Sometimes less is more; take the first version of Jim Doss' 1958 Impala done by Watson. The car was shaved of most of the brightwork, molded in the fins where stainless trim was, got rid of the busy tail lights for some '59 Catalina turn signals. Topped off by tasteful freeway scallops. What a car! But as happens, the trend got to be absurd with more is better in the custom scene, but that first version is what sticks in my mind as it revealed the main styling which was pretty nice.
Pretty sure those tail lights are 55-56 Buick upper lenses. Neat looking custom '56 back when you could still customize a '56 Chevy without crucification.
Definitely not Chevy or Buick taillights. I'm thinking 1956 Lincoln. The best customs are cars that just follow what the original designers were looking for in the first place, before all the compromises that need to be made for the real world get in the way. That car is different from stock, but not much better, except for the grill, which is worse.
I'd say that El Caballo and I think along the same lines on the "less is more" when it comes to mild customs. To me the best mild customs are the ones that can make a same model original car siting next to them look like they weren't done right. Most cars or trucks that we as Hambers would customize don't need change for the sake of change as in having X modifications to get max points on the show judging sheet even if those mods don't fit in with the total theme of the car. Looking at the Chevy at the top of the page you see mildly extended fenders that give the image of the car being a more expensive model in that time frame along with the Pontiac trim that looks pretty nifty and not out of place on that car. Both add more visual length to the car.
That's the mark of a well-done custom. One other thing that's missed far too often is failing to 'theme' the styling, i.e. having the various modification work together. The original cars were designed by committee, so 'purity' of design many times gets lost.
You will notice also that it seems as the cars got into the mid 50's there was more of the so called "Mild" customizing done. At that point the cars were already starting to look more streamlined from the factory. They were also getting harder (More expensive) to chop. Plus you had guys like Watson that could change the entire look of a car with some minor mods. A little lowering and a outrageous paint job. Throw in a custom interior. Cost was most likely a lot less, as was the wait. They were also more practical to drive as the article stated. I dig them..... Torchie
Two quotes come to mind: That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. Steve Jobs Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo da Vinci
I wonder what the designers of today's big auto makers are thinking while they work. "Hmm, does this car look enough like a space insect? Or maybe I should go with a little more of a running shoe look on this drawing... more armor, yes " It's baffling. Can you imagine trying to keep a "whole lot of the lines the factory got right" on a modern car? You'd be left with nothing. By "modern" I mean within the last 50 years w a few exceptions. What the hell happened in car design?
I think today's styling reflects anger and aggression, this is particularly true of Asian cars. Our cars have faces if you will, that reflect personality and some have big toothy grins like 50's Buicks. I reckon that is how the kids movie "Cars" was able to be made, and the cars that were most recognizeable were the US 1950's cars. Anyway, with today's cars, all they can really do is add on spoilers and ground effects. Ages ago I saw in a Street Rodder where they took an Infiniti J30 and put a fin on the center of the trunk that was to me, as out of place as a dick on your forehead.
Todays car "styling" angers me. They all look alike! Give me the days when you could tell make model and year just from the tail lights. VIVA LA HAMB! -Dave
There's still some well-styled American cars out there, it's just with the huge amount of imports/SUVs they're not as easily seen. Import styling seems to be at best a matter of copying whatever sells with occasional weirdness thrown in to be 'different'. IMO (and I know I'll take heat from some for this), customizing hit it's peak at about '59-63. A lot of really iconic cars were built in this era and whether you love 'em or hate 'em, they still look fresh today.
While I still prefer old iron, I do have to say the new Dodges look good, and you can tell they are Dodges from 1/4 mile away by the tail lights.
The other big thing is that '55 was a watershed year for Detroit styling. The last vestiges of '40s 'rounded' styling finally disappeared as GM and Chrysler finally joined Ford/Hudson/Studebaker (OK, it took until '57 for Chrysler to shake off the last of Keller's tall roofs... LOL) with modern 'jet age' designs. With inherently sleeker designs to start with, that opened a lot of doors for the customizers and even inspired 'reinterpretations' of earlier designs resulting in cars like the 'Matador', 'Mark Mist', and of course everything Roth did.
I Believe the early Kustomizers went to the "less is more " school of auto restyling .What with nosed hoods decked trunk lids shaved door handles,shaved bumpers molding removal,etc.
Cars, the Charger, Dart and even the Durango have the "Racetrack" tails and the Challenger has the twin hoops. It really is a generational thing, To me at 48 years old, the Cars from the twenties thru the early 30s all look alike, sure when you really look at them they have a different body line here or there, but I've found a few sedan bodies out in fields and had a real hard time figuring out what they were. My Daughter and her friends can pick out all the new cars pretty easily, but think all the late 60s cars look alike.
SSSOOO... Meanwhile, Back to the discussion of Mild Customs... Mostly 50s cars, some 40s cars and a bunch of 60s cars that all were made EVEN MORE BEAUTIFUL with what we here in Detroit call a "Shave and a haircut". That defines a Mild custom to me. to get more specific, Mild customs do not have: Chopped Tops Reshaped roofs are not sectioned They can be: nosed, decked, shaved, rounded, skirted, headlamp/tail lamp modified and are always lowered (with and without a rake) The quality of their appearance is in the eye of the beholder. As far as I am concerned the owner's opinion is the one that Really matters, but good taste is the utmost.
The Jalopy Journal
