STRONGSVILLE, Ohio - May 9, 2007 - Saturday, May 12, the Street Rodder/PPG Total Performance Road Tour gets off to a spectacular start in Daytona Beach, Florida. A fleet of classic street rods will prepare to head out on the first of seven weeklong vacation-style Tours, beginning in Florida and stopping off at street rod shows and car events all across the nation throughout the summer. The entourage will be headed up by the official PPG Street Rodder Road Tour car, a '32 Ford 3-Window Coupe, tricked out by Leonard Lopez and his crew at Dominators Street Rods in Brentwood, California.
Of course, the cherry vehicle was restored using fabulous finishes from PPG. According to Lopez, the vehicle is what he calls a "50's Retro Clone," modeled after the McMullen Roadster, a famous roadster from the 50's. According to Street Rodder Magazine "...Tom McMullen was a founder of Street Rodder Magazine, and the original Tom McMullen '32 Ford highboy roadster is an icon of rodding. McMullen and his roadster were well-known for their exploits on the street and on the strip, and for the roadster's appearances between 1958 and 1970." The paint scheme and classic flame design on the McMullen car was laid out and painted by Art Hinsl, a well-known painter in the Bay Area, and adjusted to fit the contours of the '32 Ford. Hinsel also recreated the flames for a McMullen tribute car sponsored by Street Rodder several years ago.
The paint job was executed by Rick Valdez at Creative Images in Lodi, California. Valdez and his crew tore down and reassembled the car several times during the painting, sanding, and clearcoating process. They used PPG's DBU 9700 black as a base color for the vehicle and clearcoated with DCU2055, then began applying custom colors mixed with red and yellow toners, all matched to PPG's "Blood Red," the color featured in the flame design. "The entire paint job, including teardowns and reassembly took nearly five weeks," said Valdez. "The PPG products we used were excellent. We were very pleased with the finished look of this special car."
The pinstriping on the car was a team effort consisting of the efforts of pinstriping whiz Herb Martinez of Herb Martinez Pinstriping and Signs, of Livermore, California, and Jeff Styles and Tom Kelly of Kelly & Sons, of Los Angeles, who applied the striping during the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California in January. Herb outlined the flames, Tom sketched out the decklid design, and Jeff completed the pinstriping on the rest of this very rad rod. "PPG is thrilled to be a part of this exciting tour for the 11th year," said Cristina Fronzaglia, manager, refinish communications, N.A. "The vehicles in the Road Tour entourage are fabulous, and we are proud to be sponsors of this event."
In the past several years PPG has introduced dozens of new products designed especially for custom restorers. The Vibrance Collection? of custom finishes includes such unique paint additives as Liquid Metal, Flamboyance, and Luminescence II, which creates a shimmering "color travel" effect. Recently PPG introduced VC5200 Custom Clear, especially designed for clearcoating graphics.
"We'd like to invite readers of Street Rodder to take a look at this year's Road Tour car and some of the custom vehicles that will participate in the Tour to see what can be accomplished by using the wide range of refinishing products available through the PPG Vibrance Collection line," Fronzaglia continues. "Our unique line of finishes and additives are the perfect way to create an awesome paint scheme for a custom refinisher's prize possession."
The upcoming weekend's activities include a cruise on Canal Street in New Smyrna, Florida on Saturday, a day cruise to the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum on Sunday, and a cookout Sunday evening hosted by Total Performance and Classic Automobilia in Ormond Beach. Then, on Monday morning it will be time to head north up the Florida coast to Hilton Head for the first night's stay. This weekend's events are just the beginning of a fabulous summer of touring, meeting street rod enthusiasts, and attending a host of street rod and classic car shows.
For more information on the PPG Street Rodder Total Performance Road Tour, go to www.streetrodderweb.com or call the Road Tour hotline at 1-800-664-1362. For more information on products in the PPG Vibrance Collection of custom finishes, go to www.ppgrefinish.com.
About PPG
Pittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of paints, coatings, chemicals, optical products, specialty materials, glass and fiber glass. The company employs more than 30,000 people and has 125 manufacturing facilities and equity affiliates in more than 20 countries. Sales in 2006 were $11 billion. PPG shares are traded on the New York and Philadelphia stock exchanges (symbol: PPG). For more information, visit www.ppg.com.
PPG Automotive Refinish, 19699 Progress Drive, Strongsville, Ohio 44149
Flamboyance, Luminescence, and the Vibrance Collection are trademarks of PPG Industries.