John Hychko's 1956 Ford Crown Victoria - The Colorado

A photo showing the interior in John's Ford was published in Motor Life May 1957. Photo courtesy of Motor Life.

John's Ford at the 1958 Hartford Autorama. Photo from The Joe Kizis Photo Collection.

John's Ford at the 1958 Hot Rod & Custom Car World's Fair in West Springield, Massachusetts, by then the car featured Cadillac rear quarter panels. John won "Best Custom of the Show" and "Rodding and Re-styling's Best Workmanship" award at the show. Photo by Alex Walordy.

1956 Ford Crown Victoria owned and restyled by John Hychko at Valley Auto Body in Waterbury, Connecticut. Known as "Colorado," this was according to Ray Soff, Hychko's first and most famous custom. The car appeared on the cover of a customs magazine.

A photo of the interior in John's Ford was published in Motor Life May 1957. This version featured seats, door panels, headliner and sun visors in two-tone leateher, pleated and rolled in linw-square pattern.

In 1958 John's Ford was shown at the Hot Rod & Custom Car World's Fair in West Springield, Massachusetts, by then the car featured Cadillac rear quarter panels. John won "Best Custom of the Show" and "Rodding and Re-styling's Best Workmanship" award at the show.

Korky Korkes told Ray Soff that he did some work on the Colorado. When a later owner brought the car to Korky to have the convertible top put on and taken off, Korky discovered that whoever had done the 1958 Cadillac quarter panel conversion had welded the new panels directly on top of the original quarters without cutting them out. Korky reportedly called it "a shitty job."

Magazine Features and Appearances

Motor Life May 1957
Rodding and Re-styling January 1959