Pinstriping

A business card from Joe Andersen, a custom paint and pinstriping shop in Gardena, California. Andersen, an early pioneer in airbrushed designs and fadeaway paint schemes, started his career in Los Angeles under the mentorship of Louis Senter of Ansen Automotive. His innovative work extended to show cars, street cars, and dragsters, including the iconic Stellings and Hampshire "Red Stamp Special" dragster, praised as one of the most beautiful dragsters ever painted. Photo from The Mike Kosulandich Collection.

Leroy Heinrichs and his fiancée Mazie Neece washing Leroy's 1947 Plymouth Club Coupe in front of the Neece family home on Margaret Street in San Jose, California, circa 1955. At this early stage, the car had already been mildly customized with shaved door handles, shortened hood trim, lakes pipes, subtle pinstriping around the wheel wells, and a set of 1954 Chrysler hubcaps. Photo courtesy of Tracy Zimmermann.

Bill Peterson's 1932 Ford Roadster of Portland, Oregon. The roadster was built by Bill and Dee Wescot in 1955. Once completed, the roadster won the 1956 Portland Roadster Show, becoming the first Sweepstakes Winner of the show.

Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet of Bellflower, California. Watson started practicing pinstriping in 1956, at age 16, and he used his first car to practice on.

Santo Vasques' 1950 Chevrolet Convertible of Long Beach, California. Santo was a member of the Long Beach Renegades car club, and the first version of his Chevrolet was pinstriped by Larry Watson in his parents' driveway in 1956.

Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air of Lakewood, California. Duane was a member of the Long Beach Renegades car club, and his car was known as The Moonglow. The first iteration of Duane's Moonglow was pinstriped by Larry in his parents' driveway in 1956.

Danny Purinton's 1956 Mercury of Long Beach, California. Danny was a member of the Lakewood Creators car club, and his Mercury was restyled by Ed Schelhaas at Schelhaas Custom Shop. George Newton, Schelhaas' painter, painted the car in a lustrous Bahamas Blue Metallic nitro lacquer. Larry Watson pinstriped the car in imitation Gold July 21, 1956, the night before the third annual Norwalk Motorcade. According to Larry, 22 pinstriped cars were entered in the show. Von Dutch had four, Dean Jeffries had seven, and Larry Watson had eleven.

Bill Smith's 1934 Ford Roadster Custom of Alameda, California. Bill was a member of the Shamrocks of Alameda car club, and he set out to build the roadster in 1955. Built from a retired Tudor Sedan, Bill modified the body by cutting off the roof and moving it down to form the trunk. He completed the build the same year, showing it at the 1956 National Roadster Show. Tommy the Greek pinstriped the car for Bill around 1956 - 1957.

Manuel Gonzalez's 1940 Ford Coupe of Wilmington, California. Gonzalez was a member of the Pharaohs of Wilmington car club, and in 1956 his coupe received a flame paint job by Von Dutch. Von Dutch did also add additional pinstriping under the headlights and on the deck lid.

In 1956 Von Dutch pinstriped and airbrushed Bill Daniels' 1950 Oldsmobile. Bill was 18 years old when he stopped by to get the car Dutched. It featured louvers in any area available. 200 in the hood, 100 on the deck lid, and on all interior garnish moldings, and Von Dutch told him that anyone crazy enough to have louvers on the trunk deserves flames which he airbrushed. "He also individually striped each louver, and there were hundreds. He didn't want anyone watching, said to go home, come back in 8 hours and guaranteed, you will be happy," Bill told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2020. "When I first made the appointment, he said to be sure and bring a half-gallon of red wine along with the car." Photo courtesy of Bill Daniels.

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. 1957 marked another pivotal moment for the Merc when Buddy traded it for Dick Jackson's 1957 Ford. Jackson, who ran Advanced Custom Paints in Compton, California, infused new life into the Merc with a two-tone paint scheme, pinstriping, dual spotlights, and Oldsmobile Fiesta hubcaps.

Jake Bultsma's 1951 Chevrolet Hardtop of Bellflower, California. Larry Watson scalloped Jake's Chevrolet in his parents' driveway in 1956. A year later, in 1957, Jake brought the Chevy back to Larry to add more pinstriping. By then, Watson had opened up his own shop, Watson's House of Style in North Long Beach.

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.

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.

Jerry Koller's 1955 Ford of Bellflower, California. Known as the "Doll Buggy," Jerry's Ford featured a scallop paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. The car was painted around 1958-59. Watson did also outline the scallops.

Russ Edgers' 1957 Ford Convertible of Lansing, Michigan. In 1959, Russ' Ford received a scallop paint job by Jerry "SPIDER" Drake and Larry Cooper at Cooper Body Shop.

Ken O'Neil's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline of New York City, New York. Restyled around 1961, Ken lived in the Richmond Hill neigbourhood in Queens. The Fleetline was dressed up with pinstriping. Photo from The Ken Bausert Photo Collection.

George Jezek's 1949 Chevrolet 2-Door Sedan of West, Texas. Jezek was a local pinstriper and a founding member of the Eliminators of West car club. Known as The Candy Cart, Jezek's Chevrolet went through several modifications during the late 1950s and the 1960s. This photo shows how it appeared in 1962 after Jezek had installed a heavily chromed 283 Chevy engine and removed exterior chrome accessories such as dual spotlights and lakes pipes. By 1962, the only pinstriping that was left on his car were subtle white lines around the bottom of the car and the wheel wells.

Walt Prey applying his distinctive signature to Howard Gribble's 1966 Buick Riviera in March of 1969. The "T" in "Walt" was crossed with a minuscule hand holding a striping brush. Walt had previously striped Howard’s 1967 Chevrolet Impala and reunited with him at Bill Carter’s Van Nuys shop for the Riviera project. The fuchsia and silver Metalflake paint job with black veiling was applied by Bill Carter, with Walt adding his signature striping to finish off one of Carter’s best paint jobs. Photo from The Howard Gribble Collection.

Raymond Patricco's 1934 Ford Roadster of Irvington, New Jersey. Patricco didn't build the car, he supposedly bought it in the 1960 or the 1970s. He planned to restore it. That never happened, and it stayed in storage until he passed away in 2018. Rumor has the car was built in the 1950s. Back then it is believed to have run a DuVall Windshield. The car had a panel paint job and pinstriping when Patricco bought it.