Mike Maurice's 1963 Chevrolet

1963 Chevrolet Bel Air owned by Mike Maurice of Biddeford, Maine. Known as "Spill The Wine," Mike told Kustomrama that the name is partially coined from his night gig life in playing Wine Bars on Friday nights and passion for '60s music in general. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike's 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne as it appeared after he was broad-sided on his way to Portland, Maine. Someone ran a stoplight and plowed into Mike's driver's side door. The Biscayne was totaled, so he pulled as many parts as he could. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike bought the Bel Air as a non-running project for $1500 in March of 2017. "Having had a strong interest in kustoms & lowriders since I was a kid, I quickly made a decision that this would be the chance to build what I had planned for my old 2 door Biscayne if it was still around - and frankly it was in much nicer shape, with a very solid undercarriage." Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

After dropping in another inline 6 with plans to build a high-performance motor, the low cost of a cheap V8 soon won Mike's decision. The mill that went in the Bel Air is a 355 with double hump heads and flat top pistons, ruled by the trusty 3-speed stick & Hurst shifter from his Biscayne. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Engine installed. Time to shave the door handles. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike's Bel Air in the paint booth. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

A fresh coat of primer, a lowered stance, and a set of Keystone Raiders. Mike's vision is coming together. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Richie Borrelli, a buddy of Mike, was a huge help when it came to shaving the door handles, emblems, and helping out with the paint scheme. Mike rolled the car around in silver flake for a few weeks before the panels were added in the middle of June 2019. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike spent months doing bodywork in a cold garage in Maine on the Bel Air, when he wasn’t behind a piano. The Bel Air is his second panel painted car. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike was looking to create an alternative to the cliche lowrider of today when he set out to restyle the Bel Air. "My goal was to bring back forgotten trends in books like Popular Customs." Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

The paint scheme consists of a silver base with House of Kolor silver flake and Starfire deep candy red panels with black fogged edges by spray bomb. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Spill The Wine rides the fine line - is it custom or is it lowrider? Whatever it is, it spills into the other category. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

The bumper inserts feature expanded metal and chrome cabinet knobs. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike upholstered the interior himself with diamond-stitched fabric from Amazon by the yard, including building a custom center console out of wood, upholstered with the same material as the door panels, topped with aluminum trim and prism tape decor. "I added prism tape throughout the dash trim, paying homage to the same treatment my Dad did in his red '63 Impala in the '70s." Mike painted the dash pearl white with a hint of silver flake to match the rest of the interior. "The seats are a pair of driver’s side seats from early 80s B body cars, positioned as buckets. A custom diamond-stitched upholstered seats to match the door panels will be next. Photo courtesy of Mike Maurice.

Mike ordered diamond-stitched fabric from Amazon by the yard for the car. Click here to check the price, colors, and availability for this fabric on Amazon.com.

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1963 Chevrolet Bel Air owned by Mike Maurice of Biddeford, Maine. Mike's Bel Air is known as "Spill The Wine."

It started with a Bang, and a Biscayne

"I picked up this '63 Chevy Bel Air shortly after surviving a horrendous wreck with a '63 2 door Biscayne," Mike told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in November of 2020. "I was broad-sided on my way to Portland, Maine when someone ran a stoplight and plowed into my driver's side door, and totaled the car. I pulled as many parts as I could since I was living in an apartment at the time and had no place to keep it. But the 3 speed & NOS '60s Hurst shifter was important to me, among other parts."

Mike's vision and passion for customs and lowriders

Mike bought the Bel Air as a non-running project for $1500 in March of 2017. "Having had a strong interest in kustoms & lowriders since I was a kid, I quickly made a decision that this would be the chance to build what I had planned for my old 2 door Biscayne if it was still around - and frankly it was in much nicer shape, with a very solid undercarriage." After dropping in another inline 6 with plans to build a high-performance motor, the low cost of a cheap V8 soon won Mike's decision. The mill that went in the Bel Air is a 355 with double hump heads and flat top pistons, ruled by the trusty 3-speed stick & Hurst shifter from his Biscayne. "Next came the cutting of coils and clamps in the rear, and a set of Keystone Raiders came up cheap. The vision was coming together."

"...I was looking to create an alternative to the cliche lowrider of today"

Richie Borrelli, a buddy of Mike, was a huge help when it came to shaving the door handles, emblems, and helping out with the paint scheme. "This is my second panel painted car," Mike told Sondre, "and I was looking to create an alternative to the cliche lowrider of today. My goal was to bring back forgotten trends in books like Popular Customs."

Spill The Wine

Many reels of tape, a 22-hour paint job later, and "Spill The Wine" was born. "The name is partially coined from my night gig life in playing Wine Bars on Friday nights and passion for '60s music in general. Painted by Richie, the scheme consists of a silver base with House of Kolor silver flake and Starfire deep candy red panels with black fogged edges by spray bomb." Mike spent months doing bodywork in a cold garage in Maine when he wasn’t behind a piano. It rolled around in primer and finally silver flake for a few weeks before the panels were added in the middle of June 2019. Mike upholstered the interior himself with diamond stitched fabric from Amazon by the yard, including building a custom center console out of wood, upholstered with the same material as the door panels, topped with aluminum trim and prism tape decor. "I added prism tape throughout the dash trim, paying homage to the same treatment my Dad did in his red '63 Impala in the '70s." The bumper inserts feature expanded metal and chrome cabinet knobs. Mike painted the dash pearl white with a hint of silver flake to match the rest of the interior. "The seats are a pair of driver’s side seats from early 80s B body cars, positioned as buckets. A custom diamond-stitched upholstered seats to match the door panels will be next. The steering wheel is ’62 Impala, with an optional custom cut-off airplane-style wheel made from a '63 Impala. The trunk holds a recently added 2 pump 4 battery hydraulic setup for simple lay and play."

Spill The Wine rides the fine line - is it custom or is it lowrider? Whatever it is, it spills into the other category.