The return of the Customs.
- This topic has 36 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 10 months ago by Bert Gustafsson.
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January 13, 2014 at 05:23 #9322Ron BrooksParticipant
I have always felt the 1980’s were a very important time period because it meant the return of Customs Cars to the Old Car hobby. By 1980 the K.K.O.A. had been formed, and in 1982 West Coast Kustoms had come on the Scene. I had my Custom Chevy since 1974 and it was great to see interest and support growing. At the Oakland Roadster Show ,Customs played a big part in the early days but by the 1970’s had all but vanished! John D’Agostino and Richard Zocchi pretty much carried the torch themselves.In 1985 an important meeting took place.Rich Pichette of West Coast Kustoms and Richard Zocchi met with Roadster Show owner Darryl Starbird about bringing more Customs to the show. Darryl liked the idea and offered as many spots as West Coast Customs needed.For the 1986 show 25 Customs were shown with 6 being shown in the main arena with the roadsters. The Return of the Customs was a big hit that year and it marked the beginning of a good turn-out of Customs for every year after! Here are photos of some of the Cars that were featured that year. I am proud to say I was part of the Re-birth.
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January 13, 2014 at 06:18 #9323Jeff NepplParticipantWhat a great thread with great pictures. Its funny I just had a long conversation with someone about this topic today. Thanks for sharing Ron and thanks for being a part of it.
January 13, 2014 at 06:58 #9324Rik HovingKeymasterGreat thread Ron…
The 80’s was when it all started for me. I was born in 1967, so I was still a teenager back then. And in 1982 or so I got invected. Back then there was not much out there were I lived and most of all not anything old or historic in magazines or books. So the customs from the early 1980’s was what really got me started. And I have a very special feel for them today. And I think they are a big part in the way the custom car scene is today. Those guys back in the 1980’s brought back the beautiful customs.Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
January 13, 2014 at 09:09 #9325Rik HovingKeymasterBack in the early 1980’s when the custom cars returned to the scene… everything was new to me, it was my introduction to the scene. And most of it I had to find in magazines like Chrome and Flames.
I have showed this to Ron before, but I guess its interesting to the rest as well.
This European magazine Chrome & Flames was basically all I had back then, and I read every magazine front to back over and over again. And I believed everything I read in this magazine.This particular issue of Chrome & Flames was from 1984 and this car – part of the 80’s return of the custom cars was owned by an Italian guy named Giovanni Dicaduzi.
According the magazine Giovanni built the car from a wrecked Chevy with a LOT of rust since the car had lived its life in Venice Italy. Giovanni bought the car fro the price of old iron. And since it had so much rust from living its live in water world Venice there was not much metal left.
The article also mentioned that the engine of Ron’s car comes from a sunken Riva boat and has 325 HP.It would take at least ten years before I finally found out that Ron’s Chevy was not an Italian custom at all…
But that it has been important for the custom car revival from the 1980’s… I knew that from the time I read the magazine.Great story 🙂
Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
January 13, 2014 at 16:09 #9358Ron BrooksParticipantThanks Rik , that article brought myself and my friends a lot of laughs.The photos were stolen from a 1982 Street Rodder magazine article . I will have to look on E-bay to try to find a copy.
January 13, 2014 at 20:50 #9370Dave (a.k.a. rodncustomdreams)ParticipantTerrific thread Ron! I too was driving a mild custom Chevy in the ’80s and have been in love with custom cars since my model-building days in the ’60s. My gratitude to the KKOA and the customizers and promoters that kept and revived this vital aspect of the motoring world!
-Dave
p.s. Misinformation regarding old customs..? Could it be? 😉
Jus' creepin' along..
January 14, 2014 at 05:12 #9371Scott YanagiharaParticipantGreat story, I had a 53 Ford Victoria in the late 80’s, J2 Olds, Hydro, nosed and decked and cut for a 54 Chevy grill, it had 14 x 6 chrome reversed wheels with belted thin whitewalls, it was an old custom that I found and got running for a cruiser, Everyone else I knew my age had mini trucks and Camaro’s they thought I was nuts, wish I still had it….
Hopefully finding info on my 34 Vicky in it's original Kustomized form.
January 14, 2014 at 06:11 #9372Curt IseliParticipantI enjoyed the story, Ron. Do you recall who owned the two-tone ’56 Buick hardtop?
