Eric Black 1936 Ford Roadster

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Rik Hoving

ERIC BLACK 36 FORD ROADSTER

In 2017 Vintage Automotive Designer Eric Black designed a stunning looking Coachbuild influenced stretched 1936 Ford Roadster. A design that is now taking shape in metal by the team at Hollywood Hot Rods.

On NOVEMBER 9, 2017 Eric Black Design shared one image of an beautiful restyled 1936 Ford Roadster on hit Instagram. And this is what he wrote about it.
“From my “Hyperstock” collection. What if Edsel had been given more rein after his influential European trip? This is my version of a ’36 Ford Roadster factory style custom, where rather than replacing the identifiable Ford elements with a non-Ford piece, they are enhanced versions of the original. There were many formal moves in the making of this profile, most notably the rearward shift of the passenger cell. This project is currently available and I have many more ideas that would make this car a serious AMBR contender, if you’re into that sort of thing. Serious inquires DM of email design@eblackdesign.com”

I was capture by the shear beauty of the Custom design, the perfect balance of the car. It seamed like Erick had re-scaled an 1936 Ford, and created it as a Mercury, or Lincoln exclusive factory custom. With the longer wheelbase design Eric had solved the forward look of the cabin on a stock ’36 Ford Roadster. A design glitch that happened when the original designs of the ’36 Ford had to be made production ready, and a solution needed to be found for the space behind the cabin on the dicky-seat versions. Reading Eric Blacks info with the photo I sure hoped that somebody would step in and actually create this stunning eBlack design.

In January 2019 I was searching for something online when I came across and 3/4 view of the eBlack ’36 Ford Roadster design, which brought me to the Hollywood Hot Rods website. 4 stunning design images that Eric Black had created were shared with the info that the project had started showing a few pictures of a widened and stretched ’36 Ford body. I was extremely happy with the news that my favorite eBlack designed ’36 Ford Roadster project would become reality. And that the Hollywood Hot Rods Shop was creating the car.

**Eric Black designed this stunning Packard for the Hollywood Hot Rods Shop and the was car awarded America’s Most Beautiful Roadster AMBR in 2017.**

The Hollywood and Eric Black collaboration goes back some time and together they have created some stunning automotive art, including the 2017 AMBR winning Custom Packard. In February 2019 the Hollywood Hot Rod Shop shared a few more images of their new ’36 Ford Roadster Project. Lets hope these sneak peak photos will keep coming thru-out the project. I have started a new thread on the CCC-Forum which I will be updating with new material as soon as is is being shared by Hollywood Hot Rods.

**Side view illustration comparing a stock ’36 Ford Roadster with the Eric Black designed Roadster.**

Side view of the Eric Black ’36 Ford Roadster as how it will be created by the Hollywood Hot Rods Shop. Some changes were made from the original design created in 2017. Including lowered headlights, longer nose and angled grille.

**Front 3/4 view shows the beautiful mix of Coachbuilding and Custom Restyling.**

**Eric also created a version without the flush fit skirts.**

**3/4 front view of the skirt-less version.**

**Original idea, what needs to be done, and the production visual all in one image.**

The image above was posted by Eric Black on his Instagram. Showing the original concept in the top image, the fine tuned “production” version in thebottom image, and what needs to be done in between. And this is what Eric said about it.
“eBDCo for Hollywood Hot Rods.
Q: What’s the best part of my job?
A: Sometimes I come up with really (really) weird ideas and I just happen to know people WAY more talented than me who can turn them into reality. Case in point is the ‘36 Ford Roadster underway at Hollywood Hot Rods. The upper drawing was the late-night idea. The lower is the developed version. The big idea was to have an absolutely identifiable and iconic vehicle and change the scale. Sort of hit it with a ray gun and make it just a bit more, well, grand. With a notion of the Ford form language of the mid ‘30s but up the level of detail to the grand cars beyond even the elegant Lincolns of the era.
I will admit it’s a bit of a stretch, but think of a Ford stepping out as a Duesenberg. As a matter of fact, the ‘34 Duesenberg Model J with coachwork by Graber was a massive influence formally on this design.
The details of the car are still quite identifiable as ‘36 Ford but with just a bit more care and elegance with each piece. We have yet to sort out the interior, and I am very excited to work through the design with Troy and the rest of his talented crew. I hope you enjoy seeing this weird idea come to life as much as I will.”

**Overview photo shows that the body is not only stretched, but also widened. A complete jig has been fabricated based on the Eric Black designs, for the car ensuring perfect fit.**

**The main body is stretched with longer doors as well as a stretched cowl.**

Be sure to check the CCC-Forum Post on the Eric Black Designed 1936 Ford Roadster from time to time. There I will be sharing all the new updates on the project. Click the image below to fist the Forum Post.

Selling Custom Cars On-Line

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Rik Hoving

SELLING CUSTOM CARS on-line

Putting your Custom Car up For Sale on one of the many on-line auction sites has become very easy. But how can you make sure your Custom will get noticed, and you will make the sale your hoping for.

