Features The Ugliest Kustoms of the 50s

chopolds, that was exactly the point I was trying to make

 

I didn't 'do' the 50's. Anyone got anymore 'eye candy'?

 

Teddy P knows what he is talking about and many just don't get it or what to get it.

I would hope this site has room for everyone including the true customs.

Jimbo

 

Small format magazines, $20.00 seems high. They usually are priced between $5 and $7 in my area. Bought 56 of them this weekend at a swapmeet for $100. The guy was asking $4 a piece and made me a deal since I bought them all. If these cars are ugly, them I like ugly cars. They might not exactly be the way I`d build them, but I`d rather see 10 ugly customs then look at 100 muscle cars any day.

 

Jay, you know Gary Minor. It's a shame that Gary is so traditional that he won't enter a room where a computer is located (well, almost), because he's the expert on this subject. He's been irritating people with his "Mauled Merc" column for years!

 

Ya know this is a subject that a buddy and I (we work in the same shop on our cars) seem to argue about quite often, he is just so set on how a car has to look and will not budge, he dosent care about a car that does not fit his idea of the perfect custom. Me on the other hand I can appreciate most any custom in some way, there is almost always something in the old customs to look at and learn from, I am not saying that they are all beautiful however I am not going to just ignore some of the cars because they don't fit my idea of the perfect car. I love the look of most any car that Sam Barris did himself, however what you have to remember when you are looking at some cars that someone like that built is they were in business and they had to do what the customer wanted so no matter how much he did not want to do it if some guy came in and wanted one head light frenched and the other not I guess he would have had to do that, afterall you do what you have to to get paid. So when we look at these cars and say that is an ugly car whet we have to remember is the old saying that if we all liked the same thing then our wife would be really popular! LOL! So I guess we had all better be happy that we all have our own tastes and look but kinda try to see the cars through the builder/owners eyes and remember if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all... Jim

 

Apologies cfnutcase & others- edited my post from talk back to picture, then -delete- - I think we need more pics of other 'beauties'..

 

Here you go. Click on em a couple times, they should open in a new window and be big enough to read. If you were around during the show rod era, you will get a real kick out of this, its actually pretty funny within the context of the times. Some guys are going to question the connection between excessive, tasteless, over the top fifties customs, and excessive, tasteless, over the top sixties show cars, but they really are just a natural outgrowth, and in many cases were even built by the very same guys that had built the excessive, tasteless, over the top fifties customs. Regardless, its a pretty funny read, and the basic message is as valid today as it was in 1967. Think AMBR circa 2000/2012. Check out the authors "name".

 

Falcongeorge, very funny article, thanks for posting. I think people who didn't experience the era might understand the times from this article.

I wonder if author Earnless Hemi way is Tex Smith. I've seen that familiar humor in other articles he's written.

Yea, those guys were transported to an alternate universe. Their sole purpose in life was to de-throne the all mighty Uncertain T. No wonder they didn't care if their design would be tastefully done. Or if it needed to stand the test of time.

 

Hmm. Sometimes it was just change for the sake of change, bits and pieces. Not much thought about the overall cohesive design.

 

No words will suffice.

 

This thread needs more pics!!!

 

That's funny. Thanks for puttin it up!

 

And a fine example it is!!! Thank you sir!

We need less postulating and more pictures...

 

I grab those little books where I can, and yes, they're $5-7 a piece out here...and I think that by the late 50's, all tricks had been performed. 'cause wow, there was some ugly 4 light jalopies filling up those black and white pages...

 

This is a cool thread, i hope it never closes if not just for the wide variety of opinions.. Interesting to note, looking back, how the era changed from 1950 to 1960.. I enjoy poring through my 1958 Custom Cars magazines where early '50s Fords, Mercs, and others (in addition to articles on grille, headlight, trim, hbcap ideas) ruled supreme, but by 1960, its featured cars were moulding in Studebaker fins to their early 50s Ford shoeboxes, so it was obvious that things were heading toward the wild side, which makes me understand the line of thinking that inspired the Bailon 1958 Impala and Bill Hines' example and others.. also interesting to note how the Futurama and Motorama models influenced alot of the late '50s customs..era.. I'm sorry the era somewhat ended with the '60s but it seems inevitable looking back..

 

Glad you guys got a kick out of it. It had been about ten years since I had actually sat down and read it myself, this prompted me to read it again, I'd forgotten how funny it really was. And yes, Tex Smith crossed my mind too.

 

EEEEIIIII!! My eyes, my eyes!!!

 

Anyone know what this is, or was?

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and butt ugly is not the correct answer.

 

yeah, something ain't right with that car...just can't put my finger on it. Not that I'd want to. I think maybe everything is wrong with it...

 

I mis-read the title of this article at first and thought it said STYLED WITH CLASS.

 

The front end of Jim Webb's car is pretty strange, but Jim and his car were remarkable. He built it from scratch while he was in high school -- sculpted it, made molds, laid it up in fiberglass, assembled it to a Chevy (?) chassis, and painted it. I met him at Art Center in 1959, and it was his daily driver -- the only car he had. Very accomplished kid.

 

Love them or hate them.....each car has both a history and a story. I can't separate the two, and I'm pretty cool with that. I've said it before, and you younger guys will too some day....you had to be there to experience the "context" of the time. Opinions aside, mine included, it's just not possible to judge the past by experiencing the present. 40 years from now, there will be naysayers who find fault with the builders of this generation....it just happens. When Jim Webb built his car, though it's not for me, it was probably a very cool thing to know him, watch the build, and to ride along.....just sayin'..............Centurion9

 

Anything Barris is ugly (for the most part) in my opinion. He was a more is better kinda guy. I like the factory looking less tacky less is more approach. Hes a great guy, nice,but not my taste in customs.

 

Then you obviously havent seen the Barris creations of the 40s and early 50s.

 

Lol hadnt seen this post till now lol

 

The damb kids today are texting all day long and you people give this kid grief for building a car?

 

Not sure when this was built and it doesn't look too bad from the front .....

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But then I saw the side view and a view of the rear .....

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Not sure what they did with the top. Could this have been a four door?

 

Side view, not good for me?