![Buick Hot Rod](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Buick_Hot_Rod.jpg)
Kustoms are modified cars from the 1930s to the early 1960s, done in the customizing styles of that time period. The usage of a ''"K"'' for "Kustom" rather than a "C", is believed to have originated with
George Barris.
Styling
This style generally consists of, but is not limited to, starting with a 2-door
coupe
A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and two doors.
The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...
and making changes such as:
* Lowering the
suspension
Suspension or suspended may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Suspension (topology), in mathematics
* Suspension (dynamical systems), in mathematics
* Suspension of a ring, in mathematics
* Suspension (chemistry), small solid particles suspend ...
* Chopping down the roof line, (usually chopped more in the rear to give a "raked back" look, B-pillars are also commonly leaned to enhance this look)
* Sectioning and/or channeling the body, (removing a section from the center of the body)
* Certain pieces of side
trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
are usually removed or "shaved" to make the car look longer, lower and smoother
* Often bits and pieces of trim from other model cars, are cut, spliced and added to give the car a totally new and interesting "line" to lead the eye in the direction that the Kustomizer wishes it to go
*
Door handle
A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including exterior doors of residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehicle doors. There are many ...
s are also "shaved" as well, and electric
solenoid
upright=1.20, An illustration of a solenoid
upright=1.20, Magnetic field created by a seven-loop solenoid (cross-sectional view) described using field lines
A solenoid () is a type of electromagnet formed by a helix, helical coil of wire whose ...
s or cables are installed
* Buttons are installed in hidden locations and used to open the doors
*
Trunk lids and other pieces of the body can also be altered in this matter.
Lights
The
head and tail lights of a true Kustom may or may not be the original ones manufactured with the car. Some popular swaps would be putting
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
or
Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
headlight
A headlamp is a lamp (electrical component), lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage (language), usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the ...
s in another model for example. Headlights, tail lights,
antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
(e) are also subject to term and act called "Frenching", where the object is cut from the body, a "box" in the shape of the item is fabricated and
welded
Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as braz ...
into the original hole. The part is then installed back into the "Frenching Pocket" giving it a look of being recessed into the body.
Leading
Traditionally, "Lead", (a mixture of 70%
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and 30%
tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal.
Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
) is used in bodywork of the area instead of modern
polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include natural ...
fillers or
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
, after the metal shaping is done to prepare for
paint
Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
. "Leading" connotes a true Kustom "Lead Sled", which was started in the 1950s to imply a large, slow lead-filled car that was all flash and could not hold its own at the races. This was sometimes not the case however and certain Kustoms packed some serious punch under the
hood
Hood may refer to:
Covering
Apparel
* Hood (headgear), type of head covering
** Article of academic dress
** Bondage hood, sex toy
* Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt
Anatomy
* Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitoris
* Hood, a flap of ...
. Today, however calling someone's car a "Lead Sled" will generally be taken as a compliment.
Grills and hubcaps
Grills are often changed on lead sleds as well. Some owners use pieces of other grills to Kustomize their own. For example, using a
DeSoto grill in a '50
Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
, or a
LaSalle (
Cadillac
The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
) grill in a '36
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, two of the most recognized and classic combinations of all time. "Flipper" style
hubcap
A hubcap or hub cap is a decorative disk on an automobile wheel that covers at minimum the central portion of the wheel, called the hub. An automobile hubcap is used to cover the wheel hub and the wheel fasteners to reduce the accumulation of ...
s are popular on Kustoms, such as '57
Dodge Lancer
The Dodge Lancer is an automobile that was marketed in three unrelated versions by Dodge during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1980s. The first version debuted as a hardtop version of the full-sized 1955 Dodge, and was produced in that form until 1959 ...
(4 bars), '56
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
Fiesta (3 bars), '59 Dodge lancer or "Crabs" as they are said to resemble a crab, Other such as '57 and '49 Cadillac hubcaps are also acceptable and referred to as "Sombreros", '57
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
"cones", etc. There were also other popular styles that were purely after market and never came factory stock on another car, like "Hollywood" flippers, or "Crossbars" for example.
