Customs Can a car be considered a custom if it hasn't been lowered?

So many opinions about what constitutes a custom, and I've seen mild customs that weren't lowered although some would not consider this a "custom".. opinions pleeeeze...

 

must be lowerd to be a custom

 

must be customized to be a custom.

 

First off, is it a '40's...or a '50's...or a 60's model...??? That would make a difference in how people term a car a 'custom'.

IMHO, it wouldn't make a bit of difference to me IF there were body mods (nosed, decked, door handles removed, skirts, whitewalls, 'caps, etc.) That to me is what makes a custom a Kustom...not lowering so much.

R-

 

If a car is nosed, decked with frenched headlights and raised 2 inches, its still a custom.

 

What he said

 

Only to the guys who can't see past lowering.
I wouldn't consider lowering alone to move into the realm of custom.

 

It's not about just fitting the bill, its about making a factory produced car better by modifying it. Lowering a car does not make a custom by any stretch but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a vehicle that couldn't benefit from an altitude adjustment. Its about the overall flow of a car when you step back and are thinking " if the factory built it like that they would have fuckin nailed it"

 

Sure, but why wouldn't you? Even better question, why does it matter?

 

I actually looked at a feature in the Rodders journal today that had some mid atlantic mild customs and not all of them were lowered. Some cars sit low naturally.

 

They been lowering vehicles for so long I don't think it matters..These are the lowering blocks I used on my truck..I was surprised they made them for vehicles back then, that's the original packaging and the specs state fits 35-48 Dodge and so on...I don't have a label for my own truck in the avatar,,,just a old truck

 

To me custom (Kustom) means tailored to you.
Like it low, there you go.
If not, so?
{End of poetry attempt}

 

A lowered car with no other modifications is just that.

 

By strict definition, I think, a 'custom' is anything that has been either built from scratch or modifed from stock to meet "someone's" idea of how it should look and/or function. At first I thought it can't duplicate something already existing, but discarded that notion. If it replicates say, the Hirohata Merc, but has been built as a 'one-off' (okay, maybe that's a two off ) it's still a custom built vehicle.

Lowering, in my opinion, is only one of several techniques used to tailor a vehicle to one's taste and not using that, or any other particular technique, shouldn't render something to non-custom status.

Ray

 

I don't think so, then again I don't think lowering a stock car makes it a custom.

 

More modifications then being lowered, to be considered a custom..and just being lowered doesn't make a custom.
Labels/names often are misconstrued.

 

What he just said!

 

Harry Bradley once said, and I am paraphrasing because I can't find the exact quote, that the purpose of customizing a car is to improve its looks. In other words, take a stock vehicle and make it look better.

So yes, a car can be considered a custom if it hasn't been lowered.

 

a car doesn't even need to be customized to be considered a custom. there is an orange 61 Plymouth that won best custom at some show recently. saw it here on the HAMB. nice car, nice paint, but it is pretty much stock as far as the body goes.

it was lowered though so I guess that was enough. now I'm confused.

 

Read this, and then you decide.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=506629

 

Ive always Considered a Custom to have a few Body changes,, and Lowered.. ( Thats just me though) The Old Dodge I have wouldnt be a Custom.. More just something done to fit the Time frame of the 50s, 60s era..

 

A wise man once said, "Stance IS everything!"
So, Yes, a Custom Has to be lowered. Wheels and Stance, can make just about any (traditional) car a Custom, or a Hot Rod, depends how you go with it.
...

 

Back in Ohio where I grew up, we had the cigarette pack test under the rockers..
Upright, nice,..sideways, just about right,.. laying flat, lookin' cool, but yer' not cruising many places.
...

 

Stock height is a stock car..... Even with a few body mods. It must be lowered IMO ... Hey u asked.

 

To me customizing means changing the body by altering the original shape and look of the car/truck to a different look or style that you wanted it to look like that is unlike someone else's .
Just lowering with WWW isn't even close to a Kustom Car or Truck !
Just my opinion !

Retro Jim

 

a custom doesnt have to be lowered , BUT , lowering your custom DO make it better.. just sayin your milage may very!

 

Whilst keeping an open mind about this issue, I would also agree with whomever the 'wise man' quoted above may have been. Whether this translates to loooow is still an individual matter, ...and yes, sometimes even whether I like it or not.

I always heard he'd said, "The three most important things with regard to the appearance of a car are stance, stance, & stance!".

 

It sure helps. Kinda like "does a hot chick need to have teeth." Sure helps.

 

There`s a guy I know that has a chopped 54 Chevy with a conntinental kit. Sit`s at stock height, Looks like HECK. The reason is because he has a steep driveway. I`d be changin the approach of his driveway so he could lower it.

 

Whatever makes you happy