Five Compact Customs for the 60s

When I think of traditional custom cars, two words quickly come to mind for the overall look: Long and low. We usually imagine our early 60s American Customs to have a striking stance and ominous presence that sort of owns the road and says "Don't me... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

 

uh oh

 

Awesome article!
Here's my '62 Special. Fantastic lil cars. Mine still has the 198 V-6 in her.

 

I've always liked the smaller, early '60's cars. It seems that you don't see them very often (maybe there is a reason for that) but I sure wouldn't pass up a nice Buick or Oldsmobile. I think that they lend themselves well to a mild, custom look and they stand out from the crowd in a subtle sort of way. The price on some of them isn't too bad either. I've always had a thing for the early, 60's Tempests myself. My first car was 1963 Corvair (maybe not super cool but it sure was when I was 14!)

Anyways...I've enjoyed these "5 car line ups" that you've been doing this past year...makes you look at some different stuff that's out there and kind of off the radar at times.

Lizzie, my dad had the exact Buick that you have now except his had the small, V8 in it. Very cool find that you have there.

 

I love the '61 Tempest! Hardly ever see one, they only raced the '62 and up, so they're more popular I guess. And I really love the little Poncho and Olds wagons...

I've always been into early 60's compacts and always taken a lot of heat for it...

The wife's 289 Comet is our fastest car, btw...

 

Had Corvairs and a 62 LeMans with the 4cyl, 4 bbl car and 4 speed transaxle... Was broke when I had it, but with a better set of wheels and tires, a quicker steering box, I bet one will surprise a few at one of them thar fancy Good Guys autocross thingies. It had a lot of low end grunt.

 

I've always loved the Chevy ll's as they were called, have one in project form. saving parts for it. Neat Cars!

 

In high school, I had a maroon 61 Tempest. 4 cyl, 3 speed on the floor, nice front bench seat! Came radio delete, I installed a radio with reverb, and a four-speaker rockin' 8 track.

 

I remember my grandfather trading in his gunmetal grey 1952 Plymouth 2dr fastback on a new 1961 white Pontiac Tempest 4dr with the 4 cylinder engine. Anyway, 2 or 3 years later it was offered to me if I wanted it, of course I said no. That thing was way too uncool for a guy that was 15 or 16 and lived in SoCal, I have always regretted that answer. Oh well, young and dumb...

 

Aw dude! Hit me where I live then leave my beloved Falcons on the cutting room floor...

 

Weez,
I am actually partial to the Olds F-85. Tempests are cool but I was really enamored with a 394 powered F-85 when I was in high school. Lots of torque and little weight will do that for a young man I suppose.

Jive bimber, good words my friend.

 

Yeah! What he said! I always wanted to put a 62 comet front clip on my 62 Falcon...


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hi,I vote for an early corvair coupe, it's a sweet design,someone showed a gasser a few years back,on here,that was awesome,they even used corvairs or the bodies to set some records at bonneville because they were so unintenially streamlined..if i lived somewhere warm..lol..a 63 coupe with a later 4 carb mill or factory turbo,and 4 speed would be cool.it would be fun to show ferrari and suburu tuners that it has a boxer engine..lol.

 

55 1ST Series, I like that bugger. She's got a look for sure.

 

Bad Bob's new ride fits the bill too!!!!

 

I've always been into early 60's compacts and always taken a lot of heat for it.

 

Love the Falcons and Comets! This '63 was my daily driver for 13 years, and I miss it every day.

 

I dig them all......partial to the Comets and Falcons tho_

 

62 Skylark(waiting on the chromies)

 

a few more...

 

The front clip on the "lil" '61 Buick's was copied from it's big brothers'...like my INVICTA. Even the center-of-the-hood bump/spear ! And, they always look cool as customs !!

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

Too bad the ass end of the Skylark looks so crappy...Invicta is one of my favorites!

 

It's not one of the five listed, it's not American (it's an English Ford) but it is a '60s compact that would make a cool custom!

 

My grandmother had a 62 Buick convertible that had barely 5k miles on it when she died in '79.My cousins all fought over it,but my Dad and I inherited a Cord 810,so I guess we came out OK.I still see the car,it belongs to the Ex-Governor of Kansas.Love those little cars.

 

I had one of these to haul my drums around in the early '90's. Always thought it looked like a "T-bird wagon".

 

Nice! Like the wheel and tire and combo. Been wanting to convert my Comet to 5 lug as well.

Let's keep this thread going!

 

I always loved the first-year Tempest and its reuse of the &#8216;59 Bonneville grille. Way better looking than a full-size &#8216;61 Pontiac.

The &#8216;60 Edsel styling of the original Comet is also great.

Hell, I like all the early &#8216;60s compacts, Rambler American and Studebaker Lark included - preferably lowered with a hot rod engine and big-car drivetrain.

 

I got'a soft spot for all the early-mid sixties Domestic Compacts; 'specially Falcons, Comets, Rambler Americans, n' Studebaker Larks.