Watson's House of Style

Watson's House of Style was a custom paint shop run by legendary custom painter Larry Watson.

Larry started practicing pinstriping in 1956, at age 16. He used his first car, a 1950 Chevrolet 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 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.

Bob Schremp's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air of Norwalk, California was restyled by Branson's Custom Shop in the mid 1950s. In 1956 Bob's Chevrolet received a scallop paint job by Larry Watson. The paint job was done in the driveway of Watson's parents, and it was the first car Watson gave a scallop paint job.

Jake Bultsma's 1951 Chevrolet Hardtop of Bellflower, California. 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 in North Long Beach.

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. 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.

Hayward Mendenhall's 1953 Ford F100 of Norwalk, California. Hayward bought the truck brand new and he had Watson paint it in his parent's driveway. Watson scalloped the truck Gold Metallic with Candy Root-Beer tips and White pinstriping.

Buzzy's 1950 Ford was the first car ever to receive flame paint job by Watson. The work was done in his parents' driveway. Photo from the Larry Watson photo collection, courtesy of Rik Hoving Custom Car Photo Archive.

The location of Larry's first shop as it appeared in 2020. According to Roger O'Dell the exact location of Larry's first shop was on Palm Street, where the 91 freeway westbound off-ramp for Bellfower Blvd is today. "The shop area is buried under the off ramp," he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in May of 2020. Click here to check it out on Google Street View.

Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet as it appeared in 1957. After being hit by a drunk driver in November of 1956, Larry transformed the car into the Grapevine.

Lowell Helms' 1950 Ford Tudor of Bellflower, California. By May of 1957, Watson had given the car a flame paint job.

Kustomland: The Custom Car Photography of James Potter, 1955-1959 - A unique glimpse into the Sothern California custom car scene of the late 1950s. A book loaded with inspiration and good ideas. Click here to check availability on Amazon.com.

The second version of Santo Vasques' 1950 Chevrolet was scalloped by Larry Watson in 1957. According to Larry, it was the most radical scallop paint-job he did that year.

Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air of Lakewood, California. Duane was a member of the Long Beach Renegades, and his Chevrolet was known as The Moonglow. A third iteration of the car, completed late in 1957 or early in 1958 featured a scallop paint job by Watson.

Al Lazarus' 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Watson laid Seaweed Flames on the car late in 1957.

Zeno Stephens' 1955 Mercury Montclair of Long Beach, California. In 1957 Watson gave the car a Silver Pearl and Candy Burgundy panel paint job, making it the first known panel painted custom.

John Busman's 1956 Chevrolet of Artesia, California. By 1957 Watson had applied some Lavender metallic scallop looking flames that were tipped in White and Pinstriped in imitation gold.

Jack James' 1957 Buick Special of Norwalk, California. Watson gave the car a flame paint job in 1957. This was one of the only flame jobs Larry did in enamel, and he sanded the layers of red, orange and yellow to achieve a faded or "blended" look. Larry used 20 rolls of masking tape and only one day to paint the car. This was his first radical flame job. After painting the flames, they were pinstriped in white. Larry's brother Dave and Calvin Wiekamp helped paint the car. The flame job cost Jack $100, and Larry was so proud of the results that he drove down to Barris Kustoms to show George Barris his newest creation. He pulled up in the alley and the whole crew went outside to check out the Buick.

Kermit Hanson's 1957 Buick. In 1957 Watson added wild gold metallic flames on the car that were tipped in red and pinstriped in white. Kermit was a classmate of Larry at Bellflower High School, and he used to pick Larry up at Friday nights so they could cruise around together. Larry named Kermit's Buick the "Snatch Wagon", and he painted an XXX-rated cartoon on the side of the car. After a week the CHP made him remove the painting.

Harry Okuda's 1957 Dodge of Norwalk, California. In 1957 Harry's Dodge received a scallop paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style.

Terry Holloway's 1957 Plymouth

Larry's shop at 9012 Rosecrans blvd. in Bellflower.

George Collins' 1932 Ford 5-Window Coupe of Whittier, California. George painted the coupe Pearl White himself before he sometime prior to 1958 had Watson lay down a fancy flame paint job. Larry painted the flames in a light Candy Turquoise with Dark Blue tips and Black pinstriping.

The fourth iteration of the Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck as it appeared in 1958. This version featured a Lim Gold with Burgundy Red scallops paint job by Watson.

Harold Johnson's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline of Long Beach, California. Originally restyled by Dick's Body Shop for Dick Ward, the car had been sold to Harold by 1958. Harold gave the car a Mother of Pearl nitro lacquer paint job before he had Watson paint Candy Green scallop that were tipped in Root Beer. The scallops were pinstriped in Black.

Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet as it appeared in 1958. Watson decided to give the car a scallop paint job before he sold it off to Jim Becker of Albany, Oregon. Larry wanted to start a new trend in painting, and he wanted to use a brand new car. What he really wanted was a Cadillac. He couldn't afford a Cadillac at the moment, so he ended up buying a 1958 Ford Thunderbird instead. Larry approached Jay Johnston of Jay's Custom Shop to paint the Chevy before he sold it. Jay was too busy at the moment, so after getting a few pointers from Jay, Larry laid down his first-ever full paint job. This time Larry painted the car in Rose Mist with silver scallops that he striped in black. The paint job was a concept he had been dreaming about and experimenting with for a while, and he named this iteration of the car "Heartless."

