Polynesian (custom car)

Unlike most owners at the time, Stewart wanted the car built all at once.[2]

The car was inspired by Ron Dunn's sectioned '50 Ford, also built by Valley Custom, essentially to Stewart's original design;[3] only his desire to have the top chop was changed, under persuasion from Emory.[4]

The car was built over a period of nine months. It was sectioned 4 in (10 cm), wheelwells re-radiused, and the rear fenders bulges fitted with brake vents.[5] It was nosed and decked, and the doors converted to electrically-operated solenoids.[6] 1947 Studebaker taillights were tunnelled into the rear fenders.[7] The exhaust pipes exited through a modified rear bumper.[8]

The engine was a 303 cu in (4,970 cc) Olds from an Oldsmobile 88, with 1952 heads and 4-barrel (4-choke) Rochester carburetor.[9]

The interior was done by Wayne Tipton of Burbank at a cost of US$450,[10] It was finished in lemon yellow and eggshell white tuck-and-rolled Naugahyde.[11]

The car was finished in a shade of purple dubbed Orchid Flame, which lent the car its name.[12] The total cost was US$1800.[13]

Shortly after taking delivery, Stewart showed Polynesian at the Detroit Auto Show.[14]

Polynesian was featured in the August 1953 issues of Hot Rod[15] and Rod and Custom in September, and also saw 54 pages of construction details in Motor Trend Custom Car Annual in 1954.[16]

Stewart bought the car in 1950. After customizing was complete, he used it as a daily driver for several years before selling it to John Zagray.[17] Zagray made some modifications of his own.[18] Some time later, the car disappeared.

It resurfaced in 1971, when the owner of the Red Lacquer Room body and restoration shop, Gene Blackford, found the car in a barn near Robertsville, Ohio, where sixth owner Warren Wise had stored it.[19] Blackford, who had first seen the car in its original custom form at age 12, paid Wise $1000 for what was left and put it in storage for thirty-three more years.[20] In 2004, he and six friends began a complete restoration to the Valley Custom standard, a process which took nine months.[21]

The newly-restored Polynesian won the Preservation Award at the 2006 Detroit Autorama.[22]

Blackford gave the engine a rebuild in 2006, and rebuilt the transmission in 2007.[23]

Polynesian went on display at the Peterson Car Museum from 2006 to 2010.[24]

The car inspired John Ballard's 1950 Oldsmobile, Polynesian II.

• Hot Rod, September 1953
• Rod & Custom, September 1953
• Trend Book 109 Custom Cars 1954 Annual
• Car Craft, March 1954
• Auto Craftsman, December 1956
• Custom Rodder, June 1958
• Custom Cars, December 1958
• Custom Rodder, February 1959