Custom cars, in the most traditional sense, are about craftsmanship above all else. Going fast was often part of the package, but traditional customs are canvases where artists can show off their skills, working in sheetmetal rather than clay or watercolors. The results they achieve are nothing short of miraculous, with metal doing things you never thought possible and transforming formerly ordinary cars into sleek designs that are truly one-of-a-kind. Long, low, and wide is the motto and by seamlessly mixing and matching parts from different vehicles, something totally new and extremely special is often the result.

This 1954 Ford Victoria, nicknamed "Fifty4," is just such a car. Seamlessly transformed from frumpy coupe to sleek cruiser, it's a professional build that was truly cost-no-object. And it's a lot more than just a pretty face, with a thumping 390 cubic inch big block under the hood and a 4-speed transmission, it was built to move like an old-school muscle car. The genius behind the design is renowned custom car designer Keith Kaucher, who penned Fifty4 to showcase his design firm's abilities. The sketches were picked up by Rod & Custom magazine and featured as the "Dream Car of the Month" in December 2004. The response to the sketches (remember this is before the car even existed) was so overwhelming that it inspired a full build to showcase Kaucher's abilities. A $500 '54 Ford Victoria was located in southern California and delivered to the experts at Starlite Rod & Kustom in Torrance, California where Jack Fields and Edgar Hernandez transformed the paper design into sheetmetal reality. This car is the result.

Since it was finished, Fifty4 has amassed a trunk full of trophies at the biggest shows in the country, including 1st Place in its class at the Grand National Roadster Show in 2006, a George Barris Best of Show award at George’s show in May 2006, a Best of Show award and a George Barris Best Kustom award at the Blessing of the Cars in July 2006 as well as a Rod & Custom Top 10 award and an Eagle One Excellent Choice award at the Goodguys West Coast Nationals in August 2006. In addition, "Rod & Custom" magazine did a follow-up article on the car after it was built, which was featured in the October 2006 issue. This is not an amateur-grade car.

The list of modifications is extensive, but like all great customs, the details are hard to spot without a stock car next to it for comparison. The biggest modification is the roof, which is radically chopped and lowered to give it an ultra-sleek look. Sheetmetal from a '65 Buick Wildcat that was sectioned and narrowed before being grafted onto the Victoria's bodywork. In back, a 1967 Camaro rear window adds a fastback profile that's so smooth you can't find the transition between stock and modified. The chassis was stretched three inches in front to accommodate a full Mercury front clip that includes frenched headlights and a '54 Chevy grille. The hood was reworked to fit flush with the modified metal as well as to tilt forward for something a little extra special. In addition, the rear fenders were extended and fitted with frenched taillight bezels that were custom made just for this car plus special bumpers that are a combination of '62 Thunderbird, '60 Corvette, and '67 Camaro pieces, all chromed for show, of course. You'll also note that the fender openings were reworked, the side trim was adjusted to emphasize the long, low look, and all the extra trim and handles were shaved.

Once the bodywork was smooth and straight, Jack Fields mixed up a special batch of DuPont Purple Rhapsody paint that glows in the sunlight and looks incredible at night. Buffed, color-sanded, and smoothed to a show car shine, there's no question this is the work of guys at the top of their game. Reflections are clear and sharp from any angle and there's simply no evidence of any of the modifications that took place under the surface. Today, with just 185 miles on the build, it presents in nearly new condition with gleaming chrome and spectacular bodywork that still looks ready to win some pretty serious awards.

Customs are always about looks, and there's no reason to skip the interior when you're building a national-caliber show car. Keith Kaucher took the time to visualize every stylistic element inside the car as well as outside, ranging from the Thunderbird bucket seats to the custom-fabricated center console. The threads were all created by Downtown Willy to Kaucher's exacting specs, wrapping those '65 T-Bird seats in purple and white vinyl with silver piping. Custom door panels are made to match and the carpets were custom-dyed to work with the bodywork. The entire dash was customized, starting with a 1956 Ford instrument pod grafted on and filled with custom Auto Meter gauges with specially-made faces featuring old-school faces and the Kaucher Design logo. You'll also find a late-model GM tilt column topped with a Mooneyes custom white steering wheel that has a vintage look that's ideal for this car. The console handles the 4-speed Toploader's shifter, which is itself a 1-off piece of billet that matches the fabricated aluminum reinforcements that flank the center stack. The armrest is also from a Thunderbird and houses the remote control for the air suspension and stereo system. Old Air Products supplied one of their custom HVAC systems and the control head was stashed inside the former ashtray so it remains out of sight until you need it (the system works quite well, by the way). A hidden AM/FM/CD stereo is controlled by a hand-held remote and features an iPod interface in the center console. Everything was custom-crafted just for this car and immaculately finished, including the dash with the top-mounted rear-view mirror and the gorgeous engine-turned panel that spans the entire instrument panel. The back seat remains fully functional and the trunk is beautifully finished to match, including a removable panel that exposes the air suspension system and the twin Optima batteries that power it.

Speaking of power, this Victoria is a lot more than just pretty, unlike a lot of customs out there. No, it was built to drive thanks to a built 390 cubic inch Ford V8. The vintage-1974 block was machined and rebuilt by LA Crank in Los Angeles before being topped with a 406 Tri-Power intake and three Holley 350 CFM 2-barrel carburetors. It's dressed in matching Purple Rhapsody paint and trimmed in vintage Mooneyes polished valve covers and "bee hive" ignition coil. Most of the components under the hood were either painted or polished and those three-of-a-kind air cleaners were custom fabricated by Keith Kaucher himself. Modern serpentine belts spin the accessories and there's a big radiator up front with a pusher fan hidden out of sight (we might advise the installation of a larger puller-style fan for road use with the A/C running). The custom hood hinges tilt the whole assembly forward and the underside has been trimmed in matching white and purple vinyl for an old-school look that adds a finishing touch to the engine bay.

The transmission is a Toploader 4-speed hooked up with a Centerforce clutch and feeding a custom drive shaft. The front suspension is from Fatman Fabrications and includes 3-inch dropped spindles mated to 11-inch Ford disc brakes. In back, there's a 9-inch Ford rear end hanging on a 4-link setup from the Deuce Factory while Firestone airbags at all four corners control the ride height, varying from "in-the-weeds slammed" to "wow that's a steep driveway." The floors are protected with color-matched spray-on bedliner material, so no worries about actually driving this car and the custom exhaust gives it a great '50s sound. For rolling stock, only the most accurate traditional hoops would suffice, so Buick rims were fitted to Ford centers, just like the good old days, then liberally coated in chrome plating. 15-inch wide whitewall radials from the Whitewall Candy Store were fitted and nobody can argue that they're not exactly the right look for this car.

Heavily documented with videos, build receipts, photos, and other important details, this highly-documented and award-winning custom is one of those extraordinary builds that you might dream of owning but never figured you'd have the means. Well, that's changed because this super slick Ford is offered at a fraction of its $160,000 build cost. Call today!