Features The Definitive "MILD CUSTOM" Photo Thread....

Found these today....pics from my Old pal Mike " Gator" Gaydos...miss ya bud...I know he would be thrilled to share these. All Downriver cars....home of Bill Hines, Dick Dean, Chuck Miller....

 

Man those are cool pics (and rides). Thxs for sharing

 

BuMp!

 

^^ A custom '57 DeSoto Firesweep Sportsman with a louvered hood and bubble skirts, that is a cool pic!

 

My 52 mainline business coupe, I built it in seven months in my garage.... Drive it every chance I can

 

To be a "Full Custom" would involve a chopped top or sectioned body. Portland Roadster Show definitions..

 

In its heyday at the National level, chopping, sectioniong, channeling , and/or shortening were the four criteria for a "Radical Custom" class. "Full Custom" was the next tier, with considerable restyling, but without the fore-mentioned mods.

Check 1960's "Car Craft" and "Rod and Custom" coverage of the National shows, and you will find winners in both "Radical Custom" and "Full Custom" classes at the same show, as well as "Semi-Custom" (generally, heavy body mods
but tamer restyling), and Conservative (or Mild).

The Alexander Bros. built a slew of cars that competed as Full Customs, including the "Victorian" and the "Adonis".

A Bros. "Golden Indian" Full Custom.

 

And Dave Jenkins beautiful 57 Chevy behind it....bought brand new, drove to the A bros and had it customized...

 

I expect Dave Jenkin's Chevy was probably more often categorized as "Semi-Custom" than "Full".



A surer bet for "Full Custom" status would be Moriartiy's '55. (Interestingly, headlight configuration and/or rolled pans seemed to play a big role in Full Custom class determination.)



On the other hand, Moriairty's recently acquired "Astoria" fits the "Radical Custom" niche, by virtue of the chopped top.



Very few Rod and Custom shows would have judged these Chevies against one another. Consequently, top awards in "Radical Custom, Hardtop", "Full Custom, Hardtop", and "Semi-Custom, Hardtop". The "Hard Top" category, BTW, included sedans, coupes, etal, and simply distinguished from convertibles, which were often judged separately.

Nowadays, the terminology has become a lot looser, as evidenced by the number of chopped top cars which are considered on this board as "Mild Customs". But that's what the passage of 50 years will do.

 

Kirk Jennings '62 Caddy. Lots of subtle custom touches on this one.

 

Hubba Hubba! What are those wheels? I can't see them well enough in those pics.

Here's a really nice Lincoln at the Starliner in Wichita.

 

A couple New Years additions.......Centurion9

 

View attachment 3095420 A couple more.......

 

Mark...I'd love to see what you could do with an unlimited budget..... Centurion9

 

A little bit newer but its what

I drive

 

That makes two of us.....Great Idea for a lot of cars......Nice!~

 

Mark, did you ever try the Buick squares in the outer grills? Just curious.....

 

"...and all the Jag could see were my six taillights!"
One of Rock and Roll's best lyrics!

 

This is Perfect.......Centurion9

 

Some that showed up on the Vintage Shots thread...

 

Here's the opening spread from the feature on my Pontiac in issue #68 of The Rodder's Journal.

 

And STILL another reason I wish magazines wouldn't layout the cars across both pages,

wouldn't it be better, for future pictures, if the pictures were smaller and just on one page.
And PLEASE notice the fantastic-Lee Large print describing it.. ( piss"s me off more than I can tell you....
wouldn't that Pontiac look better without the big vertical BREAK-UP?
Doesn't ANY of described issues bother ANY one else?
How bout some likes?
Wish it was MY publication, we'd do things differently !!!

 

53 merc mild KUSTOM.