A couple of us were gathered around the latest early custom to call Texas home (Ed note: Mum’s the word Stevo!) last night and began discussing the finer points of the genre. We all pretty much came to the conclusion that the early period of customs is most defined by the perfect stance and the [...]
Customs
The Early Custom Pick
Posted on August 27th, 2010 by Ryan
Filed under: Customs
Filed under: Customs
Mystery ‘37
The above photograph came to me by email a number of years ago. It was part of a large batch of photographs that I got along with the Bob Roddick Collection. Since that time, I’ve pondered the 1937 Ford. From this single photo, it’s pretty easy to assume that this one had a bad profile. [...]
1955 Oldsmobile Delta Concept
This is one 50s GM dream car that is often overlooked in the books, but its one of my favorites. The ‘55 Delta concept was a hardtop coupe that stood just fifty-three inches high, mounted on a 120 inch wheelbase, from what was most likely a modified production 88 chassis. Like many GM dream [...]
The Ten-Year Special
In 1940, Sewart Allen was a privileged college kid living in Los Angeles with a child-like obsession with cars. He was also pretty talented in that he had great vision and decent skills out in the garage. It wasn’t long before that vision took over and Allen started building his own custom roadster.
He started by [...]
Your Favorite 49-52 Chevrolet
So on my way to work this morning, I passed a clean and stock little ‘50 Chevrolet coupe. Of course, I mentally went to work customizing the car – mild stance, tasteful shave, and maybe even a haircut. I’ve always thought those early Chevys looked best with a minimal approach and I spent the rest [...]
1949 Ford Unconvert
Cotton Woodworth was a typical Oklahoman. He ran a body shop in Oklahoma City. He spent his weekdays fixing the fenders on ranch trucks and the bumpers on family sedans and his weekends watching football – namely, the national champion Oklahoma Sooners. For the most part, it was a solid yet unremarkable life relative to [...]
The 1953 Ford Vega
Alright Ryan, I’m piggy-backing off your great Ford Comete Monte Carlo post from yesterday. There was another European-inspired Ford prototype that came a mere two years after the ‘51 Comete called the Ford Vega (Did Chevy steal the name?). The one and only prototype came up for sale at Barrett Jackson in 2006 (where it [...]
The Ford Monte Carlo
In 1949, Henry Ford II decided he wanted something special for the European market – something sporty that could compete in the highly refined European market, but still had the braun of an American automobile. Thinking about Italian passion, he hired Stablimenti Farina to design a sports luxury coupe on a Mercury chassis utilizing Ford [...]
The Custom Shop Truck
Vern Tardel once told me that a “custom” shop truck is nonsensical. “If you want a custom,” he said, “go get yourself a Merc, Buick, or Cad… Don’t screw up a perfectly good work horse just because your vanity needs some release.” As seemingly always, Vern makes a good point.
I’m a realist and a utilitarian. [...]
Harley Earl & Bonneville…
Hot Rods have been influencing Detroit car designs since the early 50’s- Hidden door handles, hide away headlights, frenched head & tail lights, even chopped and sectioned bodies on production cars usually look back towards a hand-built custom creation that preceded it. One of my favorite examples of hot rod inspiration was in the Motorama [...]
