Trend Book 101 Custom Cars

The cover of Trend Book 101 Custom Cars featuring two colorized photos of the Coachcraft Ltd. built Yankee Doodle, and Hank Griffith's 1942 Ford.

Ray Hamer's 1940 Pontiac

William Ingram's 1940 Pontiac

Bill Tuttle's 1948 Hudson

Marc A. Janet's 1940 Plymouth

Nick Kolbasuk's 1949 Ford

James Cambis' 1941 Ford

George W. Jackson's 1939 Ford

Erney Gustafson's 1947 Studebaker

Cliff Rockohn's 1947 Mercury

Chuck Porter's 1942 Buick

Ben Mario's 1947 Buick Super

Norman Timbs' Buick Special

Don Wilson's 1948 Buick

Ralph Drumm's 1941 Buick

Pierre Paul's 1941 Buick Special

Var Martin's 1941 Buick

George Barris' 1941 Buick

Vic Grace's 1941 Buick

Jack Stewart's 1941 Ford

Earl Bruce's 1940 Ford Three-Window Coupe

The Phantom Corsair is a custom-built concept car designed by Rust Heinz, a member of the H. J. Heinz family. Distinguished by its unusual provisions for safety and comfort at high speeds, the six-passenger aluminum coupe was built by Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company in 1937. Originally intended as a pilot model for a limited production, the Phantom Corsair plans were terminated when Rust was killed in an accident.

Joe Bailon's 1941 Chevrolet - Miss Elegance

Bud Schaffnit's 1937 Cord of California.

Lee Roy Richardson's 1937 Cord

Bruce Lund's 1949 Dodge Roadster, of Alabama

B. H. Martin's 1948 DeSoto, of Illinois.

John Jenick's 1950 Buick

Kurtis Buick Special

Robert McClure's Custom of Denver, Colorado. Built by Robert, the first version of the car was completed in 1947. It rode on a Buick chassis.

Dean Fellows' 1941 Cadillac

Lon Hurley's 1946 Cadillac

Rudy Makela's 1942 Cadillac convertible of Indianapolis, Indiana. Built by Rudy at Indianapolis Power Hammer Works Inc, the build was started in 1942 and completed in 1950s.

Coachcraft 1949 Cadillac

Gordon Anderson's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline

Vern Gillingsprud's 1949 Chevrolet

Bill Taylor's 1949 Chevrolet

Ray Reed's 1941 Chevrolet

Richard Shea's 1949 Chevrolet

Dick Arkline's 1941 Chevrolet

Tony Longinotti's 1946 Chevrolet

Richard Riuz' 1949 Chevrolet

Carl Abajian's 1949 Chevrolet Convertible

Jerry Fassett's 1947 Chevrolet

Sherwood Forrest's 1947 Chevrolet, of Lake City, Washington

Dick Bair's 1939 Ford Convertible Sedan

Jesse Lopez' 1941 Ford

Hank Griffith's 1942 Ford

John Vara's 1941 Ford Convertible was restyled by Barris Kustoms in 1948. John sold the car to Johnny Zaro of Maywood, California before the build was completed.

Johnny Williams' 1940 Ford Coupe

Wally Welch's 1941 Ford

Don Britton's 1950 Ford Tudor

Dave Peters' 1949 Ford

Joe Urritta's 1941 Ford Concertible Sedan

The Skylane Motor Special

Don Holland's 1941 Ford convertible of Lakewood, California. Don's Ford was restyled by Gil's Auto Body Works sometime between 1948 and 1951.

Norm Milne's 1938 Ford convertible sedan of Sacramento, California. About 1940 Norm drove the Ford to Los Angeles to have Carson Top Shop chop the top and make a padded top. The rest of the car was restyled by Harry Westergard.

Dick Carter's 1941 Ford

Tommy Jamieson's 1941 Lincoln Continental

Gil Ayala's 1940 Mercury

Dick Fowler's 1938 Ford Coupe

E. P. Fisher's 1949 Ford Convertible, of San Francisco, California.

An unknown Barris Kustoms 1950 Ford.

Paul Champlin's 1941 Ford Convertible, of Russel, Illinois, was restyled by Ray Birky of Antioch.

Wallace Seawell and Ed Ingram's 1936 Ford

Roland Poitevint's 1941 Ford

A. J. Fisher's 1950 Ford, of Oregon was built by Alex McPherson.

Ted Maedel's 1940 Ford Convertible of Ohio.

W. B. Buckman's 1941 Ford, of Pennsylvania

C. E. Johnson's 1939 Ford, of California was restyled in the late 1940s.

William D. Kennedy's 1949 Ford, of Detroit, Michigan was a Ford Motor Co experimental car, with cloth covered steel top and continental kit.

