As usual we're seeing the gratuitous "love" for nearly anything from the time. I saw this car when I was 5yrs old. It belonged to Joe Pasternak (sp) and his son brought pictures of it to school for show and tell. We're talkin kindergarten for me. Guess what? At that tender young age my brain said "what the fuck??" and it says it still today. Dready, I get it when it comes to a degree of period materials and accessories on those cars, but some of it is simply way too much. Fur carpets? I dig that, but seats and instrument panels too? Shit man, Rolls Royce gave you mink floor mats for the rear passengers in the 80s. A degree of such a thing can be beautiful. It's like large breasts on a woman if that's your thing. Mid 30s D cups are stunning. 56 FFFs? A fuckin mutant! That Merc is pitiful. I actually feel bad for the builder/owner. Golden Sahara? There was a lot of reasoning behind that car. Not all of it works but some of it actually does. It's function and futuristic features were the juice, the beauty of it. That alien looking thing with the double Dodge grille? Sorry kids. Hall of fame ugliness. Now y'all can say with as much conviction as you can muster that I'm a hater or don't get it. There's enough hoodlums here that know better, and in a few yrs you might see it live and in real time if all keeps going well. Even Packard had some nasty looking cars. I love most anything Packard but they sure as hell were not immune to gettin some dogs out there. They went from the lovely Darrin-inspired Clipper to that inverted bath tub from 48 thru 50. Some would make love to those if it was possible, but that front end looks like a cross-eyed kid with a mouth full of gumballs. Centurion, thanks for the childhood memory
This supposedly is another attempt by Bill Hines at the "BAT". I hope it isn't his work or design as it is about the ugliest car I have seen.
beauty in the eye of the beholder, that said, i've see plentof "you'r lable"(st.rod, custom, van, what evers been done) somebody liked what they were building/working on. RD
It's cool. I've had all day to relax and realize that it's kind of neat being in my own little club. I love the wacky stuff. I agree with a lot of the cars on this thread being ugly, but then again I'm completely opposite with the some others. It fuckin boggles my mind that someone mentioned Chili Catalos coupe. Im sure most hamb members these days would think the Aztec is ugly, I have NO clue how or why, but I'm sure that's how it is. I'll take solace knowing there's a small group of us who worship the late 50s show cars. We'll go back to making fun of you guys offline
There came a point back in the day when people tried to out do each other when it came to custom and unfortunately the end result was what you see in this thread. People and that goes for customizes as well at times often have no taste,class or styling. Boxy, fish mouthed bubble top, overly finned rides were a testament to no restraint, bad ideas and no ideas left. Too many cars were customized beyond all recognition, when you get to the point where you ask " what is that" you have gone to far
Alright, now the thread is really falling off the rails..... These two examples are literaly two of the most influential car designs in history. And not "kustoms" either. I know that what is cool is subjective, so some will love what others hate, and to be honest I'm with Dreadybear Bear...these bat shit crazy cars are why I love custom culture, but when we start getting images of designs well documented as two of the the most important, ground breaking cars of all time then we're wasting our time and this thread has gone down the pan into the world of dull.
I feel like a few cars, like the Tiago Ranchero, or the MoonRocket T-bird and other radical customs of that ilk, were great examples of american ingenuity. They took formerly competitive mild customs that were totaled, and turned them into radical class winners, that were still tasteful. There were posts bashing El Matador in another thread. Some people get it, most people don't. Radical customs can work if the builder has a good eye and a lot of balance. The Golden Sahara is probably the best custom car ever built. The BEST part about custom cars, and custom bikes too, is that you can like and own whatever the hell you want to, and can tell everyone to fuck off if they don't like it.
Whoa! You just went way off track! Those are far from ugly, and were very influential cars in their time.
These threads rarely go well because many of the young guys don't know the difference between a Concept Car and a Custom Car....You're not stupid, you're ignorant. You lack information..You simply don't know because you weren't there. Another point that was alluded to earlier when we were asked about seeing the cars through 2013 eyes...Yes, many here do, but many here do not. One's perspective is certainly in play here, but it's like a 20 year old guy hearing the Beatles for the first time in 2013 vs hearing it in 1964. The music is the same, but the hearing is waaay not the same. Historical views of thing are a massive factor in just about everything in American Pop Culture....Seeing cars today that were built in the '40's-the '60's NOW, is so different than seeing them fresh in '58 that it cannot be explained. Thats the long way to say that ugly cars have been built forever....Let's just enjoy them, recognize their place in Custom History, and get on with it.....My ugly is not your ugly.......I'm the guy tired to death of copycat anything that gets built on a sickening basis...they have become the NEW ugly for ME. Centurion9
The Andy DiDia/ Bobby Darin Car.......Plenty more ugly for your viewing pleasure, but the car took the Custom car magazines by storm, and the aisles at the Car Shows were always backed up to see it.......
Well said Dreddybear & Centurion9. I think some of you guys need to get your eyes checked...I dig these cars;
I'm glad to see that some here respect history, regardless of an ugly or pretty face. If all we had were chopped Mercs and Deuces, what a boring place this Earth would be. While most of these cars pictured ARE pretty ugly today, many are innovative, and as lovable to some as an ugly puppy. But Maratta's Merc and the yellow Car from Mars are way up at the top of the ugly list.
This Truck is in So Cal in Untouched Condition and gets brought out every so often. Its AMAZING in person!
Frank cut it up and scraped it. The story I heard was the fact that a 55 gallon drum was filled with the lead they melted out of it. Bob
The Jalopy Journal
