A recent post on a barn find got me thinking about Neil Emory’s beautiful ‘37 Dodge convertible. His car proves the argument that a pre-war non-Ford custom can be beautifully done. Its just tastefully executed, and yet really distinctive. The dual sunk in plates (license and club plaque), Hollywood flipper caps, bubble skirts, ‘39 Ford [...]
Customs
Valley Custom / Neil Emory’s ‘37 Dodge
Hot Rod and Custom Books: The Essentials
If your a hot rod nut, chances are your a bit of a collector, too: Vintage parts, black t shirts, and old stuff in general. How about books? Me too. For car book geeks, Amazon.com is a dangerous place. They know what you like to buy, and kindly “suggest” new material for your library every [...]
Shoebox Convert
I arrived in Santa Rosa, CA late last night and am about to head to Costco to get some dogs for the open house at Vern’s. As such, I don’t have a ton of time for a post… I mean shit fellas – I’ve got a REVOLUTION to prepare for! Even so, after a quick [...]
1959 Speed Shop Part 1: Manifolds!
Imagine if you could get any eclectic speed part you wanted for your old car without hitting a swap or searching the internet? Speedway Motors, Mooneyes, Edelbrock, H & H, and many more have re-popped some of the popular rare bits, especially for Flatheads, Cad, Olds, and Nailhead. But what about the other old motors? [...]
Rocketfire Shoebox
I spent a lot of time in Salina this weekend just sitting and thinking… Thinking about line, proportion, style, and what makes a custom work to my own sensibilities. Riding along in Lee Pratt’s shoebox Ford, staring at El Jefe’s Gary Howard built Cad, and just generally hanging out with the crew that I was [...]
Ray Giovannoni’s ‘36 Ford
In 1947, Ray Giovannoni took the long drive from Washington D.C. to the west coast. It was a pilgrimage for Ray as he always wanted to see his tastefully done custom rolling along side the cars that inspired it in the custom heartland – California. While there, his car must have garnered some attention as [...]
Starbird’s ‘47 Cad
Darryl Starbird is mostly known for the radical customs he built in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. The Predicta, Futurista, Cosma Ray, etc… were all interesting designs that made a lot of magazine covers and turned a lot of heads, but they were also a little too “far out” for the simple man to dream [...]
1948 Plymouth
I was flying down I-35 just north of Dallas, TX on Tuesday when I spotted a custom in the corner of my eye coming from the opposite direction. I whipped my head around just fast enough to see a white ‘48 Plymouth sporting whitewalls on chrome reverse wheels, a perfect stance, and a glowing bright [...]
The Blue Book, 1949
Starting in 1944, Dan Post published what many consider to be the first “Custom Car” magazine titled the “Romodeler’s Manual For Restyling Your Car.” By 1946, Dan had published three issues and then began publishing similar books under different titles. The “California Car Photo Album,” the “Master Custom-Restyling Manual,” and a few others were used [...]
Merc Survivor
Here’s something I haven’t done for some time – a featured classified ad. I was out to lunch with Bleed not long ago and for one reason or the other, the topic of Mercs came up. He mentioned his pal Johnny had a bitchin’ survivor up in Wisconsin and that it was in pretty incredible [...]
