Kustomrama Photo Archive

In the Kustomrama Photo Archive you will find traditional hot rod and custom related photos dug out from albums and treasure chests all over the world. So far the archive contains photos from the collections of Art Himsl, Brad Masterson, Bill Boren, Bud Unger, Börje "Böcka" Linderström, Charlie Grantham, Chuck Noble, George Contaoi, Greg Palen, Howard Gribble, Dave Jenkins, Fred Austin, Gene McCrickard, Glen Wall, Harry K. Jenkins, James Handy, Jim Arkin, Jim Genty, Jim Papworth, Joe Kizis, John Bozio, Richard "Korky" Korkes, Joe Crisafulli, Ken Bausert, Marty McDonough, Mickey Ellis, Ron Dragoo, Ron Aguirre, Bengt Wennergren, Håkan Lindell, Per Arne Knudsen, Joe Brienza, Chuck Quesnel, Joanna Quesnel, Gordy Brown, Jim Kierstead, Marshall Tripp, Mikael de Bourg Wetterlund, Milt Goodman, Ola Hegseth, Ray Soff, Richard "Nobey" Noble, Ronn Ives, The Swanx Car Club, The Cut Outs car club, Sondre Kvipt, Steve Arnold, Olav Kvipt, Robert Genat, Roger Lick, Vern LaCoursiere, Wally Troy, and Willard McPhatter Jr..

Do you have old photos to share? Please get in touch with us at mail@kustomrama.com if you do.

The Milt Mallory Collection In the vast canvas of American automotive history, the late 1940s and early 1950s stand out as a period of intense creativity and mechanical ingenuity. It was an era that saw the birth of hot rodding - a unique cultural phenomenon that combined speed, style, and a relentless pursuit of personal expression. The Milt Mallory Photo Collection offers us a rare glimpse into this revolutionary period through a series of images that capture the raw essence of early hot rodding. The Joe "Bud" Simmons Collection Joe "Bud" Simmons was a founding member of the Throttle Benders car club in 1949. According to his grandson, Brian Burnham, it wasn't a big club, "just a bunch of farm kids from the California Central Valley." The Lyle R. Johnson Collection Lyle R. Johnson was a member of the Emperors of Seattle car club, and he was involved in the hot rod shows in the area in 1956 and 1957. Lyle acted as secretary-treasurer of the Emperors in 1956, and thanks to his son, a few of his photos and memorabilia have found their way to Kustomrama. The Janne Lepola Collection Janne Lepola had to travel around the world to find out how special the Suomi kustom tradition really is! "On my first trip to Los Angeles I showed pictures of Suomi Kustoms to my new friends and even though they said "nice," I could see from their faces that something was wrong!" The Roger Lick Collection Roger Lick was a well-known Des Plaines, Illinois custom car enthusiast. He had some cool customs himself back in the day, and he often brought his camera when he visited friends, shows, or other places that the hot rod and custom car guys hung out. The Cliff Riehl Collection Cliff Riehl was a member of the Road Lords of So. Cal. car club. He joined the club as a teenager in the 1950s, and helped organize the first, and only, Disneyland Car Club Day and Autocade September 5, 1959. The Greg Palen Collection Greg Palen grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. In the early 1960s, he rode his bike to the local shops to watch them build customs. Korky's Kustoms for example. That was one of the shops on his regular route. The Charlie Grantham Collection Charlie Grantham grew up in Los Angeles and went to Polytechnic High School. His family moved to San Bernardino, where Charlie became a member of the SCTA Road Runners while he was competing at the dry lakes. Unfortunately, Charlie has passed away, but thanks to his cousin Chuck Edwall, many of his photos have found their way to the Kustomrama Photo Archive. The Willard McPhatter Jr. Collection Willard McPhatter Jr. took these photos at the Charlotte Coliseum Car Show in 1965. Willard is Cory Vaughn's uncle, and the Charlotte Coliseum Car Show, is the first show he and his brother ever attended. The Bill Boren Collection Bill Boren was an active member of the Culver City Screwdrivers in the 1940s and the 1950s. He and Jerry Keldrauk were a regular sight at the dry lakes with their track nosed 1932 Ford Sedan. Unfortunately Bill passed away in September of 2014, but his memory lives on on Kustomrama as his daughter Karen has scanned and shared his old albums with us. The Howard Miereanu Collection Howard R. Miereanu is a well known graphic designer. With degrees in industrial design & graphics from the Art Center College of Design, Howard’s experience is wide-ranging; from an exterior automotive designer at General Motors (1959-1963), back to Los Angeles he joined