Ohio's Mario Calabrese is one of the small hand full of coupe builders trying to get it just right. A huge American Graffiti fan since he was a kid, Mario has done what it takes to realize his dream of cruising in Big John Milner's coupe. We know because Mr. Calabrese was probably the 'da Hui's biggest eBay nemesis' in the not so halcyon days of parts collecting a few years back. This dude was brutal. But his success in obtaining the right Graffiti elements shows in his car.
As you can see in one of the photos above, Mario's Coupe is already sporting the rear glass. Not many of the 'close clone' projects can say that yet. Of course, I guess not even Figari's Coupe can say that. And although still working on his interior, Mario is putting plenty of miles on his speedo. He was even featured on the cover of the midwest regional car magazine Cruisin' Times Magazine.
With a name like Calabrese, it's not surprising to learn that Mario is a former member of the Mafia (no not that Mafia), but has since befriended other enlightened folks in his quest for the Graffiti grail. Like we said, whatever it takes. In a recent conversation, Mario related how a few weeks back, a car pulled up next to him at a light. The passenger leaned out and hollered "there's a very wicked '55 Chevy looking for you!" And you already know what Mario said...
"Yeah, I know."
And for Graffiti coupe owners, it doesn't get any better than that.
