Build A Budget 1960s Custom

Customs are the wild strutting peacocks of the hot rod world, cruising around town sporting killer paint and chrome bullet grilles with equal parts of style and showmanship. However, building and owning a head-turning boulevard cruiser doesn't have to be a bank-breaking experience. Detroit passenger cars from the early to mid '60s are plentiful, inexpensive, and packed with cool "rocket-age" style which make them perfect candidates for the mild custom treatment. We spoke to a few experts in an attempt to drum up some ideas and inspire the masses, then we contacted ace illustrator Jeff Norwell and had him put our dreams on paper. We think any one of these super-sano customs would make an awesome cruiser, so now it's up to you folks to actually build one!

Why A '60s Custom?

Just as the first hot rods were built to pursue the singular goal of unlimited speed, the original customs were created for one purpose and one purpose only: to look cool. Early custom gurus with names like George and Sam Barris, Gene Winfield, Darryl Starbird, and the Alexander Brothers built cars that awed a generation and stretched people's perception of what an automobile could look like. Cut-down rooflines, elegant body curves that flowed from one panel to the next, and wild front end treatments became standard fare on customs in the late '40s and early '50s, when cash-strapped young men eagerly modified their older cars in an attempt to capture the look and style of the latest luxury iron coming out of Detroit. In an ironic twist of fate, however, by the time the late '50s rolled around, the Big Three automakers in Michigan had noticed the custom car phenomenon and began to incorporate some of the more interesting ideas born on the show car circuit into their own designs. A combination of these wild styles' colliding with the coming "rocket age," heralded by the first manned flights into space, resulted in the American automobile's undergoing a styling renaissance in 1960 that completely changed the look of the standard family sedan. Suddenly, ultra-wide rooflines looked chopped right from the factory, bodies sat lower on their haunches, grilles were filled full of teeth or bars, and taillights looked like rocket thrusters urging the car forward. Factory-built customs rolled off the assembly lines in huge numbers, and these wild rides usually came packed with state-of-the-art goodies like big V-8 engines, power steering, independent suspension, and ultra-plush interiors.

So what does all this have to do with you? Well, chances are, if you're reading this magazine, you dig customs. It doesn't matter if your idea of a killer custom is a totally traditional chopped sled akin to the Hirohata Merc or a billet-wheeled supercar ala Troy Trepanier. We've already established the fact that customs are cool; the only problem is that obtaining a finished car can be quite expensive (or illegal, depending on how you obtain it). Assuming that grand larceny isn't your bag, the best (and most fun) way to get a great custom driver is to build one. The standard custom fodder, such as '49 Mercs, early-'50s Chevys, and Shoebox Fords, require lots of extreme bodywork to achieve proper custom status, and most of those cars are getting pretty difficult (and expensive) to procure. The solution is to look for alternatives, and for all the reasons listed above we think early-'60s family coupes and sedans fit the bill perfectly. These cars are still relatively plentiful, drive great, have lots of power, and feature funky styling you couldn't improve on even if you tried. Shy away from Chevrolet and prices go down even lower, although finding parts might be a tad more challenging. With a few simple mods, like lowering the suspension, changing the paint, and adding a killer wheel/tire combo, we dare say that you could have yourself a fun-to-drive, cool-looking custom for less than $10K, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

So now that we've made the statement, it's time to put our money where our proverbial mouth is. Example one: Editor Rizzo just sold a killer '64 Biscayne (which he named the Rizcayne) that featured a slammed stance courtesy of airbags, giant Intro billet rollers, a satin white body with a purple 'flake roof, and a decked-out six-cylinder with split manifolds and dual exhaust. His total investment was less than $8 grand, and the car looked killer. Example two: Our new Feature Editor Damon Lee is cruising around town in a suede navy blue '63 Dodge with frenched antennas and chrome-plated wire wheels for a similar investment, and yours truly has been seen on occasion in a slammed pastel-yellow Bullet 'Bird with Astros and skinny whites. Rides from the '60s are ripe for the picking, but don't take our word for it. We asked a few high-profile names from the custom world for thoughts on how to build the ultimate low-buck custom, and they came back with a wealth of opinions and ideas.

The Experts Speak

Jim "Bones" Noteboom
Bones Custom Concepts
"Back in the '60s, when I built my first Riviera, all the work we did to my car, including a Gene Winfield fade paint job, cost me $300. We nosed it, decked it, shaved the door handles, lowered it, and added a custom paint job and wire wheels. That's all you need to do with a semi-custom. These days you can find a guy who will do a pretty nice tuck 'n' roll upholstery job for less than $1,000 if you look hard enough, and that can add a lot to a car. It shouldn't be to difficult to finish a complete car, painted and upholstered and everything, for less than $10 grand, including the price of the car if you plan it right."