For a long time I have been wondering about how some Custom Cars are listed on the online For Sale and auction sites as eBay, Craigslist etc. Some of the cars advertised are being listed with the use of poor photos, and very minimum, incomplete information, while the subject cars are of high quality or some of historic importance. And some of them have high asking prices, which do not really add up with the way these cars are presented in the online ads. A couple of recent 80’s historic Customs from a famous builder that were offered online in a rather poor way, with minimal photos and info made me decide to create this article.

To me it makes no sense to spend countless of hours and a lot of money to create, or acquire your dream car, and then spend as less time as possible putting it on an online For Sale site. A bit of attention to detail, and some decent time spend to present the car as good as possible, with the help of this article will more than likely help you sell your Custom Car quicker and or for better money.

This is an image I created to draw more attention to this car. It can be used on Social Media to help promote the online listing of your car. This one image provides the viewer with a lot of information. Added text can include a link to the online listing.
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Ever since I started the MarketPlace here on the Custom Car Chronicle I have tried to help people selling their cars. Either with a Full Feature article (paid option) or with help listing the cars on the free Marketplace For Sale section. When doing the Full Feature article I always keep in mind that the material that I create especially for this, can be used on other online auction sites as well. I try to advise people to take certain photos that show the car the best way possible, and in all its detail. I use my photographic and Photoshop skills to enhance the photos of the cars, by cleaning up the backgrounds, cropping the photos for the best results.

I think that when you list a Custom Cars for sale online, you need to put some effort into it to make it look at its very best. The cars needs to be treated like it will be at its own online car show. Of course it depends on the condition of the car to be sold, some are old custom cars, that have been on the road for a long time, others are un-restored, or even project cars. And you have the award winning cars. All these cars need to be treated in a different way, but for all the same rule of making it look as good as possible counts. It does not make send to spend month, perhaps years creating a Custom Car, and then spend just an hour or so listing it online.

When your Custom Car is listed online, this means that everybody from all over the globe is a potential buyer. (Even if you only sell it in your own country, a potential buyer from overseas might buy it thru a local friend) As the car owner you are very familiar with your car, and you might not feel that certain details are important, because you are so used to it. But for somebody that has never seen the car in person, and who will not ever see it in person unless he or she buys it, these details might be very important. The more info and the more photos you can show the better, but you do not want to overdo it either. You also always have the option of offering to send more photos and info by email, to serious potential buyers. But no matter what the first impression of the online ad, and possible social media used to help promote the listing, is crucial.

A special image created for Facebook to help promote an online listing. In this case the photos of the ’36 Ford had very unattractive backgrounds which I removed to make it all more interesting and appealing.
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I have created this article with the purpose of helping you to sell your Custom Car online the best way possible. It does not matter on which site you are offering the car, a good presentation of your Custom in photos and words is what makes your care more desirable, and you most likely will end up selling it for a better price, and sooner. To illustrate what kind of photos you need to make I have used some sample photos of different cars I took over the years. NONE of these cars are actually For Sale!

Photography

You do not really need to be a good photographer to make a nice photo of your Custom Car, there are just a couple of rules you need to keep in mind. With today’s smart phone’s everybody can make good enough photos if you follow take notice of certain things. And most of all if you take the time to make the photos. Often I see very bad snapshot being used in online ads, photos taken of the car in 5 min, and then uploaded at random order and then trying to sell the car for a huge amount of money. This will not work.

If you have a rolling project, or a finished car, then its ideal, see if you can take it to a place where there is an attractive, or at least even background. A background that that is not distracting from the subject.
Make sure that on a sunny day, the sun is helping you highlight the car, not work against you and create a shadow on the side you are taking photos of. Always keep the sun on your back as much as possible. This often means that you have to move around the car a few times to make sure the lighting of the car is always as optimal as possible.

Take as many digital photos of the car as you can, if you don’t use them, you can just delete them. its always better to take to many, than too few.

When you take photos of the car you have to try and capture the car like how you would look at it if you want to buy a car in person. Walk around it, take photos from all angles, step back, look at the profile, the stance and keep the camera at face height as much as possible. Low or high angle photos can be nice and arty, but are not great selling material. Photos like that do not show the stance of the car, or the overall flow. If you take photos, make sure you keep a certain distance from the car, its better to slightly zoom in, than have the camera create a fish eye effect. Remember that it is important you try to capture the car how it really looks.

Once you have photographed the outside, open a door, and the hood and trunk and photograph the interior, the engine and trunk, nice overall photos, especially of the interior are important. One showing the dash and part of the seat, the back seat if needed, the headliner and make sure the door panels are photographed as well. You can add a few detail photos of dash and steering wheel details as well. And if you have a nice upholstered car, make sure to include some detail photos of that. The same goes for the engine and trunk, overall photos, and if needed some details.

If the car you sell is a driver, then make sure you add one or more photos of the car on the street, driven, photographed from outside, or from the seating position.

