The really sad part, is as this hobby keeps growing... all the original cars will be hacked up in one way or another and all we'll have left are a bunch of repoped 32 ford bodies laying around rusting.
Just sold my mild 65 rivi working on a 59 Buick custom now as long as Im breathing there will be atleast a couple of customs in my neigborhood. It dose seem that alot of people around here are building rods right now though. Not me though.
hah ???whats a puto? and burner?? lol was that supposed to make me mad just im more confused then anything....
no..i dont really care anything about you or anything you have done in your 'BITCHIN' life at all..(REGARDLESS OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE BURNED ON THE HAMB).but since you decided to talk shit about how GREAT you are,,,why dont you post AT LEAST one pic of something 'half way cool' that you have done......
i didnt say i was "great" see you all put words in my mouth, i dont think im hot shit. im just saying i could do it, im confident. my first chop when i was 18, 4 door 51 chevy. another 51 chevy sold to harms way. 51ratts old car 52 caddy fins, volkswagon type 3 headlight rings and frenched in, shaved the handles, nosed decked, slammed it, painted it. did a floor in a 53 packard.(not all the pics i have of theis) thats not everything but its all i got pictures of. some things i woulda done differently now, but thats what learnings all about, the next car is always better then the previous.
come on dude,,i was expecting a lil more that that ......quit TEASING US! ,,,show us your GOOD stuff!
I personally think early style customs are going to be the next thing you are going to start seeing alot of. As you are all saying there are alot of rods out there. Plus I may be biased:
No kustoms are not dying out, they always have been here. The thing is kustoms are built with style and grace not patina and rust. I am an old guy originaly from socal and cruised Hawthorne Blvd in the fifties and sixties. The young guys today want to tell me how it was and they have the main idea but not the whole thing. First a kustom was only in primer while you were waiting for paint cause of money. It was not a finished product that is a new thing. But you need to keep the torch burning for our sport and love of cars. Kustomms forever, Rags
no way are they dying out! Being a builder whos shop is primarily custom (or modified) work, I find that its simply that people dont understand what changing a stock car costs these days- so when they find out , many dont have the $$ put aside to purchase parts or supplies. I know I have a waiting list, so the people ARE out there that want custom cars...
I'm building one of each (rod AND custom), but I love the custom more, and will finish it first. Then, knowing me and my ADD ways, I'll probably start another custom before the rod is done. And then a chopper. And then I'll restore a '50s boat. And then a gasser. And then...well, you get the idea
I am not implying that you have not done both, just stating my experience. Having built both (custom in progress), I have found that I can build 4 hot rods in the time of one custom. My hot rod has a smaller body, no hood, no fenders, no bumpers, there;s just not much there. I have 1 year in just chopping the top on my custom.
I don't think customs are dying out as much as hot/rat rods are growing. Nowadays with the rat rod theme, its like the new punk rock from the 80s. 90% of the new people involved in this get into rat rods because thats the cool thing happening at the time. I think after the craze dies out a little, it will become more even. I have a list of customs a mile long that I'd love to build. But I'll probably only ever build one hot rod.
Old syle customs and old style Ford rods will never die out. They are stable mainline styles. The stuff that dies out are trend variations like resto-rods, billet, etc. The rods & customs of hotrodding will always be here, because they are not trends, they are the roots.
Kustoms have a following over here too.There are far more Rods though,but that helps to make the Kustoms stand out more on a showfield or local Kruize.I belong to the UKKustoms Klub,dedicated to building/driving Kustoms(British and American)I own a 51 merc mordoor that will be Kustomised as soon as I finish my Konsul Kustom I`m still building(5 years and counting.)Here`s a pic of The best Kustom in the Uk at the moment(IMO)...its koppak`s Austin sled.