a local furniture manufacturer as head designer and created a line of office furniture, moved on to be Senior Partner at Advertising & Sons (a boutique advertising agency in Beverly Hills), and finally to owner and founder of HRM Graphic Design (a Woodland-Hills-based graphic design studio specializing in packaging, corporate ID). The James Handy Collection We are very happy to announce that a fraction of James "Jim" Handy's Photo Collection has found its way to Kustomrama. Jim has been shooting car shows, cars, and dragsters since 1960, and his photos have been in print in several magazines such as Rod & Custom, Rod Action and Custom Rodder. The Ken Bausert Collection Ken Bausert grew up in a two-story house in Richmond Hill, New York’s borough of Queens. A 25-minute drive on the Belt Parkway separates Richmond Hill from the Flatbush neighborhood in Brooklyn. Queens is the easternmost and largest in area of the five boroughs of New York City. It is geographically adjacent to the borough of Brooklyn at the southwestern end of Long Island and to Nassau County farther east on Long Island. The Robert Genat Collection Robert Genat was born in 1945. Raised in Detroit and its southern suburbs, he is a prolific author and photographer with over 40 books and 200 magazine articles to his credit. In 2003, he was awarded the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award by the Motor Press Guild for his book, The Birth of Hot Rodding. The Steve Arnold Collection Steve Arnold was a member of the Tridents of Southern California from 1969 to 1972. The club was formed April 6th, 1959 with six charter members. The club grew fast, and by 1960 it consisted of 24 active members. Steve's photo collection consists mainly of old Tridents photos. The Fred Larsen Collection Fred Larsen was a pioneer hot rodder, dry lakes racer and drag racer. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Fred grew up in Culver City, California. In 1936 he attended his first dry lakes meet, as a spectator at the Muroc dry lakes. Two years later he returned with his first hot rod, a 1925 Ford Model T roadster. Fred went on to become a lifetime member of the 300-MPH chapter of the Bonneville 200-MPH Club, and the holder of multiple World Land Speed Records for streamlined vehicles set at the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Glen and Forey Wall Collection By 1959 Wall Custom Cars on Firestone Boulevard in South Gate, California had grown a reputation as the World’s Largest Custom Car Dealer. A big demand for custom cars after WWII got Forey and Glen Wall into the custom car industry. The Ray Soff Collection Raymond Soff of Saddle Brook, New Jersey is often referred to as a walking custom car Encyclopedia. He was born in 1946, and he has spent half of his life tracking down custom cars in the United States, talking to owners of cars that he admired in the magazines when he was a little kid. Ray’s growing collection of East Coast custom history contains thousands of photos and negatives, letters, notes, and taped interviews. The Art Himsl Collection Paint trends come and go but Art Himsl is forever. Art has been called the hot rod Rembrandt of our generation. The Junior Conway Collection While Olav Kvipt lived in California, he was able to become friends with Junior Conway of Junior's House of Color in Bell. Junior has been in the trade since he began working for Barris Kustoms in 1955, and is currently operating one of the best, high end body shops in the world. The majority of the photos from Junior's collection are from 1953 to the late 1960s. The Jerry Drake Collection Jerry Drake of Lansing, Michigan is a legendary pinstriper known as "Spider the Crazy Painter." Among some of Jerry's highlights was scalloping Carl Casper's 1951 Chevrolet, "The Exotic Empress," that went on to win the Nationals in 1961, and David Cassidy's Touring "T", that Carl Casper built for Screen Gems. Jerry was also a Show Director for Carl Casper for over 12 years. The George Contaoi Collection George Contaoi of the San Bernardino Krankers was born in 1934. In 1949, he graduated from San Bernardino with a custom 1941 Ford Tudor. He later owned several custom cars and is still active in the car scene. During the late 1940s and up to the late 1950s, he was quite active playing with the camera. George has shared his entire collection with Kustomrama, so keep tuned to see the upcoming photos. The Joe Kizis Collection Joe Kizis was an East Coast car show promoter from Milford, Connecticut. In 1951 he held an indoor car show in Hartford, Connecticut that he