Who ever said that diamonds and pearls are a girl's best friend has never met Frank Melendez, Jr. of Fontana, California. Frank dubbed his '80 Lincoln Mark VI "Diamonds And Pearls" in dedication to his long-time friend Angel Sierra, who sold Frank the car so that he could buy his wife a set of diamonds and pearls, but, most importantly, so that he would be able to finish his latest project, a '59 Chevy Impala.
It turns out that this Lincoln was no stranger to Frank as he had it stored in his garage for about seven months while it was being built. Frank had his hands on this car throughout the build, so when the car came up for adoption, Frank jumped on the offer.
This project started off like most, with the goal to build a street car, but then one thing led to another, and three years later an entirely different creation was complete. In those three long years, the Lincoln was cut out to allow the body to flex before any work was done to it. This was done by Richard at Evergreen Hydraulics in Montebello, California, who also put together two pumps and installed the complete setup.
The main thing on this car is paint. With this being said, no chances were taken as the car was completely stripped down to metal and the surface was prepped back up. The result is a flip-floppin' orange-peach pearl finish that was laid out by Mario Gomez of the Candy Factory in Palmdale, California. Flowing pinstriping by Walt Prey complements murals done by "Mr. Cartoon" of Los Angeles, California. The downtown L.A. scene murals are framed by gold-leafed panels.
Frank humbly told us that he could not have completed work on this car without the "patience, time and encouragement" of his wife, Michelle, and family, including his brother Gilbert and his fellow Lifestyle C.C. members. With this Lincoln project locked up and the car ready for the shows, Frank's already making plans for his next vehicle venture. "My next project will be a '70 Chevy Caprice, which will exceed all of my previous vehicles by far." We can't wait to see that.