1970s

Åge Gustavsen's 1956 Ford Crown Victoria pick up of Halden, Norway. The build was completed in 1970.

Jim Robertson's 1961 Ford of Simi Valley, California was originally restyled in 1969. In 1970 it received a panel paint job by the Animal of Canoga Park.

Jim Davis' 1963 Ford Thunderbird of St. Paul, Minnesota. Restyled in 1970, Jim's Thunderbird is a clone of Dick Axcell's 1962 Ford Thunderbird Custom that Barris Kustom restyled in 1962.

Jack Walker's 1963 Chevrolet Corvette of Belton, Missouri. Jack's Corvette is also known as the Condor. Jack started to show the Condor in 1970, and it was the first custom car that he entered into the show circuit. After that, the car went trough several versions and changes.

Ron Samuels' 1970 Mercury Cougar XR7. Ron commissioned Bailon to restyle the car in 1970.

Bill and Bob Glazier's 1953 Oldsmobile Convertible from North Bend, Washington, restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1958. Originally yellow, it was transformed into a Candy Apple Red custom with quad headlights, Packard taillights, a continental kit, and Dean Jeffries applied scallops and pinstriping. Stored away in the early 1970s, it resurfaced in 2024, catching the attention of Chip Foose, who cleaned up and woke up the iconic piece of custom history.

The Plum Cherry version of Jerry Berg's 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe, was restyled by its current owner Ben Sebastian of Kenmore, Washington in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The build was completed around 1970/1971.

Jack Pieknik's 1934 Ford Victoria was supposedly restyled by Downriver Modified member Ray Hosh in the 1950s. Jack Pieknik bought the car in 1971 and got it back on the road again.

Ray Ellis' 1934 Ford 5-window coupe of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The build was started in 1966, and completed in 1972.

Tom Kelly's 1969 Chevrolet Corvette of St. Louis, Missouri. Kelly's Corvette was restyled by Dave Puhl at House of Kustoms. Puhl had Harry Bradley design a few proposals that Kelly could choose from. The build was started in August of 1971 and completed in July of 1972.

America's Wildest Show Rods of the 1960s and 1970s: Analysis and Opinions from George Barris, Darryl Starbird, Candy Joe Bailon, and Others (Cartech)

Neil Sidders' Outlaw, of West Monroe, Louisiana as it looked when it was completed in 1973. The car is built around one of the few known Outlaw bodies that Ed Roth made after building the original Outlaw. Neil's body came from Northern California, and was pretty beaten up after being used on an Altered Class drag car. The Altered was said to have a blown Oldsmobile engine at one time, and the car was called "The Orange Peeler".

Raymond Öström's 1937 Ford Coupe of Sweden. Built by Christer Lundberg in the early 1960s, an early iteration of the coupe was shown at the 1965 Hot Rod Show in Marmorhallarna in Stockholm. By 1973 the car had been sold to Raymon Öström, and it had been given a fade and panel paint job by Frittes Billack.

Charles Ritter's 1955 Chevrolet of Warren, Ohio. Ritter owned the car in the early to mid 1970s, and it was already customized when he bought it.

Espen Volle's 1957 Plymouth Plaza of Oslo, Norway. The Plymouth was Espen's first car, and he bought it in 1973, when he was 16 years old. The car was mildly customized and fit with a 1957 DeSoto front end before Espen sold it in 1974.

Morten Thoresen's 1953 Ford Crestline Victoria of Oslo, Norway. Morten purchased the car from Lillestrøm in 1974. By then it had been dressed up with a Skyliner roof and 1956 Ford sidetrim.

Chris Miller's Tall Candy T was built by Joe Bailon of Bailon Custom Shop. Completed in 1974, the body on the car was made out of conduit and sheet metal.

Howard Gribble's 1956 Ford F-100, of Torrance, California, received a flame paint job by Walt Prey in 1975.

Phil Cool's 1932 Ford Roadster of Cloverdale, California. Phil's roadster won the 1978 America's Most Beautiful Roadster Award at the Grand National Roadster Show, and it has ben voted as one of the "100 Most Influential Hot Rods of All Time."

Larry Purcell's 1941 Ford Coupe was completed in 1978.

The second version of Neil Sidders' Outlaw was completed in 1978.

The first restoration of the chopped version of John Bozio's 1953 Buick Roadmaster was completed by Red McCormick of East Hartford, Connecticut in 1978.

Lil John's 1966 Chevrolet Caprice of La Mirada, California. Lil John is the founder and first President of the famous Majestics Lowrider car club mother chapter of Southern California. Lil John's list of Lowrider show cars representing the Lowrider Majestics car club helped set the standards in the 1970s and they each were ahead of their time in paint design, patterns, and murals. The Caprice was completed in 1978.

The Roach Coach was a bubble top show rod built by Don, Dan Woods, and Jim Jacobs for Roach, Inc. Designed by Ed Newton, the build was completed in 1978.

Ron Price's 1933 Ford 3-Window Coupe of San Jose, California. Built in the early 1960s, the car made its debut in 1961, at the Grand National Roadster Show. In the late 1970s Ed Roth was commissioned to redo the car for a later owner. Roth gave it an orange paint job that he dressed up with pinstriping.

<-- 1960s - 1970 - 1971 - 1972 - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - 1976 - 1977 - 1978 - 1979 - 1980s -->

Low Riders

In the 1970s the art of hydraulics was still in its "infancy". Everything was a process of trial and error, and people used to drive these cars daily. For a Low Rider, it was usually their only mean of transportation. Cars didn't last long after the abuse the Low Riders would put them trough, and at the junk yard you would find some cars with nice bodies, but with their frames destroyed. Back in the 1970s cars were inexpensive, and if you broke something you just got another car and started work on the new ride.^[1]