promoted as the Hartford Autorama. The show went on to be one of the biggest indoor hot rod and custom car shows on the East Coast scene. The Richard "Nobey" Noble Collection Richard "Nobey" Noble of Springville, California. Nobey has been involved with cars and hot rods his entire life. He has been the caretaker of the historic Mac Schutt's 1932 Ford roadster since 1988, and over the years he has collected some nice photos that he has shared with Kustomrama. Some of the photos in Nobey's collection were taken by his dad, while others were given to him by his good friend Bill Cole. The Brad Masterson Collection When Brad Masterson worked for George Barris, before he went working for Bill Hines, George had a major clean-up at this North Hollywood shop. During the clean-up he threw out tons of material. Luckily, Brad jumped in the dumpster and saved what he could. When Olav Kvipt was working with Brad in his shop, he spent hours scanning all of Brad's photos and documents. The Mikael de Bourg Wetterlund Collection Mikael de Bourg Wetterlund of Stockholm, Sweden. Born in 1954, Mikael has had an interest in hot rods and customs since the day his father took him to the first Hot Rod Show at Ostermans Marmorhallar in the mid-1960s. The Ronn Ives Collection Ronn Ives and his family moved to Denver, Colorado in 1963, when Ronn was 13 years old. In 2018 Ronn told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he has been following car design since he was 10 years old; "I read about it all the time, watched for cars, and began building models as my early way to get involved in it. The Brad Masterson Collection When Brad Masterson worked for George Barris, before he went working for Bill Hines, George had a major clean-up at this North Hollywood shop. During the clean-up he threw out tons of material. Luckily, Brad jumped in the dumpster and saved what he could. When Olav Kvipt was working with Brad in his shop, he spent hours scanning all of Brad's photos and documents. The Trend Books Collection In 2008 Justin Kudolla brought the popular Trend Book back to life. Born in 1975, Justin is a custom car enthusiast from Casper, Wyoming. After researching trademarks and finding the old Trend Books trademark from the 1950s and 1960s available, he registered it under his name and began working on a new edition, the first Custom Cars Annual published since 1962. The Börje "Böcka" Linderström Collection Börje "Böcka" Linderström of Sweden was very active in the Swedish hot rod and custom scene in the 1960s. Being a talented builder and painter, Linderström had his hands on many of the creations we all know from the legendary Hot Rod Shows in Marmorhallarna in Stockholm. Unfportunately "Böcka" has passed away, but his son Sonny has scanned and shared his father's photo collection with Kustomrama. The Marty McDonough Collection Marty McDonough of Pathrump, Nevada was actively involved in drag racing in the 1957 - 1962 era, before it became too expensive. Marty knew how to use his camera, and his collection spans from the mid-1950s up until today. The Jim Arkin Photo Collection Jim Arkin of Los Angeles, California. Jim grew up in Sun Valley, in the east part of San Fernando Valley. During high school, he was a member of the San Fernando Valley Tyrants car club, and he drove a 1956 Ford Victoria. After high school, he attended Valley Jr. College where he meets some guys involved with "lowriders". They decided to start the San Fernando Valley Illusions car club. The Dave Jenkins Photo Collection Dave Jenkins was a founding member of the Ann Arbor Timing Association. Dave and his friends drove some good looking cars, and Dave took some very nice photos back in the late 1950s and 1960s, or as he said it: "All I had was a 35mm slide camera and sometimes I got lucky." Luckily for us, Dave has shared his all color photo collection with Kustomrama. The Kustomrama Photo Collection The Kustomrama Photo Collection contains photos from the private collection of Sondre Kvipt. These photos come from all over the world, and they are bought and collected from various sources. Sondre started buying what he could afford and find on eBay back in the 2000s. He has also visited flea markets and vintage shops all over the world hunting for hidden treasures, and the collection has grown over time. The Robert Genat Collection Robert Genat was born in 1945. Raised in Detroit and its southern suburbs, he is a prolific author and photographer with over 40 books and 200 magazine articles to his credit. In 2003, he was awarded the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award