Story and photos by Brian Earnest
Larry Swedel was determined to somehow, someday, own what he considers the most amazing, beautiful, over-the-top American automobile built in the 1950s. It’s hard to argue that the 1959 Dodge Custom Royals were some of the wildest, most extreme vehicles built in the 1950s, or any other decade for that matter.The catch is, it’s also an extreme challenge to find one — especially a Custom Royal convertible, which is what Swedel had his heart set on. Only 984 of the gaudy droptops were built, and probably only a small fraction of those have survived.Still, Swedel was unwavering in his belief that he would eventually stumble across a 1959 Custom Royal convertible that he could afford, and the story behind his stunning two-tone specimen is a lesson in patience, faith and dogged determination.
via Car of the Week: 1959 Dodge Custom Royal | Old Cars Weekly.