that money and didn’t want me to waste it on scrap metal. Undeterred, I bought the parts anyway and proceeded to mock up the body. Dad could now see the vision and thought it was cool. The hoods were only $100 a piece. I went home with $250 in my pocket. I got the car 70 percent finished before moving to Texas, forcing me to sell both my 1957 Plymouth and the roadster project. I moved back to California five years later and a friend bought the roadster back for me as a birthday surprise. The next three years were spent working on the car every weekend. I got it running and driving in time for the 2025 West Coast Kustoms Cruisin’ Nationals held in Santa Maria, California.