by the Motor Press Guild for his book, The Birth of Hot Rodding. The Gene McCrickard Collection When Gene was in high school, he worked on the counter of Highland Park Hot Rod Shop after school. "My wife’s parents bought the shop in 1954 and kept me on to work. The father died and the wife closed the shop about 1960-1961 and I was forced to move on. That’s when a friend and I bought Gratiot Auto Supply on Grand River that had belonged to Bill Toia." Gene and his buddy named their shop The Hot Rod Shop. The Wally Troy Collection Wally began restyling cars in 1928, when his uncle gave him a worn out Model T. He was 14 years old at the time, and used spare parts from area salvage yards to modify the car. The passion and love for customizing grew over the years, and in 1952 Wally wanted to prove to himself that he was as good, if not better than the big boys customizing autos! How did it go? According to urban legends, he impressed Preston Tucker and pissed of the King of Kustoms, Mr. George Barris! The Fred Austin Collection Fred Austin was a member of the Chancellors of Van Nuys car club. The club was originally founded in the mid-1950s. Fred became a member of the club around 1961. By then the club had a clubhouse and a dragster, and it consisted of about 30 members. The Chancellors of Van Nuys put on some big car shoe at Devonshire Downs in the San Fernando Valley, something that really helped build up the clubs name and reputation. The Clifford Ambrose Collection Clifford Ambrose of Santa Clara, California was a member of the San Jose Igniters car club. Cliff was very active back in the late 1950s building and racing hot rods. Lucky for us he brought a camera and documented some of the action. Unfortunately, Cliff passed away in 1998, but his son Matt has shared his dad's old photos with Kustomrama. The Milt Goodman Collection Milt Goodman was a Vancouver, Calanda motorsport pioneer, and he was involved with custom cars, drag racing, go-karts, and sports car racing. In 1954 Milt joined the British Columbia Custom Car Association, and he served as the club photographer for many years. Thanks to the family of Jack Williams and Craig Pettman, some of Milt's photos have found their way to Kustomrama. The Ron Aguirre Collection Ron Aguirre of Rialto, California was a pioneer in the field of hydraulic lifted cars, and in the late 1950s he built a custom Corvette, known as the X-Sonic. The X-Sonic was for many year acknowledged as the first car ever using hydraulics to raise and lower the front suspension. The X-Sonic was also the first show car featuring a bubble top plastic roof. The Richard Korkes Collection Richard "Korky" Korkes is a legendary East Coast cusotmizer born in Whippany, New York. Korky customized his first car at age 17 in 1952. He started a car club called the Free Wheelers of Whippany before he opened up his own custom shop called Korky's Kustom Shop. Korky has shared some photos from his personal collection that we will share in this archive. The Long Beach Cavaliers Collection The Long Beach Cavaliers car club was formed in 1948 at Poly High School in Long Beach. At the time the club had about 25 members. The existence of the club is divided into three generations, 1948 - 1955, 1956 - 1965 and 1998 to present. Photos from all three generations will now be available on Kustomrama. The Harry K. Jenkins Collection Harry K. Jenkins grew up in Whippany, Nw Jersey. As a teenager he attended the 1962 East Orange Autorama in New Jersey. The show featured cars by big star builders such as Ed Roth, Bill Cushenbery and local hero Dick Korkes. Harry brought his camera so he could document the happening. The photos are now scanned and shared with Kustomrama for you all to enjoy. The Ron Dragoo Collection In the mid 1950s Ron Dragoo of Long Beach, California spotted Dick Jackson's 1954 Mercury Monterey on the street! He fell in love with the Merc, and decided that he just had to have it. Bill Layman did the same thing, and in 2005 he completed a 1954 Mercury custom inspired by the Jackson/Dragoo Merc. After reading about Bill's Merc in The Rodder's Journal, Ron decided to share his photo collection with Bill. The Vern LaCoursiere Collection Vern LaCoursiere is a member of the legendary Tacoma Toppers car club of Tacoma, Washington. Vern rode the bus to school during high school, and he couldn't wait to buy his first car after graduation so he could join the Toppers. 