Nostalgia—1957 Style?

It’s a well-known fact that our infatuation with the old is nothing new. There have been countless accounts of people building rods and customs in the “olde style” that have stacked up through the years, making it difficult to determine when the appreciation for the time it all started started. Traditional, nostalgia, retro, vintage, period correct—you name it. The terminology is all over the map these days but, for the time being, let’s take a moment to focus on a car that was considered nostalgic nearly 60 years ago.

No, we’re not talking about an antique car or a motorized buggy or a horseless carriage of the Brass Era. Think newer, much newer, all the way to 1936. It’s not a coupe, not a roadster and not even a two-door sedan. Instead, it’s a four-door built in the mid-’50s by Connecticut customizer Johnny North.

You see, Johnny and the folks at Towline Autobody worked to transform the Ford into a fully customized standout. Two major changes helped accomplish that task. First, the top was given a hard chop: four inches up front and five in the rear. Roof was not filled. The second was the installation of the ’39 LaSalle grille (complete with a unique lower grille with DeSoto teeth.) Handles were shaved, spotlights were added and the hood was removed to show off the 3×2-fed flathead. Inside, they installed a ’40 Ford dash with a Hollywood insert.

All this handiwork certainly attracted the attention of the Rod & Custom staff back in 1957. They described this car as “Newly-built yet styled as they were some 15 years ago.” Could this be taken as a backhanded compliment? I suppose so. Elsewhere in the article, the scribe hints that they’re tiring of the new “mild customs.” The way I see it, I figure they were happy to see traditional customizing staying alive as the styles continued to change.

Call it revisionist history, but I’d really like to see the sedan lose a few accessories and gain a hood. I’d say lower it a few inches, but that may not be the best idea if Johnny wanted to log some serious miles on those East Coast byways.—Joey Ukrop

 Photos by Spence, R&C, July 1957