A photo of the Heartless iteration of Watson's Chevrolet photographed in front of his little shop at 1016 E Artesia in North Long Beach. The shop didn't have a paint booth, and in 2020 Keith Christensen told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he recalled that Larry would wet down the floor for the sake of dust, "and painted inside. It wasn't long before the fire department came and closed him down."

Pete Angress' 1952 Ford of Lakewood, California. Sometime around 1957-1958 Watson gave the car a panel paint job.

Roger Miller's 1953 Ford Club Coupe of Bellflower, California. Roger's Ford was restyled by Ed Schelaas. Watson pinstriped it sometime prior to 1958.

Delmar McCutcheon's 1955 Buick of Bakersfield, California. Known as The Kandy Kane, the car received a panel paint job by Larry Watson at Watson's House of Style in 1958. The job cost $400.

Jack Arnold's 1956 Mercury of Norwalk, California. By 1958, the car had received a scallop paint job by Watson. Watson horse-traded the paint-job for a set of Appleton teardrop spotlights for his Chevrolet, the Grapevine.

Larry Watson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird of Bellflower, California. Larry bought the Thunderbird brand new in 1958, and he told a seller at Downey Ford to give him a call as soon as the first car with a tuck n' roll interior arrived. Larry brought it almost directly to Barris Kustoms for a mild job before he gave it a burgundy and silver panel paint job. Larry's Thunderbird was known as "Vino Pasiano" and "The Burgundy Bird," and the first iteration was completed in 1958.

Jeanne Beaumont's 1958 Ford Thunderbird

Floyd De Boer's 1958 Pontiac Bonneville of Bellflower, California. The wild paintjob on Floyd's car was applied by Watson. The paint scheme was applied on a base of plum and bronze lacquer. The scallops were in brass-gold and a flame pattern was carried on the recessed rear fender panels. Black fogging was also used around the trim to help set it off.

George Mitobe's 1957 Ford Ranchero of Artesia, California. The car was restyled by Branson's Custom Shop sometime between 1957 and 1959. Watson applied the scallops and striping on the car.

Jim Shiery's 1957 Oldsmobile received a scallop paint job by Watson.

In 1959 Watson painted Ed Roth's Outlaw pearl white with fogged candy-green panels.

Jim Skonzakes' 1922 Ford Model T-Bucket of Dayton, Ohio. In 1959 Jim bought the famous Kookie T hot rod from Norm Grabowski. After buying the car, Jim brought it to Larry Watson at Watson's House of Style for a cosmetic makeover. Larry gave the car a Rose Pearl paint job with Candy Red flames.

Watson painted Bill NieKamp's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster twice later owner Delmar Brink of Bellflower, California. Delmar was a high-school classmate of Watson, and he first had him paint it Candy Grape over Platinum Pearl. In 1959 he brought it back for a Fadeaway Paint Job.

Bill DeCarr's 1932 Ford Roadster featured a Candy Gold over a rich Gold Powder base paint job by Watson.

Phil Kaelin's 1932 Ford featured a panel paint job by Watson.

Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air of Lakewood, California. Duane was a member of the Long Beach Renegades car club, and his Chevrolet was well known around town as The Moonglow. Watson painted the car at least three times, and in 1959 he gave it a Candy Blue paint job. A sparkling Silver Pearl was used as base color, and according to Larry, it was his best candy blue paint-job ever.

Gerald Twamley's 1954 Chevrolet of Artesia, Califonia. By 1959 Watson had given the car a scallop paint job.

Jerry Preston's 1954 Ford.

Jerry Koller's 1955 Ford of Bellflowe, California. About 1959 Watson painted the car Burma Green with scallops in a darker shade over a Gold base. Watson also striped it before handing it back to Jerry. The car was known as the "Doll Buggy."

Calvin Wiekamp's 1955 Mercury of Bellflower, California. Sometime prior to 1959 Watson gave the car multicolored scallops with hues of Purple ranging from deep tones to deep Lavender, all were enclosed with white tin-line pinstriping. Once completed, Watson named Calvin's Merc for the "Snake Wagon".

A 1956 Mercury that Watson dressed up with a panel paint job.

Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury of Long Beach, California. Dulin was a member of the Cut Outs of Long Beach car club, and his Plymouth went through seven iterations between 1956 and 1962. This photo shows the car as it appeared early in 1959, after Larry Watson had given it a Candy Magneta and Pearl White panel paint job.

An unknown 1957 Chevrolet that Watson dressed up with a scallop paint job.

Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker as it looked after Larry had painted it in 1959. This version was known as the Yellow Pearl.

Gary Niemie's 1956 Buick Century of Long Beach, California. By 1959, the car had received Gold and Bronze scallops by Watson. The scallops were outlined in red.

Dave Robertson's 1956 Ford F-100. Dave's truck featured one of Watson's first Candy Red paint jobs.

LaVonne Bathke's 1958 Chevrolet Corvette of Lakewood, California. LaVonne wanted something unusual for her car, so she decided to get it repainted by Watson. By 1959 Watson Larry had panel painted the car and laid flames in the indentation. Later on he re-painted it Lime Fog over Silver and used Orange, Candy Red, Gold and Silver transparent lacquer for scallops, flames and panels. The scoops in the front fenders were enhanced with a panel of chrome tape outlined with white striping.

