Explain to me why people put flames on a custom, they ruin the lines and I always believed that they were for Hot Rods. I went to Santa Maria this year for the first time and saw some beautiful paint jobs, shading, lace, flaking,candies, Then they throw some stupid looking flames on it. I'm old explain it to me lol
flames i believe started their trek to stardom FIRST.I have had two sets of flames. That was enough for me. I think we just grow out of this trend aayy bob least i did
You want me to explain personal taste to you? We will be here awhile. I do like the shoebox Badbob has posted pics of; the with the gold flames on it. For some rides it just works. Usually, I'm not a fan of them on most hotrods though.
Fun fact for the day - I believe Skip-it was the first car with flames in the late 30's. Hand built car by his dad to race at the dry lakes.
Flames,,if done correctly look good on everything,,hot rods,customs and they would probably even look good on a dump truck but flames are like louvers,whitewalls and red wheels everybody doesn't like them. All the above mentioned modifications are nothing if not traditional. One quick look at Bad Bobs Merc and the proof of why flames look so good on a custom should answer your question. HRP
If you gotta ask then you weren't born into it like I was. Flames are life. As many south of the border flame jobs as there are in my part of the world, So. Texas, you have to be stone cold (hot) in love with them to even drive down the road among the copy catters. I've had flames on most of the cars I've owned, new, old, custom, hot rod and few junkers. Plus I get paid real good money to do them. I've done flames since I was a kid on everything from love letters to boats, I'll be damned if I'm going to let a "trend" change my thinking about flames. Oh, and if they aren't done right, well the whole idea of flames is lost. Whatever blows up your bubble is how you should view the idea of flames on anything.
There is some historical precedent for them. Barris/Von Dutch, Jeffries, and George Cerny all had flamed customs during the '50s. Personally, I think they clash with the whole custom aesthetic.
Flamed cars have been around since forever, it seems. I never saw a flamed rod or custom, that I didn't like. I kind of envy the skill it takes, to do it right. 4TTRUK
I think flames on a hot rod or custom is fine, I think if it's flamed then it needs the "get up and go" to back it up! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I think of a whole car covered in flames as being kind of a ginchy '50s thing. Probably just my personal perception. But I don't remember seeing them on any early-style customs by Bertolucci, Westergard, etc. I believe the original intention of removing most of the trim was to let the lines and curves of the body speak for themselves...as early-style customs did. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, but when you add flames, it seems to defeat that purpose. And I think the original intention of adding flames to a car, was to give the impression of a very hot engine...as they did on WW2 war planes. So to put them over the entire body...starting at the very front of the car...also seems to defeat that purpose. But, I guess if a little is good then more has to be better. And as mentioned, it's definitely a personal preference. <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
You're right, and they weren't on early customs by Barris, Ayala, Cerny, Valley, etc. Custom painters in the vein of Von Dutch, Jeffries, Roth, and Watson began to show up around '54 or later, and their more elaborate work (flames, scallops, panel painting) was mostly used on cars with minimal body work -- not radical customs. A chopped Merc with flames is really a hybrid of styles -- body work in the style of the early '50s with paint that came in after the radical customs had left the scene.
Its simple really. If the owner likes it why should he give a rats what you think? Flames, scallops, color are all very personal.
Yeah the aesthetic was streamlined styling, de-chroming, at least for earlier genres. Bobs car is great but the flames are not 50's in terms of design. Like it just the same. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Your right firing order, it is all about personal taste and what I think doesn't matter but I just wanted to hear the reasons !
To he'll with why or why not, I'd like to see a thread that covers the evolution of use of flames on cars and what styles were used in what era.
If my memory serves me right, (I'm old) the first time I saw a full car flame job, front to back was on a sled . And being a go fast hotrodder, I didn't like it. Taste has changed over the years, now I like dark chocolate, coffee and customs, but I always liked FLAMES. Some people like red cars, some like other flavors makes the whole car world a little more tasty.
If I recall correctly, Flames (and scallops) were often employed to "fix" bad spots in a paint job (runs, etc) as well as when trim or emblems were removed. Either way, they can look incredible or incredibly bad. Hard to beat a beautiful flame job on a car
What I have observed is that there are some killer body mods out there and when you paint Flames or some other crazy paint job you are detracting from the hard and artistic work you have done!
I've seen more than one car or truck over the past 50+ years that had a solid color paint job for a while and showed up with flames or scallops that were used to cover up some repaired damage. I'll agree with the original poster's comment that many missed is why the flames over metal flake or other finishes that they really don't work with on customs. I've seen several otherwise nice customs that had what appeared to be fantastic paint jobs before the flames were put on as a second thought.
I agree with you Hemi j, flames and pinstriping are way overdone today.. I like some of it on hot rods but still way overdone...
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