Unique Cars of East Texas

A photography project featuring classic cars, custom cars, art cars, odd cars, cool cars and their East Texas owners who love them. Photographed by Sarah A. Miller.

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Reece “Rocket” Reeves of Weatherford, Texas traded a lawn mower for the Mercedes Gazelle kit car that he turned into this Munsters-inspired rat rod work of art. 

I met Reeves at the Grand Saline Buzzard Fest Saturday (2-6-16). His rat rod is hand built and features a lot of wood and copper. Reeves is the originator of Rat Rods United and an organizer of many build offs. 

His pride is the 24,000 watts of power stereo system he built into the vehicle. “I build my cars around my stereo system,” he said. 

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Brandon "H2O" Rainwater, 20, of Lufkin, Texas has his Mustang decked out in custom decals. He has also customized the interior of the car from tan to green and black and keeps a GoPro camera mounted on the dashboard.

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Kris Byrd, 30, of Jacksonville, Texas owns this 2003 Dodge Ram with Lambo doors. "They can be a pain, but they still look good," Byrd said adding, "They get a lot of attention."

Byrd says his family always had custom trucks growing up, and that this is actually is work truck. Byrd is an oil field directional driller.

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"Z" Nicole Zermeno of Kilgore, David Fuller of Longview and Mike Fleming of Hallsville stand by their trucks at the Turkey Drag Truck, Car and Bike Show held on the ground of Sky Vue Drive In in Tyler, Texas  Saturday Dec. 6, 2014. 

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Juan Melendez of Tyler, Texas poses with his modified Oldsmobile Cutlass at the Turkey Drag Truck, Car and Bike Show held on the ground of Sky Vue Drive In in Tyler, Texas  Saturday Dec. 6, 2014. The car is painted with a University of Miami theme including cartoon images of mascot Sebastian the Ibis. The low rider has hydraulics, custom mirrors, motor and auto chrome parts. Melendez is a member of the car club Realistic Rollers.

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This one is from Louisiana, but was part of a car show here in East Texas. Love that paint job!!

Detailed art by artist Patrick Reid covers this 1994 Chevy CK1500 owned Chad Rape of Lake Charles, Louisiana at the Turkey Drag Truck, Car and Bike Show held on the ground of Sky Vue Drive In in Tyler, Texas  Saturday Dec. 6, 2014. Rape is a member of the car club Freaks of Nature.

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Elizabeth Henson of Lufkin, Texas is pictured with her 2003 Chevrolet Sonoma mini truck at the 10th Annual Turkey Drag Truck, Car and Bike show held Saturday Dec. 6, 2014 in Tyler, Texas. The event was held on the grounds of Sky Vue Drive In. Over 1,000 spectators attended the show which had 780 entries including low riders, bagged trucks, (also called mini trucks or lowered trucks ), lifted trucks and other vehicles. "I've always wanted a truck. One day my husband surprised me and bought me a truck. It brought us closer together as a couple. He brings his to shows, and I bring mine. That's how we roll," Henson said. Henson is a member of Vertically Challenged, a car and truck club with chapters around the world.

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Neil Jacobs of Austin, Texas leans into the custom green tinted windows of his 1998 Chevy 1500 mini truck at the Turkey Drag held on the ground of Sky Vue Drive In in Tyler, Texas  Saturday Dec. 6, 2014. "I had to search around [for green tint]. It was a hard thing to come by, but I finally found some green tint." A mini truck is a truck that has been lowered closer to the ground using air ride suspension.

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Isreal Mondragon of Longview, Texas is pictured with his 91 Cadillac Fleetwood with hydraulics, custom interior and pinstripe airbrushed paint job. Mondragon is part of the Hit Em Up Car Club.

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Eric Dunbar of Henderson is a member of Important Kings Kustums car club. He's pictured Nov. 23, 2014 with his 2012 V6 Dodge Challenger with blue LED lights. Dunbar plans to drop and supercharge the car.

