Is it custom fabulous or gaud awful?
Now isn’t this an interesting topic that has been stirred up by a member showing us photos of a car that has been radically customized. I have heard many discussions about cars that have been changed from original to a creation that is far from what the original designers had dreamed of. We see many examples of customs at some cars shows including the Lake Mirror Classic. Some customs we view in awe and others like the one in the photo may make some of us turn away and shake our heads. In past discussions it seemed to be a consensus that if you are working with a car that is far gone (rust for example) and it would be hard to find or repair the parts to bring it back to original, it can be wise to customize in restoration. One might opt for leaving off trim, lowering the roof and adding a bright color for a show look. Now it seems today that segments of our population are taking relatively modern cars, some almost new, and putting on big wheels, bizarre paint jobs and sound systems that might be heard for miles. This afternoon for example I saw a beautiful pearl red Eldorado with a tan top being driven by a little old lady and we commented what a keeper that car may be, it was original. We go on the street and saw another one which had been repainted bright lime green with huge chrome and lime wheels that are probably 32”. The car looks like it is another foot off the ground and by the boom boom from the sound system we know the driver thinks “he is stylin”and showing off to the world. I have seen a number of these cars drive around our area and many times I just turn my head and wonder what were they thinking? Ever notice those fake Buick chrome port holes stuck on the front fenders of many cars these days. I see them on everything from Nissan Sentras to Chrysler 300s. Why, sometimes they aren’t even put on straight or the pin stripe that is wavy looks like the person who put it on was drunk. I think in some of these cases we may criticize the owner for doing or accepting a poor job. I think we might have another direction to finger point and that is the modern auto industry. Years ago Harley Earl was hired by Cadillac to help the company. One of the first things he did was take a parking lot full of plain cars that hadn’t sold and have them painted in bright colors. Cars in the 50s through the early 80s had much more style and a better choice of color inside and out, than we seem to have today. I have heard many comments about looking for a car in a parking lot today and only finding subdued colors. When we see some of these customized modern cars it might just be the owner trying to find a little style at a time when cars from the factory look as boring as can be. The exceptions are usually out of most of our price range or practicality. So, may I conclude that when one views a car that is customized we may be looking at something that is considered a creation by an owner or a custom shop. They are trying to convey something with this car. It may be they are trying to look at the original design and add more sleek lines or it may be someone saying “look at me” with too much trim and glitz. Sometimes it is only that they wish they had something else and paint and port holes are an attempt to brighten up a faded used car.
