Customs If you could pick one car that epitomizes 'Custom' what would it be?

That was my first thought too - and I even turned some wrenches during the building of Cadzilla!

I also don't get some of the choices - the thread is the car the Epitomizes Customs, and some are obscure, plain, or just ugly. The question isn't show your custom or any old car you like! LOL SMH
Maybe some don't know the definition of Epitomizes, but then the same thing, only worse, is happening in the Hot Rod and Truck threads too

 

Any 49' - 51' Merc. That said, it was CadZZilla that started me down the kuston road.

 

A lot of folks love this car. I always thought it was pretty ugly. Now, mind you I am no custom aficionado.......

 

O k I am an idiot. What does Epitomize mean.

 

^^^ It means when you want others to pity you because it ain't yours("mize")!!!!


Maybe not.

 

Definition of epitomize
epitomized
;
epitomizing

1. transitive verb
2. 1: to make or give an epitome of
   
   
3. 2: to serve as the typical or ideal example of
   

 

e·pit·o·mize
əˈpidəˌmīz/
verb

1. 1.
   be a perfect example of.

 

I saw hirohata and cadzilla last month, they are on display at the Peterson. Great cars.

 

I`m still not changing my pic. We are not talking about the most famous, or the most well known. We are talking about the perfect example of what a true custom looks like. The car I picked has all the custom tricks. And is not overly done. I have had people ask me what a custom is. I show them the Chevy and explain what changes have been done. They understand and like the car. I then go on to compare it to other customs and how they have evolved threw time. Different people have different tastes on what a custom looks like depending on what they have seen and the time period they discovered customs.

 

I've also really been digging the Inman Chrysler. Defiantly my favorite right now.

 

ha. my #1 and #2 were the #1 and #2 posts. Moonglow cropped up a little further down probably #3. does that make my tastes common?


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I agree with stanlow. The reason I picked Sonny's car is that it has the custom elements, there isn't a panel that hasn't been modified. Although it is heavily modified, I don't think it is garish or extreme. Most people wouldn't know what it started out as. And that's why I think it makes "a perfect example".

 

I'll play devils advocate....

The Hirohata Merc certainly is in the running, and may be the best of the '49-51 Mercs, but is it really the 'best' of ALL customs? By '59 it was just a forgotten $500 used car owned by a high-school kid. And while it's famous again now, it's clones, 'tributes', and innumerable variations-on-a-theme Mercs have IMO somewhat diluted it's importance; that's being demonstrated by the fact that some of the 'other' cars are being put forward. How many outside the hobby would recognize it as a landmark car today if it were in a sea of Mercs and you asked people to choose?

There's a few other cars that should come up...

The Barris 'Golden Sahara'. Arguably the most famous of the '50s customs, featured on national TV more than once, and shown in general-circulation magazines besides the hobby mags. No other car from this era can make that claim that I'm aware of. And it would never be mistaken for a stock Detroit offering by anybody.

Another Barris offering; the 'Ala Kart'. Unique, unmistakable styling and there's no doubt that it's a custom, and won the AMBR twice. Plus it's a rarely-done-in-the-50s pre-war body style; the majority of customs at this point are post-war cars.

How about some non-Barris cars? Winfield's' 'Jade Idol' is IMHO one of the best if not THE best full custom to have 'purity of form'. It's all about the sleek styling, there's almost no extra 'stuff' on this car needed to set it apart unlike many of it's contemporaries.

One that's been mentioned is Cushenberry's 'Matador'. My personal favorite and choice, IMO this car was the most successful of the full-custom pre-war cars in terms of concept and execution. Love it or hate it, it won't be mistaken for any other car and has the same impact today as it had when newly built.

There's a few that at least deserve honorable mention; Roth's 'Beatnic Bandit' for one (the car as sculpture/art), or the Valley Custom 'Polynesian' and Ron Dunn sectioned Ford.

It would be fun the assemble the above cars in one place and then ask a 'general' audience to pick the 'best' from among them.... You probably won't get the answer you want... LOL...

 

To me Buster Litton's 1949 Ford comes to mind.

 

I suppose it's appropriate that I honor a designer's memory so shortly after his death. Ever since I saw it in a magazine many years back, Richard Zocchi's 1956 Lincoln Premier has stood out in my mind as the epitome of customs.

It's not the first, and not the last, but for me, it captures the essence of the concept.



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