Larry Watson's 1959 Cadillac 62 Series Coupe of Bellflower, California. In 1959 Watson painted the body in a combination of candy ruby panels over the white pearl lacquer surrounded by white pearl outlines. He applied 1/4 chrome tape over the silver base painted top, covered it with clear lacquer and rubbed it out so there was no step between the tape and the silver base.

Larry Watson painted Larry Quatrone's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria candy gold with a lime green top around 1960.

Jim Doss' 1956 Chevrolet of Bakersfield, Califonria. By 1960, the car had received a flame paint job by Watson. Yellow flames faded into Lime Green with blue tips on the car. The flames were also pinstriped in white by Larry.

Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury of Long Beach, California. Dulin was a member of the Cut Outs of Long Beach car club, and his Plymouth went through seven iterations between 1956 and 1962. This photo shows the car as it appeared late 1959 or early 1960, after Larry Watson had given it a fogged panel paint job.

Jim Parker's 1957 Ford Thunderbird received a panel paint job by Watson sometime prior to 1960.

Jim Doss' 1958 Chevrolet Impala of Bakersfield, California. Restyled by Walkers Body Shop, the car had received a lime green and green panel paint job by Watson by 1960.

Jim Doss' 1958 Chevrolet Impala of Bakersfield, California. Restyled by Walkers Body Shop, the car had received a lime green and green panel paint job by Watson by 1960. Later on he would paint it lime green with a multitude of colors consisting of transculent green, gold and pearl frost for paneling. The panel paint was highlighted with white stripes.

Fred LeFevre's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino of Oildale, California. By 1960 the car had received a Pearl Yellow paint job with Lime Green scallops by Watson.

The Beatnik Bandit was Ed Roth’s first bubble top show rod. In 1960 Ed and Darryl Starbird toured together. Starbird had the Predicta, and Ed had the Outlaw. Starbird remembers that they often discussed building bubble top cars, and Starbird told him about how they made the top for the Predicta. Built by Roth and Dirty Doug Kinney, the Beatnik Bandit was Roth’s second fiberglass build. The body was sculptured over a shortened 1950 Oldsmobile chassis, and it featured a blown and chromed Oldsmobile engine. The build was completed in 1961, around the same time as the bubble topped iteration of Ron Aguirre’s X-Sonic. It featured a panel paint job by Watson, and as Ed didn't have the money it required to paint the car, he made a deal with Watson that he could take all the time he needed and that he got paid in Rat Fink T-Shirts.

A photo of Ron Aguirre’s bubble-topped X-Sonic Corvette taken by Ed Roth in May of 1961. In 1960, the year the Predicta won “The Car of the Future Award”, an earlier iteration of the X-Sonic was shown at the National Roadster Show. After the show, Ron and his good friend Ed Roth decided that they wanted to build “Feature” cars and get paid to show them, not just win trophies. Ron had already installed hydraulic lifts on the Corvette, and now he wanted to go futuristic, replacing the stock top with a plastic bubble top.

Jim Jackson's 1956 Chevrolet of Compton, California. By 1961 the car had received a scallop paint job by Watson. Larry highlighted the front by surrounding the grille and headlights with bronze scallops outlined in white. Three teardrops were extended aft along the top of the fenders and hood. The rear license plate, taillights, and top corners were accentuated with scallops as well.

Ron Aguirre's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette of Rialto, California. Ron's Corvette, known as the X-Sonic, received a scallop paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style in 1961.

Keith Christensen's 1959 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery of Norwalk, California. Keith and Doug Carney installed hydraulic lifts on the car in 1961. It was also dressed up with a Murano Pearl Yellow paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. Keith ran Gene's Mufflers, and the Sedan Delivery was his daily driver.

An unknown 1956 Chevrolet that has been dressed up with a panel paint job by Watson.

An unknown 1956 Chevrolet that has been dressed up with a scallop and flame paint job by Watson.

John Drew's 1956 Chevrolet of Long Beach, California. Watson painted the car in lime-fire metallic nitro lacquer with candy green flames with candy root-beer tips over a silver base. The flames were pinstriped in black.

Larry Watson's 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of Bellflower, California. This was Watson's personal ride. About 1961 he painted it Candy Raspberry Platinum Pearl. The stock brushed stainless top was left untouched, and Watson used 30 gallons of paint while painting it, and as a result, he created an outstandingly translucent color.

Bob Mayfield's 1959 Chevrolet Impala of Bakersfield, California. Sometime prior to 1961 Watson painted the car Pearl with scalloping.

Larry Kubota's 1959 Chevrolet Impala of Gardena, California. By 1961 Watson had painted the car pearl gold at the bottom and candy pearl at the top.

Circa 1961-62, we find the X-Sonic fresh from Larry Watson's paint booth, boasting a groundbreaking Gold Metalflake finish. Before the buffing that would reveal its depth, the car's raw sparkle hinted at the masterpiece it would become. "Once buffed, the flake looked like it was a mile deep in clear," Ron reminisced. Photo from The Ron Aguirre Photo Collection.