There are a number of photos that are mandatory ford an online ad.

Dead-on front, rear and side views. (especially the dead on side view is very important, and often forgotten.)
3/4 front and rear view, preferably from both driver and passenger side.
Interior overview, taken with the doors open to allow the most light.
Engine overview
If possible shows some drive train pictures. Perhaps from during the build, or from a time the car was on a bridge or something like that.

Indoor photos
If you have a project car, or a car that is in a garage and cannot be removed make sure you spend some good time cleaning the surroundings as much as possible. Remove any obstacles that are in front of the subject, and if needed use large sheets, or card board etc added behind the car as a backdrop. The less stuff can be seen that is not listed in the ad, the more focus there is on the subject. Make sure the is sufficient lighting, add a couple of lambs to light up dark sections if needed.

If you have progress photos of your Custom Car, make sure to include some of those as well. People love to see how a car was build, they really add a lot of value to a car. Especially if the work is done properly.

Size
Makes sure your photos have a decent size. There is nothing worse than looking at an online ad where the photos are so small you cannot see any details. Always make sure your digital photos are at least 1000 pixels wide, but preferably more than that. Remember how you look at a car in person if you want to buy it, you want to get in s close as possible to see all the details. That’s what you want for your on-line ad as well.

The first photo on the online listing, and especially the one that is being used as the thumbnail on the website search page needs to be the most attractive and or interesting photo you have of the project. This is the first image people will see, if a poor photo is used for this, some potential buyers might even skip the listing.
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A dead-on front view, very important to include that.
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The dead-on side view really has to be included, it rally tells a lot about the car, the overall flow, the stance etc. Try to keep the camera in such a way that you can see a small portion of the door top on the other side of the car thru the window opening. This way you show the flow of the roof, as well the stance of the car. Even though this photo shows the car nicely, it would have been better if the background would have been more even, and less colorful.
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Front 3/4 view of the passenger side. The background on this photo is already much better than the one above. A good front and rear quarter view give the best impression of a car.
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Rear 3/4 view drivers side. Compare this photo with the one below from the passenger side. Look how much more focus there is on the car itself on the photo below due to the more even background. So if at all possible, turn the car around so you can photograph this side of the car, with a better looking background.
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This rear angle photo was taken from a slightly lower point of view. Enhancing the flow of the top and rear window.
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Taking it for a spin… People always love to see photos like that, it means the car is driven and on the road.
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Good looking details always need to be included.
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This is one of the better interior photos I have seen. It makes me feel I’m stepping right into the car and going for a drive. A picture like this will get people excited.
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Now lets go for a drive… this is the look from the drivers side, another important photo.
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Here is a good excuse for taking a low point of view photo of your car. This way you can capture a lot of the interior in one picture.
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Always nice to include is a picture with the hood and trunk open, this is after all what will happen if you would look at a car in person as well.
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An generic engine picture shows in this case that the engine is stock and relatively clean. No need for detail photos in this car.
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Sometimes you have limited photos to use on an online ad, so it might come in handy if you can combine more than one photo to show some details. Online (free) apps can create combined images like this.
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If you have had your car at car shows, it might be nice to include a picture of that, or perhaps make a collage showing multiple show photos. The photo I show above is perhaps not showing the car really well, but it does show that the car is taken very well care of, and gets fully detailed at the show. Information like this might be important for a potential buyer.
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If you have build up photos… try to include a few, or create like I did here, a collage of construction images. Construction photo are very important if you have them. Potential buyers can tell a lot from these.
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If you are selling a drive-able custom, see if you can take some rolling photos. Adding an on-the-road photo will add great value to your car, it is after all where it was created for.
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If your car was ever in a magazine, or perhaps show coverage… you better want to include it… same goes for Trophies. Pictures are always better than just mentioning them.
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And if you have the skills see if you can set one of your images free from the background. Its optional, but it sure will make the ad look really good.
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History

If the Custom Car you are offering has any history, make sure you document that as good as possible, old photo’s, magazine features, car show photos etc. Sometimes its a good idea to make an actual collage of historic material and make some digital photos of that to add to the listing. Do not be shy on this, a cars history is always important, and it certainly adds to its value, but it needs to be show, next to it being mentioned.
Even if you have Custom Car that was created in recent years it might still be a good idea to mention where you got it from originally, or any other details of the cars former life.

Words

A nice personal story about the car is always good, but what is the most important thing about an online ad is a list of details, a list of modifications done to the car, parts used, material used, perhaps time and or money spend on it. A list of people, or shops who worked on the car, and if needed a list of car shows it was entered in and possible awards it won.

Make sure that these things are listed in short sentences, and create the list of parts, modifications etc as a vertical list (lines below each other) not using comma’s behind each other on one line, which would make it hard to read. Be as specific as possible. Remember that you know your Custom inside out, but for the online customer, it is all new. The more info he gets, the better he might like the car.

