Conforto -- an avuncular Wilford Brimley type -- doesn't even have a name for the creamy yellow hued Duesenbergesque vehicle that gleams with chrome and elegance from end to end.

'People are always asking me what I call it,' said Conforto, 75.

'I either call it 'my car' or the 'mark of ecstasy.' I based its looks on the beautiful old cars from the 1930s.'

For all the gearheads out there, the 4,500 pound vehicle is powered by a 1979 Cadillac 424 cubic inch engine and transmission. The chassis is from a 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood that Conforto had sitting around his farm.

'The kids used to drive it through the fields,' said Conforto, who retired from General Motors.

'Tony had rebuilt all kinds of cars and he kept telling me we should build a car together. So I said why not?'

Conforto started by taking the Cadillac body off the chassis ... with an axe.

'Later I used torches and tools,' said Conforto, who also owned a pool hall (Paul's Recreation) on Conner, in Detroit, for 45 years.

'We stripped the Caddie down to the chassis and then started building our own car. We designed the frame and then formed it from angle iron. We designed the hood and bottom panels and then had them pressed and formed at a small shop.

'The running boards and panels are also constructed from angle iron. Tony and I sketched the design for the radiator frame, then made it out of wood and finally out of metal.'

While the vehicle was original in its design, it does feature items from other vehicles and other eras.

The steel and wood luggage rack on the back of the car is from an old Packard. The antique chrome headlights -- a gift from Palmery -- are from a 1931 Cadillac.

'The seats are from a Mustang and the tilt steering wheel is from a Chevelle,' Conforto said.

'And the chrome landau bars on the roof came from an old hearse.'

One of the most unique stories involving this singular car involves the antique chrome spotlights outside the driver and passenger side doors.

'The spotlight on the driver's side was made in 1908 by a lighting company in Detroit,' Conforto said. 'I kept trying to find another one for the passenger side, but didn't have any luck. I was at a car show so I put a sign up by the spotlight asking if anyone had a matching light they wanted to sell.'

A young woman approached Conforto and said she had the exact same light.

Conforto had hopes, but he also had his doubts. 'I mean, what were the odds?' Conforto asked.

'She brought it in the next day and it was the very same light. I asked her where she got it and she said from the bottom of Lake Michigan! Then she said she and her husband were scuba divers and they used to dive at a site where they dumped old cars to make an artificial reef for fish.

'They salvaged the light from one of those old wrecks. She said the deep, cold water kept everything in great condition. So I bought it from her.'

Just because he has his dream car doesn't mean Conforto is taking it easy.

'I'm starting work on a new car,' he said. 'Once I get started on a project I just can't stop.'