1956

Norm Grabowski's 1922 Ford Model T-Bucket of Sunland, California. The Kookie T iteration of Norm's Model T-Bucket was completed in 1956 featuring a Dean Jeffries flame paint job. In 1958 this iteration became a TV star, appearing in the popular series "77 Sunset Strip." As a result of the exposure, Norms T-Bucket became the most famous hot rod in the country, inspiring dozens of imitators while creating a whole new class of hot rods.

Bob Johnston's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster - The Tweedy Pie

John Lane's 1924 Ford Model T Roadster Pickup of San Leandro, California. Lane purchased the Model T in the 1940s. The build was started in 1951 and completed late in 1956. It made its debut at the 1957 National Roadster Show in Oakland.

Tommy Ivo's 1925 Ford Model T-Bucket of Burbank, California. Tommy began building the car after seeing Norm Grabowski's 1922 Ford Model T-Bucket. He asked Norm if he would let him take some measurements off his car. Norm told him to fuck off, so Ivo took action on his own, and snuck into Grabowski’s garage so he could take all the critical measurements necessary to build his own version. The build was completed in 1956.

Joe Tully's 1931 Ford Model A Coupe of Dixon, Illinois. Tully was a member of the Blackhawk Rod and Custom club. He built the coupe in the 1950s, and the iteration seen here was raced at the The World Series of Drag Racing in Lawrence, Illinois in 1956.

Tony Guinasso's 1932 Chevrolet Business Coupe

Howard Hansel's 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe

Jerry Sprague's 1932 Ford Roadster

Gene "Clean Gene" Sadoian's 1934 Ford Four-Door Sedan of Fresno, California. The car went trough several iterations in the 1950s. In 1956 it received a Candy cold and red scallop paint job by "Screwy Looie" of Fresno.

George Montgomery's 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe

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

Joe Brienza's 1936 Ford 3-Window Coupe, of West Islip, New York, was restyled in 1956.

Manuel Gonzalez's 1940 Ford Coupe of Wilmington, California. Gonzalez was a member of the Pharaohs of Wilmington car club, and in 1956 his coupe received a flame paint job by Von Dutch.

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 himself. The car made it's debut at the 1956 Oakland Roadster Show.

George Contaoi's 1941 Mercury Coupe of San Bernardino, California. George was a member of the San Bernardino Krankers car club. He bought the Merc in 1952, began restyling it in 1953, and completed the build in 1956. The work was performed by George, Al Andrade, and Dick Richardson at Dick Richardson's Custom Shop. The car survived, and was still around in 2020. At the time it was located in Barstow, California.

Jack Crabbs' 1948 Buick Roadmaster of Bettendorf, Iowa. Known as the "Black Flame", ack's intent was to build and market a low scale production custom car for wealthy people, like the Kurtis Cad and the Muntz of the same time. The build was started in 1953 and completed in 1956. It was restyled by Dunshee's Body Shop.

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

Bill Muehlstedt's 1949 Chevrolet of Long Beach, California. Bill was a member of the Long Beach Cavaliers car club from 1956 to 1964, and he owned the Chevrolet in the Summer of 1956.

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

Joe Crisafulli's 1949 Ford Convertible outside Almaden School in 1956.

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.

Art Glah's 1949 Oldsmobile Convertible

Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet of Bellflower, California. Watson started practicing pinstriping in 1956, at age 16, and he used his first car to practice on.

Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet of Bellflower, California. The Rose Mist version of Larry's Chevrolet featured bodywork by Ed Schelhaas of Schelhaas Custom Shop. The build was completed in 1956, and as Larry hadn't started painting complete cars yet he had Ed's painter, George Newton, paint it. George painted the car in an Ivory lacquer at the bottom, and a new Oldsmobile metallic color named Rose Mist on the top.

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

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

Bill Daniels' 1950 Oldsmobile of La Habra, California. Bill was a member of the Agitators of Fullerton car club. Jack Coughran helped Bill restyle and louver the car, before Von Dutch dressed it up with pinstriping in 1956.

Robert Martinez' 1950 Oldsmobile 98 of San Diego, California. Robert restyled the car while working at Styler's Custom Shop. The build was completed around 1955 - 1956.

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.

Don Blake's 1951 Ford 4-Door of Lynhurst, New Jersey. Blake was a member of the Drivin Deuces of Carlstadt car club, and he started restyling the Ford in 1956, while he was in high school.

Ron Courtney's 1951 Ford of McMinnville, Oregon was restyled by Ron between 1954 and 1956. The car was known as the X-51, and it was the only custom Ron ever built.