The detail list
To make your ad stand out from the rest of the ads with written info, try to be as complete as possible with providing your information. Creating a list of specifics is the best and most visually attractive way to do this. Below is a list that will help you create a list specifically for your Custom Car. And since this article is done especially for Custom Cars, I feel that the most important information for a Custom Car is the body and all the work that has been done to it, so that is where you will start.

THE LIST

Body

Body type
Body modification
Grille
Headlights
Taillights
Accessories
Other specific details worth mentioning
Paint / paint by
Body work by

Interior

Dash / instruments
Steering wheel
Seats
upholstery
headliner
carpet
trunk
specific details worth mentioning

Chassis

Frame
Front suspension
Rear suspension
How it is lowered
Brakes
Tires front/rear brand/size
Wheels
Hubcaps

Drivetrain

Engine
Engine accessories
Transmission

Creating the online ad.

When you create the ad you have to keep in mind that it will be viewed by people from around the globe. People who are looking for a car want to walk around out, which is not possible online, but with the kind of photos you have taken, you might give them a feeling they are able to walk around the car.

Start of with an nice overview photo of the car, your favorite view of the car is perfect for this. Often this is an front or rear 3/4 view. From there walk around the car, show all the exterior photos you want to see, overall views first, then followed by some more detail photos of some of the cars special features if you want to show those. Then go into the interior, and the trunk, and end with the engine.

If needed add the photos of the cars history the last. Or in case the car has an really good history, you might want to start with an historic photo to draw more attention.

If the car was build to drive on a regular base, make sure you mention that. Make sure to share how the car handles and how much fun you had driving it. Good stories like that will have a positive feel on potential buyers.

Make sure you upload the photos in the right order. If needed number the photos before you upload them to the auction site. Make sure you have plenty of time creating the online ad. If you only have limited time, perhaps wait till you have more time to create a good looking ad. You really do not want to rush this. This ad is your presentation of your Custom Car to the world!

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Need help?

As a graphic artist and Photoshop expert I can create special photos, clean up photos etc to make your car look the very best possible. Photos, or photo collages that can been used in the online ad, or used on Social Media to help promote the online listing. If you need help listing your car online, no matter what website you use, send me an email and find out how if I can help you present your Custom Car the best way possible for the on-line market.

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Weesner Custom Art

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Rik Hoving

WEESNER CUSTOM ART

Weesner designs and creates beautiful and very inspiring Custom Car artwork. Often based on Custom Car Icons from the past, his Designs are being copied into real Customs more and more.

We have done an article on the beautiful Custom Car art of Keith Weesner, from Thousand Oaks, California in the past. But since then he has created a great number – we don’t even have enough space to cover them all – of new and exciting Custom Car related Illustrations and painting. Lets take a closer look at some of the most recent Weesner pieces, and some older artwork he came across while looking for inspiration and shared with the world. So get ready for some increadible Weesner Custom Art… and get inspired.

SHOEBOX obsesion

Sketch page from ’91- Keith’s ’50 with sort of a big n littles/rake… Below that a new Caddie, an imagined Caddie, his Comet and a ’40s pickup in a freeway scene…
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Grille options for Keith’s 1950 Ford…. He went for number 1.
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Little front view concept of my ’50 from mid ’90s.
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This it the drawing Keith gave to Scott Guildner in ’96 when he dropped off his ’50 Ford with him. The only difference is that at that time he hadn’t decided on ’50 Mercury bumpers yet.
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Color illustration of the Weesner Shoebox for the Rodder’s Journal catalog.
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Detail of Keith’s Shoebox illustration.
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Heavy chopped padded top Shoebox in the city at night.
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Keith made this for Dave York up in Canada. His Ford is bitchin, almost like a Weesner Illustration coming to live.
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Keith did the initial work on this one while waiting at the Chili’s at O’Hare Airport… waiting for his flight.
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Another one with very much inspired on Keith’s own Shoebox. I love the detailed Art-Deco building in the background, and the large Weesner sign on the large brick wall behind the car.
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Keith drew this Shoebox quite some time ago, but recently added a few new touches.
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Very interesting concept, much like the Joe Bailon Shampoo Truck. Home made Ranchero convertible.
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Very inspirational design elements on this Hard-Toped Shoebox.
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36 Fords

Little ’36 Cabriolet custom in the much beloved Westergard style.