After the Beatnik Bandit, Ed Roth decided to challenge George Barris, building his own bubble-topped air car. While the Barris’ air car was well built, Roth’s Rotar was a little rougher. The XPAK 400 featured no frictional moving parts at all, and power came from two jet aircraft starter motors. Roths Air Car, on the other hand, was powered by two Triumph engines that he had turned on their sides and fitted with high-pressure propellers. The build was completed in 1962 featuring a patriotic red white and blue paint job by Watson.

Larry Watson's 1962 Cadillac of Bellflower, California. This was Watson's personal driver, and it featured a Silver paintjob.

Ed Roth got the idea for the Mysterion from the dragsters that started popping up with two, three and four engines. Completed in 1963, hydraulics were used to open and close the bubble top, and to adjust the height of the rear suspension. It featured a Candy Yellow paint job by Watson.

Bill Haddad's 1951 Chevrolet. Bill bought the car car from Richard Torres of Lawndale, California. After buying it, Bill had Larry Watson of Watson House of Style give it a panel paint job. Named "The Blue Ribbon," this iteration of the car was featured in Popular Customs Winter Issue 1963.

Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century of Compton, California. Known as the "BuSonic," the build was started in 1959 and completed in 1963. It featured bodywork by John Schott and Copper Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. It was also fitted with hydraulic lifts.

Johnnie Alan McCann's 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS of Redondo Beach, California. The car featured a custom green paint job with flakes that went from light to dark with changing light on it.

Johnny Taylor's 1958 Ford. There is some conflict about who did what on Johnny's car, but according to later owner Chris Yates, Watson painted the car. Chris has had this confirmed by Larry himself. The car was painted sometime prior to 1963.

Larry Watson painting the Road Agent.

Ed Roth’s fourth bubble top build started out as a project car for Rod & Custom Magazine. A Corvair engine and rear suspension allowed a low-slung hood. Named "The Road Agent," the build was finished early in 1964, and it featured a Watson paint job and a bubble in fluorescent plastic, made in the pizza oven at Furt’s sign shop.

A photo of the Road Agent taken in front of Watson's shop.

Completed in 1964, Watson gave Ed Roth's Orbitron a Candy blue over White Pearl paint job. As the car got scratched in transport, it was only shown once in this condition. Roth returned the car to Watson for a repaint, and this time it was given a secret formulation of a gold Murano with blue. The Orbitron was a failure at the shows, and Roth believes it failed due to the engine being hidden.

Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century of Compton, California. Known as the "BuSonic," the build was started in 1959 and completed in 1963. It featured bodywork by John Schott and Copper Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. It was also fitted with hydraulic lifts. In 1964 Watson resprayed the car in Green for Roy.

Watson and his crew laying down a flame paint job on a Corvette. Photo from The Marshall Tripp Photo Collection.

Pinky Richard's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette. Watson painted the body in a base of Candy Orange Metalflake and topped it off with a wild set of yellow flames outlined in green. Bud Lang shot this iteration of the car in 1964.

Mike Perello's 1960 Ford Starliner of Torrance, California. The car was painted twice by Larry Watson in 1964.

Watson's Custom Auto Painting - 14903 Lakewood Blvd. - Paramount, Calif. This was the shop Larry opened up right next to Keith Christensen and his Gene's Muffler shop in Paramount, across the street from the border of Bellflower. This card was donated by Marshall Tripp, who worked for Larry between 1966 and 1967. Somebody has been drawing on the card with a red marker, and the chances are big that this is the work of Larry himself! Card from The Kustomrama Business Card Collection.

Dan Woods' Milk Truck. Completed in 1965, the car featured a custom paint job by Larry Watson.

John Viggianelli's 1963 Ford Galaxie of Pacioma, California. Viggianelli's Galaxie was mildly restyled before it around 1965 received a Candy Ruby over Pearl Silver, Red, and Maroon Metalflake custom paint job by Larry Watson at Watson's House of Style. After the car had been painted, a Mexican gentleman in Glendale installed hydraulic lifts up front.

Watson's Custom Auto Painting - Two Locations. One of Larry Watson's business cards from the 1960s. Business was booming at the time, and Larry was running one shop in Paramount and one in Van Nuys. This card was donated by Marshall Tripp, who worked for Larry between 1966 and 1967. Card from The Kustomrama Business Card Collection.

Jim Boyd's 1963 Ford of Torrance, California. By 1965 Jim's Ford had been fit with hydraulic lifts up front. It would later receive lifts in the rear as well, along with some custom modifications and a Larry Watson paint job.

John Viggianelli's 1963 Ford of Pacioma, California. In 1965 the car was shown at the Tridents Rod Custom Autorama, by then it had received a Candy ruby over Perl silver, red, and maroon Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson. Photo by Bud Lang, from the Petersen Archive.

Jim Harwell's 1964 Chevrolet Corvette of Los Angeles, California. Known as "X-Citer," Jim's Corvette featured custom bodywork by Ron and Lou Aguirre of Aguirre Styling. By 1965 the car had received a Peacock Metalflake paint job by Larry Watson. This photo of the X-Citer taken at the 1965 Tridents Rod Custom Autorama. Photo by Bud Land, courtesy of the Petersen Archive.

Bernie Bausch's 1955 Harley-Davidson featured a flame paint job by Watson. The bike was shown at the 1965 Tridents Rod Custom Autorama. Photo by Bud Lang, courtesy of the Petersen Archive.

