Roger Honey

A 1955 Buick that Roger chopped for his buddy Butch Thornton in the 1980s.

Roger Honey's 1951 Ford Victoria of San Diego, California. Restyled by Roger, the build was started in the Summer of 1985 and completed a half year later.

Roger Honey of San Diego, California. Roger grew up in San Diego in the mid to late 1950s. In 2015 he told Kustomrama he would ride his bicycle down to Styler's Custom Shop and watch Red Eye and Robert Martinez do their stuff for hours;"Styler’s was in a dirt alley back then, behind B & W Auto Parts. Then I would take a ride two blocks up the street to Jerauld’s Speed Shop, they were one of the main speed shops back then. After that I would head up to El Cajon Blvd and stop by Jerry’s Custom Shop to see what’s new. Some days I would catch a the bus and go down to PB and watch Ray Cook do body work and watch him shoot the new candy & pearl paint that had just been invented. I can still smell the lacquer paint. Ray had a chopped and sectioned 1934 Ford coupe back then. I would also stop by Bob Stewart's speed shop, Dago Dropped Axles, to see who was going fast, and then stop off and talk to Marty Moore’s at Marty’s Kustoms, that was close to Bob’s speed shop. Marty taught me all about quality and taking the time to do things the right way. I was also lucky enough to have some really cool older guy’s in the hood that were into cars, chopped 32’s, 34’s 36’s, 50 Merc’s and kustom Chevy’s. They would let me tag along for some night street racing and drive-in’s. One of the guy’s, Tommy Weber, had a Purple 1953 Cadillac Coupe Deville that featured a pink and white rolled and pleated upholstery. It was slammed big time. And let me not forget Emery Cook and Cliff Bedwell, they had a shop down on Main St. Emory drove a fuel truck at the time. They had the fastest fuel dragster, and I was at Paradise Mesa the day they hit 168 MPH in the 1/4. it was a big deal at the time because Einstein had said it was impossible to go that fast, in that distance at that time. We also had the Bean Bandits, who were also tearing up the drag strips at that time. Their main motivation was Joaquin Arnett, who had a shop up on University Ave. Joaquin was a special guy with many talents, and he would take the time to show you what and how he was doing things. Early on Sunday Mornings we would ride our bikes out to Paradise Mesa, 8 miles away, to watch the drags. There we saw all of young guys like Mickey Thompson and Keith Black learning about, and how to use the new go fast fuel Nitro. I look back at those days and realize how lucky I was to have lived them in good old So Cal San Diego at that time, I guess that must be how I caught the car disease so bad."

While going through high school Roger had a 1950 Chevrolet coupe; "It was nosed and decked, and it ran a split manifold with exhaust pipes that ran through the bumper guards. I turned the front bumper over to make it look lower. It was painted in Ice Blue Metallic lacquer, and the A frames were reworked with two coils cut in front. The springs were dearched and it ran 6” block in the rear. You could turn a box of Marlboro cigarettes on its side and they would just slid under the front cross member support. I was getting tickets for being too low before they had a law. Back then the speed limit was 55, and you could go 65 down the freeway and back off, and the sparks would fly like a lowrider. I also had a black 40 Coupe with red wheels and white wall tires and a built flat head at the time. Since I was 14, I have always had a Hot Rod, Kustom or Harley to keep me busy."

Roger Honey's Cars

Willy Clark's 1927 Ford Model T Roadster Pick Up
Roger Honey's 1940 Ford Coupe
Roger Honey's 1950 Chevrolet Coupe
Roger Honey's 1950 Mercury
Roger Honey's 1951 Ford Victoria

Cars Restyled by Roger Honey

Butch Thornton's 1955 Buick