Venturian

The Venturian was one of the more interesting vehicles constructed in 1964 by The A-Bros for Bob Massaron (who still owns the car, and restored it in 2002 for the 50^th show in Cobo Hall). The car won the very prestigious Ridler Award in 1965. Based on a 1956 Chevrolet, the bodymen grafted on '60 Mercury rear quarter panels and reshaped the headlight area in a squarish design into which round headlights were fit. Though some elements of the design a bit odd, the craftsmanship was typically first-rate and showed an attention to detail that was seldom matched by any other customizer.

The rich candy gold color nicely offsets the radical restyling. A thickly-padded white, one-piece (non-folding) convertible top balances the body color and matches the highly sculptured interior.

The A-Bros designed all of the interior details and it shows. The almost-over styled interior nicely balances the bone white leather with the custom-dyed Mouton carpet.  Check out how the leading edge of the '60 Mercury rear quarter panels integrates, sympathetically, with the "Darren-Dip" of the stock Chevy body – a brilliant design!

The Cobo Hall display card gives some history on the car. It is cool that the original owner still has the car! 

All photos courtesy of Nigel Parris.

Bibliography:

Here are the references we at the Custom Clinic have found to this great car. If you know of other references, please let us know by e-mailing to: msgsl@CustomClinic.com

Custom Craft	July	1962	pgs. 52-53
Custom Rodder	November	1962	p. 37-40
Custom Chevies,	Petersen Spotlite Book	1963	p. 23
Classic & Custom	January	1984	cover, p. 4