Ben McCloy behind the wheel of a 1976 airport crash truck
Ben McCloy is a tinkerer at heart. “I’ve always had an interest in pulling things apart, rebuilding them, and figuring out what makes them tick,” he told eBay Motors. As a teenager, he started applying his love for building things to cars—eventually became a technician and service manager at a BMW dealership. “I quit all that to work on custom projects,” he said, referring to Jack Dick Customs, the business he co-owns in Martinez, Calif.
By running his own shop—and doing all the work himself—McCloy can create custom vehicles that are unique and visionary. Inspiration can strike at any time. “One of my favorite things to do is to go on eBay Motors and go through all the parts,” said McCloy. “Sometimes I’ll find a little gem, and I’ll build a whole [automotive] entity around that one piece.”
Ben McCloy shares his vision in this video:
Among the dozens of vehicles in his shop—from surf wagons to Citroëns—the 1939 Pontiac two-door Business Coupe that he discovered in nearby Sonora, Calif. is his personal favorite. McCloy rebuilt the suspension, brakes, motor, and transmission to the original specifications. Every component is true to the manufacturer’s intent, down to the vintage window glass that he was only able to find on eBay Motors.
Jack Dick Customs left the 1939 Pontiac Business Coupe in bare metal.
Six cylinders (with a three-on-the-tree) power the Pontiac Business Coupe.
McCloy’s goal was to travel in time—restoring the car so that he could drive it exactly the way that a traveling salesman did in the pre-war period. Business coupes of the era were large comfortable cars, usually with a three-speed transmission mated to a six-cylinder engine—and a tall final drive for a relatively smooth ride. The Pontiac coupe has an expanded area behind the front bench seats—a space that provided room for a salesman’s sample cases and luggage. McCloy referred to that compartment as “the smuggler’s area.”
The “Jack Dick Customs” spin on the Pontiac is its unique exterior finish. “When I was stripping the old paint from the body, I was amazed how clean the metal was. It had to stay that way,” he said. “I used a light coat of rust preventative to make it shine.”
The Surf Wagon’s radiator cowl, from an International Harvester tractor, was found on eBay Motors.
One of McCloy’s other favorite cars is his custom surf wagon, based on a 1926 Hudson-Essex. We featured the surf wagon in this blog post from last year. The platform is a barn-find augmented by tools and materials scavenged from hardware stores. The vehicle’s signature design feature is the radiator cowl from a 1950s International Harvester tractor that McCloy found on eBay Motors.
The 1973 Corvette C3 25th Anniversary special is one of only 1,600.
McCloy is equally at home working on small imports, muscle machines, and mammoth emergency vehicles—like the 1976 six-wheel airport crash truck, complete with water cannon, parked in the yard at Jack Dick Customs. “Right now it seats six, but the plan is to make it seat 20,” said McCloy. “We’re going to hollow out the inside of it and make it a hillbilly limo.”