Walt Drews' 1961 Dodge

Benny Schiller's 1958 Chevrolet Impala

Charles Kuhl's 1957 Ford Ranchero

Steve Drale's 1958 Cadillac Brougham of Torrance, California. Mr B originally gave the car a Candy Ink paintjob. Sometime between 1964 and 1969 Steve scratched the side of the car, and as Mr B was out of business, he took the Brougham to Watson. Watson fixed the paint by fading in a lighter purple color on the sides of the car.

Don Loster's 1959 Ford Galaxie

A Larry Watson business card from the 14903 Lakewood Blvd shop in Paramount. At the time Larry operated as the "Animal", and Marshall Tripp, a former employee think he did this to avoid a certain female. Larry can be seen working on Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix in 1967 while wearing an "Animal" sweatshirt. From the mmslo7 collection on eBay

Jerry Preston's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino

Watsons Custom Auto Painting - New Location - 17412 Lakewood Blvd - At the peak in 1966, Larry Watson sold his shop on Lakewood Boulevard in Paramount and moved to Mexico to pursue an acting career with his wife. Late in 1966, he returned to California, where he opened up a new shop at 17412 Lakewood Blvd., on the corner of Artesia and Bellflower. These chromed business cards were made when Watson returned from Mexico. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this card comes from the office of Larry Watson. Photo from The Kustomrama Business Card Collection.

In 1966 Larry moved to Mexico to pursue an acting career with his wife, leaving behind a big gap in the market. While he was away, two "Watson" paint shops sprung up in the area offering custom paint jobs to teenagers that didn't know better. One of the shops, Watson's Custom Kars was located in Downey. The other one, Watson's was located in Van Nuys on Burbank Blvd. Late in 1966 Larry returned to California to open up a new shop in Bellflower. Back in business, he made flyers that contained an important notice about the imposters that had been using his name while he was away. Scan courtesy of Von Franco.

Ken McGoldrick was manager for Larry's shop for a while in the 1960s. Photo courtesy of Kustomrama.

Marshall Tripp worked for Larry Watson between 1966 and 1967. He drove a flamed 1951 Chevrolet, and this photo taken outside Watson's Bellflower shop shows Marshall's car next to Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix in black primer. Doug's Pontiac was was the first car ever to receive a Watson lace paint job, and the first lace paint anywhere. Marshall recalls that it was quite a trick to it, much more than just taping the lace to the side of the car. For instance how the lace was made to conform perfectly to the body around the wheel openings that protruded out. Photo courtesy of Marshall Tripp.

Ed Roth's Druid Princess Watson veiled the Druid Princess in purple in 1966, a unique process that produced a unique texture and pattern.

Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix received a Lace paint job by Watson. The car is known as the first car ever to receive a Lace paint job.

Jim Arkin's 1967 Buick Riviera of Los Angeles, California. Jim was a member of the San Fernando Valley Illusions car club, and in 1968 his Riviera featured 8 inch Anson slotted aluminum wheels, and a subtle business men's pinstripe by Larry Watson of Watson's House of Style. The pinstripe consisted of two lines, a half inch apart, that ran the length of the car.

A 1965 Chevrolet Impala painted by Larry Watson. Photo by Howard Gribble.

Pete Limpert's 1936 Ford Tudor sedan of Gardena, California received a Candy Red paint job by Larry in the late 1960s.

Larry's Fireston Blvd. Shop in the late 1960s. Photo from the Larry Watson photo collection, provided by Rik Hoving.

In the early 1970s, David Mirsky was a neighborhood kid that worked for Larry part time at his shop on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, and at his Melrose Avenue shop in Hollywood. In 1971 Larry painted a Bell Star helmet for David. David let Larry design the helmet, and you might recognize the rear end of a woman on the back of it? David suppose that was Larry's personal touch. Photo courtesy of David Mirsky.

A flyer for Larry's movie project. In the late 1970s Watson wanted to merge his two careers and produce a film entitled The Spray Booth.

The backside of The Spray Booth flyer. Watson would leave this on hot rods and customs hoping to cast them for the movie. Unfortunately, the project was never completed.

A business card for Larry Watson's Theatrical Auto Body

A flyer for Motorcycle Painting by Watson. At the time his business was located in Sherman Oaks, California. Scan courtesy of Von Franco.

Watson's House of Style was a custom paint shop run by legendary custom painter Larry Watson. Over the years, Larry ran his shop from different locations.

First shop

Upon graduating from school in September of 1957, Larry opened his first paint shop. Keith Christensen remembers him in his youth, without a beard or styled hair, moving into a building directly across the shop area from his original Gene's Mufflers shop in Paramount. "There he took on his aura of beard and styled hair," Keith told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama in 2020. Keith recalled Watson first opening up a little shop close to Nance Chevrolet company on Bellflower Blvd in Bellflower. "He started painting cars,"Keith recalled. "He would wet down the floor of an old garage for the sake of dust, and painted inside. It wasn't long before the fire department came and close him down." In May of 2020 Roger O'Dell told Sondre that the exact location of Larry's first shop was on Palm Street, where the 91 freeway westbound off-ramp for Bellfower Blvd is today. "The shop area is buried under the off ramp." Roger recalled Nance Chevrolet being located at 17046 Bellflower Blvd., on the corner of Bellflower and Park Street. Later on, Clutch & Gear was located in the Nance Chevrolet spot on Park Street. Bob Williams and Jerry opened up Clutch & Gear after leaving Stu's Transmission in Long Beach. In 2020 it was a bank on Bellflower Blvd., and on Park Street, the area where Clutch & Gear was. "Palm Street, south of Park Street, east of Bellflower Blvd. the part that used to run into Bellflower Blvd. is now a freeway off-ramp, and Palm is a dead end."

