1950s

Terry Sweem's 1925 Ford Model T Roadster Pickup was built in the late 1950s.

Louis Banto and Jack Perre's 1927 Ford Model T Roadster of Los Angeles, California was completed around 1951/1952.

Louis Banto and Sal Macchia's 1927 Ford Model T Roadster of Los Angeles, California was completed around 1949/1950.

Paul Sylva's 1927 Ford Model T Roadster was first completed in 1952. This version was later painted and pinstriped by Von Dutch in 1955.

Carl Fleischmann's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster of Glendale, California was completed in 1953. The build took six years.

Jerry Woodward's 1929 Ford Model-A Roadster, "Thunder Road", of Utah was completed in 1957. The car was pinstriped by Tommy the Greek and it featured a mural on the glove box by Dean Jeffries. Jerry won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award with the car at the 1957 National Roadster Show in Oakland.

Joe Brienza's 1929 Ford Model A Coupe of West Islip, New York was built in 1954.

Richard Peters' 1929 Ford Model A Pickup, The Ala Kart, won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the 1958 National Roadster Show in Oakland.

The Outlaw was Ed Roth's first experience with fiberglass. The build was started in 1957, and it made it's debut two years later as the Excaliber at the 1959 Disneyland Car Club Day and Autocade.

Dick Dean's 1931 Ford Model A Victoria

Al and Dave Tarkanyi's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe. Al and Dave were members of the Downriver Modified car club of Michigan.

Bert Mouron's 1932 Ford Roadster of San Marino, California. Bert bought and rebuilt Mac Schutt's 1932 Ford Roadster around 1951. Bert's version took two years to build, and the build was completed in 1953.

Conrad W. Jacobs' 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe of Baltimore, Maryland was built around 1956-1958.

Danny Schwartz' 1932 Ford 5-Window coupe, of Campbell, California, as it appeared in 1959.

Gordy Kordowsky's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe as it appeared in 1958. Gordy was from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Howard Leever & Fred Esser's 1932 Ford was completed around 1953.

Jack Schleich's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe of Oceanside, New York was first built in 1957. This is how it appeared in 1958.

Lew Wolff's 1932 Ford Roadster was built by Downriver Modified member Lew Wolff in the mid to late 1950s.

Per Røed's 1932 Ford Cabriolet as it appeared in 1958. Per's cabriolet was one of the first hot rods of Norway.

Bill Martin's 1933 Ford 5-Window Coupe, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, as it appeared in 1957.

Monte Trone's 1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe was completed around 1951.

Dick Hanson's 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe

Gil Lippincott's 1934 Ford Tudor was restyled in 1950.

Joe Brienza's 1934 Ford Convertible of West Islip, New York was completed in 1958. The build took two years.

John Patterson's 1934 Ford Convertible

Tore Tømmerås' 1935 Ford 5-Window Coupe was built in Oslo, Norway in the late 1950s and it is one of the first hot rods of Norway.

Bruce Rosengren's 1936 Ford Cabriolet as it looked after Bruce had fixed it up in 1956.

Hank Fournier's 1936 Ford 5-Window Coupe

Glenn Johnson's 1937 Ford Coupe of Las Vegas, Nevada. The build was started in 1947, and completed it in 1951.

Ken Costello's 1939 Ford Coupe

Dick Brooks' 1940 Ford Convertible, was originally restyled by Jean Sheppard of Seattle, Washington in 1952.

Paul McGill's 1940 Ford Convertible was restyled by Clusters of Gray Harbor member Paul McGill in the early 1950s.

Mel Lehman's 1940 Mercury 4-Door Sedan as it appeared in 1954. Mel's sedan was restyled sometime before November 1954.

Nick Matranga's 1940 Mercury

Frank Monteleon's 1941 Ford

Harry Costa's 1941 Ford Convertible of San Francisco, California was restyled between 1953 and 1956. Harry, who was a member of the San Francisco Pacers, did most of the work on the car himself.

Jack Stewart's 1941 Ford

Joe Urritta's 1941 Ford was brought to Barris Kustoms in February of 1950. By July the same year, the completed build was featured in Motor Trend July 1950.

