2000s

Anthony Castaneda's Brown Neck Bandito. In the late 1990s, a show rod renaissance was underway, and one of the pioneers leading the way was Shifters car club member Anthony Castaneda. With roots going back to 1992, the Shifters of Southern California are known as the first nostalgia hot rod club for the younger guys being at the forefront of the revived traditional hot rod and custom car movement. Anthony’s contribution to the renaissance was a green Metalflaked homage to Ed Roth called the Brown Neck Bandito. The Brown Neck Bandito ignited a spark amongst a brand new generation of bubble top fans, fans that just knew Ed Roth’s wild builds through magazines and old photos. The car was shown partially completed at the 2nd annual Anti-Blessing in 2000.

Henrik Forss' Bucket T of Stockholm, Sweden. The first version of Henrik's T Bucket was completed in the Summer of 2001.

Henrik Forss' Bucket T of Stockholm, Sweden. The second version of Henrik's T Bucket was completed late in 2001.

Junichi Shimodaira's 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan of Nagoya, Japan. The car, known as Rod Riguez was built by Junichi at his shop Paradise Road. The first version of Rod Riguez was completed in December of 2002.

Mark Moriarity's Futurian of Mound, Minnesota. After restoring the Rotar and the Road Agent, Mark Moriarity figured he would try his hand at a show car of his own in 1998. Named Futurian, the sensational build was completed in 2001, making way for a handful of other self-penned Roth fiberglass tribute builds.

Sid Kayman's 1932 Ford Roadster of St. Louis, Missouri. Sid bought the car in 1944 or 1945, and it had already been channeled and hot-rodded when he bought it. By 1956 or 1957 the car had found its way to Fort Worth, Texas. Don Newhouse came across it in a backyard in a local neighborhood. He bought it and got it back on the road again. It changed hands a couple of times before it went into storage in the 1960. In 1994 Karl came across the car. He bought the old hot rod. Karl rebuilt it, changing it to his own vision of a hiboy. The build was completed in 2002.

Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline, the Caribbean II, of San Leandro, California. Frank's fourth 1949 Chevrolet was built as a recreation of his first 1949 Chevrolet, the Caribbean. The recreation was restyled by OZ Welch, and the build was completed in 2002.

Buddy Alcorn's 1950 Mercury was originally restyled by the Ayala Brothers at Gil's Auto Body Works for an undisclosed owner in 1952. Buddy Alcorn of Dominguez, California acquired the car in 1955 and promptly took it to Barris Kustoms for further enhancements. Kurt purchased the historic custom in 1998. By then, the car had been exposed to the elements for years. Undertaking a comprehensive restoration, McCormick aimed to return the Mercury to its glorious second iteration under the Barris Brothers. The restoration was a labor of love and dedication, painstakingly restoring each detail to its former glory. Jimmy Hervatin did the metal work on the car, while David Conrad was responsible for the restoration. In 2002, the project reached completion, and the Buddy Alcorn Merc, a veritable phoenix risen from its ashes, once again graced the roads, a shining example of custom car artistry and history.

Richard Zocchi's Second 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix was restyled by Lucky 7 Custom for Richard Zocchi of Walnut Creek, California. The car was built as a chopped clone of a 1962 Pontiac Grand Prix that Gene Winfield restyled for Zocchi in 1962. The build was completed in 2002.

Junichi Shimodaira's 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan of Nagoya, Japan. The car, known as Rod Riguez was built by Junichi at his shop Paradise Road. The second version of Rod Riguez was completed in 2003.

Nick Phillips' 1955 Chevrolet convertible was restyled by Bo Huff at Bo Huff Customs. Completed in 2004, the car is a clone of Sam Barris' 1955 Chevrolet convertible as it appeared while Stan Robles owned it.

The first annual Jokers Car Show was held June 5th, 2004 in Tidaholm, Sweden.

Bob Benn's 1936 Ford 3 Window Coupe

Jesus Valencia's 1949 Chevrolet Club Coupe

Frank Epstein's 1951 Chevrolet Bel-Air

Joseph Garcia's 1951 Ford

Rick Reynoso's 1951 Ford

Chris Gomez' 1951 Kaiser

Fritz Schecnk's Roswell Rod. In 2005 Fritz Schenck debuted a fiberglass bubble top show rod called the Roswell Rod at the Detroit Autorama. At the show, The Roswell Rod was shown next to a clone of The Mysterion that Dave Shuten had just completed.

