Before I even clicked on the link I read Shampoo Truck and immediately thought it was going to be one of those goofy bathroom themed customs from the 60s
For the sake of discussion, I seriously doubt that Bailon designed or built this car on his own. He may have had a hand in it at some point, but it is just so far out of his norm that I find it a stretch to believe he built it from scratch. With a couple noteable exceptions that come to mind from early in his career, every other car he ever built was totally tasteless. Perhaps he travelled along the same trajectory as Barris - starting well but trailing off into the absurd as times and fortunes changed. Success can do that to ya'.
Context. What's ugly now might have been innovative then. "Timelessness" only comes with hindsight. It's also important to remember the pressure that custom car builders were under in the late 1950's. As guys like Barris and Roth and... stretched what was the norm, other custom car builders had to keep up to make a living. It became a contest of who could build the wildest car and not necessarily the best looking. I had a conversation with Winfield about this once... He felt that the custom car world has ups and downs because build trends make it so. As the pendulum swings towards wild customs, over the top creations lose the audience... Mild customs come back and momentum starts again. Interesting way to think about it anyway...
The see a lot of European styling. Proportions are much better than truck conversions Ive seen. Probably as good as you can get one. no oversized exaggerated fins or tail lights. Stance, wheels/tires all work
Nice. Schmoooooth. I've heard it said that a shoebox Ford looks smooth like a half-used bar of soap. I think this one looks to be about 3/4 used.
@Ryan , in 2019 Brandon Flaner of East Bay Speed & Custom introduced me to early East Bay area customizer Dick Falk. A really cool, kind, and talented dude with a lot of great stories to share. In 1952, Dick started working for Bailon, and he told me that the Betty Elizabeth Shampoo Truck actually started out as Bailon's own work truck. It was one of the cars that Dick worked on while he was helping out at the shop. They cut it with a sharp air chisel and used coat hangers to weld it up. Here is a cool little story that Dick told me: “Joe told me to start welding on the bed of the truck ‘That will keep you busy for a long time,’ he told me. God, I welded on that thing! It was an awful lot of welding, and Joe had a basket full of coat hangers I used. He said; ‘That’s your job man. Weld everything!’” Joe had sectioned the car and gotten everything lined up before Dick started welding it. “He gave me a hand when I needed it, whatever we were doing. He had just bought the car,” Dick recalled. Bailon used the truck while he was building it, and Dick remembers he and Bailon loading it up with cinder blocks for the walls in the new shop, dragging its ass down the freeway. “We did a few trips every night or whatever. It was me and him, and then he kept working on it little by little.” Below is a photo from Dick's collection showing the truck in primer. Elton Kantor's 1950 Ford can be spotted inside the garage. The 1947 Ford belonged to Dick. I have the full story on this and will soon have it up on Kustomrama. We believe the little truck next to the soon to become Shampoo Truck belonged to Joe Silva.
That's only part of it IMO. Creative people are under constant pressure to create, either from external pressures or self-imposed ones. Very, very few have a limitless well of creative ideas. But if that's how you make your living, you have to continually come up with something to stay in the public eye and/or the good graces of your employer. Detroit employed dozens if not more of designers/stylists, competing with each other for designs that they felt would appeal to the public. Even in the various styling departments there was internal competition between stylists, with certain names rising out of the crowds over time. Names like Harley Earl, Bob Gregoire, Virgil Exner, Larry Shinoda and Raymond Loewy were among the few that achieved fame beyond their employers. But these guys had support from many nameless other designers, very few of their designs made it through the process unchanged or unscathed. Enter the '50s. The raw material coming out of Detroit had swept the last of the early styling cues away. Running boards and separate fenders were gone, a whole new canvas to work with. Now the big difference between Detroit and the customizers was there was little 'oversight' on the latter designers. Each designer was free to build what they wanted (subject to the customer demands where asked) with varying results. Virtually all of these guys are known for certain 'signature' cars, some were 'one hit wonders', some managed more. But a lot of their output is forgotten except among the serious students of the genre, and more than a few were flat-out ugly. Guys like Barris, Hines, Wihelm, Bailon, Valley Custom had their preferred styling and that was generally what you got. Then the new blood appeared with Cushenberry, Starbird, Winfield, Alexander Brothers, Jeffries etc and reinvigorated it all. Roth was in a category by himself. Something new was needed to make a mark, and that's what they did. Sure, some of it was over the top, but in a crowded field that's what it took. And again, each are best known generally for certain signature cars with the exception of Starbird who was mostly known for his bubble tops (and dragged Roth into building them too). But none of them hit home runs every time. I'll make one more observation; the handful of shops that had collaborative efforts from more than one guy (George and Sam Barris, Valley Custom, and the Alexander brothers) generally turned out few over-the-top efforts but better overall designs IMO. And a lot of this is subjective. You need a certain mind-set to appreciate customs, not everyone has it or in the same degree. Some feel that certain cars are perfect as shipped from the factory or as built, personally every car I look at I'm mentally thinking about what I'd change to make it mine. I'll probably never buy any sort of 'caretaker' type car as I'd undoubtably change something... and bring down the wrath of the 'preservers'.
Soooo good... I noticed the historical features had conflicting backstories. It's super rad to hear it from someone that was there.
Great Post! Not only is this a great Bailon build, but it has a longevity and purpose similar to the " So-Cal Plating" delivery!
Good grief, that is one awesome looking custom shoebox. Incredible story to go with it, too. I can't imagine anyone tossing cinder blocks in the bed after putting that much effort into it!
Exactly! I used to do that with my Ranchero before we Mazed it....I sure miss those days in many ways
There's a part of me that would like to see a daintier bumper up front on the Shampoo Truck... a little thinner and lighter looking... Also, the top in Wimbledon white would be rad... to match the whitewalls...
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