The Ina Mae Overman Photo Collection

A photo of Joe Edd Ray's 1950 Buick Sedanette taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Known as the "XM105," Ray's futuristic Buick was restyled by Bob Metz of Shelbyville, Indiana. Ray was an upholsterer that did all of the interiors for Metz. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A photo of the Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. This is the third iteration of the truck, as it appeared after Bob Metz had fitted it with new rear fenders and fins. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A photo of Ed Cousins' 1932 Ford Pickup taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Cousin was a member of the Renegades of Long Beach car club. His pick up was restyled by Dick's Body Shop and the build was completed earlier the same year. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Rod and Custom. A beautiful hot rodded Ford pick up truck displayed next to Kermit Hanson's 1957 Buick. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Dick Jackson and Junior Conway preparing their cars for the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show at the Excelsior High School. Dick attended the show with his mildly restyled 1957 Ford Thunderbird, while Junior brought his 1950 Ford. Two great Southern California customs built and driven by teenagers. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Custom by Paint! A mildly restyled Chevrolet Corvette that Ina Mae photographed at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. The car has been dressed up with a tasteful scallop paint job. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Custom trucks were popular in the latter part of the 1950s. Cool and practical. A chopped top, tasteful two-tone paint job, Thunderbird hubcaps, and bedrail exhaust make this Ford F-100 a real head-turner! Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Another sharp-looking Ford F-100 custom truck. This one with a more radical scallop paint job. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Paul Richards' 1949 Ford Convertible of Long Beach, California. The photo was taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A group of guys preparing the Ardun powered Scotty's Muffler Service's 1923 Ford Model T Roadster for the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A pristine looking Ford Model A Phaeton that has been hopped up with an overhead valve conversion kit. The photo was taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker of Anaheim, California. Dick belonged to the Cut Outs of Long Beach car club. Restyled by Art's Custom Shop, this iteration of Dick's Studebaker was known as "Strawberries and Cream." Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A photo of Buzz Pitzen's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade. Buzz was a member of the Challengers of Los Angeles car club. The roadster was his first hot rod and he started the build around 1954. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

A photo of Richard Guzman's 1954 Ford taken at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade. A beautiful mild custom belonging to the President of the Krankers Berdoo car club. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Custom by paint was one of the hottest trends of 1957, and this mild 1951 Ford Victoria custom looks great with a black and bronze scallop paint job. Ina Mae shot this car at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Norm Grabowski's 1922 Ford Model T Roadster of Sunland, California. Also known as the Kookie T, Norm's T-Bucket gained national recognition when it started appearing in the popular TV series 77 Sunset Strip. Ina Mae shot the car at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade show. Photo courtesy of Ina Mae Overman, provided by Marry Ellen Marcy.

Dave Cunningham's 1940 Ford Sedan of San Francisco, California. Dave channeled the body of the car roughly 10 inches over the frame before trailing it to Barris Kustoms to have it completed. The build became known as "Lil' Beauty." Ina Mae took this photo of the car at the 1957 Norwalk Motorcade. Photo from The Ina Mae Overman Collection.

Kustomrama Photo Archive

Ina Mae Overman was very involved in the California custom car scene in the 1950s. She owned a customized Lincoln and Thunderbird that she designed and showed. Luckily for us, Ina Mae brought a camera to the shows she attended. Her photos are great, and thanks to her daughter Mary Ellen, scans of these have found their way to Kustomrama.