Tires
It is an unspoken rule of sorts that a Kustom will have
whitewall tire
Whitewall tires or white sidewall (WSW) tires are tires having a stripe or entire sidewall of white rubber. These tires were most commonly used from the early 1900s to around the mid 1980s.
Background
The use of whitewall rubber for tire has be ...
s, most authentic being bias ply style
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s. The width of the whitewall denotes the era that the particular car hearkens to. For example, a Kustom built in a 1940s style will typically have true "wide Whites" which are 3 inches or more in width, where the white rubber extends ''behind'' the rim of the wheel, this style is period correct for Kustoms up to the mid 1950s. From the mid to late 1950s, a narrower (but still wide) extending ''to'' the rim of the wheel. In 1956, GM had a concept car called "Biscayne" (styling elements that were later used on
Corvettes
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...
, '57
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
s, and
Corvairs). This car featured some new high-tech looking tires that had only a very thin stripe of whitewall rubber. By 1958,
Cadillac starts selling cars with these type of "Skinny Whites" or "Inch walls" they were an instant hit and all the rage with the Kustom Krowd. This style of thinner 1 in, 1.5 in, 1.3 in, 3/8 in, or 5/8 in whitewall continued to be popular into the 1960s and are still common on some newer cars today.
Exhaust pipes
"Lakes pipes" were another Kustom main stay, long or short
chrome pipes that run back from behind the front wheels wells. They have either one of three removable end plugs for running flat through with open exhaust. Side pipes are similar but do not include removable plugs, "Bellflower" tips are similar but run from the rear wheel well back under the bumper, a style that emerged in the
Bellflower, California
Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total popu ...
area in the early 1960s.
Schools of Kustomizing
![Cadillac - Carrozzeria Motto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Cadillac_-_Carrozzeria_Motto.jpg)
This school of Kustomizing is called building a "Stock Component Kustom" where parts from other makes and years are used to alter the appearance of the car.
Mild Kustom
The term "Mild Kustom" refers to a fairly conservative approach to Kustomizing, where the majority of the original beauty and identity of the car are retained.
Full Kustom
A "Full Kustom" refers to a car that has been severely altered from every aspect possible almost every exterior panel is re-shaped, interiors, dash, engine bay, suspension, heavily chromed mechanical components, etc.
Bomb
There is also a third version of a true Kustom, the "Bomb". These were the original
Lowrider
A lowrider or low rider is a customized car with a lowered body. These customized vehicles are generally individually painted with intricate, colorful designs, rolling on wire-spoke wheels with whitewall tires. Lowrider rims are generally smalle ...
s, which developed back in the 1940s through the 1960s alongside the other types of "Kustoms" These usually were similar to the mild Kustoms in that they emphasize keeping the car as original as possible, but using custom paint, chrome, and often covered with every type of bolt-on period correct accessory possible. Each additional accessory on a Bomb is like having one more little badge of honor. Bombs usually have heavily altered
suspensions
In chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous mixture of a fluid that contains solid particles sufficiently large for sedimentation. The particles may be visible to the naked eye, usually must be larger than one micrometer, and will eventually ...
that incorporate traditional
hydraulics
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
setups, (the most authentic use discarded
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
aircraft hydraulic components, which were largely available after the war). Some use of "Air Bags" are used these days on all genera of Kustoms the suspension height, not traditional but often given a "free pass" in this day and age.
Terminology
These cars can also be referred to as
custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been either substantially altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission; made into a personal "styling" statement, using paint work and aftermarket ...
s,
leadsleds or sleds. The term kustom is generally used as a signifier that the car was done in the 1950s and early 1960s style as opposed to later more modern styles.
See also
*
Kustom Kulture
Kustom Kulture is a neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who have driven and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today.
It was born out of the ...
*
Custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been either substantially altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission; made into a personal "styling" statement, using paint work and aftermarket ...
*
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
References
External links
Custom car photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kustom (Cars)
Modified vehicles
DIY culture
Kustom Kulture
Automotive styling features
Visual arts media