Virtually every door on Action Avenue, a light industrial area west of Soscol Avenue, opens up to reveal an automotive business of one kind or another.

Most deal in the everyday, but not Gallagher’s Oil Farm. When Kevin Gallagher’s rolls up his door, he offers up a dazzler.

Sitting just inches off the garage floor is a sculpted custom car painted a radiant brandywine. It came off the assembly line in 1951 as a Ford Victoria. Gallagher tricked it out dozens of ways.

The grill is by Pontiac, the dash a tweaked version of one from a 46 Ford. The engine screams 400 hp, justifying Gallagher’s recalibration of the speedometer to 140 mph.

Enhancements include a shaved body, frenched head and tail lamps, a Fatman front clip and a triangulated four-link with Air Ride.

Car guys understand the terminology. All the non-cognoscenti can say is wow.

The car retains the basic silhouette of a 51 Victoria, but original clunky elements, including door knobs and chrome strips, have been removed, leaving the body liquid smooth.

Gallagher, a 39-year-old Napa native whose dad, Leo, taught electronics at Vintage High, has done plenty of hotrod and custom work over the years. He’s chopped tops to lower rooflines, installed powerful motor packages, upgraded suspensions.

But until this 51 Vicky, none of it was spectacular, Gallagher said. His customers were happy, but his work didn’t put him in the custom big leagues.

This car — featuring the pedigrees of a half dozen models melded by his imagination — is Gallagher’s attempt at the big time.

If he can create a splash in custom car circles, he hopes to attract wealthy hobbyists who want more of the same. “It’s a gamble on a dream,” he said.

Gallagher has been at this for three years, investing $80,000 in materials. To keep his project afloat and support his family, he has taken out home equity loans, while his wife Suzanne worked as a hairdresser. They have two children, ages 4 and 6.

Things went horribly the first year. He customed the car much like it appears today. Driving it back on Highway 29 from a car show in Yountville, the hood flew up. Gallagher didn’t crash, but the car sustained $30,000 in damage.

“It was devastating. You pour your heart and soul into a car,” then this, he said.

Gallagher could have cut his losses and walked away. Instead, he doubled up his bet. He disassembled the car, sanded off 20 layers of paint, all the way back to prime coat, then started over.

His Action Avenue neighbor, Brandon Penserini of Altissimo restorations, redid the paint job. Rich Olivier of TEM Machine Shop, another Action business, helped with body work.

This time, Gallagher said he aimed for an even higher standard, making sure that even the smallest details were right.

Gallagher had his car ready for the 2008 custom car show season. Things have gone well. Gallagher won Best of Class at the Cow Palace,  First in Class in Sacramento, Top 5 in Pleasanton.

Over the summer he became a national finalist at the Goodguys show in Del Mar. Earlier this month Gallagher won Goodguys’ Kustom of the Year, a national honor that is nothing short of “huge,” he said.

“It’s building a pedigree,” Gallagher said. If enough of the right people learn of his honor and feast their eyes on this car, maybe he will get a shot at the big time. “I want to go for that $150,000 market,” he said.

These aren’t the best economic times for trying to break into an elite market, Gallagher admitted. Are rich people still indulging their passions for fantasy cars? He will soon find out.

In a good market, Gallagher thinks his car would command $100,000 or more. That’s a reasonable sum given his $80,000 investment in materials and hundreds and hundreds of man-hours, he said.

After he displays his car at the Goodguys’ show in Scottsdale later this month, he will put it up for sale. “I can’t afford to keep it,” Gallagher said. Too many of his assets are invested in this dream car. There are debts to pay off.

It’s been quite the gamble, Gallagher said. “You have to at least try it. Otherwise you say, ‘what if, what if.’”