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One man combined several cars to make his perfect '50s custom

Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist
25 Jul 2017
2 min read

Dubbed "Coupenstein", this 1947 Ford Coupe blends parts from a plethora of manufacturers to build its owner's perfect vision of a 1950s custom car.

Mark Apap is the man responsible for the bare metal beauty, having already built a slew of killer hot rods. But custom cars are different to hot rods, treading a fine line between rods and early low-riders. Customs are all about enhancing body lines, slammed ride heights and wild paint finishes.

The nose, grille, headlights, bonnet, guards, and doors are just some of the things that have been modified by Iain Kelly. (image credit: Nulon/YouTube)
The nose, grille, headlights, bonnet, guards, and doors are just some of the things that have been modified by Iain Kelly. (image credit: Nulon/YouTube)

Mark's coupe actually came into Oz from America as a neat-looking machine. Unfortunately it was actually built dodgier than a 3am back street kebab and so Mark took to it with a grinder.

The roof has been chopped while the nose, grille, headlights, bonnet, guards and doors have all been worked over. Rather than paint the car has been covered in clear coat to show off the amazing handiwork, while adjustable airbag suspension allows Coupenstein to ride low but still get over speedhumps.

It is an epic machine, and would look right at home on the mean streets of LA.

Iain Kelly is the car-obsessed maniac behind The Creators Online.

What 1950s-style custom would you like to build? Tell us in the comments.

Iain Kelly
Contributing Journalist
A love of classic American and European cars drove Iain Kelly to motoring journalism straight out of high school, via the ownership of a tired 1975 HJ Holden Monaro.  For nearly 20 years he has worked on magazines and websites catering to modified late model high-performance Japanese and European tuner cars, as well as traditional hot rods, muscle cars and street machines. Some of these titles include Auto Salon, LSX Tuner, MOTOR, Forged, Freestyle Rides, Roadkill, SPEED, and Street Machine. He counts his trip to the USA to help build Mighty Car Mods’ “Subarute” along with co-authoring their recent book, The Cars of Mighty Car Mods, among his career highlights.  Iain lends his expertise to CarsGuide for a variety of advice projects, along with legitimising his automotive obsession with regular OverSteer contributions. Although his practical skills working on cars is nearly all self-taught, he still loves nothing more than spending quality time in the shed working on his project car, a 1964 Pontiac. He also admits to also having an addiction to E30 BMWs and Subaru Liberty RS Turbos, both of which he has had multiple examples of. With car choices like that, at least his mum thinks he is cool.
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