A distant quest for that dream car

Every hot rodder has that friend who went to great lengths or knows of a guy, or maybe even tried to move mountains himself to nab the car of his dreams.

Auto enthusiasts will travel far and wide to pursue a spot among the great in hot rod lore. These fabled excursions can range from across town, across state, to across the country. While extreme efforts of this type are to be applauded, they pale in comparison to the persistence found in the tale of Risto Kivala.

The Finnish native grew up rolling to Friday cruise nights in downtown Helsinki, piloting a '73 Charger packing the famed 440 powerplant. It was this Dodge that got Risto hooked on vintage Mopars and, in particular, the unique Hemi engine lurking behind the grilles of select cruisers.

At one of those Scandinavian cruise nights, Risto happened upon another Detroit classic: a '57 Chrysler New Yorker. It didn't take long for that long, graceful body and, more importantly, the factory Hemi shoehorned between the fenders, to be burned into his imagination.

Soon he was on the prowl to score one of his own. The bad news: only two were cruising around the heavily forested peninsula.

Risto determined this the hard way by scouring the countryside, ultimately approaching both owners about a sale. No dice, as the pair was quite happy with their finned rides. While one of these owners wouldn't consider any price, the other wasn't about to let go of his New Yorker for anything less than 55,000 euros. To us Yankees, that's north of $70,000 in greenbacks too much even for a car of this caliber.

Risto, not being one to be easily turned off, got creative and knew the good ol' U.S. of A. would have more than a few '57s, greatly increasing his chances of getting his hands on one. Shipping a car from half way around the world wasn't going to cut it, as Risto didn't just want the car, but also the American hot-rod culture, which can't be boxed and put into a crate.

Risto quickly discovered he would have no problem shifting gears to ply his skills stateside. However, it did take a few months to convince the wife that moving to the Midwest would be great for the family (as well as the perfect opportunity to locate the Mopar of his dreams).

The electrical engineer, who now lives in Aurora, happened to work for a U.S.-based company, Tellabs. He was able to latch onto a project that got him transferred to the Chicago area.

While still packing up his things across the Atlantic, Risto was already surfing the Internet, eventually locating a rough, but usable, New Yorker packing the original 392 Hemi down in the Richmond, Va., woodlands. A move to a new home in Illinois and a cross-Appalachian road trip later and the car was back in his garage.

In the 10 years since, Risto has revived and modified his numbers-matching ride in true '50s style, harking back to the classic days of American muscle and kustoms.

The California rake comes courtesy of a four-inch drop in the front and two inches out back. The Parade Green paint has been spruced up with Cloud White scallops, matching the hardtop. The medieval spikes protruding from the grille, giving the car instant street-cred with his fellow American rodders, are sourced from 18-wheeler lug-nut caps. Under hood, for now, the single carburetor keeps road trips economical, but a dual quad is loitering in his garage waiting to bolted on to open things up.

Dumping out those spent fumes are exhausts sporting Bellflower tips. The unexpected and attractive swap-meet wheels are wrapped in tires that Risto himself ground down for that custom whitewall depth.

Residing inside this green machine are stock seats, although tucked and rolled white inserts liven things up. The custom-crafted dash that Risto bolted in is painted body color, with a few extra gauges to keep additional tabs on the engine vitals.

With the determination that this Nordic man shows when pursuing an auto, there's no telling where his next project will take him.