Something I have been rolling around in my head lately is this, seems like you seldom see pre '35 Customs. Thought maybe it would make interesting discussion as to why you think that is or eve if you want a place to post pics of what you know about or have built pre '35 that is. Doesn't have to be ford for the pics just prior to the rounded off cars. Here is a pic I snagged of the LIL Coffin to get your juices flowing.
I think this is where my cabrio was headed a few decades ago. It appears to have never been finished. Sectioned and shortened. Tim
Frank Curtis. Bill Hines' "Golden Nugget". Joaquin Arnett's (Bean Bandits) incredible '34 Ford...chopped, sectioned, shortened (both through the quarters and the cab, with fordor front doors). It's hard to believe that Andy Granatelli once owned this jewel. (Well, not that he owned it, but that he fit in it!)
Beaner, I think that the answer to your original question might be, "There ain't enough room to hang shit on Skinny Fenders!!!" As a result Cars with Skinny Fenders (34 and back) usually wind up with a fabricated grille shell designed to hold quad lights and such. Since I am 68, I have had over 50 years to view "Custom Show Rods" and some of those fabricated noses, only a mother could love. Sancho, Mo and others, Thanks for posting all of the pictures. Who knows, History repeats it self and somewhere somebody is Burning Mid-night Oil by working on a New Show Rod. Okay Guys send more pictures as it seems a bit Nostalgic............................ Jeff
always loved the lil coffin and the deuce coupe ...but more so the ala kart..in fact so much I am building my version of it wether you love it or hate it don't matter ..I built it for me,coz I wanted to.
I remember WAY long ago, when AMT came out with the Ala Kart model. I honestly did not know if I liked that custom or not.....But...I HAD TO HAVE it Coming back from the store with the kit, I was peeing myself All these decades later and I still don't know if I like it or not, but that shows the incredible talent in that design,... a person will never forget it.
no jeff the actual headlights are out of a 69/70 galaxy from memory and turned from horizontal to vertical and the fascia's are home made
timwhit, It looks like you've got a good leg up on something like this. There are a number of cool '34 customs on Kustomrama. http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=1934_Ford
Couple of points the younger guys might not be aware of. First of all custom cars as we know them are a postwar phenomenon. Yes a few were built before 1946 but not many. Second is most guys started with the newest car they could get or could afford. From 1946 to 49 when new cars were hard to get that meant the newest prewar cars, 1939 - 40 - 41. Later when new cars became available you had customs like the Barris Mercury, Hirohata Mercury, Golden Sahara, Blue Danube Buick all bought as new cars or late model used cars no more than a year old. By the mid fifties it was easy to buy a new car on time if you had a decent job. Most of the customs started as new cars young guys were making payments on. So 1935 and earlier cars were seldom even thought of as customs, although a few were built. Another thing was, good prewar coupes roadsters and convertibles were getting hard to find by the late 50s. This is when fibreglass T buckets were first made, because you couldn't go out in the desert and pick up a good Model T body for nothing anymore. One of the reasons Ed Roth and others began building custom show cars with fibreglass. If you wanted to build a wild custom and didn't want to start with a late model car, it saved trying to find, and pay for, a decent prewar body.
Well. call me a nit-picking critic, but really, for a lot less $$$ I'd much rather have this Than this
You talkin to me? Dissin the thread? Useless opinions? What makes a useful opinion? One that matches yours? Sorry, I don't have a back button or a street rod.
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