Custom Car Culture: Before Pimp My Ride, There was Kalifornia Kustom Kar Kulture

While "hot rods" had been around since immediately before World War II, "Kalifornia Kustom Kar Kulture" began with (and some say ended with) custom car builders Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, the Barris brothers, and artist Von Dutch in the fifties.

Kalifornia Kustom Kar Kulture is gaining new popularity with the emerging Low-Brow Art Movement created by alternative comix artist Robert Williams, who once worked in Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's shop. 

Ed "Big Daddy" Roth

While Roth is best known for his grotesque cartoon hot-rodder character "The Rat Fink", he is less known for transforming backyard hot rod tinkering into a sophisticated artform combined with engineering finesse. He was also the first designer to implement fiberglass bodywork into custom cars.

"The Outlaw" was Big Daddy's first vehicle using his special "plaster and fiberglass method." His mother-in-law's family Revolutionary War sword was incorporated into the car as a gear shifter.

Roth's "Beatnik Bandit" is recognized as the inspiration for the popular "Hot Wheels" toys of the seventies.

His 1963 "Mysterion" is an engineering masterpiece combining "two Ford engines, two transmissions, plus two welded rear ends for the foundation."

Von Dutch

Nowadays, when you mention Von Dutch, what comes to mind as a popular brand of women's clothes. But, Von Dutch actually was Kenny Howard, the originator of custom automobile pinstriping. Beginning in the fifties, Von Dutch used car bodies as canvases for his original airbrush artwork. He was also an expert motorcycle mechanic. In fact, he preferred to be considered a mechanic not an artist. His best known designs were painted flames and the flying eyeball.

As for the "Von Dutch" clothing line, the artist's heirs sold his name and logo to a clothing company long after his death. He probably wouldn't have liked it.

The Barris Brothers

Sam and George Barris were also at the very beginnings of California's custom car revolution. Just before World War Two, the brothers started as mechanics and then began creating custom vehicles for special clients. They later formed a "Kustoms Car Club."