John Sak's Second 1941 Ford Convertible was restyled in Syracuse, New York in 1955.

Bud Unger's 1946 Ford Convertible, of Rockville, Maryland was restyled by Bud Unger of Unger Auto Body Company. The build was started in 1950 and completed in 1951.

Sam Gates' 1947 Ford Club Coupe

Jerry Berg's 1947 Mercury Convertible, this was the car that Jerry drove in high school in Seattle, Washington in 1954.

Tommy Thornburgh's 1947 Studebaker was restyled by Barris Kustoms for Kustoms of Los Angeles member Tommy Thornburgh. The build was completed around 1952 - 1953.

Arvi Hänninen's 1949 Checker Coupe was completed in 1956. Arvi's Checker is one of the first custom cars of Finland.

Carl Abajian's 1949 Chevrolet Convertible was first restyled in 1949 for Marcia Campbell. In 1950 Carl Abajian had Barris Kustoms re-paint it dark blue.

Dick Ward's 1949 Chevrolet

The Donz Lancer was built by Donz Custom Shop in Orlando in 1952.

Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline as it looked when he bought it in 1952.

Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline as it appeared in 1955. This version was restyled by Shanklin's Custom Shop.

The Caribbean version of Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline as it appeared in 1956. This version was restyled by Bailon's Custom Shop.

Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline as it appeared in 1958. This version featured a third paint job by Pinoli Paint Shop.

Harold Johnson's 1949 Chevrolet

Ronald Asal's 1949 Chevrolet convertible of New Britain, Connecticut was restyled around 1956-1958.

Bill Irwin's 1949 Ford Convertible.

Buster Litton's 1949 Ford

Chas Haggert's 1949 Ford Convertible

Joe Crisafulli's 1949 Ford Convertible as it looked in 1956.

Michael Violante's 1949 Ford Convertible

Milton Depuy's 1949 Ford of Cleveland, Ohio was restyled around 1956. Milton's Ford was sectioned 4 inches and fit with a 1951 Ford Victoria top.

Ray Duckworth's 1949 Ford Club Coupe

Duane Aspengren's 1949 Hudson - Night Train

Tony Alvez' 1950 Cadillac Convertible as it appeared in 1958.

Dave Jenkins' 1950 Chevrolet

Helen Manning's 1950 Chevrolet Fleetline

Howard Buysman's 1950 Chevrolet

The first version of Santo Vasques' 1950 Chevrolet was completed in 1956.

The second version of Santo Vasques' 1950 Chevrolet was scalloped by Larry Watson in 1957. According to Larry, it was the wildest scallop paint-job he did that year.

Ted Leventhal's 1950 Chevrolet Convertible of Oakland, California was restyled by Emory Robinson's Custom Shop in 1955. Painted in a green iridescent lacquer by Mel Pinoli's Body and Paint Shop, Ted's Chevrolet is known as the first car ever to receive a Candy paint job.

Al Twitchell's 1950 Ford Convertible

Chuck DeWitt's 1950 Ford Convertible was restyled by Barris Kustoms for Chuck DeWitt in 1953.

Don Bliss' 1950 Ford Convertible

Pete Millino's 1950 Ford Convertible

Roger Cunningham's 1950 Ford Convertible of Portland, Oregon was restyled around 1955/1956.

Buddy Alcorn's 1950 Mercury as it appeared in 1957.

Don Pulford's 1950 Mercury, of Burbank, California was restyled by Bill Babb's Custom Shop between 1950 and 1952. It was upholstered by L & L Upholstery Shop of Glendale

Gene Strieter's 1950 Mercury as it appeared in 1956.

Ralph Testa's 1950 Mercury

Sonny Morris' 1950 Mercury was restyled by Joe Bailon in 1956.

Wally Welch's 1950 Mercury

Jack Stewart's 1950 Oldsmobile - The Polynesian

Mel Gerrard's 1950 Oldsmobile 88

Phil Macchiarella's 1950 Plymouth four-door of Santa Clara, California was restyled and painted by fellow San Jose Rod and Wheelers member Joe Crisafulli. The first version of the car was completed around 1955/1956.

