Patina isn’t a new thing—and we don’t mean that as a bad pun. For the past several years there has been a growing interest in the well-worn warmth of aesthetically neglected finishes. From the rise of the rat rods, to retro rods pretending to be something they aren’t, there is a big bubble of shabby chic rods on the scene. To be honest, it bothers us.
Here’s the thing: spending big dollars to make a fully restored car look like a barn car is ridiculous. Have you ever seen a nice paintjob that has been purposely rubbed thin? We have, and—pardon the pun again—it’s rubbing thin. Yet the look is popular and we feel it can be done right—on the right car with the right technique.
Case in point is the Weekend Makeover project shown here: a running and driving ’60 Galaxie Starliner that was legitimately found in a barn in Northern California. It’s a great candidate for a restoration for someone with time on his hands and deep pockets, but we have neither and want to cruise and get attention right now.
This is as we found the ’60 Ford Starliner, though the camera is pretty kind to the condition of the body. It had been sitting outside for untold years and showed it. Note that the decklid has no lip left from rust.
So what we had was a car that could be a nice car, but in reality was many months of work and many thousands of dollars in panel patching and general paint and bodywork from being even remotely worth applying a legit paintjob over. Some might call that patina, but really it was just serious neglect via a previous owner who just didn’t care about the car. Actually, that’s what all “patina” is if you think about it.
Our answer? Work with what time and nature have dealt us and create some style with artificially aged aesthetics, mainly because adding fresh paint to the chalky white original paint and surface rust would look odd. Nevertheless, if we took the time to match our updates to the Starliner’s current state, we could end up with something that felt very natural if not authentic. For this misadventure, we opted to create a phantom ’60 NASCAR racer based on vintage photos, while cloning nothing.
Luckily, the business park at Infineon Raceway is brimming with talent, including one of the best custom lettering artists in the business: Eric Reyes. Reyes grew up watching his dad drag race at Fremont Dragstrip and was completely absorbed by the candy paint, gold leaf, and airbrushed headlights. He later became a racer in his own right with a shelf full of Wallys. Growing up in the midst of prominent racers through what we’d call the best decades of drag racing (when Funny Cars looked like muscle cars) gave him an appreciation for, and understanding of, traditional painting and lettering. That’s why he’s sought out by big-name racers and sponsors. And, he’s a pro at patina painting.
Inside his studio/shop, paint expert Eric Reyes began by laying out some lines of tape that would serve as consistent top and bottom lines for the planned lettering. These lines serve as the horizontal anchors for the layout.
So here’s the big question: Does fake patina make you a poser? Only if you try to pretend it’s real. From our perspective, we’re working with a blank canvas with nothing to lose. We’re simply matching our graphics to the weathered surface of the car for a consistent look. And rather than months in the body shop followed by more months of rebuilding the rest of the car, we’ll be hitting the street in a couple days time with bank accounts still in the positive—and likely getting way more attention than primo restos.
If you don’t like the idea, or think weathered-looking paint should only come from years of sitting neglected in the weather, no worries; you’ll always find more mainstream paint and body tech in PHR. For now, we’ll show you how to grab a six pack of beers, order a stack of pizzas, and have fun with a car that’s just not ready for resto. Keep in mind, this stuff isn’t sacred, it’s just paint, and if we get tired of it, we’ll just sand it off with no love lost.
