1958

Dan Wittenberg's 1928 Ford Model A Roadster Pick Up of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The build was started in 1954 and completed in 1958.

Richard Peters' 1929 Ford Model A Pickup, The Ala Kart, won the America's Most Beautiful Roadster award at the 1958 National Roadster Show in Oakland.

Karl Zipf's 1930 Ford Coupe

Mike Brodski's 1931 Ford Model A Coupe of Clifton, New Jersey. Brodski started building the car back in 1957 or 1958. In 1962 he sold it to Bob Kovaly, who drove it to high school.

Conrad W. Jacobs' 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe of Baltimore, Maryland. Built around 1956-1958, the car was known and shown as "The Klondyke Koupe".

Ed Ward's 1932 Ford Roadster of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ed purchased the Roadster in 1958 from Augie Pabst of Pabst Motors. Before Ed's ownership, the car's origins were unclear. However, it was believed to have ties to Milwaukee racer Tom Friedmann, who tragically passed away in 1955 while racing a Maserati at Road America. Ed drove the roadster until 1959 when he pulled the Flathead engine to swap in a Buick Nailhead—a project that was never completed. The car then sat untouched for decades. In 2013, thanks to Jeff Bloedorn and Chadly Johnson, the roadster was revived with a fresh Flathead and put back on the road after 56 years. Ed enjoyed the car until his passing in 2021 at the age of 80. After much deliberation, the family sold the car to Bloedorn, ensuring its legacy would live on.

Per Røed's 1932 Ford Cabriolet as it appeared in 1958. Per's cabriolet is considered one of the first hot rods of Norway.

Peter Billing's 1932 Ford Cabriolet was built in Lidingö, Sweden in 1958.

Jerry Berg's 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe, of Seattle, Washington was built between 1956 and 1958. Jerrys coupe is also known as The Northern Star.

Joe Brienza's 1934 Ford Convertible of West Islip, New York was completed in 1958. The build took two years.

Tommy Henderson's 1934 Ford Cabriolet of Coney Road, Toronto, Ontario‚ Canada. Tommy bought the car in 1958. He built and sold it in less than a year, to pay for a trip to Ireland in 1959.

Walter Leeman's 1934 Ford 5-Window Coupe of East Los Angeles, California. Walt's coupe was completed in 1958.

Larry Sanford's 1940 Mercury 4-door Convertible

Dan and Ken Hiramoto's 1941 Buick Century convertible of Cleveland, Ohio. Built by Dan and Ken, the car went trough several iterations between 1951 and 1962. This photo shows the Raven version of the car as it appeared in 1958.

Joe Hurst's 1947 Chevrolet Convertible of Torrance, California. The Chevrolet was Joe's first car, and he bought it for 75 USD in 1958. He was 15 years old, and a painter near North High had laid a Candy Red paint job with Pearl White scallops before Joe bought it. Mickey Vandervort pinstriped the car for Joe after he had bought it.

Frank Livingston's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline, The Caribbean as it appeared in 1958. New for the year was the two-tone green scallops by Mel Pinoli.

Paul Wood's 1949 Mercury Coupe of Richmond Hill, New York. Restyled around 1958, Woody’s Merc was built in the street in, in front of his girlfriend's house. Woody had acetylene and oxygen tanks in the trunk of the car that he would roll out whenever he was working on the car.

Tony Alvez' 1950 Cadillac Convertible as it appeared in 1958

Bill Hines' 1950 Ford of Lincoln Park, Michigan. Known as "The Bat," Bill started restyling the Ford for a customer in his Southfield shop about 1955 or 56. The customer lost interest in the build, it became Bill's personal car, and he completed it late in 1957. Bill debuted the first iteration of The Bat at the 1958 Detroit Autorama. After moving to California, landing a job at Barris Kustoms, he gave the car a scallop paint job in 1958.

Bill Schott's 1950 Ford Coupe of Portland, Oregon. Bill was a charter member of The Kings of Portland. He bought the Ford late in 1958 and had Wilkenson’s Body Shop lower the car for him.

Paul Vona's 1950 Oldsmobile coupe of Salinas, California. Paul was a very talented customizer, pinstriper, and custom painter. He bought the Olds at age 19 in 1957, and he spent the next few months turning it into his dream custom. The scallopesd version of Paul's Olds was featured on the cover of Custom Rodder October 1958.

Ross Barnes' 1951 Chevrolet of Lynwood, California as it appeared in 1958.

Joe Tocchini's 1951 Ford Victoria, The Mystery, won the Custom Car D'Elegance award at the 1958 National Roadster Show. It shared the first place with Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, The Aztec.

Richard Torres' 1951 Chevrolet of Lawndale, California. Restyled around 1957 - 1958, Richard's Chevrolet featured a scallop paint job by Bill Hines of Long Beach, California.

