Retro-Future Meets Kustom Meets Robot

I figured I’d post a view of the new tee’s I designed for Max over at Bio Kustumz (motto: “We Suck Less”)…

Max had requested something robotic, with an early-1950′s Cadillac, and machinery. I rolled with that, and came up with the artwork above, incorporating a robot customizer putting the finishing touches on his custom Caddy, while his sidekick offers up some potential ornamentation. Sadly for him, the little pooch is being waved-off on the fuzzy dice. I threw in some mixes of retro-future and fictional machinery, along with a ton of killer little details.

The shirts will be hitting soon, and this is the first in a planned series of “artist tees”, and will feature some big names like Max Grundy, Dwayne Vance, myself and others! …so get to Bio Kustumz’ site and snag a few!

... and hey-- if I may be of service to design YOUR next killer te, hit me up on my site at ProblemChildKustoms.com. Thanks!

Some whipped cream and salsa

Salsa?!

I like looking at things from a decidedly different angle, and am often inspired to seek out the inspiration behind a trend, or a particular style... I'm a fan of mixing and matching themes, styles, whatever...and an even bigger fan of just having fun with whatever I'm doing, and often seek out things that reflect this attitude. Whether in friends, books, movies, or music. Occasionally, this leads me to seek out stuff that's a bit off the beaten path. Such was the case here in the studio once again.

Anyway, I got to thinking, of all things, about Herb Alpert (not Marv Albert. That'd be weird.), and gave a listen to "Whipped Cream and Other Delights"... A far cry from what I was listening to a week ago, to say the least.... and by far much stranger cover art (if not quite risque', considering its 1965 release date):

Granted, this album was released before my time, but man... how cool were these cats? If you're not familiar with the Tijuana Brass, here's a quick history lesson:

Herb Alpert was a trumpet player who developed a unique sound that was a mix of south-of-the-border, mariachi and distinctly lounge-y sounds, probably best described as "Ameriachi" (as I learned from a few sources). If you're really lost here, think of the theme from the TV show The Dating Game, called "Spanish Flea", which was a Herb Alpert/Tijuana Brass tune, and you'll have an idea... or their version of "The Lonely Bull".

Anyway, the 'Brass cranked out a few albums in the '60's (even a cool Christmas album! Find a copy, and mambo your way through a Christmas Wonderland...)until Alpert called it quits, and took his (and business partner Jerry Moss') record label A&M, and signed some heavy talent, releasing a few albums of his own along the way (out-selling Michael Jackson in the late-'70's! Says a lot for that era, I guess), before selling the company to PolyGram in the late 1980's.

So what's this got to do with cars? Think traditional lowriders. Bellflower custom style(named after the city in LA county where the look spawned). A mix of the lowrider and custom car, and you'll see where I'm headed.

Consider Watson's Caddy:

It is the embodiment of the Bellflower look... the low stance, simple (if often ANY) body mod's, the bold, yet somehow understated paint technique (much like his T-Bird that came before), and those killer pipes. The East LA style, mixing elements from two cultures (like the Tijuana Brass did!), and coming out the other end with a clean, cool style. It's all about class, luxury, and style. Just like a lowrider, but with custom roots.

Lowriders embodied Mexican tradition. Crusing in a decked-out ride to impress the ladies, and show off your skills was more than just about the cars. Cruising may be traced back to the "paseo", where singles would walk around in the central plaza of the village, basically checking one another out. The idea here was to impress. Put these kids in cars, and it sure looks a lot like cruising... Which brings us forward a few years to the end of the second world war. Hot rodding was booming as young men returned from military service, eager to make creative use of their new mechanical skills. On the other end of the spectrum, the Mexican immigrants were making their cars look luxurious. It was style over speed... lowered stance, different hubcaps, an accessories like spotlights, skirts, pipes... many items shared in traditional customizing.

Fast-forward a few more years, and combine this look with the growing custom scene, and well, you got some clean, mild cars that made the most of the new styling coming from the factory... Apply it to a luxury car, and you're well on your way to a crossover look beyond compare. Imagine in late 1957 (coincidentally, the same year Bellflower was incorporated as a city), a young Larry Watson crusing into the Clock Drive-In in his panel-painted T-Bird...