Harold Agresti's 1951 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe was restyled in the San Francisco Bay Area around 1956/1957.

Jake Bultsma's 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air was scalloped by Larry Watson in 1956.

Jerry Sahagon's 1951 Chevrolet Club Coupe

Don Tubbs' 1951 Ford Victoria of Glendale, California was restyled in 1951.

The Little Jewel is a sport custom built by Garner Jones and Herman Lawhon of Lamesa, Texas. The build was completed in 1953.

Joe Tocchini's 1951 Ford Victoria, The Mystery, won the Custom Car D'Elegance award at the 1958 National Roadster Show. It shared the first place with Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, The Aztec.

Pete Chiello's 1951 Ford Victoria

Frank Airheart's 1951 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible

Bill Wolfe’s 1951 Mercury as it appeared in 1958

Chuck Sanders' 1951 Oldsmobile, The Black Panther, as it appeared in 1957.

The first version of Charles DeLacy's 1951 Studebaker Starlight Coupe was completed around 1952/1953.

Bob Martin's 1952 Chevrolet Convertible as it appeared in 1956.

Al Twitchell's 1952 Ford Station Wagon

link0Larry Ernst's 1952 Ford

Ron Lerdahl's 1952 Ford Convertible, of Salt Lake City, Utah, as it appeared in 1958.

Ron Lerdahl's 1952 Ford Victoria of Salt Lake City, Utah as it appeared in the late 1950s.

Jack Nethercutt's 1952 Oldsmobile, The Viennese, was restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1953.

Emory Bozzani's 1952 Plymouth Sedan was restyled in 1952.

1952 Spohn Palos

Anthony Heinsbergen's Muntz

Wally Troy's 1953 Buick Convertible, The Troy Custom, was built by Wally Troy of Springfield, Illinois. The build was completed in 1954.

Bill Hoffman's 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air was restyled by George Schultz and Von Hunter at Wilkenson's Body Shop of Portland, Oregon in 1958.

Bill Hoffman's 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air of Portland, Oregon as it appeared after it had received a flame paint job by Leroy Teeple in 1959.

Frank and Charles Gilardone's 1953 Ford was restyled by Clarkaiser around 1953/1954.

Hayward Mendenhall's 1953 Ford Pickup

Royce Blomberg's 1953 Ford was restyled some time between 1955 and 1957.

W. H. Sees' 1953 Mercury as it looked in 1954.

Michael Malamphy's 1953 Plymouth Convertible, The Golden Aztec, of Ansonia, Connecticut was restyled around 1958.

The first version of Lee Talbot and Sam Chakries' 1953 Studebaker Pickup was completed in 1958.

The Manta Ray was built by Glen Hire and Vernon Antoine of Whittier, California, sometime between 1951 and 1953. Inspiration came from Harley Earl's 1951 GM LeSabre concept car.

The first version of Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, The Moonglow, made its debut in 1956.

The third version of Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, The Moonglow, was completed in 1957.

The fifth version of Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air, The Moonglow, was completed in 1959.

Gerald Twamley's 1954 Chevrolet 210

Louie Gaulrapp's 1954 Chevrolet was completed in 1956.

Andy Belusko's 1954 Ford of Whippany, New Jersey was restyled by Richard "Korky" Korkes of Korky's Kustom Shop in the mid 1950s.

Buzz McLeod's 1954 Ford Convertible of Seattle, Washington. This version of Buzz's Ford was completed in 1957.

Jim Logue's 1954 Ford Convertible, that was completed in 1958, is known as the first car ever using hydraulic lifts from aircraft surplus parts to raise and lower the front and rear suspension.

Martin Srabian and Morris Srabian's 1954 Ford Pickup, The Wild Kat, was completed in 1956. Restyled by Barris Kustoms, the Wild Kat is known as the first vehicle ever to feature quad headlight styling, beating Detroit by two years.

Ralph Ehorn's 1954 Ford F-100

Bobby Yamazaki's 1954 Mercury

Butch Flobeck's 1954 Mercury of Piedmont, New York made its debut in 1958.

Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet, The Aztec, won the Custom Car D'Elegance award at the 1958 National Roadster Show. It shared the first place with Joe Tocchini's 1951 Ford Victoria, The Mystery

Sharon Warner's 1955 Chevrolet as it appeared in 1958.

Stan Makrush's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible of Foxboro, Massachusetts was restyled around 1957/1958. The car is known as the Gypsy.

Bob McNulty's 1955 Chevrolet Corvette as it appeared in 1958.

Tom McNamara's 1955 Chevrolet

Bill Burnett's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria was restyled around 1955/1956.

Bob Palmer's 1955 Ford Thunderbird, The Golden Bird, was restyled by Clarkaiser Custom Shop of Detroit, Michigan in 1955.

Ralph Stefano's 1955 Lincoln Capri of Pueblo, Colorado was restyled by G&D Body and Paint in the late 1950s.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker as it looked in 1956.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker as it looked in 1957. This version was known as Strawberries and Cream.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker as it looked in 1959. This version, painted by Larry Watson, was named the Yellow Pearl.

Eric Bracher's 1956 Chevrolet of San Jose, California was restyled by Joe Wilhelm at Wilhelm's Custom Shop in the late 1950s.

Helen Avila's 1956 Chevrolet, She Devil, as it appeared in 1958.

Jim Doss' 1956 Chevrolet

Lenny Macchiarella's 1956 Chevrolet Pickup of San Jose, California.

The first version of Ron Aguirre's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette, The X-Sonic as it looked in 1957 after Ed Roth had painted and pinstriped it for the first time.

This version of Ron Aguirre's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette, The X-Sonic, made its debut at the Disneyland Car Club Day and Autocade, Septermber 5th, 1959.

Ron Luchs' 1956 Chevrolet 150 Sedan - Miss Taboo

The first version of Don Von Dwingelo's 1956 Ford Thunderbird as it appeared in 1959.

Larry DeLuca's 1956 Ford F-100 of Salt Lake City, Utah was restyled in 1956.

Roy Senior's 1956 Ford Victoria of West Haven, Connecticut was restyled around 1957-1958.

Chuck O'Malley's 1956 Dodge Convertible of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania was restyled at least three times between 1958 and 1963. This is the first version, that made its debut in 1958.

This version of Jack Arnold's 1956 Mercury was completed in 1958.

Joe Crisafulli's 1956 Oldsmobile of San Jose, California. Joe was a member of the San Jose Rod and Wheelers car club, and the Olds was restyled during the summer of 1957.

John Hychko's 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk of Waterbury, Connecticut was restyled by John at his Valley Auto Body in 1959.

Bob Palladino's 1957 Buick Century - The Candy Wagon

Jack James' 1957 Buick Special received a flame-paint-job by Larry Watson in 1957.

The first version of Darol Jorgenson's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette was completed in 1957.

Dave Jenkins' 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air as it appeared in 1958.

Anglo Vacco's 1957 Ford convertible of Hamden, Connecticut was restyled around 1957-1958.

George Mitobe's 1957 Ford Ranchero of Artesia, California was restyled by Branson's Custom Shop sometime between 1957 and 1959. Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style applied the scallops and striping.

Chuck Burkart's 1958 Chevrolet Impala of San Jose, California. Chuck was a member of the San Jose Rod and Wheelers. In 1959 Joe Crisafulli gave the car a flame paint job at Flyers Body Shop.

The second version of Chuck Burkart's 1958 Chevrolet Impala, featuring a scallop paint job that Joe Crisafulli laid in 1959. Chuck was a member of the San Jose Rod and Wheelers.

Frank Goehring's 1958 Chevrolet Impala was restyled by Joe Crisafulli at Flyers Body Shop of San Jose, California. The build was completed in 1959.

Phil Sowa's 1958 Chevrolet Impala of Fall River, Massachusetts was restyled in 1958.

Dick Jackson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird was restyled by Dick in 1958. The car was later sold to Calvin Wiekamp.

Doug Landwer's 1953 Plymouth, of Bakersfield, California was restyled in the late 1950s.

