Canted Quad Headlights

The evolution of quad headlights begins with headlights that are placed next to each other. That evolved into stacked quads and canted quads. Canted quads are dual headlights positioned at an angle.

In 1949, a wealthy client in Sicily commissioned Italian car design firm and coachbuilder Pininfarina to design a one-off sports car. Known as the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS, the elegant coupe is believed to be the first automobile that adopted dual headlights. Photo by Ronnie Krabberød - Right On Magazine.

Styled by Ghia in Italy, Motor Trend's Bob D'Olivio described the 1953 Dodge Firearrow I concept car as "the most successful meeting of European and U.S. designs." Featuring dual headlights mounted underneath the front bumper, the sporty roadster made its debut at the Turin Auto Show in April of 1953. The sporty roadster was introduced to the American public at Chrysler's New York showroom later that year, and an estimated 38,000 people came to check it out. The response was massive, and in January of 1954, Chrysler president L.L. Colbert announced in Motor Trend that the Firearrow could now be purchased on a special order. Unfortunately, that never happened, but the desire for the car was there, and in 1956, people who had drooled over the Firearrow could buy a Dual Ghia instead. Photo courtesy of Chrysler Corporation.

in April of 1954, the Storm Z-250 made its debut at the Turin Auto Show in Italy. Winning the first prize for style and design, the Storm Z-250 concept car was built by Sports Car Development Corp., a company founded by Fred M. Zeder Jr., and Gene Casaroll. Fred was the son of well-known Chrysler profile Frederick M. Zeder, and the car incorporated as many Chrysler components as possible, including a Dodge Hemi engine. A complete chassis was shipped to Italy, where Bertone fabricated a body for the car. While Dodge had predicted a future where dual headlights were placed side by side, the Storm Z-250 introduced dual headlights that were stacked on top of each other. Photo courtesy of Michael Lamm.

An ad for Cadillac's concept cars for 1954. Both the El Camino and the La Espada featured quad headlights, and General Motors have often been credited for starting the four-headlight vogue.

George Barris started his career watching Northern California customizer Harry Westergard restyle cars in the late 1930s. With Westergard as his mentor, young George set out to restyle his first car in 1941. Like most other men in the trade, European sports cars and coachbuilt customs served as inspiration for Barris and Westergard in the 1940s. Photo courtesy of George Barris, from The Brad Masterson Photo Collection.

In California, George Barris realized that four headlight beams were considered futuristic, so sometime before March of 1956, he installed quad headlights on Martin and Morris Srabian's 1954 Ford F-100 truck. Seven years behind Pininfarina, he still beat Detroit production cars by almost a year, and Barris Kustoms is known as the first shop to install dual headlights on a custom. Known as the "Wild Kat," the Srabian Ford was, unfortunately, one of the lost cars in the Barris fire.

Frank Maratta was another early customizer experimenting with dual headlight conversions. Based on the East Coast of the US, Frank debuted a customized 1953 Buick Skylark with dual headlights at the 1956 Hartford Autorama. The show took place in February of 1956, and Frank's buddy John Bozio believes he completed the build late in 1955. A close race between the West Coast and the East Coast, and if Frank actually beat George to the finish line, we might have to rewrite the history books. Photo from The John Bozio Photo Collection.

Dual headlights - The 1960 look for 1957 Fords! An ad for a bolt-on dual headlight conversion kit for 1957 Fords from Motor Trend September 1957. Up to 400% more light!

In the September 1957 issue of Motor Trend Magazine, Joe H. Wherry looked into the crystal ball, trying to predict how the ‘58 cars would look when they hit the market. The predictions were based on rumors floating around Detroit, and Ron Simmons provided illustrations for the article. This drawing looks like a customized 1957 Ford. Canted quads are not mentioned in the predictions for the 1958 Lincolns in the story.

Wednesday, December 4, 1957, during a windy and wet early evening storm, a power line strung along the boundary at the back of the Barris Kustoms shop, sending a shower of sparks that started a smoldering fire. 14 cars were destroyed in the fire, and this photo shows the remains of Bobby "Chimbo" Yamazaki's ill-fated 1954 Mercury. The Merc was actually in the shop being upholstered by Roy Gilbert, and the front end had been restyled by Jay Johnston at his Jay's Custom Shop prior to that. Chimbo's Mercury is the earliest custom car with canted quads we have been able to trace. Depending on when the work was done, it might have been restyled before Ford Motor Company introduced its brand new 1958 Lincoln to the public. Chimbo was supposed to pick the car up the next day. That never happened. Photo by George Barris, from The Brad Masterson Collection.

Part custom, part hot rod, The Ala Kart was one of the few cars that survived when fourteen cars were lost in the tragic Barris fire on December 4, 1957. Luckily for owner Richard Peters, the car was parked in a separate room, and it was spared from the fire. The car made its debut at the National Roadster Show two months later, where it won its first America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. Photo by George Barris, from The Brad Masterson Collection.