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Rodrick Neal of Hallsville, Texas pictured Nov. 24, 2014 with his 2003 Pontiac Grand Am with air bag suspension. 

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Chance Neubauer of Henderson, Texas is pictured with his 2002 Acura RS6. The car has a custom interior with Skunk2 racing accessories, a quick release steering wheel and racing seats with harnesses. 

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Kimberly Carrell, 36, of Troup, Texas is proud of her orange 2010 Dodge Challenger that she turned into a modern-day replica of the car named General Lee from the television show "The Dukes of Hazzard." 

Carrell remembers watching “The Dukes of Hazzard” starting around age 4 or 5 when it came on television Saturday nights.

"What I liked about the Dukes of Hazzard so much was that it was a family show. I can remember my mom, dad, brother and myself watching it on Saturday nights. Besides, I thought Luke Duke was so cute."

When Carrell bought the car her husband had no idea that her intent was to turn it into a piece of nostalgia on wheels. When he helped her purchase half of the car wrap from The Tyler Wrap Company, it was just in time for the car to be her perfect Mother's Day present. 

"I love driving my car because everywhere I go people recognize the car as the General Lee. Being from the country everyone watched the show and remembered being just a good ol' boy just trying to make it the best way we know how. Same as know a days. The car is fast and has a lot of muscle behind it, which makes it fun."

To add to the fun just a little more, Carrell's husband bought her a ‘70s style racing helmet with the Confederate flag design on it to match the car. He also helped install a car horn that plays the same "Dixie" tone as on the T.V. show. They purchased it on Amazon.com. 

"My kids love the car because it's loud when it revs up, and it's orange. It  makes me feel good that I can bring some nostalgia back and guys are surprised that it is a girl driving that car."

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I met Bishop Charles R. Willis, 85, with his 1990 Lincoln Town Car in Jacksonville, Texas on the side of the road where he was giving the roof a fresh coat of spray paint. 

"People say,  ’Is that real gold?’ and I say, ‘Yeah, it’s gold that I sprayed on it.’ Willis says he has to add a layer of paint about twice a year because the sun dulls the color. “I paint it every six months. I wanted something to do besides sit in front of the T.V.”

Willis is from Monticello, Florida, but was born in Oklahoma and raised in Dallas, Texas. He lives in Jacksonville, Texas, now, but he says he frequently changes locations moving as the Lord calls him.  

His gold spray painted a limo is part of his ministry.

“I’ve always loved limos, and I’m a Bishop of the Church of God in Christ. The Bible said, ‘be wise to gain souls.’ When I get people around looking at the limo, I tell them about the Lord. I say, ‘Are you a believer of Christ? Did you know he’s coming soon? The Bible says before the end of time can’t tell the winter from the summer except by the budding of the trees.’ 

I’ll never get rid of it because I asked God for it, and I call this a revelation. I love it, and I’m going to keep it until Christ comes. Then I’m going to go back with Him and ride in something I’ve never rode in before.” 

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Ryan Benedict, 30, of Rusk, owns a 2000 Dodge Ram he dropped the body and painted gold and black flames with blue pin striping. The interior features shade and vinyl seats and an iPad mount. It also has American racing wheels and a DAD subwoofer from JMH Audio Concepts. It took Benedict three years to build the truck. Benedict is a member of the Texas chapter of the Severed Ties car club. 

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Curt and Valerie Sheldon of Livingston are pictured with Frank the pug in their 1980 Triumph Spitfire. "She wanted a convertible, so I sold my Corvette and got her this one," Curt said. He found the car online and surprised her with it after returning home from a trip for their wedding anniversary. "It was a 4 1/2 hour drive from Waco. When she saw it, she loved it." The Spitfire is a British sports car. It was produced from 1962-1980. 

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Tell me about your unique car!

If you live in East Texas and have a unique car you would like me to photograph for this website, please shoot an e-mail to: [email protected]