We’re back!  For this week’s “Weiner Wednesday” we take a close-up look at bad Corvette customizing!  Gaze at these “retro” Corvettes turned into mini Cadillac Eldorados or Lincoln Mark IVs.

Awww yeah!

Both of those big Detroit sleds rely heavily on garish upright grilles, faux spare tire trunks, opera windows and shag carpeting and it gets real interesting when you graft said design cues onto a smaller canvas like Corvette.

Les Dunham’s Corvarado

Good Lord.

This design ethos used to be known a “Detroit Baroque,” a style that mixes overwrought 70’s design trends with 18th century frou-frou flavors.

Some people used to call them “pimpmobiles.”

Inspiration for some of this is rooted in the 18th century European Baroque period that followed the Renaissance. Examples of said art form can be seen in music, paintings and architecture. Whatever it is, it’s firmly entrenched in the “More is more,” school of thought.

According to Webster’s; the Baroque era is characterized by “grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance…”

And that brings us to this latest round of good Corvettes gone bad. Feast your peepers on this bevy of beauties!

The Corvarado debuted in the James Bond movie “Live and Let Die”

There have been many versions of this strain of Corvette customization but the guy most responsible for all this is the “King of Bling,” Les Dunham. If that doesn’t ring a bell, you might have seen his creations in the movies “Super Fly” and “Live & Let Die.”

According to his website, “Les Dunham created Dunham Coach in 1957 as a result of increasing demand for his custom vehicle fabrication skills. Showcasing his design skills with vehicles displayed at major car show venues, the customer base grew quickly among car enthusiasts.

Beyond his one-off Kustoms, Dunham Coach specialized in grand design. Known as the “Father of the Pimpmobile”, reworking Cadillacs–and Corvettes–of the 60’s and 70’s became a specialty culminating in the James Bond 007 car in the movie “Live & Let Die” where the Corvorado was born and later upgraded to the Caballista and then Caballista Hawk.

Meet Les Dunham. Love him or hate him. his work is “memorable.”

As a result of nostalgic demand for the cars of yesterday, Dunham Coach has dusted off the old dies and manufacturing tools and upgraded the design for today’s discerning driver. Additionally, Dunham has created new accessories for your vehicle and will also provide custom designs as required.”

You might think they’re awful, over-the-top rolling caricatures but we bet you’d draw the biggest crowd at any car show.

Les Dunham’s “Callabista”

Oh boy…

Here’s the kicker. We kind of like the Callabista. We’re not alone either. Big-wig speed guru Ken Lingenfelter restored one. He told Corvette Online “Some of my friends thought I was crazy…”

Maybe, but we get it.

Not a Dunham? Or?

That’s brings us back to our Weiner Wednesday disclaimer. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what may seem grotesquely baroque to some is another man’s cup of tea. So, to each his own!

Check out “Corvette Online Rewind” this week and we’ll talk more about it.

Corvette with continental kit.