Canted quad headlights became one of the most striking features of the completely redesigned 1958 Lincoln. Featuring a unit-body construction, it was the largest and heaviest post-war American car ever built. We haven't been able to find out when the 1958 Lincolns first were revealed to the public, but we have looked through all issues of Motor Trend for 1957, and the readers of that magazine weren't introduced to the brand new Lincoln before the December 1957 issue hit the newsstands.

Did Lincoln really introduce the canted quad headlight to the public? While canted quad headlights became one of the most striking features of the new 1958 Lincoln, they were old news in Italy. In 1952, Fiat introduced their legendary 8V coupe at the Geneva Salon. Designed by Luigi Rapi, Fiat supposedly produced 34 cars between 1953 and 1954, and the 1954 model featured canted quad headlights. Photo by Ronnie Krabberød - Right On Magazine.

What's new in quad headlights? "There’s only one styling for headlights these days and that's of the quad light variety," Custom Cars Magazine stated in their September 1958 issue. "It's predicted that if your custom doesn't now possess these dual lamps - it shortly will," they boldly claimed. Gene Winfield was an early adaptor of canted quads and a master of the trade, and one of his first canted quad jobs can be seen on the cover of Custom Cars September 1958. The car is a 1951 Ford that he restyled for LeRoy Goulart. Goulart's shoebox Ford was a groundbreaking custom, and Custom Cars described it as "One of the most unique adaptions we have encountered is this canted headlight/grille combination for a '50 Ford." Winfield had reworked the entire front end of the car to accept slanted 1957 Imperial headlights that were installed inside a well-thought-out grille cavity. A sinister look. The car was shown at the National Roadster Show in February of 1958, and according to Custom Cars June 1958, "spectators found LeRoy Goulart's latest treatment of quad headlight styling a treat in original custom work."

Bailon's Wildest. Canted quad headlight conversions were still rare when Joe Boliba's Golden Corona was featured on the cover of Custom Cars February 1959. Featuring 1958 Imperial headlights mounted in a canted position, the car was one of three canted quads customs that were shown at the National Roadster Show in Oakland in February of 1958. A photo of the car from the show appeared in Custom Cars June 1958, where the author noted that "innovation was keynote of this year's new crop of custom cars."

Ken Sowers' 1956 Plymouth of San Jose, California was restyled by Wirth's Body Shop in 1958. Ken's Plymouth featured canted quad headlights made from 1958 Edsel inner grille rings.

John McLaughlin's 1955 Chevrolet of Sapulpa, Oklahoma. In the late 1950s, Jim sent the car on a train from Oklahoma to Barris Kustoms in California to have them finish the build and paint it. The car featured canted quad headlights from a 1958 Lincoln.

In September of 1958, rumor was out that the 1959 Buick would have headlights mounted at an angle, a la Lincoln. The rumors were true, and GM followed with canted headlights on their 1959 Buicks.

"The quad light is here and nothing short of a styling revolution can remove it from the design picture," Gene Winfield told Car Craft Magazine when they asked him about his custom forecasts for 1959. Later in the same year, Winfield debuted Leroy Kemmerer's radically restyled 1956 Mercury custom. Known as The Jade Idol, this was Winfield's claim to fame. The headlights play a major role in the overall design of the car, and the front end of the car was fitted with handmade fenders that Gene had rolled in aluminum and dressed up with split-level quads. The headlight rings on the car were made from 1959 Chrysler Crown Imperial hubcaps parts. Photo by George Barris, from The Brad Masterson Collection.

Featured on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine May 1958, Johnny Zupan's 1956 Ford F-100 is another early canted quad headlighted custom by Barris. Restyled late in 1957 or early in 1958, the truck was fitted with canted headlights and taillights from a 1957 Imperial. Dean Jeffries gave it the striking paint job. The photos for the Hot Rod Magazine story were supposedly taken in 1957, so the big question is if the car was done before or after Chimbo's Mercury and the Ala Kart? Photo from the Andy Southard collection.

Mitch Nagao's 1957 Ford Thunderbird was another early Barris Kustom build that featured canted quad headlights. Named Xtura, it landed the cover of Custom Cars May 1959, featuring canted 1958 Lincoln headlights, Lucas lamps, and a Dean Jeffries scallop paint job. Gone were also the bumpers. A modification often associated with canted quads. Photo from The Glen and Forey Wall Collection.

A construction photo of Dave Puhl's 1956 Ford Thunderbird custom. Featuring canted quad quads, Puhl's Thunderbird became known as The Hybrid Bird. Photo from The Roger Lick Photo Collection.

Lloyd Myers' 1949 Mercury convertible of San Jose, California. Lloyd was a member of the San Jose Rod and Wheelers car club. The Merc was completed in 1959, featuring candted quad 1957 Lincoln headlights.

By 1959 canted quad builds started popping up all over the US, and in Detroit, the Alexander Brothers fabricated a unique grille for Clarence Catallo's 1932 Ford that featured canted 1959 Chevrolet headlights. Photo from The Dave Jenkins Photo Collection.