I also remember Speed and Chrome, but didn’t realize they’d been around so long. This cool little hot rod magazine and model shop used to get it and I have some issues from the late-’90s/early-2000s. One had Craig Hahn’s sectioned ’39 on the cover. Glad to know I can now believe everything I read.
January 14, 2014 at 16:05 #9408Ron BrooksParticipantHi Curt, The Buick was then owned by Ken Smith , later was reworked and now owned by Danny Gonsalves , both are good friends and fellow members of Satans Angels car club.
January 14, 2014 at 17:36 #9410David WolkParticipantThe return of customs in the 80’s had a huge impact on me. I was born in 1966 so by the late 1970’s and early 80’s I was hooked on custom cars. I remember looking at August 1977 Street Rodder magazine 1000’s of times. By the early 80’s I’d see more customs featured in the magazines. I had to have a Merc just like one of those in the magazines.
Within a few months of graduating high school I bought a stock 1950 Mercury. I remember thinking it was cool, but it had to sit low and it needed to be chopped. Over the next year we (me, my brother and a few friends) turned it into a custom car. By the time it was finished we taught ourselves to weld, do suspension, mechanical, body and paint work. My Merc was featured in several magazines in the late 80’s. It was a chopped mint green Merc with no skirts, black walls, chrome wheels with Shannon cone center caps.
Thanks to the guys that kept the torch burning in the dark days. By the late 80’s and 90’s custom cars were everywhere, KKOA, West Coast Customs Paso, and Custom Rodder Magazine. I’m glad I witnessed it and could be a part of it.
January 14, 2014 at 23:58 #9419Keith DaleenParticipantDavid,
Your car was a big hit with all of us locals in Sedalia Mo. Remember seeing it at one of the old Cruise Nites.
I remember reading a article in the late 70’s about the Kustom Kemps of Kansas. They became the KKOA I believe. Anyway it was great to see the custom scene come back. I was born in 1956, so there were some customs still around when I was growing up. My aunt dated a guy in the early 60’s that had a purple 55 Ford with solenoid buttons in the rockers to open the doors. Pretty cool when you are 6 or 7 yrs old. The 80’s sure helped revive the custom scene.
January 15, 2014 at 00:09 #9420Curt IseliParticipantI found these recent shots of Danny’s Buick online. Still looks very cool. I like the Packard taillights…they look so good on mid-’50s Buicks.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.January 15, 2014 at 07:06 #9425Rik HovingKeymasterWithin a few months of graduating high school I bought a stock 1950 Mercury. I remember thinking it was cool, but it had to sit low and it needed to be chopped. Over the next year we (me, my brother and a few friends) turned it into a custom car. By the time it was finished we taught ourselves to weld, do suspension, mechanical, body and paint work. My Merc was featured in several magazines in the late 80’s. It was a chopped mint green Merc with no skirts, black walls, chrome wheels with Shannon cone center caps.
I sure remember your Mint Green Mercury… I know I have it in one or two magazines, but no time to scan it right now.. So I took the photo you used on your home page to show the rest. (Love your 1940 Merc.. perhaps you can share some photos of that one on the CCC-Forum as well)
Wasn’t one of the articles called “New Kid in Town” ?Enjoy the beauty of Customizing
January 15, 2014 at 17:31 #9452David WolkParticipantThanks Keith, I knew from your posts that you live in the area. I’ve been to some really good cruise nights and shows in Sedalia. I’m friends with Dick Shultz form Sedalia. He owned the Snooky Janich 1941 Ford in the late 50’s early 60’s, before George and Steve Mallory bought it. Dick is a diehard custom guy. He has a blue early 50’s Chevy traditional custom, that he has owned for at least 30 years. He is a really good guy.
January 15, 2014 at 18:33 #9453David WolkParticipantRik, Thanks I’ll have to get out some photos of it, and my 39 Merc. I’ve taken 1000’s of photos of custom cars over the years, but I don’t have many photos of my own cars.
On the trunk lid of my 50 Merc I had an artist/pin striper paint a set of lowering blocks and u-bolts with the name “New kid on the block”. I was 19 years old at the time, but now I think back it was kind of dumb.
Ron, thanks for starting this thread. Can’t wait to read other posts of the custom re-birth. Keep them coming.
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