Knoxville, Tennessee

Tom Harris grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee in the late 1950s and the early 1960s. "My first car was a 50 Ford that was customized at my uncle's body shop," he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in March of 2021. "My dad was the shop Forman and I hung around the shop at an early age as much as possible." The body shop was named Harris Auto Body. It was located in Knoxville, and according to Tom, "not a lot of custom work was done there, but my dad and favorite uncle Bus made an exception for me. I probably changed my mind on what I wanted to be done with every little page hot rod book I bought. The little Ford was pretty cool at the time with a 56 Chrysler grill, lowered front and back, shaved hood, trunk, and door handles. All seams filled and frenched head and tail lights and a roll and pleat interior." Just about everyone Tom hung out with had a hot rod of sorts. "Most of the cars at my high school might have dual exhaust and spinner hub caps but that was just about it. There were more mild customs than hot rods," he recalled.