In the late 1950s, Bill Hines installed canted quads on Teddy Zgrzemski's 1954 Ford. Zgrzemski was Hines's nephew, and when Joey Ukrop interviewed Teddy about the car for the book “Hot Rod Detroit,” Teddy said that he only wanted frenched headlights, rounded hood corners, a bar grille and maybe split bumpers; "But I came home from school one day and went to the shop and he had the whole front end cut up with welding rod and tubing." Bill told Teddy he would front clip it if Teddy tackled the rear. "I always thought the front end was ugly, and he always thought my back end was ugly." Photo by George Barris, from The Brad Masterson Collection.

Gerald Twamley's 1954 Chevrolet 210 2-door sedan of Artesia, California. The car was originally restyled in the late 1950s, and it went through at least two iterations before Gerald tore it down to fit it with canted quad headlights in 1959. The work was done by a guy in San Pedro. When the job was almost done, Gerald got drafted into the army and decided to sell the car for $300 in 1960.

Richard Piscatelli's 1954 Mercury of West Haven, Connecticut. Richard's Merc was restyled by Bernardo Auto Body circia 1959-1960. It ran dual canted headlights from a 1958 Edsel.

Maximilian King's 1940 Mercury was originally restyled in New Jersey in 1946. In 1959, later owner Ray Henyon brought it to Korky's Kustom Shop to upgrade its look. At Korky's shop, the car received canted Lincoln quads, nerf bars, canted 1958 Chevrolet taillights, and a scallop paint job. Photo by Sondre Kvipt.

John Hychko's radically restyled 1956 Studebaker as it appeared in 1959. Double set of dual lamps was a headlight trend that never really took off. Photo from The Ray Soff Photo Collection.

Six shooter! Triple headlights was another short-lived headlight trend. Clayton Crowe bought his 1959 Oldsmobile brand new. He then immediately took it to Karl Krumme, where it received six headlights and a bullet grille.

The second version of John Nadzon's 1954 Mercury of Parsippany, New Jersey was restyled by Korky's Kustom Shop. The car, named The Mysterian, made its debut February 17, 1960 at the Hartford Autorama featuring canted quad headlights.

Adrienne Hooper's 1956 Mercury convertible of Saginaw, Michigan. Adrienne's Mercury, named the Wild One, was featured on the cover of Custom Cars April 1960 featuring canted quad headlights.

Harold Hardin's 1950 Plymouth Convertible featured canted quad headlights when it was featured in Custom Cars March 1960.

Bill Shelley's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette of Oakland, California. Named "Bali Hi," the car was restyled by Bill and Bob McNulty. The build was completed in 1960, feauring canted quad Edsel headlights.

Tom Gibbons' 1949 Ford Tudor - The Orchid Lady of Morris, Illinois. Gibbons bought the car from Jim Galvin in 1960. They completed the build together, turning it into The Orchid Lady. Galvin added the canted quads before he sold it.

A photo of Richard Zadroga's 1951 Chevrolet custom at an indoor car show. Taken circa 1960, this photo shows the car as it appeared after Tony Bruskivage had put peaked canted quad headlights from a 1959 Chevrolet on it. Featuring a striking Candy Red Paint job, this version was shown as the "Misty Maiden." Mickey Mazzuca was the club photographer for the Drivin' Deuces car club, and he took this photo at their indoor car show in the Teaneck Armory. Photo from The Ray Soff Photo Collection.

Buddy Katlik's 1953 Plymouth 4-door, was restyled by Jess Sandoval of Renewal Body Shop in Clovis for Fresno Pan Draggers member Buddy Katlik, of Fresno, California around 1960/1961. The car was then fitted with canted quad headlights from a 1959 Chevrolet.

Marlyn Englert's 1956 Chevrolet Convertible of Minneapolis, Minnesota was restyled by Phil Andersson and Marva Faw between 1956 and 1961.

The matching front and rear grille openings were the most striking features of The Adonis. The front end featured quad headlights that Mike and Larry mounted in a canted manner. Tubular chromed grille bars were then made and fitted with plastic tubes at each end that extended over the headlights. This iteration of the car was completed about a week before the 1961 Detroit Autorama. Photo courtesy of Alex Walordy.

Stan Makrush's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible of Foxboro, Massachusetts was restyled around 1957-1958. The car is known as the Gypsy, and a photo of it that appeared in Customs Illustrated March 1961 shows it running canted quads.

Ed Pogue's 1953 Ford was restyled by Darry Starbird at Star Kustom Shop in the early 1960s. Named The Glitra, it featured canted quad headlights and a sparking Metalflake paint job.

Lloyd C. Hammond's 1949 Ford of San Bernardino, California. Lloyd was a member of the San Bernardino Krankers and his car was known as "The Majestic Lady." The first iteration of his Ford was completed circa 1958. Circa 1961 the car received canted quad headlights from a 1959 Chevrolet.

Joe Roth's 1959 Chevrolet Impala of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Restyled by Cudahy Auto Body, the build was started in 1960 and completed in 1961, featuring canted quad headlights.

"Add dramatic new styling!!" Tom Gibbons' 1949 Ford appeared in an ad for quad headlights conversion kits in Car Craft February 1962. Sold by Almquist, these kits could "easily convert “dated" single lamp cars to modern vertical or canted quads without costly electrical or body work." The kits consisted of molded fiberglass shells that could be glued over the front fenders. Only $9.95!