Bud Unger's 1946 Ford Convertible. This was Bud's personal driver, and he started the build after he had opened up Unger Auto Body Company in 1950. When Bud moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1956, he brought the Ford with him.

Bill Ross Jr's 1947 Ford 4-door Sedan, of Grand Island, Nebraska was restyled by Woody's Body Shop.

Bill DeCarr's 1941 Mercury

Jim Sanders' 1949 Ford Convertible

An unknown custom 1940 Ford of Madison, Wisconsin.

Richard Emert's 1937 Ford Convertible

Dick Shoemaker's 1950 Ford Crestliner

Gil Fye's 1941 Graham Hollywood

Dick McClain's 1949 Hudson

John H. Cummings' 1951 Kaiser, of Vermont.

Dwight Dennis' 1942 Mercury, of El Segundo, California.

Peter Stengel's 1941 Mercury, built by Coachcraft in 1941.

Lloyd Marshall's 1948 Oldsmobile 98 Convertible was restyled by Brownie's Body Shop in Los Angeles, California, and fit with a top from Carson Top Shop.

Omer Koenig's 1948 Olsmobile 88 Convertible

Hal Baud's 1950 Oldsmobile 88, of San Francisco, California was restyled in 1950.

Al Fitzpatrick's 1940 packard - The Fitzpatrick Custom

Bob Lufkin, Jr's 1941 Packard 120

Elmer Reider's 1948 Plymouth

Roland Davies' 1940 Plymouth

O.H. Hooker's 1941 Pontiac was restyled in 1948 or 1949 by Valley Custom Shop.

Walt Janz' 1941 Pontiac Sedanette

An unknown 1946 Pontiac custom.

Vincent E. Gardner's 1947 Studebaker Sportster

Boardman Motor's 1947 Studebaker, of Augusto, Georgia.

Herbert Rosenman's 1947 Studebaker Champion

Max Bodkins' 1948 Studebaker

E. O. Mapes' 1940 Studebaker Champion

The Fageol Supersonic

Gene Dupertius' 1940 Mercury

B. V. Ronco's Volkswagen Custom, of Pennsylvania

C. H. Peterson's 1940 Ford-Willys - The Custom Speedster, a Sport Custom from California.

Doray Inc.'s 1949 Willys, of Miami Spring, Florida.

Harry Delalaye's 1946 Buick, of Seattle, Washington.

Raymond Jones' 1948 Cadillac

William J. Unger's 1949 Cadillac Convertible of Chicago, Illinois. Built from a fusion of General Motors parts, the build was completed in 1950. It gained national recognition when it was featured in Motor Trend October 1950. In 1951, two photos of the car appeared in Trend Book 101 Custom Cars, in an article named "Customs With Character - A Lineup of Cars With Singular Personalities."

Arnold Johnson's 1948 Crosley

Manuel Avila's 1940 Ford, a Sport Custom of Tulare, California.

Vic Morbidelli's Buick

Custom Cars Trend Book 101 was published in 1951 by Trend, Inc. Robert R. Lindsay and R. E. Petersen where publishers of the book. Walter A. Woron was the editor, Albert H. Isaacs was the art director, and Giff Borgeson, E. A. Jaderquist, Lewis Simon and Richard Van Osten were contributing editors.

The book was published as a result of the growing interest for customized cars. The introduction in the book stated early that restyling and customizing are two things that, like the arts, are better left for the masters. The book defined a custom job as a job that had been custom built, from the ground up as it were and to order. A restyled job was defined as a stock auto that had been altered somewhat from the original design. Therefore, if you were going to customize a car you would practically start from scratch ending up with a hand-built, totally different creation. If you were to restyle a car, you would change the outside appearance, without evolving a drastically-modified car. The terms were often misused, and in order to explain where the restyled car leaves off and a custom job begins, the following definition was explained in the book: "A restyled car can include any or all of the following modifications without actually being a custom job: a bull-nose, a deck job, fadeaways, a new grille, and / or new bumpers. When it gets to chopped tops and channeling, the car would more properly be termed a custom job." With these two terms defined, the purpose of the book was to show readers the latest trends of customized and restyled cars from coast to coast.

