Ray Kiss held on to his Buick Skylark for more than three decades before it got a second chance to shine. After years of sitting in the garage of his Independence home, Kiss' ride got a surprise bumper-to-bumper makeover courtesy of West Coast Customs, the California garage made famous by the MTV reality show Pimp My Ride. The business, headed by founder and CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus, now shows off its work on the Discovery Velocity cable channel series Inside West Coast Customs. Friedlinghaus selected Kiss' Skylark from more than 5,000 applicants, and the episode featuring the car's makeover airs Feb. 12. "If I could think of one gift to give him, this is what it would be," says Kiss' 24-year-old son, Dave, who filmed the video that got his dad's car selected. Dave and Ray flew out to California for a week last September to witness the makeover. First, mechanics had to clean out a mess of spider webs before putting in a new engine and suspension as well making other upgrades that'll be revealed in the episode. "I got all choked up," Ray recalls of learning his car was being rebuilt. "The car means little to me. The main thing to me is my son and that he did this for me."
Comments:
Monday, February 13, 2012 2:03:38 PM by yiawta
It's odd why Friedlinghaus chose this car, or accepted the Dave Kiss application as the best project to do. He must've had an itch to do a Skylark. Think about - not a hardship, emotional, or poignant story from Dave Kiss, and his dad indicated that "The car means little to me. The main thing to me is my son and that he did this for me." Doesn't seem like the best tale to tell. But, nice that it was for a fellow Clevelander!!! Go Tribe!!!
