Period correct pre-50, what are the must haves on an early custom? In my mind it starts with the following: skirts, rear low but front hanging higher maybe just a bit under stock, unique bumpers like 37 desoto, shaved, decked, Carson top or chopped padded folding top…..what else
Predominately white upholstery, color accented to the body color, louvers, Appleton spotlights... wide whitewalls... SHINY paint, SHINY chrome.... bumpers tucked close to the body, continental spare in a body color cover, never out in the open.
My plan isn’t necessarily pre-50 (more like 53 since that is what year the engine is) but lines up with much of what has been mentioned. Tail dragger stance, chopped, shaved, decked, skirts, most likely white interior with accents toward body color, maybe spotlights (still undecided on this one), wide white bias tires, period correct engine (331 Caddy in my case), and a solid color paint that would have been correct for the era.
Hey, it's not a recipe for Beef Wellington, you can leave off or add in the stuff that fits your concept. A rear mounted spare helps break up the line on some cars that look too long in the tail. Gotta be snug up to the body, though. Not an air brake for a 747.
Must haves pre 50? No metallic paint Restored stock chassis using old lowering methods. Drum brakes, original suspension with mods like spring spacers, de-arched or reversed eye springs, stretched axle, flattened x member, zd, channeled …….. Old engines and trans. Flathead in a ford, straight 6 in a Chevy ………. Old style interior materials and old style stitching.
I think the best approach is to figure how to attain an overall "look" and then select whichever components will compliment that look. Not all items are "must haves" for all cars. It varies with the vehicle you want to customize and how you assemble those items to compliment one another. I've seen some mild customs that had very few things done and yet looked great.
Exactly this. If I wanted to copy another car, I would just do that and not ask this question because then I'd have the recipe already.... I started this to strike up a conversation on the era correctness of early customs. I think there are areas such as louvers that sometimes point more towards a hot rod than a custom, but that's just my opinion and unsure if that's true to back in the day.
go to https://www.customcarchronicle.com/ and start studying? Also pick an era, all eras and regions have different taste/ taste levels. Thus the Continental kit. A lot of pics of the early stuff is in B&W so interiors might be lighter colors. No necessarily white, so lie off white, tan, like colors. with contrast.
^^^ that might be the bitterest pill we've had to take! It took time and imagination to develop style that stayed.... and some fellas tried everything before it "stuck"....
Metallic paint was definitely being used before the 1950's. Both the Ayala and Barris and I am sure others were mixing gold powder into their paint which created metallic paints. It may not have been available commercially but it was definitely being used.
Wide whites and hubcaps. Dual exhaust? No spots for me. Yup white tuck and roll? upholstery. No one mentioned fringe balls. Not sure about scallops or pinstripes- I was born in 1962.
This , and if I find them Appleton spot lights , better mirrors and a hood full of louvres would get me a bit happier . I’m on the fence with the bumper over riders and @lothiandon1940 I got one fog light that’s going on the week end
Don't forget the decals of half naked dream girls...stuck on the wing windows.... RED painted reversed rims... glass packs/steel packs mufflers (or none at all) Wiggly hula girl on the dash....nodding dog in the rear window. Lake pipes that almost drag the ground.....curb feelers....? 6sally6
All it took to " stick" was the right journalist(s) to heap on the praise get the pics in print , so they could tell folks what was kool , that way the folks who had the best chance of profiting would sponsor the mags.
Oh no, post 25 is taking us straight to the JCW catalogue. I thought the subject was pre 1950 customs, not gook wagons.
Just look at that beauty sitting there surrounded by all those OT grocery getters. Shines like a diamond in a goat's ass
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