Kustoms of America, with a "K"......started in 1949.... Many of the cars in this thread wore such a plaque..... So Kustom with a "K" is also period Korrect.....
And guys say cars were never chopped as much back then as they are now..... But that last one is whacked HARD! It rules......
Rikster, Pretty close, I don't remember spots, parking lights, and his bumpers were clean, and had no grille guard. The thing I really was struck by was that this guy took it off where the norm here at that time was to go to Otasco and buy something to put on your ride. It was a very Kool experience, couldn't convince my parents that was what I needed. Forgot to mention, Kansas was always six to eight months behind California.
This thread has soooo much info that I will be using on this project that I am working on right now. http://jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300942
Any one have pictures of Frank Maratta's Pink Beast out of Hartford Ct.? 1940 Merc drop top made in to a coupe.
Not a 40's custom at all... I once tried to upload some photos of the Pink Beast to my website, but my upload software reported a fatal error... "to UGLY" "please try a better looking custom"
damn i dont know how i missed this thread! i love this era of custom cars. when i did shelley's 41 plymouth this era was definitely a big influence in the style.
Hey Rikster, I'm planning and collecting parts to build a 40's style 41 Willys taildragger but have been stuck on what caps to run, what are these caps and would they be 15s or 16s? I'm also stuck on whether to run 15" or 16" inch rims, when did 15" rims start being commonly used? Cheers Gotzy
Designer Harry Bradley once said that there is a certain angle that "explains" every car. I've never seen a '41 Plymouth from overhead like this. What a great shot; the car is just so voluptuous!
My favorite grille of the forties was the Packard Clipper - long and elegant, though conservative. Never saw it applied to a Plymouth. So I tried digital reimaging: added a Clipper grille while retaining a reduced size Plymouth grille for identity.
Now that is nice, stock appearing ride height (maybe lowered a touch in the back) , chopped windshield, smooth bullnose, desoto bumper...nice and clean
This thread is in the top 5 for sure.. theres a bunch of cool ones on Kustomrama site as well http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Custom_Cars_Trend_Book_No._101 Dick Fowler '38 Coupe Gil Ayala's 40 Merc.
The Barris built Dick Fowler Coupe is sure one of my all time favorites. And the good thing is it survived. I has been modified a bit since these photos where taken in the late 40's. Has molded rear fenders and a few other things. But it is in rather good condition... and is on the waiting list to be restored. Unfortunately not many photos of this car has been saved.. or at least not been shown to the public. Here is one of them as used in one of the Dan Post books. And the same pic as you used.. but a bit larger for everybody to look how nice this car is. Makes you wonder why there are not many more cars built in this style today. The photo was taken in front of the Barris Compton Ave. shop.
G'day Rik, I like that front end treatment. Do you have a pic of Fowler Coupe now? Do you know if anything has happened with the Summers built '36 that's sitting in the field in Ohio?
Yes I do have a few photos of the Fowler coupe how it is sitting in a garage a few years back. But I'm not allowed to show them. It looks very good though. No news on the Summers '36 Ford. I hope the article in the recent Good-Guys magazine will stir things up a bit. And hopefully some new information will come out.
Rik, I just made the connection that Art & Jerry/Olive Hill Garage is the same shop that built Pete Brock's '46 convert. Obviously they were acknowledged in early magazines, and I had never paid attention to the names. Are you aware of other stuff that they did?
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