Cover Car!

Thought I'd throw a hefty congrats to our build team on Resilience, as the mighty Buick grabbed a cover spot on the May 2010 World of Rods Magazine!

 How cool is THIS?! Way back when World of Rods was just a glimmer in the eye of its publisher, we were one of the first to advertise in the book, and it's certainly been through some changes, growing into a very serious book, covering all aspects of the hobby, and even beginning to fill the Custom Rodder gap in some ways, thanks to the efforts of Courtney Hallowell.

This issue, Resilience grabs the cover (with a pair of Circle City hot rods and local boy Craig Smith's Liberace Roadster!), and we're just stoked about the article and David Featherston's killer photography! Huge congrats to our build team of Tim and Carrie Strange, Shawn Ray, David Neal, and, of course, our great friends and prolific car owners, Erik and Paul Hansen!

Viva la Resilience...

More, as always, on my site 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... 

Surf Cube Concept

After the last post, I got to work, and completed one of the concept sketches...


Naturally, I began sketching ideas for these Cube's as soon as I laid eyes on them, and the above idea kept knocking on my brain... It just HAD to be drawn first!

The "Surfite" of one Ed Roth has always ranked as a top ten custom car in my book, not only because it's so damn original, but it's also surf-oriented, and as you know, I love me some surf ANYTHING. And man... the little Cube not only calls out for a "lifestyle vehicle" treatment, but as a surf wagon??! Oh YES! Taking cues from Mr. Roth's lilliputian land rover, I plugged in classic hot rod and So-Cal VW styling cues, and attempted to honor the master "hisself" (as he'd say) with a modern take on the little Surfite. Pop-out side glass? Check. Asymmetrical tail light treatment? Check. Aggressive stance? Checkity-check. Custom trim and mild re-work all over? Double checkity-check. Take a very unusual car and make it even more personal/unique? Check, check, checkity-check check! It's useful, like the swing-out rear glass and flip-up side windows, to the small step built into the rear fascia, and, well... it just looks COOL.

I dig it, and hope you do, too... And if so, holler at me, and I'll continue finishing what I've started in the sketch book, and show off an entire series, perhaps.

An a-MAZE-ing follow-up!

…and how killer is this??! A while back, I had written a bit about one of the more influential custom cars in my past, Mr. Jerry DeVito’s ‘57 Ford, aptly named “The Maze”. I had reported what I found through research on the car, and was left with a few lingering questions about the car… so I did what was natural, and asked for help finding those answers.

I was fortunate to not only find those answers, but got them FROM THE MAN HIMSELF! Mr. DeVito took time from his day to chat for a while, and I walked away from that great conversation with not only some fantastic insight, but a great new friend. I’ll report more on this soon, but wanted to share my excitement over meeting the man who created a car that left an impression on me as a car-struck kid, and one that always creeps into my imagination as I draw and design.

Suffice to say, there are a few facts that need ironing out from the first posts on this car (as I said, the research materials were limited), and we’ll do just that in subsequent posts… But to answer that nagging question about the split bumper treatment, they were ‘57 Pontiac units, and the change was made in the first year (after the peaks and scoops). Jerry’s inspiration was to always keep the car fresh, making changes after each show, always remaining at the of of his game…

We’ll trace the car’s history in the near future, from delivery at San Jose Ford in ‘57, through to its sale, and subsequent loss. Thanks for the interest, and especially to Mr. DeVito… wow…

The Way to San Jose...

…apparently involved a maze.

Well, THE Maze, actually.
Recently, a conversation with a client (debating the merits of a few avenues we could travel with his ‘57 Ford) turned to one of my all-time favorite late-50’s customs, Jerry Devito’s “The Maze”.

The car is a great example of restyling at the time, employing seven scoops of Grande Brothers bodywork (not to mention shaved trim and handles, extended peaks over the tunneled head and tail lights) all covered in a green/gold, and finally, a topping of scallops in seven colors by Bob Hendricks. Outrageous? Certainly… Are we going to duplicate the car? Unlikely… but there are aspects of this car that are so “right”, it’s scary, and will make the final cut. (however, if anyone is up to creating a similar, maybe even a tribute car…. I’m ready for you!)

Dig on the stance for a bit… It’s awesome. The right amount of sidewall on the tires, the chrome reverse wheels are incredible, and the lack of a rear hubcap hints at performance potential. Devito’s ride utilized the original engine, with the addition of an Offy three deuce intake, Isky cam, and the ever-popular Magspark ignition — we may go likewise! Interesting to note is that the car had some chrome engine dress-up parts… This was the era when such underhood detail began to gain ground… As the cars became lower and more “custom” in appearance from the factory, the emphasis on body modifications (current example exempted!) began to wane, and it was in vogue to simply drop the ride height, and go wild on paint. Consider that this same car, if built a couple of years later, may have worn thin whitewalls (Royal Masters, perhaps?), no lakes pipes, and the body restyling would have been decidedly different… ‘59 was the tail end of wide whitewalls, and the beginning of a steady decline of the “golden age” of customs.

In any event, I thought it would be cool to share this car, as it had a profound effect on me so many years ago when I first saw it, thumbing through some “little pages” at a family friend’s shop (imagine a kid in the ’80’s discovering this car in his VERY early teens… “impressionable” begins to describe it!). Later in life, I’d stumble across a piece of art by VonFranco featuring this car. Wild! While I’m certain many folks knew of the car, it was awesome to see it immortalized by a modern master in that way.

Odd fact: The car appeared in print wearing the stock front bumper on at least one occasion (as seen here):

and then later in print, with an odd split bumper and molded pan…

Anyone know when this happened? If so, drop me a line! (www.problemchildkustoms.com)

There you have it… a quick trip through the maze, complete with some cool eye candy as your reward…