Larry becomes legal

Keith remembers Watson then moving over on to Park street in another small garage where he went through the same scenario. "From there he moved in next to my shop on Lakewood Blvd, in Paramount, across the street from the border of Bellflower. He had a group of back yarder's come in and install an old paint booth he had found and bought." Watson was finally legal, and Keith remembers him advancing from a few custom paint jobs to Candy paint and onto gorgeous pearls.

Customizing with paint

In order to promote his brand new shop, Larry bought a brand new 1958 Ford Thunderbird that he took to Barris Kustoms for som mild modifications. Bill Hines and Bill DeCarr that worked at Barris Kustoms nosed and decked the car, shaved the handles and rounded the corners. After that Larry painted the car with six coats of pearl over a fine metallic silver base. Larry didn't tint the pearl with transparent mixing black toner that eliminated the cloudiness, and he thought the car turned out too bright. Larry thought the bright look made the car look way too large, so in order to fix it up, Larry taped the panel lines of the bird with 1-3/4 inch tape and shot candy apple burgundy over it. With this paint job many thinks that Larry invented the Panel Paint Job. The Thunderbird was the first car featuring a silver pearl and candy burgundy paint job, but before he painted panels on his own car he had already paneled Zeno Stephens' 1955 Mercury. Zeno wanted something different, no scallops or flames, so Larry body paneled it. Larry painted the car in Titian Red and striped it in gold. After painting the car Larry never saw it again, not in a magazine, or at a car show, nowhere.

First Metalflake Paint Job

In 1960 Larry applied his first Metalflake job on Ron Aguirre's Corvette, the X-Sonic. The X-Sonic did also feature Watsons first fade paint job. As Aguirre kept modifying the car, Watson painted it six times. As Larry matured, he became the great painter that everyone would recognize. "In the early 1960s he started innovating painting. From flames, to blending of colors, to two tones of the very expensive Murano pearl, which at that time was made up of abalone seashells blended into the paint. It was astonishing what he developed and did," Keith Christensen recalled in 2020. In his book, The American Custom Car, Pat Ganahl also claims that Larry got a little tired of all the masking and striping between 1960 and 1966, and he started doing mostly straight candies with Metalflake or Pearl tops, or Pearl bottoms with matching Candy tops. Larry was kicking ass working anything from 12 to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. He had 5 or 6 helpers.

Moving to Mexico

Between 1960 and 1966 Larry got tired of all the masking and striping, and he started doing mostly straight candies with Metalflake or Pearl tops, or Pearl bottoms with matching Candy tops. Larry was kicking ass working from 12 to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. He had 5 or 6 helpers. At the peak in 1966, Larry sold the shop he had on Lakewood Boulevard in Paramount, and moved to Mexico in order to pursue an acting career with his wife.

While the Cat's Away

When Watson moved to Mexico he left behind a big gap in the market, and while he was away, two other "Watson" custom paint shops sprung up in the area offering custom paint jobs to teenagers that didn't know better. One of the shops, Watson's Custom Kars was located in Downey. The other one, Watson's was located in Van Nuys on Burbank Blvd.

The Comeback

Late in 1966 Larry returned to California to open up a new shop in Bellflower. The new shop was located on 17412 Lakewood Blvd., on the corner of Artesia. Back in business, Watson made flyers that contained an important notice about the imposters that had been using his name while he was away; "Larry Watson is not associated with Watson's Custom Kars in Downey and the Watson's in Van Nuys on Burbank Blvd. - And - Disclaims all responsibility of work coming from those locations. To whom it may concern! It's only a Watson Paint Job when Larry Watson does the painting personally." Marshall Tripp worked for Larry between 1966 and 1967. At the time Ken McGoldbrick was the manager in the shop. In 2016 Marshall told Kustomrama that "Kenny was the "manager," although Larry was always there. He was a good guy and knew his stuff when it came to Larry's work. He taught me how things should be done." Marshall remembers that Joe Perez did Watson's interiors while he worked for him; "I remember Watson saying once "you'll never win best interior with black.""

First Lace Paint Job

After Larry had opened up the shop in Bellflower, he determined that he had to get his name back on the show circuit,, so he decided to do something completely new for the upcoming show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in April 1967. Larry was painting Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix for the show, and decided to do a lace paint job on the car. Ha had never tried the technique before, but Von Dutch had told him about a doily that ha had on a bench in his shop. One day while cleaning up in the shop he had removed the doily, and a beautiful overspray pattern had been left on the bench. Von Dutch dug the design and painted clear all over it. While wondering about what to do with Doug's Pontiac, Larry remembered this story, and decided to painty the whole side of the car using a lace pattern with Lucky Lage Duble X Pattern. Many believes that custom painter Joe Andersen invented the technique as he demonstrated it in the Rod & Custom March 1968 issue, one year after Larry painted Doug's Pontiac. Larry's newly painted Pontiac made it's debut at the April 1967 show together with 53 other cars in the center arena of the car show, who was sponsored by the Tridents Car Club. At the same show he also had over two dozen motorcycles upstairs.

