The Sit Down Gambino Kustoms

steven Durham

steven Durham

#2
#2
Great bunch of low riders I like the Low Merc the best. For a short while I hade a low merc with a 425 Buick Wild cat engine and it got stopped too much for being so low.
 
Taco Loco Joe

Taco Loco Joe

#4
#4
Yea! 49-51. Chopped Mercs are my favorite. These cars while sitting Low are not considered Low Riders out here. They are Kustoms. The cars I posted are Generally owned by Old Guys with plenty of Money or guys that have mastered Metal Fabrication and Body modifications. They have their own Culture, Music and Clubs with Kool names like The Road Zombies and the Beatniks lol.
 
steven Durham

steven Durham

#7
#7
I was raised in Wilmington, California and there were cars we called Cholo Wagons and the riders were often called Pachuco's and they were often big sedans too hold more people. As times got better the custom works began to appear good paint and interiors.
 
Taco Loco Joe

Taco Loco Joe

#8
#8
Google Bill Hines, Gene Winfield, George Barris to get more insight into the original Kustoms coming out of California back in the 40s . And yes young Hispanics were customizing Cars then also. Lot of Creative people were doing Cool stuff back then. Let’s not forget the Cool Choppers also!
 
EVOL Tweety Bird

EVOL Tweety Bird

Active Member
#12
#12
Have you seen the dwarf scale cars Ernie Adams builds? That man is a master, all hand built bodies and interiors.

Silly system, won't let me post Youtube videos of his work, just look up dwarf cars.
 
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FOMOGO

FOMOGO

#14
#14
Taco Loco Joe said:
Another California guy, Joe Bailon .his claim to fame Inventor of Candy Apple Red
Click to expand...
Lots of quality guys in your list but every time I see George Barris name it ticks me off. The world thinks he did it all and he lets them. The man that started the madness at Barris was his Brother Sam. George was mostly the promoter so he was always in the limelight. Sam was the hands on guy. Sam had a slick chopped dark green 49 Merc. The Famous (that no one remembers) Hirohata 51 Merc hit the scene. It too was a Sam built car. The first cut 51 they say. The "Batman" TV show made George famous for a car that he did not create. The Batmobile was a Ford styling studio car from 58 called the Lincoln Futura. He just added some frue frue and paint to an already amazing car.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Futura

It is one of just a few cars that ever escaped the Ford Styling studios. They tended to crush them as soon as they were finished with them.

You live in the hot bed of all this stuff so I am probably not telling you anything that you didn't already know...

2 custom cars of the early years that I think are the most outstanding are the Hirohata 51 Mercury and the 40 Nick Matranga Mercury. 2 cars that I never thought I would see in person and I got to see both of them when I went to the 50th Oakland Roadster Show. They were displayed together. Very influential cars in the world of custom cars.

https://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Bob_Hirohata's_1951_Mercury

https://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Nick_Matranga's_1940_Mercury

Candy paint is easy to make out of any color if you want. It is 1 part color to 5 parts clear to make the translucent color. Use the standard silver or gold base coat to get the color to pop.
 
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