1960 Pontiac Catalina "Mint Julep" - Period-correct 1960s West Coast custom

I'm Jason Tobin. I'm from my Santee, Minnesota and I've got here my 60 Pontiac Catalina. I got it in Oklahoma. Basically as you see it is how I bought it. I was looking for something that was unique, eye-catching and I like the 60s customs and this one came up and I knew it was the car for me and I'm really glad I bought it because I love it. I don't know I just like the low sleek looks, the custom paint jobs, metal flake, stuff like that. I always like that stuff. The wheels are Astro Supremes which are actually vintage aftermarket wheels that they would actually have used in the 60s and then the skinny white wall tires again they're actually I just replaced these last year but they're the same tires that were put on here when the car was built so that nothing really has changed there. This car besides a few mechanical things to make it safer everything on this car is period correct for a 60s custom the way they would have built it west coast style back in the day. The scallops we got the pinstripes and the scallops and the roof are actually two-tone. It's actually has extra metal flake in it besides the rest of the car so they look the same in the same in certain sunlight but in different lights you can see that there's two different colors actually and then the body modifications it's this is a mild custom there's nothing majorly done to the body but they removed all the emblems, the hood ornament, the door handles are gone so there's poppers to open the doors and then in the back same thing missing some trim just to make it smoother smoother look it's been lowered probably about three inches I would assume yep static dropped no airbags nothing modern or fancy about it the only thing you can see it's got disc brakes on the front and I put those on just to make it safer because we actually drive it across the country we take it on trips all the time and it's nice to know that you're going to be able to stop safely. So in the interior we've got white tuck and roll vinyl all throughout which again is period correct for 60s customs. The dash is pearl white lots of metal flake in there and then the dash is also two-tone with the two different greens. Cup holder I put in for convenience same thing mostly for trips. The steering wheel also I just replaced that it had a custom painted steering wheel to match the car but over the winter it cracked due to temperature changes unfortunately so got that in there temporarily but it's still a period correct accessory that they could have used back in the day. Radio is just a modern one that looks old vintage style it does have Stewart Warner gauges in it under the dash and those are also again vintage period correct. So under here we've got the 389 factory motor with Offenhauser intake and valve covers and Cal custom air cleaners and then they did a custom shroud and cover that's all handmade just for this car and you can see there's also more pin striping and two-tone on all of that. Louvers again the air cleaners are an accessory that you could in a custom catalog same with the valve covers in the intake. I did again the brakes to make it safer and I converted it to an alternator so we have better voltage. There's actually pin striping on the oil pan and underneath the engine. These are actually halogen headlights so I can see a little better in case I have to drive at night I try not to but obviously sometimes you come home and it's late and ends up getting dark out and the tri-bar headlights that's a vintage style that they used so they look correct even though they're halogens. You get a lot of compliments on the color it's unique people seem to love it but you don't see it on other cars so it's kind of cool that it's unique that way for sure stands out. Mint julep is the name of the car yep yep. Growing up my dad was a car guy he's a mechanic for a living and I actually helped him when I was nine and ten building a 51 Mercury custom. I was out in the garage with him a lot helping him with that car and ever since then I've always been addicted to cars and I even I bought my first old car when I was 14 basically did complete rebuild on that car learned everything. My dad taught me how to do it all and made me do it all myself instead of having him do it and watch and so ever since then I've been buying different cars and fixing them up here and there. I feel like the younger generation isn't quite as interested in the older cars I'm hoping that isn't the case maybe they'll change but yeah I'm hoping that the car culture sticks around even if it's newer cars at least hopefully they keep to the culture and keep the cars alive and because it is fun I mean it's the car culture is is very unique and the people we meet car people are always fun and they're always willing to help out very friendly it's not like going to any other public place where you just run into people that are not so nice. What can we do to get the kids involved? Boy that is a good question basically by showing off the cars letting them see the cars so they can see that we enjoy them and why we enjoy them show them that they're fun to drive fun to bring to shows and again it's meeting the people so if you can teach them that you know getting together with people socially with the cars is a big deal and it's fun so hopefully they catch on to that part of it because that that's why I do it I do it for the fun I just owning a car if it was sitting in the garage it would be no fun at all but being able to drive it and meet up with people and have a good time that's that's what really what it's all about yeah even if you buy a car that's done they're never done they always need upgrades they always need repairs and there's always stuff you can do to it yourself to make it yours because usually when you get something it's not exactly what you wanted so there's always that to make it unique to yourself which is fun some of the work obviously isn't so fun it gets frustrating but for the most part it's fun to make it your own and yeah be a part of the car