By 1962 canted quads were hotter than ever before, and 7 of the 10 cars nominated by Car Craft as "The 10 Best for 1961" featured canted quads. In the same magazine, the nation’s top customizers are asked about their custom forecasts for 1962. Gene Winfield predicted that small bumpers, rolled pans, and new headlights would give 1962 customs a new eye appeal. Most of the builders Bob Behme interviewed mentioned the 1962 Dodge headlight rims as their favorite items. George Barris predicted that asymmetrical styling would be the big design news in 1962.

Canted quad headlights became a short-lived fad in Detroit, but customizers all over the world loved it and adapted the design for more than a decade. Chrysler had a short fling with the trend in 1961, and the affair lasted for two years before they in 1963 went back to horizontally placed quads.

Sal Consiglio's 1955 Ford of New York City, New York. Sal lived in the Richmond Hill neighborhood. He was a member of the 1320 Crusaders car club, and his Ford was restyled in 1962. The build was sold before it was completed.

Les Mullen's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette of Miami, Florida. Known as "Dominique," Les spent 1,500 hours and 2,500 dollars restyling the car. The build was completed in 1962, and it featured canted 1958 Lincoln headlights.

John Knox's 1953 Buick Skylark custom of Portsmouth, Virginia. Restyled in the late 1950s or the early 1960s, the car was featured on the cover of Speed and Custom April 1962 featuring canted quad headlights.

George Egan's 1950 Ford Convertible of New Jersey. George was a member of the Drivin Deuces car club. Known as "The Apollo," the second iteration of Egan's Ford was restyled in the 1960s.

Larry Hughes 1926 Ford Model T roadster pick up of Boulder, Colorado. Built in the 1960s, Larry's finned hot rod was known as the "The Bomber" Larry's hot rod was featured in Popular Customs Winter 1963, featuring canted quad headlights.

Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century of Compton, California. Known as the "BuSonic," the build was started in 1959 and completed in 1963. It featured canted quad headlights, bodywork by John Schott and a Copper Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. It was also fitted with hydraulic lifts.

Emory Ashpaugh's 1955 Chevrolet of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1963, Emory's Chevrolet was shown as the Krimson Kart. This version featured canted quad headlights.

In Sweden, Leif Wendel's 1955 Ford Sunliner hit the streets with canted quads in 1963. It was one of the first fully customized cars in Sweden. The kids loved it, and it has become a pioneer build when it comes to what many today consider a signature Swedish 1960s custom. Photo by Leif Wendel. Courtesy of Josefina Wendel Carlsson.

In the early 1960s, when the first fully customized cars started appearing in Norway, canted quads were hot. Oslo was a hotbed when it came to Norwegian hot rods and customs back then, and Per Ivar Kolgrov's 1948 Mercury convertible was quite a sensation when it hit the streets of Oslo in 1964. The front fenders on the car were cut down and modified to accept a fashionable grille-headlight combination. The installation consisted of chromed tubes and 1964 Fiat 1500 headlights mounted in a canted position. This car is still around, currently undergoing a restoration by custom enthusiast Espen Volle, who grew up in Oslo, admiring the car as a teenage kid. Photo by Allan Iversen, courtesy of Lars-Petter Kolkind.

Einar Valsjø's 1952 Mercury of Trondheim, Norway was one of the first custom cars of Norway. The build was completed around 1963 featuring canted quad headlights.

Two cars with canted quads were listed in the program for the first Hot Rod Show in Marmorhallarne in Stockholm in 1965. These were the Wendel-Lindberg 1955 Ford Sunliner and Matti Johansson's 1956 Ford Crown Victoria. Matti's Crown Victoria received canted quads about a half year before the show after smashing up the front end, running on worn-out summer wheels in the winter.

Sven Blüme's 1954 Plymouth Convertible of Lidingö, Sweden. Featuring canted quads, Sven's Plymouth was restyled in 1965.

Arne Lindstrand's 1955 Chevrolet of Stockholm, Sweden. Arne's Chevrolet was restyled in the 1960s. This is how it appeared at the Hot Rod Show in Stockholm in 1966.

Bo Thalinsson's 1953 Ford Sunlinner Convertible of Stockholm, Sweden. Built by Bo, the build was completed in 1967. It was dressed up with canted quads.

Barry Atkins' 1955 Chevrolet of Columbia, Connecticut. The car was supposedly restyled in 1958, featuring canted 1958 Lincoln headlights, but the original owner and builder are unknown. Barry bought the old custom from Red McCormick of East Hartford, Connecticut in the early 1980s. He restored and restyled it further before he sold it in 1984.

The Wendel-Lindberg Sunliner, also known as Blue Heaven, is long gone, restored back to stock, but its legacy lives on through Pelle Åberg's New Heaven recreation. You don't see many canted quad customs built in the US after the muscle cars took over the scene in the 1960s. The trend never really took off in Norway before it morphed into custom-painted muscle cars and vans, so we think it is safe to say that the trend was born in Italy, matured in California, and kept alive in Sweden, where a few customs with canted quads still are being built today. Photo by Sondre Kvipt.