Bill Wolfe’s 1951 Mercury was restyled by Winfield's Custom Shop over a 2 years period. This is how it looked in 1958

Don Hurley's 1951 Oldsmobile 88 - The Kopper Dust

Jim Bowers' 1951 Oldsmobile 2 door post of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Jim was a member of the Apostles of Shawnee. His Olds was restyled in 1958, featuring a scallop paint job by Bud Smika.

Ron Fagundes' 1952 Ford Victoria of Napa, California. Ron's Ford, known as The Ronbardue Kart, was restyled by Barris Kustoms, A-1 Body Work, Hall's Top Shop and Andy Southard. The build was completed in 1958.

Ron Lerdahl's 1952 Ford Convertible, of Salt Lake City, Utah, as it appeared in 1958.

Bill Hoffman's 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air was restyled by George Schultz and Von Hunter at Wilkenson's Body Shop of Portland, Oregon in 1958.

Vince Ciganik's 1953 Ford Convertible of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Vince was a member of the Rev-Masters car club, and the mildly customized Ford was his high school ride in 1958.

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.

Dave Stuckey's 1953 Studebaker pickup of Wichita, Kansas. Dave ran Stuckey Kustom, and the pickup was his personal driver from 1958 to 1960. In 1960 he cut it up.

The first version of Lee Talbot and Sam Chakries' 1953 Studebaker Pickup was completed in 1958.

Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet, The Aztec, won the Custom Car D'Elegance award at the 1958 National Roadster Show. It shared the first place with Joe Tocchini's 1951 Ford Victoria, The Mystery

Buzz McLeod's 1954 Ford Convertible of Seattle, Washington. Buzz was a member of the Draggin Sirs of Seattle car club, and the build, named "Little Star" was completed in 1958.

Jim Logue's 1954 Ford convertible of Long Beach, California. Completed in 1958, Jim's Ford might have been the first car ever to use hydraulic lifts from aircraft surplus parts to raise and lower the suspension.

Butch Flobeck's 1954 Mercury of Piedmont, New York made its debut in 1958.

Delmar McCutcheon's 1955 Buick of Bakersfield, California. Known as The Kandy Kane, the car received a panel paint job by Larry Watson at Watson's House of Style in 1958. The upholstery was done in Mexico.

Bob McNulty's 1955 Chevrolet Corvette as it appeared in 1958.

Jerry Feigner's 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air, of Wilmington, California. Jerry was a member of the Cut-Outs of Long Beach car club, and his Chevrolet was known as "Lil Honey Bee." In 1958 Mike Clines gave the car a scallop and pintripe paint job in his father's garage in Long Beach. Mike also added the chrome tape to the top of the car.

Jim Seaton's 1955 Chevrolet of Santa Maria, California. The car was restyled by Barris Kustoms 1957 - 1958.

Milt Goodman's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Milt was a member of the British Columbia Custom Car Association. He bought the car new in 1955, and spent the next three years restyling it. The build was completed in 1958.

Stan Makrush's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible of Foxboro, Massachusetts was restyled around 1957/1958. The car is known as the Gypsy.

Jerry Drake's 1955 Ford Fairlane of Lansing, Michigan was restyled by Ed Blaisdell of Blaisdell Body Shop. Jerry is a well known Michigan pinstriper that operated under the name "Spider the Crazy Painter." He bought the Ford, known as "India Ivory" in 1957, and it went through several modifications between 1957 and 1959. The India Ivory version was completed in 1958.

Ivan Peroff's 1956 Buick Century of Kanehoe, Hawaii. Built between 1957 and 1958, the car was sectioned, channeled, and powered by a supercharged Buick Nailhead engine.

Bruce McClellan’s 1956 Chevrolet of Pontiac, Michigan. Bruce bought the Chevy brand new in 1956. George Halpin helped restyle the car, and in 1958 it was ready for a scallop paint job by Paul Hatton. The completed build was shown at the 1959 Detroit Autorama.

Helen Avila's 1956 Chevrolet, She Devil, as it appeared in 1958.

J.R. Kovalski's 1956 Chevrolet of Long Beach, California. J.R. was a member of the Long Beach Cavaliers car club, and he owned the Chevy in 1958, when he graduated from Long Beach Poly High School.

Jack Arnold's 1956 Mercury was completed in 1958. Jack horse-traded a set of Appleton spotlights for the Larry Watson paint job.

Chuck O'Malley's 1956 Dodge Convertible of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania was restyled at least three times between 1958 and 1963. This is the first version, that made its debut in 1958.

Ken Sowers' 1956 Plymouth of San Jose, California was restyled by Wirth's Body Shop in 1958.

Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury of Long Beach, California. Dulin was a member of the Cut Outs of Long Beach car club, and his Plymouth went through seven iterations between 1956 and 1962. This photo shows the car as it appeared early in 1958, after Mike Clines had added Gold scallops.

Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury of Long Beach, California. Dulin was a member of the Cut Outs of Long Beach car club, and his Plymouth went through seven iterations between 1956 and 1962. This photo shows the car as it appeared late in 1958, after Ed Roth had helped him lay a two-tone Green and Gold scallop paint job.