Ultimate Westergard style roadster with Du Valle windshield. According to Keith he spend part of his day was designing a beaded gown for this 1.5” tall lady.
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2018 Color painting of a similar Westergard styled ’36 Ford Roadster, but this time with Packard grille.
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Jamie Couture commissioned Keith Weesner to make a drawing of his grandfather’s Custom ’36 Ford.
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1940 Fords

Early 40’s style ’39-40 Ford convertible with heavy chopped padded top.
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1940 Ford Coupe done right with chopped top, 46 Ford bumpers, ’39 windshield frame and the perfect stance.
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1941 – 1948 Fords

Another painting idea doodle created while waiting for something.
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Coupe…
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Sketch for the one below.
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I shared this in the first article we did on Keith’s artwork, but since we now have the original sketch shown above, I liked to add it here again as well… and this one is just so nice… It does not hurt showing it twice.
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“A custom ’48 Ford Sportsman with a Carson top! No one could, would, or would ever want to, but I can draw it, what the hell!”
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Color painting might have been inspired by the Sam Gates Coupe.
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Nice ’47 Ford Convertible with cubic background. Keith Later made some changes to this one, including darker paint, before selling it on his website.
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One of my personal favorites… A light colored ’41 Coupe with a lovey Speed-Boat Stance Olds Inspired grille and a perfect resemblance of some Sombrero like aftermarket hubcaps.
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Looks Like Gil Ayala’s 42 and some Barris beauties have been used for inspiration on this cool looking coupe.
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Gorgeous red ’41 with Olds grille parked in a perfect setting.
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1949-51 Mercury

1950 Mercury convertible in the works.
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The finished artwork…
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Beautiful Sam Barris inspired Mercury…
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2018 piece with large bullet shaped bumper guards acting as grille.
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Keith drew this one while he was having an exhibition in the Outré Gallery.

Keith created several special paintings for his exhibition in the Outré Gallery show, including this black Merc with beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house.
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“Merc Convertible”
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Keith had a Metropolitan in the late ’80s. This sketch is from around then, he recently found it again in the corner of an Art Center sketchbook…
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Piece he did of his Dad’s ’62 Comet magazine project car‭ in ’96.
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Econoline with ‘35 Ford pickup roof and custom grille makes an very interesting hauler for the Weesner Interior Design Shop.
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Another one for the Outré Gallery show.
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“Fair Lane” was also created specially to be displayed at the Outré Gallery show.
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More Info…

For more information about Keith Weesner Artwork, the Art and other product he is selling, and how he can be hired for commission work check out the Keith Weesner Website, or his Bigcartel selling prints website. You can also follow Keith on Instagram (@weesner1958 instagram) to keep up to date with his latest art.

1948 Paris Salon Car Show

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Rik Hoving

1948 PARIS SALON

The 1948 Salon de Automobile has been captured in beautiful color slides by Jale Youle of Life Magazine. It gives us an amazing look at how stylish these Early Car Shows were. Lets be Inspired…

The Life Magazine Photo archives are an amazing treasure of unique photos. There are some really wonderful photos of a day at the Barris Shop in their archives, which we covered in and CCC-Article some time ago. They also have a really great set of photos of some Coachcraft cars from the late 1940’s and many other really beautiful images. Several years ago when I was browsing the Life Magazine online Collection I also came across a series of really amazing color photos taken at the 1948 Paris Salón de l’Automóvil. The photos were breathtaking and showed a collection of beautiful teardrop style coachbuilt cars as well as some production cars in the beautiful Salon at the Grand Palais in Paris France.

Grand Palais in Paris France, where this amazing 1948 show was held.
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It was not only the beautiful cars that caught my eye in these pictures. It was also the way these cars were displayed in a pure and elegant way. It was all about the car, not about amazing displays, or wild show cards, and trophies ans sponsored signs. It was the way the whole building was one with the show, the ceiling hanging banners were all uniform, just one color (white) with dark red hand painted letter. And the vendor booth were were discrete, like we have seen in early US Hot Rods shows as well. These wonderful images made me think about the modern day Hot Rod and Custom Car Shows… and made me wonder how it would be if we could organize a Custom Car (and Hot Rod) show today, as if it was done around 1950.

Overview of the factory car section.
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Thinking about this took me back to the GNRS of 2011 in Building No. 9 where the Customs Then & Now exhibit was held. For this show the team had created a large number of hand made ceiling hanging banners, styled after the early 1950’s Oakland Roadster shows. It brought a really great vintage feel with it. The displays of the cars was mostly kept very traditional as well. But the vendors in the room were using all their modern ways of attracting people. Which, in my eyes, took away from the overall effect of the amazing Customs Then & Now show. It is of course very understandable that these vendors want to draw as much attention to their product if possible.

But how would it be if these vendors were invited to a special show that does allow only period style advertising. Hand painted signs, logo’s cut from colored paper, pinned to velvet like curtains behind the booth. Vendors, car owners and other officials in vintage period clothing. Authentic music playing in the building. All very much like the Then & Now show, but then taken to the max, and perhaps even find a venue that was already standing back in 1950 as well. It would be the ultimate Vintage Car show experience. I know things like this are being done on a small scale, like in just one booth, or a special car display. But doing it in a full building and taking it all the way would be such an wonderful event…. oh well I can dream.

1948 floor plan for the Salon.
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Getting back to the Salon in 1948, this show was held at the top of the teardrop Coachbuilt car era. This show had all the very best cars that were available at the time. Coachbuilders as Franay, Figoni et Falaschi and Saoutchik had several of their beautiful cars at this event, just 3 years after WWII. These Life magazine photos show how these one off beautiful created cars were displayed, how people were invited to take a look inside these car, and how the shops had set up the display with some office furniture where the sales man could talk to possible future clients.