"Lacing the sides of a car was marvelous," Keith Christensen recalled, "as seen on Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac. I helped Larry with a couple of lacing jobs. We would set up saw horses on either side of the car and have to position them perfectly - just inches away from the side of the car - tedious and critical. Then we would take an expensive lace table cloth and stretch it between the sawhorses - even more critical a distance. This is all after the car had just been painted some wild Candy or Pearl." The finesse of the next step was the crucial step, Keith remembered; "Larry had only one pass along the side of the car to fog through the lace. He would take a beautiful paint color and turn the pressure of the paint gun up and walk the full length of the car in one long smooth, balanced sweep. A real test of talent as Larry would not have a second chance, as the paint would fog through the lace tablecloth and onto the side of the car and had to land perfectly and equally - No second chance. If it was not perfect, the whole side of the car had to have the lacing fog taken off." According to Keith, "Larry's intricate preparation and his talent came out in all this. The paint jobs were the talk of the town and won awards at a lot of car shows."

Watson Goes to Hollywood

After the 1967 Tridents Rod Custom Autorama Watson he figured that he couldn't get any further, so he decided to sell his shop and get out of the business. He left the custom car scene in favor of a blossoming TV and movie acting career. Larry joined the Theater Actors Guild and started getting small non-speaking parts in many movies. Keith Christensen recalled that while he was still next to his shop in Paramount, he got a small part in Ben Hur, and when he came back to his ship, he and one of his workers were wearing regalia from the movie. "This I feel, fueled and motivated him to go further with acting. He associated himself with Norm Grabowski." Keith believed Larry learned the rope from him. "His big break came when he was introduced to Mike Conners of the TV series "Mannix." Mike's family liked Larry and he started getting a lot of bit parts and finally a one-line speaking part. Larry used to show me some of his residual checks from the Actors Guild and he was proud of the passive income they represented."

New Shop. New clientele. The same labor-intense perfect paint jobs

Larry painted and striped numerous luxury or sports cars for actors, actresses, directors, producers, or casting directors to gain entree. Keith Christensen would periodically visit Larry at his Hollywood shop. "It was quite a different atmosphere," Keith told Kustomrama in November of 2020. "Different divergent customers of all nationalities, ages, and wealth." Larry had the typical hang arounds and workers, and Keith recalled that it was a big challenge for him to find any help in prepping a car, "which I have mentioned before, is 70% of the quality of a paint job." Larry initially painted thru contacts he had made while getting non-speaking parts in movies. "He developed many friends and customers, and one of his biggest friends and contact was Mike Conners. He befriended Larry and gave him many small, non-speaking roles in many episodes in that long-running series." Mike sent Watson a lot of paintwork on fellow actors' cars. "Larry painted Lucille Ball's Rolls Royce a beautiful pearl pink. He also painted Sammy Davis's Jaguar XKE a beautiful Murano pearl yellow. I saw both cars in process on one of my many visits to the Hollywood shop. They were perfect, pristine, and really stood out. Larry's demand for quality showed in both of them. Again I say, he had a hard time finding anyone to sand and mask a car, as it was labor-intense and had to be done perfect! When preparing a car to be painted, in the majority of the time, chrome strips had to be removed, bumpers taken off as well as rearview mirrors and headlight rings. Very tedious! Any masking paper that was, by accident put on to the paint area, rather than where it was covering, would leave the other, original color of the car showing. Larry was a tyrant of sorts and a great teacher to all of his workers. He did, however, produce some of the most beautiful paint jobs of that era. The cars were sanded 3 times during the paint job. This would remove any blemishes, any scratches, and of course, orange peel, which is like an orange with many little valleys."

Keith watched Larry lay down several paint jobs, and he recalled that when it started, the base, the reflective color was put on by Larry, "then the car would leave the paint booth and outside it would be color sanded with a very fine-grit sandpaper. Then back into the booth for many rounds of spraying on the finished color. Quite often with a candy color, the base coat had to show thru. The number of times Larry walked around the car applying coat after coat," and this is where Larry shined, according to Keith; "He could tell, in the painting rounds, just how far to go. Then, out of the booth again, and again, the car was color sanded for hours at a time to make this final coat like a mirror. Once more after making sure non of the tape had come off, the car went back into the booth. Larry, would then, put the protective coat of clear paint over the top of the gorgeous color. Many rounds he would walk around the car applying the clear. As a finale, this new clear coat was color sanded to the highest of smooth finishes. All of this was very hard work and a lot of talent. I can personally remember Larry at his Paramount, California shop, taking a car out of the paint booth and having his workers completely strip off the paint he just applied, as it didn't satisfy what he felt it should look like. WOW, a person speaks of labor intense, this was the epitome of it..."

David Mirsky Remembers Watson

In the early 1970s, David Mirsky was a neighborhood kid that worked for Larry part time at his shop on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood, and at his Melrose Avenue shop in Hollywood. David was one of those kids that hung around Larry's shop, that after a while was put to work. He was around 15 or 16 years old at the time, and Larry used him to take parts of cars, prep them for work and paint, color sanding and all sorts of other tasks. He was paid in hamburgers and fun, and he recalls working on Evel Knievel's jet bike, something that was really cool for a 15 years old kid. To David and his friends, Larry was the coolest guy they had ever met. He was a magician with cars and a good looking guy always looking for acting gigs. To David, Larry was who Burt Reynolds copied himself after. David remembers that Larry always had a slim cigar in his hands. He used the cigar like a prop when he made his points. David worked for Larry for a short period of time, and he remembers him as a good guy that always treated him as a friend. Larry painted a Bell Star helmet for David in 1971 that he still owned in 2013.