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, featuring canted quad headlights made from 1959 Cadillac bumper parts.

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. After bringing the car to Dragerton, Utah in the 1950s, Stan installed headlights from a 1959 Chevrolet on the car. The headlights were positioned vertically.

Roger Ahlin from Bro is one of several Swedes that are keeping the Swedish legacy alive building customs after the old receipt. Roger owns four old Fords that have been restyled or is in the process of being restyled after that receipt. Two of them have canted quads. Shown above is an in-progress Ford custom and Roger's daily driver 1959 Ford All cars have rolled pans and tube grilles. Photo courtesy of Roger Ahlin.

Tom Røine's Creature is a recent Norwegian custom build with canted quads from a 1959 Chevrolet. It is not common to see Scandinavian customs with canted quads sporting a bumper, but Tom Røine's 1956 Plymouth is more inspired by the Southern California customs of the late 1950s, than it is of the Scandinavian cars from the 1960s. Maybe the circle finally has come to an end? Photo by Sondre Kvipt.

The History of Canted Quad Customs

Photos taken after the tragic fire at Barris Kustoms in December of 1957 reveal an emerging late 1950s custom trend: Canted Quad Headlights. At least two cars in the shop had received this hot modification when the building went up in flames. Where did this trend start? Was George Barris the inventor? Or was he an early adaptor, leading the way for heaps of customizers to come?

European Sports Cars and Coachbuilt Customs

Since the dawn of the automobile, the desire for individuality has been a motivation for customizing cars. It began with rich and famous people commissioning coachbuilders to create unique one-off designs. Back then, "Custom Jobs" were used to describe cars built from the ground up, while a "Restyled Job" defined a stock auto that somehow had been altered from the original design. George Barris started his career watching Northern California customizer Harry Westergard restyle cars in the late 1930s. With Westergard as his mentor, young George set out to restyle his first car in 1941. Like most other men in the trade, European sports cars and coachbuilt customs served as inspiration for Barris and Westergard in the 1940s. In 1951, after moving to Southern California and successfully establishing his own custom body shop, George decided to go to Europe to study automotive styling. Visiting Italy, Germany, and France, his primary purpose was to observe current styling trends and see what some European coachbuilders were up to.

The First Dual Headlights

Italy, especially Turin, seems to be a central place when it comes to the birth of the dual headlight. A couple of years before George Barris arrived in Europe, a wealthy client in Sicily commissioned Italian car design firm and coachbuilder Pininfarina to design a one-off sports car. Known as the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS, the elegant coupe is believed to be the first automobile that adopted dual headlights. Inspiration for the build is said to have come from an Alfa Romeo cabriolet that Pininfarina had developed for Prince Aly Kahn, the husband of Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth.

Ghia + Chrysler Corporation Experiments with Dual Headlights

Ghia is another well-known Turin-based car design firm and coachbuilder that started experimenting with dual headlight designs in the early 1950s. After teaming up with Chrysler Corporation, the Ghia-styled Dodge Firearrow I concept car debuted at the 35th Turin Auto Show in April of 1953. Featuring a pontoon fender-style body, the Firearrow I was a low-slung roadster with dual headlights that were mounted underneath a massive bumper - A bumper that wrapped around the entire body of the car. Unlike anything else in the US at the time, Bob D'Olivo of Motor Trend magazine bowed it as "the most successful meeting of European and US designs." The sporty roadster was introduced to the American public at Chrysler's New York showroom later that year, and an estimated 38,000 people came to check it out. The response was enormous, and in January of 1954, Chrysler president L.L. Colbert announced in Motor Trend that the Firearrow could now be purchased on special order. That never happened, but many of the design elements from the Firearow I, including the pontoon fenders and the dual headlights, found their way onto at least two other Ghia designs in 1953 and 1954; The Alfa Romeo 1900C Sprint Supergioiello and the 1953 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe. The Supergioiello made it into production, and 19 cars are known to have been built. Only two Cadillacs are known to have left the Ghia body shop. One of them supposedly ended up with Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth.

Bertone and the Storm Z-250 Predicts a Dual Headlighted Future

Bertone was another Italian coachbuilder that experimented with dual headlights in the early 1950s, and in 1951 they exhibited the dual headlighted Lancia Aurelia B52 Coupé at the Turin Auto Show. Three years later, in April of 1954, they returned with the Storm Z-250. A US concept car that took home the first prize award for style and design at the show that year. The Storm Z-250 was built by Sports Car Development Corp., a company founded by Fred M. Zeder Jr. and Gene Casaroll. Fred was the son of well-known Chrysler profile Frederick M. Zeder, and the car incorporated as many Chrysler components as possible, including a huge Dodge Hemi engine. While Dodge had predicted a future where dual headlights were placed side by side, the Storm Z-250 introduced dual headlights that were stacked on top of each other. Chrysler designer Hank Kean initially designed the Storm, and a complete chassis was shipped to Italy, where Bertone fabricated the body. 

