Following up on my 1940s taillight post, it’s time to turn our attention to the front of the car. Obviously grille swaps were one of the most popular body changes that a customizer would tackle first. With just a new set of shiny teeth and some de-chroming, an average sedan could start looking very sinister. [...]
The Five Freshest Grilles of the 40s
Posted on October 18th, 2012 by Jive-Bomber
Filed under: Customs
Filed under: Customs
What’s ZIS? It’s a pre-war Russian Custom…
Russian Automobiles of the 50s and 60s were widely known to poorly copy popular American and Western European sedan designs, and were usually downright ugly as a result. However, imagine a classy, sporty pre-war roadster with a sectioned body, flush headlamps and a sweeping decklid. This straight 8-powered beast is a ZIS 101-A Sport built [...]
The Revolution Is Coming
John boy was a simple factory worker that spent all of his days and most of his nights working along side a mighty print press. His hands, covered in grease, oil, and ink residue, had long gone shaky as the sound of the press had permanently shot his nerves. The effects of the continuous press-BANG [...]
The Bureau of Lunatic Protection & Advocacy
A recent emergency survey of our field-sources indicates a firestorm of lunacy brewing amongst custom car guys. A failure to prepare for this madness could tax our resources to the breaking point. During the next few months, we will almost certainly be inundated, swamped even, by a nightmare-blizzard of schlock, gibberish, swill, and bullshit of [...]
Norm Grabowski
Norm Grabowski died this morning. His outgoing wit and charm and his incredible talent for working with his hands will be missed, but his legacy lives with all of us. So long Norm… See you on the flip side.
The Five Finest Tail Lights of the 50s…
Different taillights are the crowning touch to the back of any traditional custom. Since the earliest days of the lead sled, ’39 Ford, ’41 Studebaker and ’40 Chevrolet lights were showing up everywhere. Even if he stuck with the stock units, a guy was likely to french them in, or at least add a glass [...]
The Five Freshest Taillights of the 40s
If you look at American car taillights from the 1920s, they are almost all pretty much round and simple. They varied in size (larger for luxury cars), but were treated as somewhat of an afterthought, bolted onto the back fender mainly because it was required to be there. Then the 1930s streamline hit: The idea [...]
Road Trip Revival: Part 5
Norm and I left Baltimore pretty early on Sunday morning. If you were in the area, you probably saw us. The smoke pouring from Norm’s exhaust was hard to miss, but we motored on anyway partly because I think Norm and I were in denial of sorts. “It’s not that bad. A little white smoke [...]
New For 1961
I’ve always considered the Thunderbird a sort of “tweener” car. From its inception, it was never really a sports car, wasn’t all that fast, and certainly wasn’t as luxurious as the price tag might have lead consumers to believe. It just sort of sat safely between all kinds of genres – good at some stuff, [...]
Through the years we’ve had some pretty amazing articles pop up here on The Jalopy Journal. The following is just a few of them:
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Tom Cobbs
The story of Tom Cobbs, his legacy, and his hot rod roadster. Read: Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3.
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The Bob Roddick Story
The story of a set of lost photos that literally take us all back into time. Read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, or Part 4.
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The Ferrari Shoot
Comparing and contrasting three very different cars with three very different purposes in life. Read It >>
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Inspiration
This post is actually a continuation of two other posts that were written in 2006 (Part 1 & 2). The stuff you guys came up with is breathtaking.
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Gary Howard
Gary is one of my heroes and after interviewing him, I got to check off an item from my dream list. Read It >>