My top ten: El Matador Hirahita Merc Larry Ernst Chevy Glen Hooker 40 Merc Matranga Merc Cushenbery Hawaian 59 Chev Richard Zocchi 50 Merc Golden Sahara Jerry Yatch 40 Merc Convertible Kopper Kart And that's my list
Hey, Hands down.......has to be the "Flying Wombat" a.k.a the Rust Heinz comissioned and Bomann and Schwartz built "Phantom Corair" This thing was built, and out snappin' necks, before Sam Barris knew what end of a fire wrench to light. Swankey Devils C.C.
Hey PP, Got a pic of that thing? Hirohata Merc Matranga Merc Sam Barris Merc Roth's Druid Princess Roth's Road Agent 36 3w Cole did Cadzilla...not even in my top twenty!
DISCLAIMER- Your opinion WILL vary! (And as RF let me know- I know NOTHING about kustoms so take MY opinon with a grain of salt). I wonder if that includes stock Impalas with 22-inch rims because I could care less about those Hirohata -YES! Kopper Kart- NO!!! I love those trucks and there's hardly one change on that truck that's an improvement. One of the ugliest front ends ever- and the chop aint that great and is one of the first to use a vinyl top (and the copper trim) to camoflage that everything doesn't line up to great. Sorry to kick someone elses favorite- but that one always bugs me when I see it. Great rolling advertisement- but WAYYYY too gook wagon to be considered pretty in my book.
I gotta agree with Kirk. Seeing it in person was a dream come true.... ....Cadzilla, not so much. Looks like it's got a tictac held between it's teeth with the stupid tank in the grill! The way it's set up at Petersen doesn't let you get a good look at it though, so that mightn't have been in it's favour convincing me. I pretty much stopped, took a photo and moved on.
I have to say, I did 1st see the car (cadzzilla) on it's 1st show circuit at the L.A. Roadsters-Fathers Day show (close to 20 years ago now) and I was blown away being it stood out from all the other billet roadsters and customs from that late 80's-early 90's era. KNUX!
My Favs are Buddy Alcorns Merc ( I own the original headlight rings from this car when it was built, they were replaced by Kurt McCormick restored it very cool piece of history) R&C Dream Truck Junior Conways '50 Ford Ron Dunn's Valley Custom Sectioned shoebox Ford Jack Stewarts Polynesian '50 Olds Freddy Rowe's 51 Merc Larry Watsons Grapevine Chevy and last but not least My 51 Chevy, I took everything I liked from all these cars and built my car with idea's from these cars. John
Not necessarily the best, but my favorites: Matranga Merc Buster Litton shoebox Ron Dunn shoebox Calori '36 Ralph Jilek '40 Cadzilla Ask me tomorrow, and I'll have a new bunch. If I have to include a '49-51 Merc, It's Quesnel's (or Javier's)
grapevine,moonglow, lajolle,sam barris 50 buick,too many chop 49-51 mercs to mention there are so many great customs that were done at driffrent times that to pick the best would not be possable
Hell there was an awesome 49 shoebox,kind of copper color in osr#6 that i think is bad ass but thats just my opinion.
Wow! 3 pages of opinions and I'm still waiting for a response by the Rikster and/or OOMack (Anthony) None the less, I beleive the Cadzilla would be a west coast Kustom Vs. east coast. May not be my favorite but it is one bitchin' ride. Hard to pick just one. The Trendero is way cool, as well. Plus it was built by a "Joe Lunch-bucket", not someone famous. This is definetly an east coaster. (N.J.)
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Metranga, with the Polynesian a close second. I love those clean lines. [/FONT]
How is the progress going on this one? My Fairlane was doing shows in the Midwest during the same era. MATRANGA MERC
Just to difficult and complex to pick one. I guess each car manufactory year has its favorite or call it best over all. And then you have the era the custom was created. Its difficult to compare the Jack Colori 36 Ford built in the 40s with Coles 36 Ford that was finished last year. Both can be filed in the same style category, but both are still so much different. Im up with 50Fraud. I could pick a few today, but most likely others would be added to the list the next day, or hour. However here is a list of my all time favorites... 1936 Ford 5-window coupe. Barris built Nick Matranga 1940 Mercury coupe Valley Customs Ralph Jilek 1940 Ford Westergard/Bertolucci built Buddy Ohanesian 1940 Mercury Barris built Jesse Lopez 41 Ford Loiue Bettancourt 1949 Mercury (first Barris version) Sam Barris 1950 Buick Barris built Bob Hirohata 1951 Mercury Barris built Aztec 1955 Chevy Watson built Jim Doss 1958 Chevy And this covers only the early years... there are many more favorites built in recent years.
I would have to say....... From the Past....the Matranga and for modern day......... The one that sparked the longest thread on the HAMB ever... Jesus Valencia Chevy, because they both have so much FLOW
The best part about Cadzilla is that as soon as it was finished they DROVE it all the way to Ohio (Hot Rod Supernats)
Can I say this? I don't get too excited over the Hirohata Merc. But I'd be voting for the Calori coupe, Sam's Merc, the Matranga Merc and Terry Hegman's Merc looks pretty sweetly proportioned too. Cadzilla? It's more of a custom car than a customised car to me.
The owner is a jerk and he sold his sole to the devil when he made SCRAPE in glass, but I think the Lincoln needs to be on the list somewhere...... just my opinion.
I've liked Cadzilla also, however I can't believe the car was built by Royd though. I think all of the above cars mentioned are worthy of the best title. However I think that all have a place and time to be appriceated and I for one an looking foward to the future of our hobby with the likes of OZ, Lucky7, Salinas Boys and countless others the cars coming out now are to be on my best list!
Oh, I can't believe I forgot to mention the Efije Holden. Not traditional drivetrain, but the body mods were spectacular.
The Jalopy Journal
