Marc Paul

short version; I'm 44 and I love cars

I was born in london , while San francisco was enjoying its summer of love, August 1967. During my childhood I was busy watching re-runs of 'happy days' on british tv. I was mesmerized by the cool music and American 1950's style. As my teenage years approached I was already hooked on 1950's rock 'n'roll , then came 'American graffiti'...wow! it blew me away, the cars, the chrome,hot rods ! I had to have one....right now! I first purchased a couple of british 50's cars which I soon learnt to work on by myself, repairing them and making modifications that I thought looked cool. I found them pretty easy to repair and enjoyed the work, I was ready to take on a ' real ' car, an American one, like 'Terry the tiger' (toad) had. After a year of searching I found one in West Virginia, a 1958 Chevrolet Impala.
 
I had it shipped to London,my american dream had come true, and it was parked in my driveway! I spent every spare minute day and night on that car. and that's how I learnt my trade, learning by my mistakes, seeing what worked best, the best way to tackle a problem, and when to walk away and give it some thought! It took some time, I didn't give up and I achieved my goal. (as you can see below) The 58 recieved alot of attention making it into loads of magazines, even across the pond in the states. I then decided it was time to make a move and fulfill my american dream of owning my own hot rod shop and building world-class customs and hot rods .In feb 2002 I moved to san francisco, and have never looked back.

Photos: Building My 1958 Chevy Impala in my parents driveway, Not an easy task in rainy old England.

 My  Custom 1958 Chevy Impala has been featured in many books and magazines including Rodders Journal, Hot Cars of the 50's and the cover of Lead Sleds 1st edition. The car known as the "English Graffiti" in the uk  was also featured in Street Machine , Rolls & Pleats and the documentary  film "The history of Levi Jeans" and Coca-Cola .