0:00
The car was built over a course of six years
0:03
It took 22,000 man hours to build it. Just a lot of blood, sweat and tears
0:08
This fully customized Buick Riviera has been a labor of love for Canadian J.EK. Lorne
0:16
He's been renovating vehicles since the age of 13. But in 2014, this Buick finally earned him the coveted Ridler Award
0:25
for America's most creative and innovative custom car car at the Detroit Autorama
0:32
The project began with a 1964 Riviera, bought from a junkyard for just $400
0:39
People always ask me why a 64 Riviera. Well, the long and the short of it is, when I was 21 years old, I had a 64 Riviera
0:46
I sold it to start my first business and I thought to myself, I'm going to have another one
0:50
of those cars one day. I didn't really know I was going to take it this far
0:54
What followed were countless modifications to the original Buoyan. body. A 1971 Riviera roof, with its unique shape and sloped rear window, was fitted to the
1:07
1964 chassis. The car was shortened by removing sheet metal from behind the doors and rear wheel openings
1:14
The front wheel openings were moved forward to make space for a 6.2-liter Chevrolet V-A engine
1:20
which provides 784 horsepower. J.F. estimates that he spent $300,000 on the price
1:27
project in total. The car was built over a course of six years It took 22 man hours to build it It was everything I could afford It was my parents house got remorgeted My house got remorgeted The math pretty simple
1:42
It's 22,000 hours, $75 an hour shop rate. You're looking at a million and a half just an hour
1:50
J.F. named the finished car revision, and in 2014, he proved that one man's trash is another
1:56
man's treasure by winning the Riddler Award. Despite his success, J.F. warns that budding car customizers shouldn't take such projects lightly
2:07
It was ups and downs. It was always a battle to try to get enough money to buy parts
2:11
to find enough time in the week, to balance family, business and project of this magnitude
2:17
I always felt like giving up. There wasn't a day where I didn't feel like it was too much
2:21
We had taken on too much, and we just had gone too far with it. Be very prepared. Don't just build your first car and think it's going to win
2:30
This is our fourth attempt at it. You've got to be prepared. You've got to be prepared to give up everything for a long, long time
2:36
There's no doubt though. He's proud of turning a rust bucket into his most prized possession
2:43
There are people that love it. There are people that hate it. He's kind of nobody in the middle
2:48
This car is what I wanted in a race car. This car is what I wanted in a show car
2:52
And it's beyond that on all aspects. I have drag race the car
2:56
I have a road race the car. I have won the biggest award in the world
3:00
Those three have never been put together, and I drive my kids to school in it and pick the kids for ice cream