19 years old, in 1957, he bought his first car, a 1949 Ford that he restyled himself. Tom Tufte has scanned and shared some of Vern's old photos with the Kustomrama Photo Archive. The Jim Kierstead Collection Jim Kierstead of Inglewood, California got involved with cars at an early age. He was born in 1923, and grew up in Los Angeles when hot rodding and custom just began to be hot. During WWII he met Sam Barris in the Navy. They became good friends, and when he was discharged in 1945, he bought a 1939 Mercury that the duo restyled. Unfortunately, Jim died in a car crash with the Mercury in 1947, T-boned by a Duesenberg. His family has decided to share Jim's photos with Kustomrama, so the legacy will go on. The P.A. Flink Collection In 1967 P.A. Flink attended his first Hot Rod Show in Stockholm. Not only did he attend it, he also exhibited a moped at the show named "The Peacock". During the late 1960s and 1970s P.A. became a regular visitor at the shows, bringing his camera to immortalize the Swedish hot rod and custom scene. The Mickey Ellis Collection The Ogden, Utah area had a strong car scene in the 1950s and 1960s, and cruising Washington Blvd, the main street of Ogden, was the thing to do every night. Mickey Ellis was one of the local kids that spent much of his time cruising up and down the main street. Mickey was a member of the Stags of Ogden car club, and luckily for us he took some great photos back in the days that he has decided to share with Kustomrama. The Phil Alloy Collection Toledo, Ohio is a long way, 2000 miles in distance and even farther in mind set, from the beaches, streets and attitudes of sunny California. Hardly the place to expect cutting edge custom cars and hot rods. But for one glorious weekend in the spring of 1965 Toledo, Ohio became the center of the custom car universe. 16 years old Phil Alloy was there with his camera, documenting the famous cars he was so familiar with from magazines. The Bengt Wennergren Collection Bengt Wennergren is an early Swedish hot rodder, customizer, and drag racing pioneer. Bengt has been into hot rods and customs since the late 1950s. He has been around the world, and he brought his camera along on the journey. Bengt has an extensive collection of old photos that he has shared with Kustomrama. The Gordy Brown Collection Gordy Brown of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been into hot rods and customs for most of his life. He started at age 14 in the mid-1950s restyling a 1947 Ford Tudor. The Howard Gribble Collection Howard Gribble has been into custom cars since he was ten or eleven years old. Back then, he decided that one day, he was gonna have a car with shaved door handles. "It just seemed like such a bold thing to do." The Chuck Noble Collection Chuck Noble of Chicago, Illinois, came across a collection of indoor car show photos at an estate sale. The photos are dated "Jan 62," so they were taken some time before that. Chuck believes they were taken at a show in Chicago or the Midwest of the United States. In February of 2017, he shared his photos with Kustomrama so we all could enjoy them. The Swanx Photo Collection The Swanx of Oakland car club was founded by Ted Lundquist and Johnny Johnson in 1952. In 1998 the Swanx of Vallejo chapter was reformed with the blessing of the original members of the club. Rick Holcomb, Vice President of the Swanx of Vallejo car club has shared some photos from the Swanx archive with Kustomrama. The John Bozio Collection John Bozio is an East Coast customizer from East Hartford, Connecticut. John bought his first car, a 1939 Buick Century, at age 15 in 1951. The Buick was John's first custom attempt. Several customs followed, mostly Buicks, and luckily for us, John took photos of them all. The Jim Papworth Collection Jim Papworth was a member of the Culver City Screwdrivers. He joined the club in 1948, and was active until late 1950. Jim's first car was a 1932 Ford roadster that he bought in 1947. After the roadster followed a row of early Fords that Jim raced on the dry lakes. Luckily for us Jim took a lot of photos that he has shared with the Kustomrama Photo Archive. The Bud Unger Collection Herbert "Bud" Unger of Hancock, Maryland is a legendary East Coast custom car builder. Bud started working on cars at age 15 in 1936. During WWII he learned to shape and form aluminum in the Air Force. He returned from the Air Force in 1946 and started building custom cars shortly thereafter. Bud had an eye for design, and built some very tasteful West Coast styled cars. The Brian Frederick Collection Brian Frederick of Rockville, Connecticut is one out of five founding members of the Ty-Rods of Rockville auto club. The club was established in a