Bill Hines

William Chandler Hines (23 March 1922 – 20 May 2016), also known as "The Leadslinger", was an American custom car builder.

Early life Hines was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, to Edward and Willie (Chandler) Hines. He had a twin brother, Edward, and a sister Elizabeth.

Born with a severely deformed spine, the result of spinal kyphosis, he was unable to stand completely upright. At age two, he was sent to an Erie hospital, where he underwent surgery to remove two vertebrae. The hospital recommended he be sent to a special camp, where he was laid on a board in the sun all day for seven months, returning over the course of two and a half years; it helped relieve the unusual curvature.

Career In high school, Hines preferred art and shop classes to academics, and 1941, while in Grade 11, dropped out to rent a garage in Ecorse, Michigan, where he set up a custom shop. He opened a gas station in Lincoln Park, Michigan, with an attached custom shop later the same year. He would later add a tailfin in the center of the trunklid, a feature earning so much ridicule, he changed back to a stock lid.

Hines finally opened his own dedicated custom shop in Lincoln Park early in the 1950s. It was there in 1957 he built Lil' Bat, a 1950 Ford with a chop, frenched headlights, the grille bar from a 1951 Ford Meteor, and large fins fitted with taillights from a 1956 Ford. The car made its debut at the 1959 Detroit Autorama, and was featured on the cover of Rod & Custom Magazine in March 1959.

Hines returned to California in October 1960, setting up Bill Hines Kustom Auto in Lynwood, next door to Eddie Martinez's shop.

In 1962, Hines installed one of the first hydraulic lift systems on Tats Gotanda's Candy blue 1959 Chevrolet Impala; this became known as the Buddah Buggy, and was Hines' most famous custom project.

Hines worked without drawing plans, able to, for instance, construct a custom working convertible top from scratch without them. He also fabricated hydraulic systems.

While living in Garden Grove, California, in 2015, Hines suffered a heart attack. He died five months later, at age 94.