Customs - bigger than ever?

I appreciate all facets of the hobby. I really appreciate the amount of metalwork it takes to make a car look right. I have just barely begun on the Fleetline and it really frustrates me sometimes....just trying to visualize the big picture or the finished product. Hot rods come easy to me....customs are laborous .Is that a real word?

 

I'm absolutely blown away by the customs in other countries, especially japan and the netherlands/sweden areas... they look right on the money from what i've seen in the old magazines, and they are absolutely fearless with the saw.

Here in the US, it seems like people are more afraid than ever to cut into a car, even though they are relatively plentiful compared to other countries. It's kinda how you see a picture of a custom 50's vette and laugh at how they're too rare to customize now. I think we kinda fallen into that mindset.. that some mid-50's GM car is too rare to cut up and modify.

Also, to be honest, it's a lot of damned hard work too, and you gotta be a good welder to get it done. It seems like it's easier to build a low-buck trad rod than a finished custom, I think that's why they're more popular.

 

Root, stick with it I started with this.

 

Glen, your ride is all Custom to me.

If everyone were to check out the link to 50chevy's pics from the Oakland Roadster show in San Fran in another post here, you'll see Customs are alive and well in that area.

Great pics!


Joel

 

One more for the Gipper!

 

I am building a Kustom over here in Northern Ireland ,and in the whole of Ireland there would be more rods.For me it is easier to build a Kustom (I am a body man) I always thought building a rod would be the hard one, more machine work and wenching.. I love doing the chevy its like a blank sheet of paper .It is hard work ,but everytime you finish a peice it's nice to stand back and look at your work . I guess its like a artist when he paints .. same feeling.

 

I'm right with you on that one Cookie and of course with the governments new legislation, no more registering Rods as MGB roadsters and the like gonna be more Customs built in the UK

 

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....more machine work and wenching..

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There's your problem v8minor...cut down on the girl chasing and you'll get more done.

Well, since starting this post, I paid a visit to the Rod & Custom show in San Francisco this past weekend and whether or not there are more or less customs happening than in previous years, there's still one hellava LOT of them!

 

trust the Irish..

 

I first got interested in cars as a lad in the fifties. My dad and uncles all had cars they did little stuff on, making them their own. They took me to the drag races at the airport, the oval tracks, car shows, even a few bars with rods and customs parked out front. I was a model-building nut, built everything from rails to full customs, and everything Roth ever came out with. I cut, changed, and rebuilt bicyles until I was old enough to drive, then a series of '56 Fords, a '55 Merc, a '57 Plymouth, and a bunch more. Then I started on choppers, then V6 trikes with hand-built fibergl*** bodies. The upshot of all this is that I am now building a project that, in most people's eyes, will be a hot rod. But I also plan on some custom touches, like shaved trim, sunken antenna and frenched in rear plate. I've never been one to pigeonhole myself, and don't much care what everyone else thinks, so it won't be strictly a rod or a custom, just my car.