Features The Definitive "MILD CUSTOM" Photo Thread....

i belive the 59 is still about and has been restored,the 60 , shown the next year and a lot more fur then vanished from magazine photos the Chevy i dont recall seeing again and yea it is a perfect custom photo thanks for your reply

 

What do you guys think about the padded/upholstered wheel wells? I love that look! Is there any reason behind it or is it just to look cool?

 

upholstered radiators and firewalls it all looks good any why not they also upholstred the floors the reason was to well in shows

 

They just look Cool Cooon......usually kept for displaying for car or for nice days, they were often put in place using snaps in the wheel wells. I love them, but I also love matching Steering Wheel Covers and Tonneau covers over the rear seats....Another regional favorite.......Centurion9

 

This great looking, very mild '55 Merc four-door appeared in Trend Books "How to Customize Your Car" in 1957!
(From Kustomrama.)

 

can we see some mild stude larks i have one but as yet i havnt started

 

This thread hits me in two ways. At first I was geeked, but then got kind of sad. Loved seeing cars like the older kids had when I was growing up in the late 50s early sixties. Just minor mods lowered, lakes pipes,pinstriping. nosed decked. Some stand out in my memory vividly. In my area South Central Michigan almost overnight the "fad" changed as drag racing took hold. Customs were yesterdays news. Some were changed front ends raised etc. to meet the new fad. But most were just put out in a field to rust away. A few hit the used car lots, but they were priced so low that people just bought them as winter beaters and such just flogging them to death. Makes me want to have one again. Nearly stock just lowered maybe nosed and decked with a super scallop job as Larry Watson and others did. Think I'll go looking for a decent two door from the fifties or very early sixies starting tomorrow.

 

Do it! You will have a great time, the "Hunt" is almost as good as cruising!

 

My work in progress..

 

I'm with you gibralter72......What grabbed my attention from those days was all about the kid down the street or my friends who were "satisfied" and "excited" with minor mods, bolt-ons, and some very nice paint tricks that nearly everyone I knew with a little art talent could pull off. Very soon it wasn't "enough"......Like so many other things in America, more is usually well on it's way to better, and the guys who are still driving near stock cars with subtle tricks are considered "less than".......It takes very little time to make anything a rich mans game and that's what happened to Mild Customs. It's a shame....On one hand, we revere Watson's work, and turn right around and by example show that what we really like is Chops so severe that vision and comfort are secondary. Funny though. I never get tired of looking at Larrys cars, but I'm way sick to death of overchopped and customized cars that require a budget that won't end. Don't get me wrong....I've always loved full Customs and those that were really unique and many of them were ugly too, but when the sight of radically chopped 49-51 Fords/Mercs or Early '50's radical Chevies make me want to yawn, maybe we'be beat that dead horse long enough.......Centurion9

 

Look great!

 

Very mild, but we are getting there.

 

Lancer caps look great on the 57!

 

They're out there. Just not here.
Check this link. It was part of a bigger reply I posted a few days ago that instantly got deleted, probably owing to the wheels, and the baby got thrown out with the bath water. The suicide rear doors seem like a good idea.

http://www.cardomain.com/ridepost/2814586/10297585/1962-studebaker-lark/

All of the examples I originally included looked great with two tone paint. If I happen across them again, I'll shoot them to you in a PM.

 

I can't disagree with the points you made, when I started looking at cars in two dimensions only was the turning point. Somewhere along the line it got back my excitement, your comments made me try to figure out what was there and left, and is now back. For me it was that third aspect or dimension, the people. My daughter and I built her first car. Then it was my turn, to build my 51 Merc. I realized it was not the same, it was just me. My grandson who love to play with tools got me going again! So I agree with you, but the people part wiped out the need to go crazy, or spend big money for me.
Not sure how to cl***ify my Merc, no chop, no bags, very reliable, fun to drive, and lots of help from the grandbabies!

 

I think the "problem" with customizing Larks and Hawks is that they have a very distinct nose, as it were. It is very different than the rectangular faces of the big three cars of that era. Therefore, it is more of a challenge to come up with a successful custom touch that takes it away from the stock. If you have started a build thread, please post a link here. I would love to follow it.

 

BEUMP!

 

I'm curious, on most '56 Mercs I've seen, the front trim angles down to the bottom of the scoop trim, but on yours it runs straight from the front fenders and stops short...since you're Canadian, is this the way '56 Mercs came or did you change the trim to '55 Merc trim...???

Thanx,
R-

 

You are right the trim was changed, good eye.

 

Nice change. Looks great that way.

 

Here's my 59...some stuff shaved...lowered a lot. No bags. Stock 371 auto. Drive it everywhere. New whitewalls coming soon.

 

Awesome thread! I'll have to spend more time here.

 

My very mild 53 Belair with two different sets of shoes and two different stances(it's adjustable in the rear). Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

 

PERFECT!!!

 

Here's my base for a mild custom. I'll be leaving the 230 flathead where it sits. Very few body mods planned, just need to take care of some sheetmetal work and replace the factory wiring.

My '55 Plymouth Savoy Club Sedan

 

I don't know why we don't see more of these customized.
Here is Eldon ***us' '56, for a little inspiration.

 

Always liked that Plymouth of Eldon's. And like you said Big Swede, it's pretty mild as far as body mods go.