Minnneapolis Street Sighting: Chevrolet station wagon

Again bucking my trend of sticking to stock vehicles, here is an example of the automotive culture seldom seen in my neck-of-the-not-very-many-woods; the "rat" rod. What we have here is a case of customizing that was done to mimic the supposed style of the 1950s and 1960s. On some cars, it works; here, I'm little torn on the execution.
As the reader can see, this 1959 Chevrolet station wagon is decked out in red tinted primer, with a plethora of "period" decals caking the rearmost side windows, and all the substantial trim removed. In a rather silly attempt to finish off that classic "1960s Kustom" look, only the roof has been given a rather intricate metalflake flame job. Where the stock vehicle would sport hubcaps, this shoddily customized version rocks a set of presumably stock-colored steelies. I assume this was done to fit into the current trend of off-color wheels that seems to plague everything from tuned Honda Civics to that godawful bodydropped Nissan King Cab with shaved everything, including gas door. On those aforementioned applications, the off-color wheels would look terrible. Here, though, it works, if its not terribly original. I suppose its better than throwing on some multi-thousand dollar Billet wheels and calling it "pro-rat-touring" or somesuch.
Inside, the interior has been given the same pseudo-Kustom treatment as the exterior. Gone are the stock steering wheel, and stock bench seat upholstery, and these once-awesome items have been replaced with rather grotesque atrocities. The cool steering (one of my favorite features on old cars next to the badging) is now.. this turd. Seriously--how can something that looks suited for a go-cart be comfortable at all in traffic. And that Mexican blanket/throw seatcover...I don't think it looks downright awful or anything, but what was wrong with the stock seats? I mean, surely, this lame seat cover was done only to fit the rest of the modifications, right?
As a whole, I honestly don't hate the execution; I just wish it were done with a little more originality. With the dealer tag still on it, I can only hope this '59 wag didn't start out as a relatively rust-free car, and that the trim had to be removed due to condition. If this vehicle was bought as a daily driver, then given these stereotypical "Kustom" mods, heads will roll. At least mine will.