House of Customs

A business card for Gordy's House of Customs.

Gordy Brown's 1963 Ford Thunderbird. The Thunderbird was built by Gordy at House of Customs around 1963/1964, and it featured hydraulic lifts on all four corners so he could raise it up by the touch of a switch. The Thunderbird was the first car Gordy built after moving to California.

Dave Sgambellone's 1951 Chevrolet Coupe. Gordy restyled Dave's Coupe after opening up House of Customs in the mid 1960s.

A 1963 Pontiac that Gordy Brown restyled for an unknown owner at House of Customs in the mid 1960s. Gordy fit the car with lifts front and rear.

Bob Stepanion's 1966 Chevrolet El Camino was restyled by Gordy Brown of House of Customs in 1966.

A 1965 Ford Mustang that Gordy painted in the 1960s. Before he painted the car, Gordy radiused the rear wheel wells to fit the huge slicks. The front wheel wells were changed to match the rear ones. This photo shows the car as it sat in 2013.

House of Customs was a body custom shop in San Fernando, California run and operated by Gordy Brown. Gordy, who was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah moved to Southern California in the early 1960s after the state of Utah passed a law about against altered suspension. As the custom culture was still strong in Southern California, Gordy decided to move to San Fernando. THe first car Gordy restyled after moving to Southern California was a 1963 Ford Thunderbird. The T-Bird was Gordy's personal driver, and after getting a ticket for being too low in the freshly restyled car, he decided to install hydraulic lifts on the car somewhere around 1964. After Gordy started to install lifts on cars, he had customers coming as far away as San Diego and Bakersfield for lifts. Gordy did not do a lot of lifts, as they were just worked in with all of his other work. Gordy's lifts were a little different and very labor intensive, so more expensive than anyone else. Gordy was lowering the cars with a good ride before he installed lifts to raise the car. When riding in one of Gordy's cars, you would think the car had stock suspension and ride wether the car was up or down.

Cars Restyled by House of Customs

Dave Sgambellone's 1951 Chevrolet Coupe
Mike Belpedio's 1954 Chevrolet
David Sgambellone's 1956 Ford F-100 Truck
Gordy Brown's 1963 Ford Thunderbird
Nick Hoogoian's 1965 Chevrolet Malibu
Bob Stepanion's 1966 Chevrolet El Camino