I have a soft spot for this look... A couple years back, I sketched up a modern take on the look, combining it with the pro-touring look -- note pinstripe whitewalls on a 5-spoke as a nod to the classsic "Supremes and pinners" look (OK, and a mild chop, extended quarters, relocated and shortened trim...):

The idea behind the Bellflower look is clean lines, cool, vibrant and rich colors mixed with just enough chrome to keep your eyes happy...Make use of some 'flake or pearl, some striping... In other words, think mild custom, but dressed a notch higher. It's a fun style, to be sure, much like Herb's band of session musicians belting out "Ameriachi" cover versions. Take one thing, and spice it up with another influence, and man, you can't help but feel the vibe, and nod your head approvingly as you smile.

And that's how my mind works: From whipped cream to salsa, stopping in between for some quick history, and leaving you to consider mixing up some styles on your project... More hot rod and custom car design talk as always at www.problemchildkustoms.com

Excessive...

...to excessively clean...

As I mentioned in the last entry, I was digging through some photos, looking for some shots to help illustrate a point in a future blog entry, and, well, the future is now, I guess..."Where are we going today?" you ask... Back to the 1980's! Woo-hoo!

I got to thinking about some cars that made a serious impression on me in my youth, more specifically, cars built in the '80's. Even MORE specifically, cars that defined opposite ends of the spectrum, be they in style, outlandishness, subtlety, whatever. Narrowing it further, the two cars needed to have something in common, beyond their build decade. Bear in mind, the '80's were a decade of HUGE influence on modern hot rodding. The garish show queens that pro-street became ushered in the rebellion we now call pro-touring. Clean street rods led to billet-encrusted trailer rods, and the to the rebellion that spawned a renewed interest in traditional hot rods (which, sadly, bred the "rat rod" whatever-the-hell-it-is hellspawn in the '90's... Ask me sometime how I feel about THAT.). A re-birth of customs, kustoms, and kustom culture. Aside from that whole Huey Lewis deal, not a bad decade.

I narrowed it to the undisputed king of pro-street excess, that yellow and candy-color graphics doused, hyperbole on wheels, Rick Dobbertin's J-2000, and Billy Gibbons' oh-so-sweet, I-could-just-eat-this-thing-up Cadzzilla. As a certain yellow-hued guy might say, "Mmmmmm..... purple."
To say that each car impacted the future of our hobby/industry would be an understatement. And that little Pontiac was anything BUT understated. It was designed to BE excess. One blower is good? Two is better. And make 'em siamesed. Add a pair of turbos, too, why not? The whole car, from the incredible, fully-polished chasssis, to the plated or polished damn-near-everything was detail to the extreme... 

A flip front was trick, and, well, a flip-up body just had to be better, right? And how about that rear suspension, huh? Right on.... THERE WAS NONE! No room for pedestrian items like suspension out back... this thing needeed HUGE meats to complete the look.

It's everything that was "right" with the show car scene at the time, and a glaring example of what was seen as "wrong" with the pro-street movement. You have to admit, though, the car had amazing fabrication work, and a fit and finish that was unheard of before, and in some cases, since.

On the custom side of things, in my opinion, anyway, there is nothing sweeter than Larry Erickson's design opus, Cadzzilla... Take a moment, and drift back to that Hot Rod Magazine fold-out poster you no-doubt hung from your wall... Man, that car turned my world upside-down. It was so radical, yet easily identified as a Cadillac... it was classic, but, well, somehow... futuristic! It was a sled, but it hinted as a dry lakes or salt flats screamer... It was part luxo-barge, part touring car, part kustom... it was an automotive tour de force! Check. All it needed was a cool owner...oh, wait, Billy Gibbons. Checkmate.

In the later part of the 1990's, I snapped a quick shot of this gorgeous ride at the Oakland Museum of California:

...resting beside the Hirohata Merc, which had the windows soaped, as the interior was unfinished... A historic gathering! (and just around the corner? The Beatnik Bandit.) 

So what's all this boil down to? Consider how these two cars influenced the hobby... Sure, they may have ushered in an era of mega-buck show cars, but at the same time, they brought with them a new age of cars-as-personalities. Two very distinct, well-known cars, built with astronomical budgets, and quality that raised the bar sky high. Do I agree with what these cars stood for? Perhaps not entirely... As entertainment, yeah... As practical examples of how to build a car? Probably not. Taken, though, as symbols of the age of excess, well, hell yeah...