Canberra custom car builder Peter Fitzpatrick admitted he would feel an emotional wrench when the international award-winning 1935 Chevrolet three-window coupe, one of just 17 right-hand drive examples existing in the world, was loaded on a car trailer at Mitchell and sent to its new home in Queensland.

The handbuilt coupe, the product of five years' work by Mitchell-based Fitzpatrick Speedworks, is far from just a car; it's a mobile work of art.

"I've had people who admit they are not into cars stop in their tracks when they've seen it and say 'that's just beautiful'," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

"I guess for me, being a car guy, that's probably one of the best compliments you can get."

The custom coupe with its "dickie seat" and "suicide doors" is exceedingly rare and reconstructed from the original with an attention to detail which wowed the crowds at one of the world's top-ranked car shows, the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers' (SEMA) exhibition in Las Vegas late last year.

The car came away with the General Motors' designers' choice award, the first time an Australian car has won the coveted trophy.

Getting the car across to the Nevada show was a logistical challenge in itself.

"We had hoped to have it finished 12 months' earlier but there were a few little things we had to get right," he said.

It was finally finished and delivered to its owner in Queensland to view for the first time on September 7 last year. Two days later it was in a container and on its way to the US.

After a six-week journey to Los Angeles and fingers firmly crossed nothing would happen to it while en route, it was then a race against time to navigate through customs and quarantine, tow the car to Las Vegas, and have it prepared, polished and detailed in time for its first and only public showing.

"I was pretty well stuffed by the time we finally got the car across there," Mr Fitzpatrick said.

"But it was worth it. We managed to swing a late entry and the judges were blown away by it."

The coupe was the first car that Mr Fitzpatrick, one of Australia's top custom car builders, national street machine award-winner and a multiple Summernats grand champion, has built on consignment.

The wealthy owner gave him a completely free hand on the project, right down to the choice of paint and interior leather trim.

"The build brief was that it still had to look like a 1935 Chevrolet coupe; apart from that it was all my ideas and concept," he said.

"But I had help from a lot of very talented people, and the engineering was done here by Ray Spence [at Canberra Motor Works]."

The original car was discovered in a wrecking yard near Gunnedah, NSW, almost 15 years ago. Records indicated it was originally built in the US in right-hand drive for export to Argentina but how it ended up in western NSW remained a complete mystery.

For the custom build, the roof was reduced 50mm in height and the entire running gear, including the fuel-injected V8 engine, transaxle and modern four-wheel disc braking system, were transplanted from a Chevrolet Corvette.

Some of the detail work on the car is astonishing. For instance, the intricate fine mesh grille required 120 hours of design work and 68 hours on a five-axis milling machine. Likewise, each headlight cowl and support was milled from a single billet of metal, as were the wheels.

The owner of the coupe will add it to his private collection, and intends to register it and drive it on occasion.

"I've only driven it on and off the trailer and for about 11 kilometres, but it is absolutely beautiful to drive," Mr Fitzpatrick.