John D'Agostino
D'Agostino Kustom Kars
"I like the '61 era, such as the Oldsmobiles and Buick Invictas. They're neat cars and can be bought right for about $3,500 or $4,000. They already have a bubbletop, so you don't have to chop them...just do a nice grille treatment, either a bar grille or perforated metal with bullets, and perhaps make a set of taillights. All you need to do is drop the car and get some chrome wheels, spider caps, and a nice tuck 'n' roll job, and you're ready to roll down the road. Since you don't have to spend the money on a chopped top, it allows you to concentrate on the paint job, and the possibilities with those cars are endless. You can use candies, 'flakes, even scallops or fades. To me, black primer is for a guy who doesn't have a lot of money but still wants to go to the local car shows or rod runs or whatever. If you want to seriously show your car, though, you need to paint it. I think 'flake is going to come back really strong, especially with the early-'60s stuff.

"As far as actually building a car goes, first find a solid, well-running car. Make sure the mechanicals all look good, and then airbag it. Once you drop the car down and get the profile you're looking for, everything starts to come to you; you can figure out what kind of grille to use and how to do the taillights. It's hard to work on a car that's a foot off the ground. The cars we're talking about have lots of interesting bodylines, so to me a blended paint job, or even straight candy looks great. I'd rather have that than your standard scallops, depending on what you want to do.

"Finally, it's important to try and find a nice, clean, rust-free car. That will save a lot of money right off the bat, because it's really difficult and expensive to do patchwork. It's always worth it to spend a little more money on a much nicer car. Make sure the car is mechanically sound, because rebuilding those rare early-'60s engines can be expensive. I like to find California cars because they're usually rust free. I like to undercoat the bottoms of the car rather than chroming everything, because chrome can get really expensive, and my cars are so low you'll never see the undercarriage anyway. If your car has a lot of eye appeal, they won't look to see if your A-arms are chrome."

Steve Strope
Pure Vision Design
"The early '60s is a nice transitional period for cars because it mixes the art deco style of this really cool rocket look with the art deco style of the late '50s. The cars have this wild aircraft style from '59 until '63 or so, and I'd like to see more Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs done as customs, especially the big body styles. All you have to do is find one in good shape, paint it with a nice two tone, get some cool wheels, and hammer it to the ground, and it will be cool because you just don't see them very often. What people need to be aware of with these cars is that there's a positive side and a negative side to using an off-brand car. The plus is that you're different, you're going to get noticed, and it'll be fresh. The minus is that parts availability is limited, so you'll have to rely on talent when it comes to fixing and replacing things like trim, weatherstripping, even speed parts. You have to be a sleuth with cars like that; you have to check out swap meets, junkyards, Hemmings, places like that. When it comes to intake manifolds and valve covers, it's not as easy as ordering parts for a small-block Chevy. If you're a true car guy, though, that's part of the fun. Finding that wild six-pot intake for your Olds motor can be like finding a pot of gold. If you're not interested in spending time playing with your parts, look for a Chevy. Building a non-Chevy car can seem like you're waging a more difficult war, but the result at the end is much more unique and unquestionably yours.

"If you want something simple, go build a Camaro. The people who are going to be interested in building a custom are probably the same people who like going parts searching, going swapping, finding cool old gear. Or, if you like the high-tech contemporary stuff, find a straight old car and start swapping out parts. Gut the front suspension and put a new crossmember in with Mustang II-style suspension, maybe a modern drivetrain, and slam it with a giant set of wheels. There are many ways to throw stuff into the pot and come up with a new formula; just make sure you start with the right elements. Sometimes you can take three things that taste delicious and throw them in a blender, and the result tastes like crap. You have to start with the right ingredients for a good end result."

Rob Fortier
Custom Rodder Magazine
"Using a domestic car from the '60s, especially one of a more popular manufacture, is probably the best thing you could do for a mild custom. For those not so mechanically inclined, your chances of finding a 'reliable' driver from that era are a lot greater than from the '50s, and the cost difference will be substantial as well. Well under $10K will get you into a clean car that you can drive as you customize. Personally, though, it's the natural factory styling that attracts me to these cars. My favorites from this era are early-'60s Pontiacs. I have a ton of Life Magazine-sized color ads from 1961 through maybe early 1963, and the artwork used to 'sell' the various models was amazing...but the ironic thing is, it didn't take dramatic scenery to sell such a gorgeous car!