Ford and GM Follows up with Dual Headlighted Concept Cars

The Storm Z-250 never made it into production. Still, quad headlights had come to stay, and in 1954 General Motors debuted two Cadillac concept cars that incorporated dual headlights at their spectacular GM Motorama. Ford Motor Company followed with two vehicles in 1955; The futuristic Ford Mystere, which featured dual headlights placed side by side, and the Lincoln Indianapolis, which featured dual headlights stacked on top of each other.

Barris Kustoms Experiments with Dual Headlights on the West Coast

In California, George Barris realized that four headlight beams were considered futuristic, so sometime before March of 1956, he installed quad headlights on Martin and Morris Srabian's 1954 Ford F-100 truck. Seven years behind Pininfarina, he still beat Detroit production cars by almost a year, and Barris Kustoms is known as the first shop to install dual headlights on a custom. Known as the "Wild Kat," the Srabian Ford was, unfortunately, one of the lost cars in the Barris fire.

Frank Maratta Experiments with Dual Headlights on the East Coast

Frank Maratta was another early customizer experimenting with dual headlight conversions. Based on the East Coast of the US, Frank debuted a customized 1953 Buick Skylark with dual headlights at the 1956 Hartford Autorama. The show took place in February of 1956, and Frank's buddy John Bozio believes he completed the build late in 1955. A close race between the West Coast and the East Coast, and if Frank actually beat George to the finish line, we might have to rewrite the history books.

Dual Headlights to the People

Dual headlights were not legal in all states in the US in 1956. In states where it was legal, cars with quad headlights began selling late in 1956, as the 1957 models were released on the market. Offered as optional installations, Chryslers, DeSotos, Mercurys, Imperials, and Cadillacs could all be bought with quad headlights placed side-by-side. Nash went with dual headlights that were stacked on top of each other, while Lincoln decided to go with two large-diameter headlights above two smaller road lights for their 1957 models.

The First Canted Quad Headlights

By 1958, through the American Manufacturers Association's efforts and the general acceptance of the quad headlight design, all states approved dual headlights as legal equipment for automobiles. It became one of the hottest custom trends of 1958, and if you look through Trend Book's Custom Cars 1958 Annual, you will see lots of cars that have been modified to accept quad headlights. The problem with these conversions was often the width of the fender. To fit a pair of horizontally positioned headlights, you needed a 14-inch width. Vertical installations were a solution for narrow fenders, as long as the headlight was 26 to 27 inches above the ground, as the law required that in most states. In 1958 Lincoln introduced a solution to this problem: canted quad headlights! Or did they really? While canted quad headlights became one of the most striking features of the new 1958 Lincoln, they were old news in Italy. In 1952, Fiat introduced its legendary 8V coupe at the Geneva Salon. Designed by Luigi Rapi, Fiat supposedly produced 34 cars between 1953 and 1954, and the 1954 model featured canted quad headlights.

Quad Light Styling: One of the Hottest Custom Trends of 1958

Back in the US, Custom Cars Magazine stated in their September of 1958 issue that "There's only one styling for headlights these days and that's of the quad light variety." The magazine boldly claimed that "It's predicted that if your custom doesn't now possess these dual lamps - it shortly will." They were right, and it didn't take a long time before quad headlights became a tool many used to upgrade their car's appearance. If you didn't have the skills of George Barris or Frank Maratta or the money it took to hire them to do the job, you could order a bolt-on kit from one of the many accessory manufacturers wanting to earn a buck from the emerging trend.

Gene Winfield was an Early Adaptor of Canted Quads

Canted quad headlights became a short-lived fad in Detroit, but customizers worldwide loved it and adapted the design for more than a decade. "The quad light is here and nothing short of a styling revolution can remove it from the design picture," Gene Winfield told Car Craft Magazine when they asked him about his custom forecasts for 1959. Gene explained that the slanted style of lights was more popular because they worked best on older cars; "We'll be using some '58 and some '59 components. The year of the light doesn't matter much; in many cases they are interchangeable. There are some new styling for sure. For example the '59 version of Lincoln's quads is better than its '58 style and the 59 Chevy version is superior to its '58 styling. But we will use any year and any make. It will depend upon what we plan to do and the way in which they will work into our design." Winfield was an early adaptor of canted quads, a master of the trade, and one of his first canted quad jobs can be seen on the cover of the September 1958 issue of Custom Cars magazine. The car is a 1950 Ford that he restyled for LeRoy Goulart. Goulart's shoebox Ford was a groundbreaking custom, and Custom Cars described it as "One of the most unique adaptions we have encountered is this canted headlight/grille combination for a '50 Ford." Winfield had reworked the entire front end of the car to accept slanted 1957 Imperial headlights that were installed inside a well-thought-out grille cavity. A sinister look. The car was shown at the National Roadster Show in February of 1958, and according to Custom Cars June 1958, "spectators found LeRoy Goulart's latest treatment of quad headlight styling a treat in original custom work." The year of the light didn't matter much for Winfield, and one of his next canted quad builds featured headlight rings made from 1959 Chrysler Crown Imperial hubcaps parts. The famous Jade Idol became Gene Winfield's claim to fame. It took more than a pair of canted quads to help him gain national recognition as a custom car builder, but the headlights play a major role in the car's overall design. Gene installed handmade front fenders that he had rolled in aluminum and dressed up with split level quads on the Jade Idol. He had once again raised the bar, and noted author John DeWitt has later described the Jade Idol as "the apotheosis of an American production car envisioned as pure form." Created during a period of unrestrained expression, DeWitt claims that the Jade Idol is defined as much by what Winfield doesn't do as what he does. On the other end of the scale, you will find Northern California customizer Joe Bailon. DeWitt draws parallels between Bailon's builds with the surrealistic mannequins of Salvador Dali. 