Ed Biggs' 1959 Chevrolet El Camino was painted by Joe Andersen in July of 1959.

Ralph Lysell's Rally is a Norwegian bubble-top sports car built at Norwegian Aircraft Industries LTD in Oslo, Norway in 1951. The car was meant to be the first production sports car of Norway in the 1950s, but it never made it into production.

Almar Nordhaug's Dream Car was built at the Faroe Islands in the 1950s.

The Road Kings of Burbank car club was established in 1952

The first annual Pasadena Auto Show and Reliability Run was held March 30, 1952 at Victory Park in Pasadena, California.

Cotton's Paint & Body Shop of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was run and operated by Cotton Woodworth.

Lundquist Coach Craft of San Francisco, California was a custom body shop run and operated by Ted Lundquist.

An ad for Noble Paint & Body Shop of Indianapolis, Indiana from 1953.

Wall Custom Cars of South Gate, California was a used car dealership specializing in customized cars. Forey and Glen Wall started the dealership in 1955.

The second annual Tacoma Hot Rod Show was held March 2-4, 1956 at the Tacoma Armory in Tacoma, Washington.

The 2nd annual Portland Roadster Show was held October 18 thru 20, 1957 at the Multnomah County Fair Grounds in Gresham, Oregon.

The program for the 4th annual International Motor Sports Show held in Des Moines, Iowa in 1958. The Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck was featured on the cover, and the truck was one of the main attractions that year. Unfortunatel it never made it to the show as it was wrecked on the way over to the show.

The 1959 Mid-America Auto Spectacular was held October 10-11, 1959 in Topeka, Kansas.

<-- 1940s - 1960s -->

1 Customizing vs Restyling
2 West Coast Restyling of the Early 1950s
3 Deck Out
4 Hot Rods of the 1950s
5 Custom Cars of the 1950s
6 Sport Customs of the 1950s
7 Dream Cars of the 1950s
8 Custom, Body, Paint and Repair Shops of the 1950s
9 Custom Car and Hot Rod Shows of the 1950s
10 Speed Shops of the 1950s
11 Upholstery Shops and Upholsterers of the 1950s
12 Pinstripers of the 1950s
13 Custom Car Dealerships of the 1950s
14 Custom Car and Hot Rod Clubs of the 1950s
15 Racing and Timing Associations of the 1950s
16 References

Customizing vs Restyling

In 1951, Trend Book 101 Custom Cars was published by Trend, Inc as a result to the growing interest in customized cars. The introduction in the book stated early that restyling and customizing are two things that, like the arts, are better left for the masters. The book defined a custom job as a job that had been custom built, from the ground up as it were and to order. A restyled job was defined as a stock auto that had been altered somewhat from the original design. Therefore, if you were going to customize a car you would practically start from scratch ending up with a hand-built, totally different creation. If you were to restyle a car, you would change the outside appearance, without evolving a drastically-modified car. The terms were often misused, and in order to explain where the restyled car leaves off and a custom job begins, the following definition was explained in the book: "A restyled car can include any or all of the following modifications without actually being a custom job: a bull-nose, a deck job, fadeaways, a new grille, and / or new bumpers. When it gets to chopped tops and channeling, the car would more properly be termed a custom job." With these two terms defined, the purpose of the book was to show readers the latest trends of customized and restyled cars from coast to coast.^[1]

West Coast Restyling of the Early 1950s

Common and favored restyling-features on many West Coast custom jobs in the early 1950s included body modifications such as nosing and decking, license plate set on bumper, tail lights set in bumper guards, dual spotlights and fender skirts.

Deck Out

In the early 1950s, "Deck Out" was a term for restyling a car by adding extra ornamentation such as metal sun visors, chrome exhaust stacks, port holes, extra lights forward and aft, fender flaps, extra radio aerials, bumper guards and more accessories you could buy from your local accessory shop. In the other end were motorists that believed in restyling by smoothing off their cars. This process span from simple modifications such as removal of ornamentation, dechroming and sealing of the car to give a port less, louver-less, one piece look to chopping the top or channeling the body over the frame.^[1]