Anyone know of any good books that focus on kustoms of the '50s? i'm looking for ideas on what kind of paint jobs they did back then along with interior ideas as well. i have the Barris book, but quite a bit of photos are black and white. any other suggestions? thanks a lot.
There are tons of great books/references out there that cover custom cars of the '50s. But if I could only own/recommend one book on customs, it would be "The American Custom Car" by Pat Ganahl. The book covers more than just the 50's-era. But since that's what you're interested in, you will dig reading about painting styles of Joe Bailon, Larry Watson, and Gene Winfield (in addition to the Barris Brothers). There's also plenty of interior shots to give you ideas. Some great color pictures accompany Ganahl's excellent writing. Enjoy! -murph
Another good one is " Cl***ic Customs and Lead Sleds" by Bo Bertilsson. Has the likes of..Gene Windfiled, Larry Watson, John D'Agostino, Rick Dore, Jimmie Vaughan, Richard Zocchi, customs in primer, shows and cuutom clubs...128 pages. You will like it...H
If you are only going for one book; buy Pat Ganahls book. Its the best. Also you might want to find the vol.4 of the Barris tech books, if paintjobs is the issue here. Huge difference between the early and the late fifties as you might know..
Andy Southard has several books out and they are all great. Once you get the first one, you'll want them all. They are called Custom Cars of the 50's, Hot Rods of the 50's, Hot Rod and Custom Cars of the 60's. He even has a set of VHS tapes from the Car Shows that are unbeliviable. Great stuff. He also chronicaled the Oakland Roadster Show from the 50's tto present day. All of his **** is good.
Ganahl's book is one of the best to learn the whole custom story -- it'll also show what paintjobs came with what era in customs. AND best of all -- Motorbooks has it marked WAY down on their website now. It's a 40 dollar book that you can get for 13 bucks or something stupid like that. www.motorbooks.com to find it. later, Steve.
thanks a lot for the input guys. i appreciate it. Skate Fink, any ideas on where i can find that book? thanks again. i'll have to make a trek out to the book store now.
Hey 133, you can find the Taschen book at http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/popculture/new/facts/03289.htm I also highly recommend Andy Southard's books; they have a lot of great pics and info about the changing car scene from the '50s to the '70s.
Pat Ganahl´s book is the best and the four volumes of the Barris books are a must as well, the same goes with Andys books. The other Barris books, The big book of Barris, Barris Kustoms of the 1950´s and Barris Kustoms of the 1960´s... buy them as weel! Bo Bertilsson´s book is OK when it comes to the photos, but a lot of details in the text are less correct.
I have a copy of Grease Machines, it came out in the early '80s I believe. A lot of the pics in the Icon book are from that old book. Tons of pics of Larry Watson. I bought my copy of Grease Machines from a discount bookseller for $2 or something. I lost the cover though. It's a tough book to find now though. Customs, my first automotive love, it's still true today.
Nads beat me to it! Grease Machines was put out by Consumer's Guide in 1979. It's basically a compilation of photos from Petersen magazines of the '50's. My Dad bought me this book after I fell in love with the movie Grease! Another good book, if you can find it, is Dan Post's Blue Book of Custom Restyling. It was first published in the late 40's then re-released in the mid 50's.
If your also looking for a very kool mag that only covers trad. Kustoms, check out Kustoms Illustrated by Luke Karosi. Lukes a great guy and puts out a *****in small size quarterly on traditonal lead sleds. You can find out more at www.kustomsillustrated.com , I hope this helps..........love those kustoms!!
the big book of barris is the most inspiring book.... those liitle car craft mags from the 50's/early 60's are good too. you can get 'em at swap or ebay....
[ QUOTE ] If your also looking for a very kool mag that only covers trad. Kustoms, check out Kustoms Illustrated by Luke Karosi. Lukes a great guy and puts out a *****in small size quarterly on traditonal lead sleds. You can find out more at www.kustomsillustrated.com , I hope this helps..........love those kustoms!! [/ QUOTE ] The latest issue is in my hands rite now...looks awesome...thanx Luke. R-
i just ordered a whole bunch of stuff. i ordered the new Kustoms Illustrated and Rolls & Pleats magazines, "Hot Rods & Customs of the 1950s", "Hot Rods and Customs of the 1960s"..which i just got today, and "Hot Rods & Custom Cars" by Coco. I already bought the Pat Ganahl and "Cl***ic Customs and Lead Sleds". Both of those are good reads. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions.
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