Joe Bailon and Quad Lights in Every Possible Position

Car Craft Magazine also asked Bailon about his custom forecasts for 1959. "Chevy is the reason there will be more interest in quad lights this year," he told them. "You'll see customizers devising thousands of ways to use them. Lights will be in every possible position. Lights will be lowered, probably as much as vehicle codes will allow - say 26 to 23 inches above the ground. The Chevy lights will provide the most popular mounting for customs and you will see the use of more chrome around them. On many versions we'll build chromed grilles around them." Best known for his Candy Apple paint jobs, Bailon began customizing cars in the late 1930s. After taking home the National award at the National Roadster Show in 1952 and 1953, he was quickly established as one of the country's top-ranked customizers. Bailon's radical builds started popping up in magazines on both coasts, and one of the wildest builds to ever emerge from his shop, "The Golden Corona," landed the cover of Custom Cars February 1959. The "Golden Corona" was a 1956 Chevrolet convertible that Bailon restyled for Joe Boliba. Featuring 1958 Imperial headlights mounted in a canted position, the car was one of three canted quad customs that were shown at the National Roadster Show in 1958. A photo of the car appeared in the June 1958 issue of Custom Cars, where the author noted that "innovation was keynote of this year's new crop of custom cars."

George Barris Predicts More Extreme Quad Lights for 1959

The third canted quad custom from the 1958 National Roadster Show in Oakland is the Barris Kustoms built Ala Kart. Part custom, part hot rod, the Ala Kart was one of the few cars that survived when fourteen cars were lost in the tragic Barris fire on December 4, 1957. Luckily for owner Richard Peters, the car was parked in a separate room, and it was spared from the fire. The Ala Kart made its debut at the National Roadster Show two months later, where it won the prestigious America's Most Beautiful Roadster award. George Barris predicted that '59 would be the year of the "Integrated Custom," the year when the car will create one impression front to rear; "Quad lights will be more extreme this year," George told the Car Craft reporter. "They will be larger. Spread farther apart and wider. You will see them scooped and worked into the fenders better. For the first time in history the shape of the bulb has become an important part of the headlight design. For example, I've been trying to find someone who will make square bulbs for me. I've got a hundred uses for them." George predicted that everything would conform in 1959; "There will be more interest in lights, bumpers and grille combinations as part of this search for conformity."

The One That Got Away

What about Bobby "Chimbo" Yamazaki's ill-fated 1954 Mercury? Bobby's Mercury was one of the many customs that burned down in the Barris fire. Photos taken after the fire shows the remains of the innovative custom with its canted quad headlights. The Merc was actually in the shop being upholstered by Roy Gilbert. The front end had been restyled before that by Jay Johnston at Jay's Custom Shop, and it might have been done before Ford Motor Company introduced their brand new 1958 Lincoln to the public. Chimbo was supposed to pick the car up the next day. That never happened.

Canted Quad Headlights Become Mainstream

By 1959, canted quad customs started popping up all over the US. It was still not a common modification, but more and more canted quad customs were put on tour and started receiving magazine ink. In Detroit, the Alexander Brothers built a unique grille for Clarence Catallo's 1932 Ford that featured canted 1959 Chevrolet headlights. Bill Hines was another Detroit customizer that experimented with canted quad headlights in the late 1950s, and Bill's nephew, Teddy Zgrzemski, became a victim for one of Hines's wild ideas as he cut up and rearranged the whole front end on his 1954 Ford using welding rods and tubing. Darryl Starbird, Ray Fahrner, Bill Cushenbery, all the big builders back then, experimented with the new trend, building canted quad customs. Korky was no exception, and in 1959, he reworked the front on Maximilian King's 1940 Mercury convertible to house canted quad headlights. Originally restyled in the mid-1940s, nerf bars, canted 1958 Chevrolet taillights, and a scallop paint job was also added to upgrade the appearance of the then outdated custom. Many more customs would be victims of the same transformation in the late 1950s and the 1960s.

The Growth of Canted Quad Customs on the East Coast

Trying to trace the growth and popularity of the trend, we looked through the souvenir program for the 1958 Hartford Autorama; a show often referred to as the National Roadster Show of the East Coast. Held in February of 1958, there are no customs with canted quads listed in the program that year. A year later, two canted quads customs can be found in the souvenir program for the 1959 show. One of these is a 1951 Jaguar that Joe Bailon restyled on the West Coast. In the 1960 program, there are four cars with canted quads listed. Twice as many as the year before! In 1961, the number grew to at least 13—a whopping 225% growth.

