As you all probably know, the Packard brand was on the brink at the time, and the double headlight treatment was, as one can see in the picture, just a bucket over the single headlighted 57 fenders. And the Packard was, more or less, a modified Studebaker. Talk about facelift and squeezing out the last drops
Studebaker bought Packard,and Studebaker itself was going through some rough times. As a result they produced cars, in both lines with these tacked on parts, fins, headlight treatments etc. Making for SOME, not all, really ugly cars in my opinion, and I'm a Stude owner.
This was a production vehicle. 1955-57 Gaylord. Gaylord Cars, Ltd, Chicago, only 3 were built. Hemi powered, hand built german body. Rich
I believe that Bob Larivee's Stiletto is one of the cleanest and simplest designs built during the so-called "Showrod" era. But I also felt that the front wheels blew the deal and that one or two front wheels should have been hidden from view, as Photoshopped here. I also adjusted the color to more accurately repesent the actual shade of pearl lime green in it was painted.
Let's not forget the Mohs Ostentatienne Opera Sedan, built by the Mohs Seaplane Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin in 1967. Built by Bruce Mohs on an International Harvester chassis, it was supposed to be the ultimate safety car with guard rails down the sides and entrance from the rear. It was offered for sale but I doubt anybody bought one.
in all fairness , the 50's was a learning time . lots of experimentation . the 40's were very basic & the 50's were a learning error . i learned in the 50's/60's by the seat of my pants ............... love the older errors
This will have to be my last entry in the Thread.....Car guys will always recognize the freedom and the excitement that living in America has provided over the last 60 years or so in living the Dream of building or enjoying Custom Cars. Whether Beautiful or Butt-Ugly, we've enjoyed a Freedom few Nations have ever had. I doubt we'll ever see a Somalian or Ukrainian Kustom Kar Thread anytime soon......We have been afforded treasure beyond measure in having the ability to own, build, buy or sell any kind of automobile we wanted, limited only by dollars or imagination. I'm so thankful to have had that opportunity.......Centurion9.
Im fully aware that the cars i posted arent "Kustom" but isnt this a thread of opinion? The Del Mar ive tried to see its beauty but i just cant. As far as the Le Sabre. I like it............... until i see the front end. Thats the only thing i dont like about it. But like i said, its just my opinion.
It's the front end of many of these cars where things get too wild for me. '50s cars had some beautiful front ends, tough to improve upon.
Thank God somebody has finally said it. There were a lot of cool customs in the 50's and 60's and then there were a lot of stupid looking cars too. And they were produced by big names. I thought I was crazy and so did a lot of people when I called those cars stupid when I was a kid. I finally feel justified after 50 years. Thanks guys. Now I can cancel my next therapy session.
I have to agree with Centurion 9 - when these cars were built- it reflected a time in our country when nothing was impossible or out of reach- when you were only limited by your own limitations- freedom - not like today- sorry off the soap box-
I thought this was an interesting video. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BC1-n_Nb1lA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Being old enough to remember those days I have to tell you an awful lot of these cars that showed such excess were made that way in stages. I remember that the show circuits used to always want something different so cars weren't allowed to stay the same. As I recall cars weren't allowed to be shown the same way year to year the promoters made them make I believe at least 15 changes before they were allowed back on the circuit the next year. Some of these cars were perfect customs in their first showing but then had to be changed in major ways to stay on tour. Make 15 changes to a perfect car for four years and you end up with a monstrosity in lots of cases. Lots of these cars existed only for show purposes so they served very well for the purpose they were intended for. I'm not offended by them someone took a leap they were the only ones that had to be pleased in the end. I enjoy them for what they were or what they became!
I know I am young but those classics of the 50's were pretty sweet not ugly. If you want to talk ugly lets look at all the modern cars now days. They are alot worse then the cars in this fourm. I would take any of these over what is build now days with these modern cars that are made out of fiberglass. True steel is better
That Trend book Restyle is from 1952. It tries to explain basics of proportion and design. If you ever find it, buy it! It explains it all with the eye from back of the early 50's. The whole thing is like evolution, people in the 40's, 50's 60's experimented with different ideas and at the end we have the style everybody is copy's today over and over, till people get tired of that look and starting to appreciate the more experimental design again. Hope that makes sense.
HATERS GONNA HATE! fyi just because you shaved your door handles and sprayed metal flake on your roof doesn't make it a custom.
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