Lets take a close look at this 1948 Show and all those beautiful cars on display. Lets get inspired by the simple yet gorgeous displays at this early show, let look at the way these show signs were done, all uniform, very much like the early US Custom Car Shows were in house sign painters created the show signs at set up day. Lets get inspired to create future Custom Car Shows inspired by these early Car Shows, lets create a travel back in time Car Show…

Coachbuilder Saoutchik displayed several of their beautiful cars in Paris. The green one on the left is built on a Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport chassis. The white car next it, with the landau half top, was built an a Delahaye 175 chassis. The white car, in front of them both was built on a Talbot T26 Record. The wonderful red car is quite likely a Cadillac, with a coachbuilt body but with the Cadillac front kept. The dark convertible seem to be based on a Bentley and built in the same manner as the Cadillac. In this way Saoutchik showed that they could perform their skills on British and American luxury cars as well as the native french cars. (Info from Per Webb)
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The grey car in the lower section of the photo is a Citroën 11 with body built by A.C.B. The rest of the cars in the photo are from Saoutchik. (Per Webb info)
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Jaques Saoutchik and his employees built the body of this Talbot-Lago after being inspired by the Buick Sedanette. The car was painted light pastel green and brown. Today the car is still around and painted two tone blue. (Per Webb info)
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Fantastic overview of the Saoutchik display.
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Delahaye Sedanca de ville created by Figoni & Falaschi.
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Besides the Coachbuilders the car of course also housed all the major factory brands from the time. This is the display of the France Ford Veddette.
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White Jaguar with wide whites on white wheels and dark red interior with a beautiful France lady…
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Panhard Dynavia prototype.
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Panhard Dynavia front view.
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Another photo of the “regular” car section of the show. Notice the displays, the Persian rug and comfortable office furniture and those hand painted ceiling hanging signs.
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Special thanks to Life Magazine, Jale Youle for his fantastic photos, and Per Webb for his amazing knowledge.

Merry Christmas 2016

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Rik Hoving

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Custom Car Chronicle. We hope you have enjoyed the 2016 CCC year as much as we have.

I would like to thank all our readers, contributors, and members for your support. Your amazing contributions and the wonderful donations we have received from you in the past year made a huge difference to the Custom Car Chronicle. I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and happy Holidays.

Buster Litton driving home in his Panoramic Ford with a freshly cut Christmas tree and plenty of presents for a wonderful Christmas.
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Anne Frank in colour

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Esther de Charon de Saint Germain

AMSTERDAM 1935 – 1945 FROM BLACK AND WHITE INTO COLOUR

Almost everybody knows what Anne Frank looked like. A dark haired, bright eyed, young girl with a dazzling smile. She touched the furthest corners of the world with her intimate and brave diary entries, which document the atrocities of the Holocaust with unrelenting optimism. Despite her tragic death at only 15 years old, Anne’s wisdom, courage and endless love continue to move strangers to this day. As Anne herself said, “Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?”

But her words, and photos, have become so iconic, that we tend to forget Anne Frank was also just a little girl. Living in Amsterdam with her sister Margot, and her parents, playing with her friends and their dolls. And to them the world was not iconic, nor black and white. It was a time where nothing was certain anymore. An extremely dangerous time when you where Jewish, gay or a Gypsy.

The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, and the Anne Frank House, asked Dutch visual designer Michael Danckaarts, to combine details of Anne’s life with knowledge about contemporary Amsterdam. Resulting in these amazing and riveting photographs and a wonderful app called “Anne’s Amsterdam”.

Danckaarts combined black-and-white photographs from Anne’s lifetime with a contemporary image of the city streets. Thus transporting viewers to the Nazi-occupied Netherlands where Anne once lived in hiding, causing an almost physical shock. I’ve been living in Amsterdam for over 25 years, and to me those images are a sharp reminder that the war and the holocaust might be in the past, but is very much interconnected with our time and with whom we are.
Let us know what you think. The app and website are translated into German and English. But some of the video’s are in Dutch. If you need any translation, please let us know.

“The Jewish quarter” first signs appear in Amsterdam 1941, at the corner of the City hall and the Mozes and Aaron church

German Soldiers drive into Amsterdam on the Berlage bridge on May 15, 1940

The German police closes of the Jewish neighbourhood at the Blauwe Brug (blue bridge) February 12, 1941. The ’39 Mercury is probably confiscated.

Anne Frank and her friends in 1936. The Franks lived in south of Amsterdam in a neighborhood were many other Jewish refugees have sought refuge. The building behind them is the first “skyscraper’ in Amsterdam, built by architect Staal.

The leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, speaks to the newly formed Amsterdam Police Battalion on the Museumplein. 18 May 1942

On 22 and 23 February 1941, the Nazis hold one of the first major raids in the Netherlands The arrests are a reprisal for fighting between Jews and Dutch and German antisemitic. A total of 427 Jewish men are rounded up in the streets round the Waterlooplein and the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein. They are then deported to concentration camps Buchenwald and Mauthausen via prison camp Schoorl. Only one of them survived the war. Note the (probably confiscated) ’39 Mercury in the middle.

During the last raid almost all Jews in the South of Amsterdam are being arrested, June 20, 1943
Jews walking to the grassy area in front of the ‘skyscraper’ on the Daniël Willinkplein. They must assemble here and wait until they are taken away by the Germans. After the war the name of this square is changed to Victorieplein. It’s not far from where Anne used to live on the Merwedeplein before she went in to hiding.
During the raid on Sunday 20 June 1943 about 5500 Jews from Amsterdam-Zuid and Oost are picked up. Many have been compelled to move to Amsterdam from other parts of the Netherlands in the previous year.

Singel 400, Amsterdam 1935. Anne Frank is standing on the steps of the house where Otto Frank is setting up a new business ‘Opekta’ In 1933 the Frank family fled from Germany to Amsterdam.

Designing a Museum for Cars

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Esther de Charon de Saint Germain

ARCHITECT BEN VAN BERKEL ABOUT DESIGNING A MUSEUM FOR MERCEDES BENZ

The Netherlands is way more than wooden shoes and windmills. Dutch architects as Rem Koolhaas and Ben van Berkel are in high demand and their work is commissioned world wide.

In 2001 Ben van Berkel’s Dutch UN Studio designed the remarkable Mercedes-Benz Museum. The architects intended to make visitors forget they are in a museum. Based on a unique cloverleaf concept, the museum comprises three overlapping circles with the centre removed to form a triangular atrium. Obviously the filmmakers of this short presentation were not very interested in the cars itself – it is very much about the building itself – but you get the picture. Whether you’re into German cars or not, we like the concept of building an actual museum for cars, thus giving them the status of design objects.

VIDEO CREDITS: Director: Mattijs Mollee, Camera: Marijn Zurburg, Sound: Bram Meindersma, Editing: Dominique Kools, Creative Producer: Geert van de Wetering, Producer: Olivia van Leeuwen, Produced by Submarine, Music Sound Design: Pastelle Music, Commissioned by DutchDFA

Vivian Maier, the Mystery Urban Street Life Photographer

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Esther de Charon de Saint Germain

A PRECIOUS GIFT

In 2007 Vivian Maier’s work was found at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Thanks to the buyer we now know Maier’s work and can be both amazed and touched by it.

There is a wonderful non-biased, open and non-judgmental approach in the photographs. As if Maier photographed the drunk guy in his car with the same attention as the beautiful young girl. There is also hope in every picture. The thought that everything can change and nothing will last forever. Maier was able to really connect with her subjects (and objects!) and thanks to her we get a glimps of urban street life in the 50’s – 70’s.

What can we say…once you’ve seen Vivian Maier photos at least one of those vivid images is bound to stay with you forever.

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All rights, text and images Maloof Collection Ltd.

About Vivian Maier

A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

Piecing together Vivian Maier’s life can easily evoke Churchill’s famous quote about the vast land of Tsars and commissars that lay to the east. A person who fit the stereotypical European sensibilities of an independent liberated woman, accent and all, yet born in New York City. Someone who was intensely guarded and private, Vivian could be counted on to feistily preach her own very liberal worldview to anyone who cared to listen, or didn’t. Decidedly unmaterialistic, Vivian would come to amass a group of storage lockers stuffed to the brim with found items, art books, newspaper clippings, home films, as well as political tchotchkes and knick-knacks.

Self Portrait Vivian Maier 1955.
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The story of this nanny who has now wowed the world with her photography, and who incidentally recorded some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of Urban America in the second half of the twentieth century is seemingly beyond belief. An American of French and Austro-Hungarian extraction, Vivian bounced between Europe and the United States before coming back to New York City in 1951. Having picked up photography just two years earlier, she would comb the streets of the Big Apple refining her artistic craft. By 1956 Vivian left the East Coast for Chicago, where she’d spend most of the rest of her life working as a caregiver. In her leisure Vivian would shoot photos that she zealously hid from the eyes of others. Taking snapshots into the late 1990′s, Maier would leave behind a body of work comprising over 100,000 negatives. Additionally Vivian’s passion for documenting extended to a series of homemade documentary films and audio recordings. Interesting bits of Americana, the demolition of historic landmarks for new development, the unseen lives of ethnics and the destitute, as well as some of Chicago’s most cherished sites were all meticulously catalogued by Vivian Maier.

A free spirit but also a proud soul, Vivian became poor and was ultimately saved by three of the children she had nannied earlier in her life. Fondly remembering Maier as a second mother, they pooled together to pay for an apartment and took the best of care for her. Unbeknownst to them, one of Vivian’s storage lockers was auctioned off due to delinquent payments. In those storage lockers lay the massive hoard of negatives Maier secretly stashed throughout her lifetime.

