Self-expression and creativity are two things that inspire car junkies like us to dole out excessive sums of cash and abnormal amounts of time and energy building and pampering our daily drivers and weekend projects. Some people can’t get enough grunt from their big-blocks during cruises down Main Street.
Others simply want to see how far they can push the limits of performance. The more detail-oriented among us may prefer to show off the shiny side at car shows. Is one expression of car crafting better than the other? No way. But putting together a complete package is a feat that often escapes even those of us with the best intentions.
With the lion’s share of time and money expended on the single-minded task of going fast, dedicated dragstrip cars are notorious for being weak in the looks department. Seeing as how it was time for our annual Paint and Body section, we decided to do something a little different this year by using an actual race car (see “Car Craft Goes Racing,” Feb. ’01) as an artistic canvas and how-to test bed. We opted to forgo traditional snore-inducing monochrome colors like black, red, or yellow because we wanted something really eye-catching. To do this, we went to Same Day Auto Painting in Newhall, California, to have the wild retina-burning flame scheme shown on these pages applied. But don’t let the name fool you—owner Frank Bennetti and shop manager Jim Grant are quite diverse in their talents, and can do everything from a $369 “same day” job to custom two-stage paint jobs consisting of a basecoat with a clear overlay starting at $2,800.
Unbeknownst to us before we showed up at his shop with our car on the trailer, Bennetti and Same Day Auto Painting have already attained celebrity status.
Located in the heart of Southern California’s entertainment industry with Hollywood just over the hill, Bennetti has been the hired gun for a number of movie and television productions. Remember the ultra-cool ’65 Vette with the American flag paint scheme in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me ? That’s his work. How about the convertible Hemi ’Cuda in the TV show Nash Bridges ? That’s his too (he actually did four of them for the show just in case those goofy Hollywood guys decided to blow one up for fun). This is just the tip of the iceberg. The list goes on with other big-name productions including Casino, Thelma & Louise, Hoover, and the syndicated television show V.I.P. featuring Pamela Anderson (Bennetti has her autographed picture on his wall). Needless to say, we were extremely confident that Bennetti and his crew could turn our tin can into something a lot more lively. So follow along and prepare to be dazzled by a little Hollywood magic from Same Day Auto Painting. And check out How To Paint Flames Video to view some video clips of the painters in action.