Carl Swenson's 1957 Chevrolet of Lynwood, California as it appeared in 1958.

The second version of Darol Jorgenson's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette was completed in 1958

Dave Jenkins' 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air as it appeared in 1958.

David Rolin's 1957 Ford of Sacramento, California. Dave's Ford was restyled by Dick Bertolucci of Bertolucci Body & Fender Shop and Harris' Body Shop between 1956 and 1958. Later on the same year, the car, named "Tormentor" received a paint job, pinstriping and eventually a scallop paint job by Dick Katayanagi of Katayanagi Custom Paint.

Hilton Vail's 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 of San Bernardino, California. Hilton was an active member in the San Bernardino Krankers car club from 1958 to 1961. He bought the Ford brand new, and completed the build circa 1958.

Jerry DeVito's 1957 Ford Fairlane of San Jose, California. The second version of Jerry's Ford, known as the Maze, was completed in 1958, featuring a radical scallop paint job by Bob Heinrichs. Jerry was a member of the San Jose Rod and Wheelers car club.

Scotty Berguson's 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon of California was restyled in 1958.

Phil Sowa's 1958 Chevrolet Impala of Fall River, Massachusetts was restyled in 1958.

Dick Jackson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird was restyled in 1958. The car was later sold to Calvin Wiekamp.

Jerry Halak's 1958 Ford Convertible of Toledo, Ohio. Jerry was a founding member of the Pharaohs of Toledo car club. Restyled in 1958, it only took 42 days and $500 to transform Jerry's convertible into a nice custom.

Larry Watson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird. Larry bought the Thunderbird brand new in 1958, and he told a seller at Downey Ford to give him a call as soon as the first car with a tuck n' roll interior arrived. Larry brought it almost directly to Barris Kustoms for a mild job before he gave it a burgundy and silver panel paint job. Larry's Thunderbird was known as "Vino Pasiano" and "The Burgundy Bird," and the first iteration was completed in 1958.

The Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck was crashed 15-20 miles shy of Pratt, Kansas Ocotber 21, 1958 on the way to the 4th annual International Motor Sports Show in Des Moines, Iowa where it was one of the main attractions.

The 1958 MacMinn Le Mans Coupe, designed by Strother MacMinn and engineered by John Bond of Road & Track, was a vision of dual-purpose excellence. Powered by a Corvette V8, it was hailed as a groundbreaking American sports car design, showcased on Road & Track's cover in 1960. Only five were built.

The 8th annual Hartford Autorama was held February 19 - 23, 1958 at the State Armory in Hartford, Connecticut.

The first annual Fresno Autorama was held March 7 thru 9, 1958 at the National Guard Armory in Fresno, California.

The 2nd annual Krankers Motor Revue 1958 was held on June 7 and 8 at the National Orange Show Grounds, San Bernardino, California.

The program for the 4th annual International Motor Sports Show held in Des Moines, Iowa in 1958. The Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck was featured on the cover, and the truck was one of the main attractions that year. Unfortunately it never made it to the show as it was wrecked on the way over to the show.

<-- 1957 - 1950s - 1959 -->

By 1958, George Barris of Barris Kustoms and Joe Bailon of Bailon's Custom Shop were known as the two greatest custom car builders of the West. At the ninth annual National Roadster Show in February, both shops entered two radical and futuristic custom cars. Barris Kustoms displayed Bill Carr's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, better known as the Aztec, and Joe Bailon displayed Joe Tocchini's 1951 Ford Victoria, better known as the Mystery. Their matched skills resulted in a tie in class, and both cars won the Custom Car D'Elegance award, proving how far the show-car trend had come.^[1]

Ala Kart and the Rise of Ultra-Detailed Builds

In the same year, at the same show, Richard Peters' Ala Kart, a ’29 Ford pickup built by Barris, won America's Most Beautiful Roadster Award. This really signaled the rise of meticulously finished customs designed for trophies and magazine covers rather than daily driving. Interiors grew ever more elaborate, with tuck-and-roll upholstery, chrome trim, and exotic materials matching increasingly wild paint jobs.

Enter Hydraulic Lifts

California Vehicle Code 24008, enacted in 1957 and enforced by 1958, targeted excessively low cars. Hot rodders and customizers responded by adapting hydraulic systems originally designed for aircraft or industrial tools, allowing them to raise their cars to legal heights, then drop them for shows or cruising. Two pioneers in this field were Jim Logue and Ron Aguirre. Jim’s “Fabulous X54,” a 1954 Ford, featured hydraulics at all four corners, while Ron's Corvette, the X-Sonic, used a Port-A-Power-based system to lift the front end. Debate persists over who was first, but both introduced a revolutionary idea that would evolve into the lowrider movement.

With hydraulic lifts, radical show cars like the Ala Kart, and iconic builds tying at major events, 1958 underscored how far customs had progressed from their practical, street-driven roots. They were now spectacles of engineering and style, pushing boundaries both legally and creatively.

The Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck was crashed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1958.