"A period '60s mild custom can be interpreted in many ways, especially taking into consideration geographical fads of the era. For me, the Watson/Bellflower look is the only way to go. Crazy paint (paneling, scalloping, cob webbing, lacing--you name it) can do wonders for even a stock car, but adding a few touches such as shaved handles/emblems, different taillights, etc., can make a huge difference. As far as wheels go, well, you can't beat a set of gennie spider caps, or, my favorite, real Astro Supremes mounted with US Royal whites! But leave the fuzzy mirror cozies and neon out of the equation."

Tony Thacker
So-Cal Speed Shop
"The trouble with a lot of guys when they get into customs is, if you look back at the really cool cars that guys like Barris built back in the late '40s, they were primarily taking stuff off the car and trying to make them look like nicer cars. Those guys were trying to make old Fords look like new Cadillacs. Some of what has happened in the custom car world is that people now feel that, in order to make a custom work, you have to throw as much crap on the car as possible, when that is the opposite of what you should be doing. Yes, your car should make a statement, but it should be subtle. You don't have to modify every panel, but the pieces you do mess with should be done very well. I would absolutely recommend figuring out a plan for your project and then making sure you stick to it. Don't change things midstream, because that's when you'll waste a lot of money. If you can, start with some kind of rendering, because it will give you a bit of a road map as to where you're going to go and what you're going to do on the car."

Cole Foster
The Salinas Boyz
"To me, what separates a mild custom from a wild custom is whether or not the roof is cut. Some cars just weren't meant to be wild customs, and a lot of the '60s cars are cool from the factory--they look good. The manufacturers were so aware of custom style in those years; don't take stuff off a car for the hell of it, and if your ride has nice lines, don't confuse them with pinstripes or graphics--just show it off with a complementary color. Suedes, pearls, frosted colors, and some of the wild metallic colors coming out on new cars can be an alternative to 'flake and are usually really far-out and classy at the same time.

"To me, a bitchin' interior is what it's all about. I wish all these custom guys would dig deeper than a catalog when it comes time to find parts for their interiors. Cars from this period have these huge interiors with swooping dashes and flowing lines all over the place, and people should take advantage of that. There is a company around that makes Formica that looks just like brushed metal, which would make really cool interior trim. Since the stuff flexes, you could use it to fabricate your own door panels and a matching dash insert. People should open their eyes and look at all things as possible materials for use in a project, rather than just the standard catalog parts."

The Market

While researching this story, we picked up a copy of the Cars of Particular Interest "Black Book," which is essentially a price guide that focuses on collector cars. A new book is issued every three months to keep things current, and average values are broken down for each model into three categories: Fair, Good, and Excellent. There is no listing for "rotting behind my neighbor's barn," so exceptionally shoddy cars will be worth decidedly less than a car in "fair" or "good" condition. However, as several of the builders we spoke to mentioned, it usually doesn't pay to buy the cheapest car you can find. Fixing problems like rust, engine or transmission trouble, and frame damage can get very costly, so in this case spending a little more will often net you a much better car in the long run.

To get a general feel for the market we looked up prices for an assortment of similar '60 full-size coupes, which are great customizing material. We're only going to list the prices shown for "fair" and "good" cars, since it wouldn't make sense to start a project with an "excellent" ride that has already undergone serious restoration. Also keep in mind that these prices are a national average, so prices can range higher and lower depending on what part of the country you reside in. Let's take a look.

It appears as if somewhere between $3 and $6 grand will net you a pretty nice car, with the premier brands like Cadillac and Lincoln fetching a little more. One interesting discrepancy that probably needs explaining is the unusually high price listed under the Ford heading. While the standard workhorse sedan was considerably cheaper, we listed the price for the Starliner, which is a much more available (and cooler) car, even though it is a little pricey. Overall the prices all look about the same, although the Dodge is significantly cheaper than everything else on the list. We verified the numbers in the local Recycler newspaper; once again Caddys demanded the most green and Chrysler products ride the rock bottom, which is great news for budget custom builders, since Mopar built some pretty funky stuff in the early '60s and their engines are second to none.

Now that you've got a slightly better idea of what prices look like, start saving up for your new project any way you can. Collect cans, hunt for loose change between the couch cushions, whatever it takes, because being short on dough is no longer a valid excuse!