Kustoms vs. Lead Sleds - Define

Put chrome bumpers on it, lower the rear and you'd have what I would consider a tail dragger.

 

49-51' 2 door chopped slammed Merc only sled there is, in my opinion

 

A 49-51 Merc, Shoebox, Fleetline, all make good sled material. Hudson came out with the stepdown in 48, the first manufacturer to introduce that type of body style postwar WWII. GM, Ford, and Chrysler all followed suit in 49. So IMHO it would be that timeframe that makes a lead sled, prewar would be a taildragger type coupe, and they are both Kustoms as well.

 

The term led sled comes from men using led to reshape things. Has zero to do with tail dragger or setting level or california rake. It has everything to do with the medium you are working with. Pre Mud, lead was used for a filler.

Kustom like Kewl is just some bull stuff that modern builders use to try and show that they are "rebels". It kind of works in print but you really cannot tell how someone spells it when they are using mouth words. Then if you want everyone to think you are a rebel you probably better really be one.

Note: none of this is being said as an affront to @triman62 just information.

 

Then what's a "Kemp"?
As in KKOA?

 

I guess George Barris was trying to be a rebel in 1954.

 

Barris is famous but his crap would be about sales and nothing else. The only thing I ever heard him rebelling at was paying his bills. Try not to be offended its personal.

 

Kansas Example of Metal Punishment according to R&C. LOL

 

So I get it now.
Lead Sled is to a Custom, as Rat Rod it to a traditional Hot Rod.

Derogatory term that became mainstream. Like jaywalking (look it up)

Not trying to start a whole RR thing, but people often use the term wrong.

 

They're the same. Someone dropped a a slight slang to sound kool and it stuck. I'm with Frenchtown Flyer, where did KEMP come from. The Kansas thing seems unlikely but it's funny.

 

Ah, so it's a Hollywood script writer made up word.

 

Kustoms of America was already taken. So he added Kemp. Kustom Kemps Of America, KKOA. Sounds better than Kustom Leadsleds Of America. KLOA.

 

The way I heard the term 'lead sled' defined it was a derogatory term, but the origin was the Custom guys. As noted in the previous posts, lead was the main choice for 'finishing' any body mods as plastic filler didn't exist yet. The good shops moved metal for their mods, the lead was only used to clear up relatively small imperfections or blend seams before painting. The corner-cutting shops or many amateurs simply slathered lead on thickly instead and then sculpted it to shape. Just like what happens when you try this with plastic filler, the lead would crack and fall off sometimes, although the weight of the lead accelerated the process. So a 'lead sled' if it had a 'finished' paint job would sprout primer spots fairly quickly as the lead work failed, many never got past primer for the same reason. If the car had extensive changes, the added weight could add a couple hundred pounds or more to the car which did nothing for performance which earned the disdain of the rodders.

The Hot Rod guys are the ones that blurred the distinction between these. In their eyes they both looked the same, so all customs became 'lead sleds'....

 

Here's my response to the other thread, I still haven't found the article.
I think it may have been 1 or 2 pages, really more like an ad. I have seen it before. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/definition-of-a-kemp.400059/page-2#post-14313058

"This photo is from a magazine article Roth did on customizing HO scale plastic cars. I can't find the article or remember what it was in but I do remember him referring to them as "little kemps".


I know that in his younger days when Jerry Titus was hanging around Darryl's shop he actually went on the show tour with Darryl and Roth. That could explain where it came from..."

 

What they said is what is real. The term "Leadsled" was used as a derogatory term or slam against customs but I can't say when it got started. It wasn't until way later that it started being used in a positive manner. Probably about the time KKOA got started. I don't think you will find any references to a car being a leadsled in an article on it in a custom car magazine in the 50's or early 60's though. No matter what the body mods they were customs.

Kustom (the spelling) was coined by George Barris and became cool with the rest of us. Back then, everyone else had a custom car. Barris had a Kustom shop, everybody else had Custom shops.

Being almost an old fart at 76 and having graduated from high school, in 1963 and still having some surviving custom car books that go back to the late 50's what was no doubt intended to be derogatory by hot rodders or guys driving new performance cars is now cool when you refer to them. Meaning that if you want to be 50's period correct leadsled is not a good term unless you are driving a hot rod instead of a custom.