Reality Rides

The build team from Carl's Custom Cars visits an abandoned old car dealership to look at a 1955 Buick.

The crew searches the warehouse for replacement parts for the 1955 Buick; the vehicle and a ``donor'' car are loaded up and sent off for restoration.

The Buick arrives at the shop, where Carl and the build team clean and repair every piece of the vehicle.

Hanks works on the car's Dynaflow transmission; rusted spots are carved out of the vehicle's body and replaced with new sheet metal.

The frame returns from sandblasting; Carl is not happy when he views the first re-chromed parts of the vehicle.

The crew cleans and paints the vehicle's frame, then must decide on the proper paint combination for the body.

The body is primed and sent to the paint shop but after two months of discussing the right color combination, one of the colors was mixed incorrectly.

The crew decides to make a critical change in a vintage vehicle and install dashboard-mounted air conditioning.

Carl matches the car's interior fabric with the paint, then is excited when an unused bolt of the original 1950s fabric is located in Oregon.

Carl continues to find minor details that need correcting as the deadline for the official unveiling of the Buick draws near.

The Buick is completed and revealed to the public, then is transported to Iowa for the Buick Nationals.

Elite builds and rare vehicles compete at the Buick Nationals in Ames, Iowa.

Looking back at the season's build.