small garage in 1959, and it is still active today. Brian took a lot of photos of hot rods and customs in the 1950s and 1960s, and thanks to the fine crew at New England Speed & Custom this collection has now been digitalized and shared with Kustomrama. The New England Hot Rod and Kustom Historical Society Collection The New England Hot Rod and Kustom Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of hot rodding in New England. Founded by Jamie Couture in 2016, the society has a collection of photos and memorabilia that is uploaded to their webpage on a daily basis. In the Kustomrama Photo Archive we will share some highlights from their collection to Kustomrama readers. The Ola Hegseth Collection In Norway's tight-knit circle of Ford aficionados, Ola Hegseth's name is spoken with respect. As a longstanding Chairman of the Early Ford V8 Club of Norway, Ola has been steering the community for years. Yet, few are privy to the fact that Ola's automotive passion is rooted deep in the hot rod culture of 1960s Oslo. The Chuck and Joanna Quesnel Collection The Chuck and Joanna Quesnel Photo Collection is a treasure trove of automotive history, capturing the vibrant early days of dry lakes racing and the burgeoning custom car culture. This collection, generously shared by Douglas Blake, Joanna’s son, offers a unique glimpse into the lives of two passionate enthusiasts who were deeply involved in the scene. The Ralphy Morales Collection Ralphy Morales worked with Gil and Al Ayala at Gil's Auto Body Works. He worked at the shop in 1956 when Gil restyled his 1955 Ford Thunderbird. Ralphy's deal with Gil was that he could take the custom to his High School graduation. A promise that he kept. Ralphy has shared his photo collection with Kustomrama so we all can enjoy it. The Joe Brienza Collection Joe Brienza was an active East Coast hot rodder, customizer, and upholsterer. Born in West Islip, New York, Joe has built countless cars during the years, including a 1934 Ford Convertible that landed the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in August 1959 as The Brienza Special. Joe had a huge collection of photos showing the cars he owned and restyled that he shared with Kustomrama. The Joe Crisafulli Collection Joe Crisafulli of San Jose, California, is a founding member of the legendary San Jose Rod and Wheelers car club. Joe is also a multitalented customizer, painter, pinstriper and artist, and in addition to his photos, Joe has also scanned and shared his old scratchbook with Kustomrama. The Håkan Lindell Collection Håkan Lindell was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1948. Around 1956/1957, he moved to Ventura, California with his mother. He lived there for some years before moving back to Sweden In June of 1964. Håkan was 16 years old at the time, and he moved in next door to Hans Broberg in Enskedefältet in Stockholm. Hans was an active hot rodder at the time, and he introduced Håkan to many Swedish hot rodders and custom car builders. The George Giese Collection When George Giese of Pendleton, Oregon bought Jim Hill's 1921 Dodge truck in 2014, it came with some old photos that Eugene C. Hill, or his son James, had taken at a 1951 dry lakes event. It came with the original negatives, which were brought to Smilin' Sam's Drug Store in Vallejo, California on March 5, 1951. The Per Arne Knudsen Collection Per Arne Knudsen is a Norwegian hot rod pioneer. Per Arne's glowing interest in hot rods was sparked when he found an American hot rod magazine at a newsstand at Koppang station in Østerdalen, Norway, in the early 1960s. Per Arne has been kind enough to share some of his old photos and stories with Kustomrama. The Cut Outs of Long Beach Collection The Cut Outs of Long Beach, California, stand as a testament to the early days of car culture in Southern California, a region that would become the epicenter of the custom car movement. Organized on April 16, 1941, the Cut Outs quickly established themselves as one of the most prominent and oldest car clubs in the Long Beach area. The Jamco Parts Collection Jim Genty of Miles City, Montana was a founding member of the Kingsmen of Miles City car club. In 1966 Jim moved to Culver City, California, where he met and married his wife Mary Ann. The Marshall Tripp Collection Marshall Tripp worked for Larry Watson at Watson's Custom Auto Painting between 1966 and 1967. At the shop, Marshall did paint prep, sanding, and masking. In 2011, Marshall told Kustomrama that he used to take Larry places to pick up a car, "Especially to Peter Satori Rolls Royce in Pasadena."