![]() He later brightened it up by adding yet more paneling, but the first version, the way the car was recently restored to, was definitely the best. Unfortunately, fading still affected candies and pearls at this time and Larry's paint was not immune. So, out came the 1 3/4-inch masking tape to layout his ideas, followed by the first ever candy burgundy paint job, using Nasson L-13 toner in clear nitro lacquer. He also thought this 'Bird had the greatest lines for a new concept that he'd come up with - panel painting. After living with it for a couple of days he decided it was not only bright, but made the car look too big as well. First, Larry applied a fine metallic silver base, then laid down the platinum pearl, such as imported pearl paste. Larry says that you had to buy pearls pre-mixed because nobody was willing to give away their secrets and sell the magic ingredients separately at the time. What he wanted was something entirely different, so he purchased two pre-mixed gallons (to his specifications) of platinum pearl nitrocellulose lacquer at $65 dollars per gallon. Larry told me that when he painted his new '58 T-bird he didn't have many wild custom paint options other than the new candy apple red, or pearl white. Many people credit Joe Bailon with being the first to apply candy, but I'm sure he will agree that while he might have been the first to apply candy red, Pinoli's was the first candy job."Ĭustom painter Larry Watson, who was inducted into the Starbird Hall of Fame this June, is another innovator of candies, or "kandies" if you prefer. At the time the car was built (1955), the paint applied by Mel Pinoli's Body and Paint Shop in San Leandro, California, was called green iridescent lacquer. George says of Ted Leventhal's '50 Chevy convertible, "As far as I know, this was the first car painted in what became known as candy apple. It's interesting to note that George Barris shows photos of the candy green paint job mentioned above in book number four of the Kustom Techniques series. This situation was somewhat rectified this year, however, when "St." John Morton was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show's prestigious Hall of Fame-a fitting, if not long overdue tribute. Though he was a true innovator on the custom paint scene, he has often been overlooked in histories written on the subject. "St." John also once had his own line of custom paints as well. (It Ain't Gonna Work was published in 1999 by St. ![]() Jesse shared his formula with his friend George, who marketed the translucent lacquer under the name, "Kandy Lak." In his biography It Ain't Gonna Work, "St." John Morton, a noted Northern California custom painter, pinstriper, tattoo artist (Ed Roth once bought one of Morton's custom-made tattooing machines), chemist, paint innovator, and bestower of the Von Dutch Award at the Grand National Roadster Show, gives Mel Pinoli credit for finishing the first candy green paint job. George also credits a customer of his, Jesse Lopez, with coming up with a formula to paint his new '58 T-bird in candy red. George finished his story about Mel by saying, "Eventually he hit upon a combination of toner and clear that worked." So, ink for toner wasn't the answer, no matter how brilliant when first applied. However, the colors faded quickly when exposed to the sun, as the Chevy was Frank's only transportation at the time. Entered in the 1957 Oakland show in January, Frank's car took the Colonite Wax Best Paint Award, as well as Custom Car d'Elegance. Mel used printing dyes in clear lacquer, two-toning Frank's car in Brazilian Gold and Tropical Tangerine Orange. In his book George says that Mel "was experimenting with translucent toners, trying to find the secret to what would eventually be called candy apple." George goes on to say that, "Mel remembers combining different amounts of toner and clear, but that the results weren't very good." What we do know is that by late 1956, Joe had completed customizing Frank Livingston's '49 Chevy Fleetline, which Frank then took to Mel for painting. According to George Barris in volume four of his Barris Kustom Techniques of the 50's series (Thaxton Press, 1997), one other Northern Californian who was also experimenting with candy paints was Mel Pinoli of Pinoli's Body and Paint Shop in San Leandro. ![]()
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