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

Man... sumthin' about that car...

 

As much as I love 57 Fords, (I HAVE 3 OF THEM) I have to disagree with you. This is not a Custom from my point of view or probably most of the rest of us. This is a Bone Stock retractable hard top right down to the upholstery with the small exceptions of the wrong antenna and the goofy exhaust tips.

 

Lowered, skirts, continental kit, wire wheels, and as goofy as they are, exhaust tips.

 

Sunliners always sat low in the Back due to design. Lot's of Junk in the Trunk to make the Top work and then add the extended length of the bumper and tire. Yes, that's factory design. Not all retractables had the continentle kits but those cars had near Zero trunk storage space. Nice car for sure, just not a Custom per say.

 

If I never saw another continental kit again, it would still be too soon.

 

Nor-Cal

 

Note the word "MILD" on the title page?

 

Hmmm... interesting... makes sense and good to know!

 

Facts are facts, thank you Mark for putting it in writing. Wish I could hit the Like button 10 times for posting that informational fact. Heck my avatar has all that and more but all so Suttle, I just call it a Hot Rod. Saves a long discussion with people that still don't get it when I'm done talking. At least most of them understand the Hot Rod word.

 

Well put. Is my car considered a mild custom? If not what is it considered?

 

Dave your car would be considered as perfect!

 

So there seems to be a very thin line between "Customized" and "Modified"...
That black '36 is drop dead gorgeous in my opinion. Some may share that opinion about the Hard-top convertible. Would they both, then, be considered "Conservative Customs"? Or does this end up being a matter of opinion or a popularity contest?
I'm a firm believer in "To each his own" when it comes to art, beauty, sanity, etc.. To me that's part of the fun with these cars and this forum. It's all good!

 

I'll just add this, because @Pist-n-Broke was referring to an essentially stock '57 Ford Retractable. (note, it's actually gone from the thread)

Note the word "CUSTOM" on the title page?

He was pointing out that it really was not a custom. The '57 Chevy used as an example in post #1 of this thread is a Mild Custom.

Amongst custom guys, I think it is rare to find a car that is confusing as to what it is. Mild Custom? Full Custom? Radical Custom? Seems that custom guys just get it, ISCA rules or not. And describing it in writing, in a way that doesn't leave a non-custom guy asking a bunch of "what-abouts" is kind of like telling a person how to parallel park, or back a trailer between two fence posts, and expecting them to do it on their first try.

Here's an awesome traditional mild custom.

 

To the best of my knowledge, "back in the day", the designations were quite fluid from year to year and association to association.

 

Another traditional mild custom.

 

Here's a '51 Chevy I did a few years ago. I would call this a Mild C ustom.

 

Slippery slope there.. most of Watsons kustoms were Kustom in paint only.....

 

so what is this?

 

Seriously?

That's an awesome mild custom. Custom paint, tube grill, single headlights, lowered suspension, custom upholstery (sign says Tom's Top Shop), spotlights, are the visible modifications that any custom guy can see.

I guess that's 6 modifications if you bother to count them. But why? All you have to do is look at it. Its a mild custom.

Silly rule books attempt to even the playing field, I guess so a very mild custom doesn't compete with a radical custom, two opposite ends of the custom car spectrum. As proof that "Silly" does indeed describe the rule book, see Conservative Custom described as Zero to Three modifications.

I consider myself a "custom guy". Out in the real world, I have no idea what a Conservative Custom is. Its not, and has never been in my vocabulary. I do know that a car with Zero Modifications is ... Stock. Told you it was "Silly"

Here's another nice mild custom to get us back on track.

 

Agreed. With the comparatively smaller local car shows I entered "back in the day" my car would be moved back and forth from conservative to mild and back again - often I believe, solely based on the number of entrants in the various categories. All the better to spread the gold around and have entrants back again (and happy?). The "rules" were very fluid around here, but there should never be mistaking a custom, mild or otherwise, from that of a nice stocker..
-Dave