Self Portrait Vivian Maier
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Maier’s massive body of work would come to light when in 2007 her work was discovered at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. From there, it would eventually impact the world over and change the life of the man who championed her work and brought it to the public eye, John Maloof.
Currently, Vivian Maier’s body of work is being archived and cataloged for the enjoyment of others and for future generations. John Maloof is at the core of this project after reconstructing most of the archive, having been previously dispersed to the various buyers attending that auction. Now, with roughly 90% of her archive reconstructed, Vivian’s work is part of a renaissance in interest in the art of Street Photography.

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Want to see more…

To read and see more of Vivian Maier’s life, work and the collection take a look at the Artsy’s new Vivian Maier page. The newly designed page includes her bio, 80+ images of her works, exclusive articles about Vivian Maier, as well as her up-to-date exhibitions – it’s a unique Maier resource.[/box_light]

The Custom Car Photo Archive

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Office

OVER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PHOTO’S: THE EVER GROWING CUSTOM CAR PHOTO ARCHIVE

The Custom Car Photo Archive has gained quite some attention in the past years. There are stories about custom car enthousiast who started browsing on Friday afternoon and simply couldn’t stop till the next morning.

Yes, its a pretty addictive archive. There are over 100.000 photo’s and we’ve got visitors from all over the world. Some share fantastic stories and fantastic photos with us. Thus helping the Archive to grown bigger and bigger.

VISIT THE PHOTO ARCHIVE->

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WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT THE ARCHIVE

Pat Ganahl: Rik is inarguably the wold’s most avid collector and archivist of anything having to do with the history and current status of classic custom cars. You’ve seen his amazing digitally colorized early photos in these pages, and if you have any interest in historic custom cars, you’ve undoubtedly visited his vast online photo archive.
(TRJ #59)

Jeff Allison: Rik, love the site. I look at it often for inspiration but have never posted a message. I currently own the Astra coupe you have shots of, if you want any more pics or info about it let me know. Thanks again for posting so many sweet photos of stuff that is hard to find.

Dennis Metz – Shelbyville, IN: I am honored that you have posted new photos of my dad’s 1950 Buick. I was visiting the site today to tell my co-worker about other pictures I have seen in an album titled RC Dream Truck and Golden Sahara in the Barris archieves. My father had several customs that are not posted that were in many different Rod and Custom Magazines in the 1950’s. I was happy today to see BOB METZ added as a photo album and much to my surprise I have never seen the photos you have posted of his 1950 Buick. Thanks again.

Pat Ganahl: This naturally led me to Rik Hoving’s website of all things custom, where he had some photos of this car posted, including a couple of the dash/interior I hadn’t seen.
(TRJ #51)

Barry Mazza: I’am in a state of shock over your collection of photos in the Custom Car Photo Archive. I’am floored over it and thinks its way over the top. Thanks for the pleasure of seeing these great photos of the cars we love and love to see…………….

Pete Chapouris: Jimmie Vaughan came by today and turned me on to your site. He was right, it’s hard to look at anything else. Great stuff, especially the Ayala cars. I spent many Saturdays there with my dad when I was a pup.

Josh Mills: I am a big fan of your site and reference it often. Thanks for the time you have taken to put all of the info in one place. It is a great collection.

bangshift.com, Posted by Chad Reynolds: If you’re into custom cars, you may never leave your seat after we show you this. If you’re not into ‘em, you will be. A guy named Rik Hoving in the Netherlands has compiled The Custom Car Photo Archive that includes incredible images and history of all sorts of customs from the ’40s through today. You’ll see historic photos, scans of ancient magazine pages, and notes on many cars you’ve heard of and hundreds you haven’t.

Kurt McCormick: Hi, Rik– My friend wolf told me about your site, and I want you to know what a pleasure it is to look through it. It has obviously taken a lot of time and effort to put it together, and you have done a fine job. I want to thank you for the page on the ‘41 cad. As many pictures as I have of the car, I would rather look at them on your site because they are presented so well. This web site is the definitive custom archive. Thanks for creating it.

Jan Emory Wilson: What an amazing site! I am Neil Emory’s daughter (Valley Custom) and my brother Gary just sent me your website. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

VISIT THE ARCHIVE->

Red for Passion

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Esther de Charon de Saint Germain

VOLVO: SAFETY FIRST….

You’ve got to love the Swedes. The’ve invented beds that fit into a Mini (courtesy of Ikea) and they’re the master of nail-biting crime-series (a lot of that credit goes to Denmark too). It’s the land of Pippi Longstocking, mind blowing design, nature is ‘quite’ beautiful, they’re really in to hot rods and custom cars….and its Volvo country.

Here’s some great video footage. See if you can find the living crash test dummy, the recurring female form that fits just wonderfully in the safety belts and the happily smokings men in their otherwise very safe Volvo’s.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1LggiyTFqo