1951 Chevy "The Elegant Relic"

Frank Livingston "The Elegant Relic" 1951 Chevrolet Tudor Fleetline Sedan.

Frank Livingston was born April 17, 1934 in Oakland, California. His love for customized cars was heavily influenced by the cover of Motor Trend December 1950, showing three Barris restyled 1949 - 1950 Chevrolets parked outside a drive-in restaurant. In 1952 Frank bought a mildly customized 1949 Chevy Fleetline. Frank joined the Satan's Angels Car Club in 1954. Frank had Bernie Shanklin of Shanklin's Custom Shop in Hayward, California restyled the Chevrolet for him. This version made its public debut at the 1955 National Roadster Show in Oakland. Later on it also appeared in Car Craft June 1956. Frank was a president for the Satan's Angels from 1955 to 1958. In 1957 another version of the Chevrolet, named the Caribbean, was shown at the 1957 National Roadster Show. This version was restyled by Joe Bailon of Bailon's Custom Shop, and it won the Colonite Wax Best Paint Award and the Custom Car d'Elegance award. This version of the car did also appear on the cover of Car Craft January 1958. Another version of the Caribbean was shown at the ninth annual National Roadster Show, held February 15-23, 1958. At the show, Frank came second in the Semi-Custom Sedan class, behind Bill Wolfe's 1951 Mercury.

By 1959, Frank was married and he had his first child. He wanted something more comfortable for the baby to ride in, so he traded the Chevrolet for a 1953 Oldsmobile. Later on in 1959, Frank went to work for the Almeda County sheriff. Due to the hours he was working, he lost touch with most of the club members. In 1960 he transferred to the San Leandro Police.

In 1963 Frank was inducted into the Grand National Roadster Show Hall of Fame. By then he had lost some of his interest in custom cars, and was not into custom cars again until 1984. In 1986 Frank retired from the San Leandro Police. Since 1959 he didn't do much with custom cars. In 1984 he bought a mild custom 1951 Chevrolet Fleetline that eventually became the custom that got him back into the show car world. Frank named the car The Elegant Relic. The Elegant Relic was completed in 1988, and it hit several magazines along with the ISCA show tour where it won multiple awards. Frank was now off and running with a series of Custom cars.

See A YouTube Video of This Car.