Byers’ ’Burban – A Custom Shop Owner Finally Finishes a Sweet 1955 Suburban for Himself
Every time you fly somewhere, boot your laptop, stop by Costco, grab a Frappuccino, or order a car battery on Amazon, you can thank the folks up in Seattle. The weather is so darn terrible, there isn’t much to do but dream up new ideas and change the world forever. You know, everyday stuff.
Beyond the Boeings and Starbucks of the world, another Pacific Northwest powerhouse is Byers Custom & Restorations located in Auburn, a sleepy suburb south of Seattle. We discovered shop owner Jon Byers’ personal 1955 Suburban and were reminded the Seattle area has a vibrant hot rod builder community on its world-renowned resume.
In business since 1990, Byers’ Customs specializes in custom body and paint and has won a wide range of awards, including two prestigious Best of Show awards at Pebble Beach with a 1938 Alfa Romeo and a 1954 Ferrari. In other words, our Fuel Curve Pick from the Goodguys 33rd Griot’s Garage Pacific Northwest Nationals is just the latest in a long list of accolades. This red Chevy SUV was two decades in the making and was once a forlorn customer car that Jon took from ho-hum to red hot.
The story starts back in 2002 when the aforementioned customer lost interest and Jon purchased the rig. It had a Camaro stub grafted onto the frame and the obligatory rust issues that needed shoring up. Art Morrison and his guys did a critical measure and created a custom chassis to get the project on firm footing. The new setup has tubular A-arms up front, a solid axle with a Watt’s link out back, and Wilwood brakes all around. The truck rolls on vintage five-spoke Boyd wheels from 2003, 18x8s up front and 20x11s in the rear, all wrapped in Nitto rubber. A shout out to Wicked Fabrication for assembling the chassis, brake and fuel lines, as well as adding their expertise to myriad other components.
With the foundation sorted out, Jon mounted a 468c.i. Chevy big block with a Quadrajet carburetor pumping out approximately 460hp. The mill is backed by a 700R4 automatic transmission with a Gennie shifter and sends power to 4.11 gears at the stern.
The body went through a complete refurbishing with a full complement of custom touches implemented by Jon and his merry band of talented men, Charlie Marquard, Sean Harvey, Alan Donald, and Jered Loban. They welded the fenders, grille surround, and core support into one piece and pie-cut the shaved hood. They also chopped the top 3-inches through the roof pillars and 2-inches through the crown, and eliminated the drip moldings. The windshield and side glass were tweaked, ’55 Chrysler door handles were grafted into the doors, and the rear quarters modified to accept Cameo taillights. The rear roof pillar has been leaned forward, the headlights peaked, and the bumpers smoothed and tightened up. Last but not least, a roof rack from a 1964 Glaspar boat was massaged to fit. All of the sheet metal was sprayed out in vibrant PPG Salsa Red, with custom woodgraining on the roof pillars.
Inside the cabin, the 2004 Silverado seats were upholstered by Jamie McFarland and Brent Watts laid down the carpet. Everything else was handled in-house by Byers, including the one-piece fiberglass headliner and the hollowed-out surfboard that covers the guts of the sound system. Classic Instruments, Vintage Air, a woodgrain wheel, and a tiki shift lever finish off the dash.
Yes, it’s a show-stopping award winner, but Jon says future plans go beyond just polishing. “It has wipers for a reason,” he says. “I intend to drive the truck and it will see errand and kid duty. It’s my daily driver and we take it everywhere. It took a long time to finish this project and now we are enjoying the ride.”
Photos by John Jackson