George Kilgore's 1951 Chevrolet, restyled by Bill Bowman of California was completed in 1956

Jake Bultsma's 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air was restyled in 1956.

Walter Leeman's 1951 Chevrolet Fleetline of East Los Angeles, California was restyled by Walt in the mid 1950s. The first version was completed in 1956.

Nick Cozzitorto's 1952 Ford F-1 Pickup. In 1952, with barely 100 miles on the odometer, Nick brought the pickup to Gene Winfield at Winfield's Custom Shop for a full custom treatment. In 1956 he returned for more work, and Winfield, sectioned, channeled, and reworked the front of the car amongst other changes.

Ray Erickson's 1952 Ford Coupe

Jim Skonzakes' 1953 Lincoln Capri "The Golden Sahara" of Dayton, Ohio. In 1956 Jim had Indiana customizer Bob Metz and Ohio’s Delphos Machine and Tool modify the Golden Sahara further, turning it into the Golden Sahara II. This incarnation featured a custom half-bubble top.

Don Chaves' 1953 Mercury After it was first restyled in 1956.

Bob Schremp's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air of Norwalk, California was restyled by Branson's Custom Shop in the mid 1950s. In 1956 Bob's Chevrolet received a scallop paint job by Larry Watson. The paint job was done in the driveway of Watson's parents, and it was the first car Watson gave a scallop paint job.

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

This pinstriped version of Louie Gaulrapp's 1954 Chevrolet was completed in 1956.

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.

Jerry Malouf's 1954 Mercury Hardtop, of California was restyled by Competition Body Shop in 1956.

George Contaoi's 1955 Ford F-100 of San Bernardino, California, was restyled by Dick Richardson's Custom Shop and Barris Kustoms in 1956. Von Dutch striped it and made a mural on the tailgate along with Dean Jeffries.

Gil Ayala's 1955 Ford Thunderbird of East Los Angeles, California. Known as the Wild Bird, the car was restyled by Gil and Al Ayala at Gil's Auto Body Works. The first version was completed in 1956.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker as it looked in 1956.

Bob Nugent, a custom car enthusiast from Detroit, Michigan, joined the ranks of Jimmy Jones Skirt owners in 1956 when he purchased a set for his 1956 Chevy 210 directly from Jones himself. "I stood and watched him rake them over the coals. Paid $120.00 and then had Bill Hines paint them black for $15.00 bucks. He also heated my front springs for the same $15.00." In 2019 Bob told Sondre Kvipt that The Little Bat was under work in Hines garage and the fins were in wireframe. Bob has no photos of the car, but this is a rendering of his old custom. "By the way," Bob shot in, adding that Clarence Catallo who owned the Little Deuce Coupe was with him when he was at Jimmy's. "Before he owned the coupe. His parents bought a grocery store from my parents. He was fifteen. I lived in a great time in Detroit." Photo courtesy of Bob Nugent.

Jerry Sarkozi's 1956 Chevrolet Delray of Lincoln Park, Michigan. Sarkozi was a member of the Spark Jumpers of Lincoln Park car club. He bought the Chevy brand new and had it restyled after being rear-ended in 1956.

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

George Barris' 1956 Continental Mark II was restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1956. The Lincoln was George's personal driver, and he owned it for about a year.

Danny Purinton's 1956 Mercury of Long Beach, California. Danny was a member of the Lakewood Creators car club, and his Mercury was restyled by Ed Schelhaas at Schelhaas Custom Shop. George Newton, Schelhaas' painter, painted the car in a lustrous Bahamas Blue Metallic nitro lacquer. Watson pinstriped the car in imitation Gold July 21, 1956, the night before the third annual Norwalk Motorcade. According to Larry, 22 pinstriped cars were entered in the show. Von Dutch had four, Dean Jeffries had seven, and Larry Watson had eleven.

Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury. Dulin's Plymouth went through seven iterations between 1956 and 1962. This photo shows the car as it appeared late in 1956.

Ed Larsen's Barracuda of Ogden, Utah. Larsen, a production planner by trade, embarked on the ambitious project in 1953. His vision was to build a vehicle that not only showcased his craftsmanship but also utilized components from a diverse range of automobiles. The project took shape in his own garage, reflecting both his dedication and skill. It took three years and more than 2500 hours to complete the build. It made its debut in 1956.

The 1956 Volante of Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The car was built by Enzo Volante, a race car driver hobbyist. Built from a 1941 Hudson Super Six, he started the build in 1949 and completed it in 1956.