7 of the 10 Best Customs for 1961 had Canted Quad Headlights

1961 was also the year Leif Wendel, Örjan Lindberg, and Staffan Lindberg pooled their resources and talent together and bought a 1955 Ford Sunliner in Sweden. Inspired by the cars they had admired in Hot Rod and Car Craft Magazine, the trio from Hammarbyhöjden just outside of Stockholm began restyling the Ford after their likings and skills. A mild iteration, shaved for chrome and dressed up with a custom-made grille, was completed for the 1962 season. By then, canted quads were hotter than ever in the US, and 7 of the 10 cars Car Craft magazine had nominated as "The 10 Best Custom for 1961" featured canted quads. In the same magazine, they asked the nation's top customizers about their custom forecasts for 1962. Gene Winfield predicted that small bumpers, rolled pans, and new headlights would give 1962 customs a new eye appeal.

Sweden Jumps on the Canted Quad Bandwagon

Back in Sweden, the Wendel-Lindberg Ford was a work-in-progress, and the front and the rear of the car were radically restyled before it hit the road with a bronze metallic paint job in 1963. Gone was the front bumper, and the car had now received a tube grille, a rolled pan, and canted quad headlights from a 1959 Rambler, just as Gene Winfield predicted. The Wendel-Lindberg Sunliner was one of the first fully customized cars in Sweden. The kids loved it, and it has become a pioneer build when it comes to what many today consider a signature Swedish 1960s custom.

The First Canted Quad Customs in Norway

Around the same time, across the border to Norway, Per Ivar Kolgrov was practicing his metalwork and butcher skills on an older 1948 Mercury convertible. The front fenders on Per Ivar's Mercury were cut down and modified to accept a fashionable grille-headlight combination that Joe Bailon had forecasted for 1959. The installation consisted of chromed tubes and 1964 Fiat 1500 headlights mounted in a canted position. The Kolgrov Mercury was a radical custom when it hit the streets of Oslo in 1964, and it was quite a sensation when he actually got it through the licensing department. Oslo was a hotbed when it came to Norwegian hot rods and customs in the 1960s, but things were going on in other parts of the country as well. Further, up north, in Trondheim, legendary custom painter Einar Valsjø was busy restyling a 1952 Mercury. Completed in 1965, Einar's Mercury incorporated a bumperless front-end design that he had dressed up with canted quad headlights and a 1954 Chevrolet grille bar. It looked like it came straight out of Stockholm, and in Norway, it is often referred to as the first custom car north of Sinsenkrysset.

Blue Heaven - The Leader of the Pack

In Sweden, the Wendel-Lindberg Sunliner changed hands in 1965, and it went on to become a famous custom widely known as The Blue Heaven. A car credited as an inspiration for numerous similar-styled Swedish customs that followed it in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Still Popular Today

You don't see many canted quad customs built in the US after the muscle cars took over the scene in the 1960s. The trend never really took off in Norway before things morphed into custom-painted muscle cars and vans, so I think it is safe to say that the trend was born in Italy, matured in California, and kept alive in Sweden, where a few customs with canted quads still are being built today. We haven't found any quotes from Motor Trend's Bob D'Olivio about Swedish customs of the 1960s, so we let it be up to you to decide how successful meetings they are of European and US design!

Cars Featuring Canted Headlights

Larry Hughes 1926 Ford Model T Roadster Pick Up - The Bomber
Junichi Shimodaira's 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan - Rod Riguez
Maximilian King's 1940 Mercury Convertible
Per Ivar Kolgrov's 1948 Mercury Convertible
Lloyd C. Hammond's 1949 Ford - The Majestic Lady
Tom Gibbons' 1949 Ford Tudor - The Orchid Lady
Lloyd Myers' 1949 Mercury Convertible
George Egan's 1950 Ford Convertible - The Apollo
Harold Hardin's 1950 Plymouth Convertible
Einar Valsjø's 1952 Mercury
John Knox's 1953 Buick Skylark Convertible
Bo Thalinsson's 1953 Ford Sunliner Convertible
Ed Pogue's 1953 Ford Hardtop - The Glitra
Buddy Katlik's 1953 Plymouth 4-Door Sedan
Gerald Twamley's 1954 Chevrolet 210 2-Door Sedan
John Nadzon's 1954 Mercury - The Mysterian
Richard Piscatelli's 1954 Mercury
Sven Blüme's 1954 Plymouth Convertible
Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century - The BuSonic
Arne Lindstrand's 1955 Chevrolet
Barry Atkins' 1955 Chevrolet
Emory Ashpaugh's 1955 Chevrolet - The Krimson Kart
John McLaughlin's 1955 Chevrolet
Nick Phillips' 1955 Chevrolet Convertible
Stan Makrush's 1955 Chevrolet Convertible
Sal Consiglio's 1955 Ford
Les Mullen's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette - Dominique
Dave Puhl's 1956 Ford Thunderbird - The Hybrid Bird
Leroy Kemmerer's 1956 Mercury - The Jade Idol
Marlyn Englert's 1956 Chevrolet Convertible
Adrienne Hooper's 1956 Mercury Converible - The Wild One
Ken Sowers' 1956 Plymouth
Bill Shelley's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette - "Bali Hi"
Joe Roth's 1959 Chevrolet Impala