Dave Shuten's New Mysterion is a recreation of Ed Roth's Mysterion. Dave's Mysterion made its debut at the 2005 Detroit Autorama.

Darrel Panfil's Munster Koach is a tribute to the original Munster Koach that Barris Kustoms built for The Munsters television series in 1964. Since he was a 10 yr old kid, Darrel Panfil of Lombard, Illinois watched The Munsters and was infatuated with The Munster Koach. He started researching details in 1991. In 2003 he started the build. With good help from his three brothers, the build was completed in 2005.

Bill Layman's 1954 Mercury of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Inspiration for the build came from Dick Jackson's 1954 Mercury. Bill's Merc was completed in 2005.

Gary Fioto's 1955 Ford of Long Island, New York. The car is known as The Beatnik and it was built by Gary “Chopit” Fioto. As a kid growing up, Fioto was fascinated with bubble tops, particularly those of Darryl Starbird. When he decided to finally build his own bubble top he decided to base it on a 1955 Ford custom. The body was heavily massaged before Fioto fit it with a large blown bubble. The build was completed in 2005, and in 2006 Fito’s Beatnik won the coveted $20,000 Grand Prize at Darryl Starbird’s National Rod and Custom Car Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Lasse Mäenpää's 1958 Chevrolet Impala was given a Watson inspired paint job by Pekka Wizzard Mannermaa in 2005.

Dave Shuten's Astrosled. After building a clone of the Mysterion, Dave Shuten decided to build an Ed Roth inspired build after his own design. Dave spent ten months in 2007 building the Astrosled in his Michigan home garage.

Aaron Grote's Atomic Punk of Cerro Gordo, Illinois. In 2008 Aaron Grote debuted the Atomic Punk. Built from a cut-down and narrowed 1959 Plymouth, the Atomic Punk didn’t follow the old rulebook, and it was a fresh blend between traditional 1960s show rods and Ed Roth’s famous bubble top builds. It inspired a new generation of show car builders, and a small army of Atomic Punk inspired cars, both with and without bubble tops, were built the following decade.

Bert Gustavsson's 1951 Dodge of Åmål, Sweden was completed in 2008.

Vic Collins' 1955 Chevrolet truck of Rahway, New Jersey. Vic's truck is a clone of George Barris' 1955 Chevrolet truck, the Kopper Kart. Restyled by Customs by Flash and John Maurice, the build was started in 1999, and completed in 2008.

Gene Winfield's 1935 Ford Shop Truck of Modesto, California. The '35 was Gene's second shop truck, and when he got it, half of the kustomizing had been done by Rick Lefelt. After completing the build, he started showing it in 1960. In 2008 the remains of the old truck surfaced in Oregon.

Walter Leeman's Second 1951 Chevrolet Fleetline of Delta, Colorado. The build was completed in 2009.

The Car Craft Dream Rod was built by Bill Cushenbery for Bob Larivee of Promotions Inc. The first drawings of the car appeared in Car Craft October 1961. The build was completed late in 1963. In 2009 Mark Moriarity completed a restoration of the car.

Dave Wright's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino of Poole, United Kingdom is a distinctive custom that originated from Wright's admiration for Gene Winfield and Larry Watson. Named The Golden Idol, Wright's El Camino manifests his vision and the expertise of these celebrated car customizers. He purchased the car in 1989. In 1994, he decided to turn it into a 1960s show car. After restyling the body, Wright flew Gene Winfield in from Mojave, California to have him lay down one of his famous fade paint jobs. The build was completed two years later, in 2009.

Geoffrey Hacker's Recreation of Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank of Tampa, Florida. Bill Burke's P-51 Belly Tank is known as the first belly tank Streamliner racer. Bill was racing on the dry lakes long before the war started. While stationed in the South Pacific during WWII he saw potential in using a belly tank as the body for a dry lakes car. Shortly after returning home from the war he built his first Belly Tank Streamliner. In 1946 he raced his brand new car. Burke was the first to run a belly tank in the "Streamliner" class and ran at both El Mirage and Harper Dry Lake. In 2009 Geoffrey Hacker commissioned Creative Motion Concepts to build him a recreation of Bill's groundbreaking belly tank. The recreation made its debut at the 2009 Bonneville Speed Week.

<-- 1990s - 2010s -->