The “SHOWLOW” Street Sweeper ‘62

Denis McClendon Mesa, AZ

From the beginning of his interest in cars, Dennis McClendon of Mesa, Arizona, had always favored the bubbletop ’62 Chevy. He has owned several ‘62s in the past and restored all of them. When he bought this ’62 Bel Air, his plan was to also restore it to original.

However, after his initial start on the project he said, “It sort of turned into a custom when I thought about the several modifications already made to it...and then things really got wild! One thing led to another and I finally decided, or it decided, that this is going to be an all-out super custom car.”

Dennis bought the car through an eBay auction from a seller in St Louis MO. The car was not original when he bought it. It had a custom interior, a small block Chevy motor and custom wheels. However, the car was completely rust-free and that also inspired Dennis to do an upgrade to modern running gear...and of course – more, much more!

I asked Dennis about how the unique look of the car was created. He said that although the overall concept was his, he incorporated ideas and suggestions from friends Ryan Butler of Enumclaw WA and Rich Thayer of Chicago, IL. He had a rendering done by Steve Stanford who combined all the different ideas into a beautiful set of illustrations so all of the guys could see what the car would look like when finished. Dennis took on the project of building the motor, while the interior was designed by Denny John from D & D Specialty Cars located in Van Buren , Arkansas , Ryan Butler designed the entire engine compartment and R. J. Customs handled the bodywork and paint/graphics.
 
The end result of this ’62 makeover is quite striking and is probably more so when seen in person. Here is the extensive list of mods made in order to achieve this level of customization: