When you want the wildest of the wild you go see the master – Kyle “K-Daddy” Gann of K-Daddyz Kustomz. K-Daddy has been churning out the wildest customs for almost three decades now, and shows no sign of slowing up yet! Not only is he credited with over 17 full SEMA Show builds, but his crew at K-Daddyz is responsible for over 100 different cover and feature vehicle builds through the years. So as you can imagine with a resume such as this, it would take quite a masterpiece to top his previous builds, not to mention – this time around Kyle was looking to build a personal cruiser that would be a one-of-a-kind extension of himself. A chariot to top all previous builds and wild enough to be his personal calling card for K-Daddyz Kustomz.
Photos & Words: Mike Alexander
Wanting to build something completely different an old build of his came to mind, one that he had started nearly twenty years ago. When Kyle first started K-Daddyz Kustomz he had to sell off a couple of his cars to get up and running, but as things took off he always thought about hunting down his old rides. One in particular stood out, a 1960 Pontiac Bonneville that he had always imagined as a bright colored wild custom, kept calling his name. After finding out that a buddy of his ended up with the ’60 after all these years, he knew he had to have it back. A deal was quickly struck and the rest of the build was full steam ahead.
Some of the mods he had already started were perfected with the expertise Kyle has gained over the last twenty years. Kyle even shared with us “There’s no way the Pontiac would have turned out this nice if I would have finished it back then. I’ve learned so much since then and it was nice to put these skills to the test on this build and resurrect one of my first projects.” In his head Kyle had the vision of a wildly chopped purple ’60s custom with some more wild influences from other genres and from his years of kustom kulture passion. This build slowly came to fruition as Kyle and his crew put in some serious work to bring this vision to life.
A heavy dose of chop along with some serious body mods covered in wild purple and blue hues was the plan, and the moment we laid eyes on this mean machine we knew exactly how well it was executed. It takes quite the perfectionist to pull off this amount of paint detail, heavy metal mods, and multiple influences and tie them all together flawlessly. Kyle and his crew at K-Daddy spent countless hours not just in the painstaking artwork and paint detail but also on the custom metal work, interior fabrication, and low stance achieved.
Some of the mods that really stand out are the deleted rear windows and massive chop, but the subtle ones that don’t are infinite. The 1980 Chevy Truck used for the back window, custom stainless trim, shaved body moldings and emblems, the list goes on and on. A set of 1960 drenched Ventura taillights round out the mods in the rear and the flamed and scalloped paint flows from nose to deck. At almost any angle you will see a different detail come to life, and after examining the Pontiac for hours, we still weren’t able to find all of the hidden gems.
After more than two decades Kyle “K-Daddy” Gann was finally able to resurrect his dream car and turn it into the ultimate cruiser that he has kept stored in his head all these years. He let us know that this dream wouldn’t be possible without all the handwork from his crew and he wanted to give a special thanks to Kirk Stan, Rob Robmac, Big Mike, Skip, Ron Beam, and all the Loco Banditos and K-Daddy crew that helped bring this creation to life. Stay tuned for more on the Loco Banditos and K-Daddy crew right here in Slam’d Mag!
Slam’d Specs
Owner: Kyle “K-Daddy” Gann
Vehicle: 1960 Pontiac bonneville
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Car Club: Loco Banditos
Wheels/Tires:
Kelsey Hayes wires wrapped in Coker Classic radial white walls
Four wheel disc brakes
Body/Paint:
Work by K-Daddyz Kustomz
Heavy custom chop
Shaved body moldings, back up lights, gas door, door handles, side windows deleted, cowl, emblems
Nosed and decked
Frenched ’60 Ventura taillights
1980 Chevy truck windshield cut down for the back glass
Custom rear window stainless trim
Custom lavender mix with blue Marano Pearl patterns
Different shades of purples and blues, lace, flake, scallops, flames, hidden artwork throughout
Kustom pinstriping and art work by skip Sanchez
Chassis/Suspension:
Lows compliments air suspension at all four corners
Airlift Dominator bags
Hidden Switches
Viair Compressors
Interior/Stereo:
Custom hand-made dash
Custom-built center console and package tray
Custom arm rests and door panels
All smoothed and painted with patterns to match exterior
Upholstery by Roy at Bakersfield Auto Upholstery
Leather and carpet dyed to match exterior color
Engine/Performance:
350 Chevy 350 turbo trans
Custom Intake
Custom Exhaust
Dressed up with finned aluminum goodies
Detailed and painted to match exterior
Special Thanks From Owner:
A big thanks to Kirk, Stan, Rob Robmac, Big Mike, Skip, Ron Beam, and all my fellow Loco Banditos club for the support all these years. Also a special thanks to my family and the entire K-Daddy crew that helped bring this creation to life and make it all possible!