I haven't been able to build EITHER of my cars because I have been too busy either washing the "rat" off someone's Hot Rod, cleaning the Autozone off a Musclecar, or attempting to explain the 100 spoke wheels and a candy roof do not a lowrider make... Customs are very much alive and well. ther eare just so many versions of them- True to the art, no new stuff Customs, "updated" Customs, modern "interpretation" Customs...add to all that the exact same versions of Hot Rods..and a guy that buils cars for a living can get real busy real fast...it's kind of a bitch to keep up! For Example...in the shop right now here at Crushproof- My 54 Post car- mild Custom Exterior and interior-nothing outrageous-the kind of "look" any kid in America could have pulled off in about 1959, once the note was paid off-but the underpinnings are all "new" stuff-350, overdrive, 8.8, disc brakes, etc. 1930 plymouth (oh Jeez) just finished a 4 inch chop (a pillars were a sumbitch) built a decklid, fixed the "butt" panel (our own J.Cougar built the last 2, I did the chop) removed the Trailer Fenders..now all we have to do is everything. raise the motor and trans about 4 inches, re-work the ENTIRE suspension (someone should make a "this part wont work with that part" list for straight axle cars-seriously.) and then, once all that is done, we still have the rest of the body to consider. 57 Belvedere- got it as a basket case-what a pain in the ass!and we're just trying to put it back together! 67 El Camino- Ruuuusty! gonna be a resto-mod when it grows up. 55 Chevy! Buzzards "Field Car"-Two Lane Blacktop meets 70's Super Stock. Fast and Pretty. 69 Chevy L.B. Pro Tourer-all the Bells and Whistles,10,000 Aluminum cans worth of Billet, stroker, 4l80E, all the goodies. not1, not 2 but 3 (yes, THREE) 1969 G.T.O.'s, ranging from mild to out of control. 1970 Road Runner (Grabber Greeeeen!) removing the sins of an electrician...Christ the things folks can do to an Electrical system. 3 various ford restorations...Think chopping a top is hard? try removing and installing a 70 Mustang roof-in it's entirety. To perfection. the nicest damn 4 door I have ever seen...a 1968 Chevelle more door, with a whopping 17k on the clock-total paint. it's nice enough to work on. ( I don't think it's ever been dirty.) and about 6 more, NOT counting what's in the driveway. See how I can't sped a bunch time on my Custom right now? but it's coming.
sort of like the guy who says he doesnt likes street rods cuz he cant afford one.... D-oh! Outrageous Barris style stuff is a bit quiet but what is big (at least around here) is the subtle clean custom, nice lines, no in your face mods but clean and pretty.
Wow, it's not often that I can make a good point in someone else's thread. But there are pictures of 2 '49-'52 Chevies that have been chopped here. One is righteous and one ain't. One could be in Rodder's Journal and one could be in OSR. If you can't tell which is which, you must be Ronny Milsap.
They're not dying out, I've got a whole backyard full of them! C'mon down and see them! $5.00 admission charge. I think it's the "Jump on the bandwagon" rat rods guys. Coming out in force, so the Kustom guys are getting outnumbered!
After you took off and ran with several HAMB members cash, I dont see how you can return a few months later, and just jump in as if nothing ever happened. You've got guts, my friend. I hate thieves, and I really hate thieves that act as if what they do is OK. By returning to the HAMB, and not making good on all of the bad things you did is a real slap in the face to those that you stole from.
Oh, to stay on topic... I think that the original 1950's style custom is dying out. 90% of the "customs" I see at shows are a joke. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on driving your car, and less on building your car. I mean, how many times does someone post their new project, with big plans, and then several people come along and say "just drop it, shave some trim, and its done, and then just drive it!". Well screw that. To really build a real custom, you almost have to take it off of the road for some time. The above quote almost discourages building a true custom. For every 1954 chevy thats just shaved, lowered, extra grill teeth added (and usualy flat black paint), there are a ton more just like it. Big fuckin deal. Mild customs are a bore. I have been working on my car for 3 summers now, getting work I couldnt do from a professional builder past 2 winters, on and off the road several times, and finally its off the road for a long time, its getting the full treatment now. It just takes a lot of time, lot of work, lot of commitment, and a lot of money to really build a true traditional, full custom. So yea, I think what I concider a "real" custom appears to be dying. I see so many unfinished "but call it finished" half assed, primered, tack welded together, so-called customs at shows, and that is what is making up a large portion of the custom scene it seems. A primered 4 door, with crappy pinstriping and a furry headiner (oh, dont forget to shave just the rear doors so it looks like a 2 door) is not a traditional custom, its just a poor attempt. As more of the knowledge and history of where customs started is lost, the more junk we will be seeing on the road.
well, technically they not dying, but the only customs you really see are the more subtle ones, but in comparison with hotrods they look like they are. The kinda kustoms i like are practically dead, you don't see people building cars like how they did the late 50s - early 60s anymore, wild, gaudy, angel hair everywhere indoor car show kustoms.
I just thought i`d drop a pic in here.It shows the taillights fitted to my Kustom Konsul I`m still building.Hope this comes out ok.
Thats because you dont have a fucking clue. There's a big difference between some HACKED piece of shit, and a really well executed chop. Clean your emo glasses, and shut the fuck up already. We can all see through your bullshit like a poorly fitted plexiglass windshield.
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