Contents and Featured Cars

Ray Hamer's 1940 Pontiac
William Ingram's 1940 Pontiac
Bill Tuttle's 1948 Hudson
Marc A. Janet's 1940 Plymouth
Nick Kolbasuk's 1949 Ford
James Cambis' 1941 Ford
George W. Jackson's 1939 Ford
Erney Gustafson's 1947 Studebaker
Cliff Rockohn's 1947 Mercury
Owen R. Cain's 1948 Studebaker
Chuck Porter's 1942 Buick
Ben Mario's 1947 Buick
Norman Timbs' Buick Special
Don Wilson's 1948 Buick
Ralph Drumm's 1941 Buick
Pierre Paul's 1941 Buick
Var Martin's 1941 Buick
George Barris' 1941 Buick
Vic Grace's 1941 Buick
Jack Stewart's 1941 Ford
Earl Bruce's 1940 Ford Three-Window Coupe
The Phantom Corsair
Joe Bailon's 1941 Chevrolet - Miss Elegance
John Jenick's 1950 Buick
Kurtis Buick Special
Robert McClure's Custom
Dean Fellows' 1941 Cadillac
Lon Hurley's 1946 Cadillac
Rudy Makela's 1942 Cadillac
Coachcraft 1949 Cadillac
Gordon Anderson's 1949 Chevrolet
Vern Gillingsprud's 1949 Chevrolet
Bill Taylor's 1949 Chevrolet
Ray Reed's 1941 Chevrolet
Richard Shea's 1949 Chevrolet
Dick Arkline's 1941 Chevrolet
Tony Longinotti's 1946 Chevrolet
Richard Riuz' 1949 Chevrolet
Carl Abajian's 1949 Chevrolet
Jerry Fassett's 1947 Chevrolet
Sherwood Forrest's 1947 Chverolet
Frank Christie's 1940 Chevrolet
Dick Stoller's 1950 Chevrolet
J. R. Bloom's 1940 Chevrolet
Bud Schaffnit's 1937 Cord
Lee Roy Richardson's 1937 Cord
Bruce Lund's 1949 Dodge
B. H. Martin's 1948 DeSoto
Dick Fowler's 1938 Ford Coupe
Dick Bair's 1939 Ford Convertible Sedan
The Coachcraft Special
Jesse Lopez' 1941 Ford Coupe
E. P. Fisher's 1949 Ford Convertible
Hank Griffith's 1942 Ford Coupe
Johnny Zaro's 1941 Ford Convertible
Wally Welch's 1941 Ford Convertible
Don Britton's 1950 Ford
Paul Champlin's 1941 Ford
Wallace Seawell and Ed Ingram's 1936 Ford Convertible
Johnny Williams' 1940 Ford Coupe
Dave Peters' 1949 Ford
Roland Poitevint's 1941 Ford Club Coupe
A. J. Fisher's 1950 Ford
Joe Urritta's 1941 Ford Concertible Sedan
Ted Maedel's 1940 Ford Convertible
The Skylane Motors Special
W. B. Buckman's 1941 Ford Convertible
Don Holland's 1941 Ford Convertible
C. E. Johnson's 1939 Ford Convertible
Norm Milne's 1938 Ford Convertible Sedan
William D. Kennedy's 1949 Ford
Richard Carter's 1941 Ford
Fred Huddle's 1946 Ford Convertible
Bill Ross, Jr's 1947 Ford
Dick Hansen's 1941 Ford Coupe
Jim Sanders' 1949 Ford Convertible
Richard Emert's 1937 Ford
Dick Shoemaker's 1950 Ford
Gil Fye's 1941 Graham Hollywood
Dick McClain's 1949 Hudson
John H.Cummings' 1951 Kaiser
Tommy Jamieson's 1941 Lincoln Continental
Gil Ayala's 1940 Mercury Coupe
Dwight Dennis' 1942 Mercury
Paul Omohundro's Mercury Special
Peter Stengel's 1941 Mercury
Lloyd Marshall's 1948 Oldsmobile
Omer Koenig's 1948 Olsmobile 88
Hal Baud's 1950 Oldsmobile 88
The Fitzpatrick Custom
Bob Lufkin, Jr's 1941 Packard
Elmer Reider's 1948 Plymouth
Roland Davies' 1940 Plymouth
O. H. Hooker's 1941 Pontiac
Walt Janz' 1941 Pontiac Sedanette
Vincent Gardner's 1947 Studebaker Champion Special
Boardman Motor's 1947 Studebaker
Herbert Rosenman's 1947 Studebaker Champion
Max Bodkins' 1948 Studebaker
E. O. Mapes' 1940 Studebaker Coupe
The Supersonic Special
Gene Dupertius' 1940 Mercury
B. V. Ronco's Volkswagen
C. H. Peterson's 1940 Ford-Willys - The Custom Speedster
Doray Inc.'s 1949 Willys
Harry Delalaye's 1946 Buick
Raymond Jones' 1948 Cadillac
William J. Unger's 1949 Cadillac Convertible
Arnold Johnson's 1948 Crosley
Manuel Avila's 1940 Ford
Vic Morbidelli's Buick Roadmaster