Les Dunham

An early custom by Les. The 1941 Ford in the photo has been chopped and hardtopped. Photo from The Ray Soff Photo Collection, courtesy of Les Dunham.

After a stint in the Army, Les opened up his shop Dunham Coach in Boonton in 1962. Once settled in his shop, Les restyled the sectioned Ford pickup again. The second incarnation of the truck was dubbed "Agent 008."

After building the "Agent 008", Les built a show rod called "The Scorpion". Les drew the "The Scorpion" in his history class while in high school, and once completed, it was probably the first East Coast show rod.

The Corovado

The Caballista

Les with the Caballista #51 in 2005.

The Ray Soff Tribute Shirt - Click here to check it out

Les Dunham is a legendary East Coast customizer from Boonton, New Jersey. Dunham was born in 1941 and began customizing cars at 16 years old. In 1957, while he was still in high school, and before he was old enough to have a license, he had already begun to customize cars. In the beginning, before he opened up Dunham Coach, Les worked out of his father's garage. Typical customers initially were upperclassmen wanting Les to nose, deck, or fill trim holes on their cars. By the time Les got his driver's license, he had a fully customized 1949 Ford four-door. Another car he worked on while in school was a 1951 Ford convertible. After a couple of incarnations, the '51 Ford turned out pretty wild and landed Les the cover of Customs Illustrated January 1961. The car was Les' daily driver in his senior year of school. Shortly after graduating, he bought another shoebox, a 1950 Ford sedan this time, that he turned into a sectioned pickup truck.

Dunham Coach and the Making of Agent 008

After a stint in the Army, Les opened up his shop Dunham Coach in Boonton in 1962. Once settled in his shop, Les restyled the sectioned Ford pickup again. The second incarnation of the truck was dubbed "Agent 008." While Dunham was gaining prominence with his custom creations, his shop attracted the attention of young car enthusiasts in the neighborhood. One such person was Alan Jacobus, who watched Les build the Agent 008. Six decades later, Alan still recalled his encounters vividly; "I graduated from Butler High School in '62, so I was driving in '61-62. We were the next town from Boonton, where Les lived. I had friends who were big into rods and customs and who would hang out at his shop, which, if I recall correctly, was off what is now called Kinnelon Road." Alan went with his friends to the shop a couple of times, and in 2023, he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he still "remember thinking how cool it was that he had painted his refrigerator candy apple red."

The Scorpion

After building the "Agent 008", Les built a show rod called "The Scorpion". Les drew the "The Scorpion" in his history class while in high school, and once completed, it was probably the first East Coast show rod.

Motorcycles and Pimp Cars

By the mid-1960s], customs were dying out, and Les began to customize motorcycles instead. About the same time, he was also building modified Cadillac Eldorados in a style that would be known as "pimp cars." The 1971 movie "Superfly" featured one of Les' pimp cars. Les had now found a new successful path and became known as the guy who made Superfly cars. In 1973, he put the body of a Cadillac Eldorado on a chassis of a Corvette. He named his creation the Corovado, and the car was later used in the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die." Seven Corovados were built in total. In 1977, Les started another project based on a Corvette, the Caballista. The Caballista was a hand-fabricated car, and 50 cars were built between 1977 and 1982. Most of the Caballistas were exported to Arab countries. During the early 1980s, exporting of goods to Arab countries stopped, and Les had to once again find another niche. Les began creating a line of fiberglas components that would transform a pickup into the look of a "big rig" or semi. In 2005 Les did a comeback on the market for extraordinary custom cars, and presented Caballista #51. With some modern refinements, Les planned to relaunch the Caballista.

Les Dunham's Cars

Les Dunham's 1949 Ford Four-Door
Les Dunham's 1950 Ford Pickup - Agent 008
Les Dunham's 1951 Ford Convertible

Cars Restyled by Les Dunham

Click here to see cars restyled by Les Dunham at Dunham Coach