The Paint Booth

In the late 1970s Larry Watson worked on a movie he wanted to produce called "The Paint Booth". Working for the movie he visited car shows handing out flyers on cars he wanted to use in the movie. For the movie Larry was looking for racers, hot rods, customs, and stocks 1956 or older. The backside of the flyer shows a print of Larry's business card. On that card he promotes his business as "Watson's Custom Auto Painting", Since 1955. His shop was located at 5576 Melrose in Hollywood. On a later business card he had changed the name to "Theatrical Auto Body", Complete Auto Painting Since 1969. The shop was still located at 5576 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

Employees

Bill Hines
Jim Noteboom
Larry Lorenzo
Larry Watson
Walt Drews

Cars Painted by Watson's House of Style

Ed Roth's Outlaw
Ed Roth's Beatnik Bandit
Ed Roth's Mysterion
Ed Roth's Orbitron
Ed Roth's Rotar
Ed Roth's Road Agent
The Mysterion
Norm Grabowski's 1922 Ford Model T Bucket - The Lightning Bug / The Kookie T
Bill NieKamp's 1929 Ford Model A Roadster
Bill DeCarr's 1932 Ford Roadster
Clyde Hamilton's 1932 Ford 3-Window Coupe
George Collins' 1932 Ford
Phil Kaelin's 1932 Ford 5-Window
Pete Limpert's 1936 Ford Tudor Sedan
Harold Johnson's 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline
Larry Watson's 1950 Chevrolet - Grapevine
Rod & Custom Magazine’s Dream Truck
Santo Vasques' 1950 Chevrolet Convertible
Lowell Helms' 1950 Ford Tudor
Bill Haddad's 1951 Chevrolet - The Blue Ribbon
Jake Bultsma's 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air
Pete Angress' 1952 Ford
Hayward Mendenhall's 1953 Ford F100
Roger Miller's 1953 Ford Club Coupe
Bob Schremp's 1954 Chevrolet Bel-Air
Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet - The Moonglow
Gerald Twamley's 1954 Chevrolet
Jerry Preston's 1954 Ford
Delmar McCutcheon's 1955 Buick - The Kandy Kane
Roy Abendroth's 1955 Buick Century - The BuSonic
Al Lazarus' 1955 Chevrolet
Jerry Koller's 1955 Ford - "Doll Buggy"
Larry Quatrone's 1955 Ford Crown Victoria
Calvin Wiekamp's 1955 Mercury
Zeno Stephens' 1955 Mercury
Dick Gonzales' 1955 Studebaker
Gary Niemie's 1956 Buick
Jim Doss' 1956 Chevrolet
Jim Jackson's 1956 Chevrolet
John Busman's 1956 Chevrolet
John Drew's 1956 Chevrolet
Ron Aguirre's 1956 Chevrolet Corvette - The X-Sonic
Dave Robertson's 1956 Ford F100 -Lil Nugget
Johnny Zupan's 1956 Ford F-100 Truck
Jack Arnold's 1956 Mercury
Ron Dulin's 1956 Plymouth Fury
Jack James' 1957 Buick
Kermit Hanson's 1957 Buick
Larry Watson's 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham
Pinky Richard's 1957 Chevrolet Corvette
Harry Okuda's 1957 Dodge
Charles Kuhl's 1957 Ford Ranchero
George Mitobe's 1957 Ford
Jim Parker's 1957 Ford Thunderbird
Jim Shiery's 1957 Oldsmobile
Ed Borgotte's 1957 Pontiac
Terry Holloway's 1957 Plymouth
Steve Drale's 1958 Cadillac Brougham
Benny Schiller's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Dave Robertson's 1958 Chevrolet Impala
Jim Doss' 1958 Chevrolet Impala
LaVonne Bathke's 1958 Chevrolet Corvette
Johnny Taylor's 1958 Ford
Jeanne Beaumont's 1958 Ford Thunderbird
Larry Watson's 1958 Ford Thunderbird - Vino Pasiano / The Burgundy Bird
Floyd DeBore's 1958 Pontiac Bonneville
Larry Watson's 1959 Cadillac
Bob Mayfield's 1959 Chevrolet
Fred LeFevre's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino
Jerry Preston's 1959 Chevrolet El Camino
Keith Christensen's 1959 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery
Larry Kubota's 1959 Chevrolet Impala
Don Loster's 1959 Ford
George Teixeira, Jr.'s 1959 Ford Thunderbird
Vince Brocato's 1959 Ford - The Lavender Lady
Dodson Latham's 1959 Oldsmobile
Mike Perello's 1960 Ford Starliner
Doug Vido's 1960 Pontiac Catalina
Walt Drews' 1961 Dodge
Larry Watson's 1962 Cadillac
Johnnie Alan McCann's 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS
Jim Boyd's 1963 Ford
John Viggianelli's 1963 Ford Galaxie
Dave Robertson's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix
Doug Carney's 1963 Pontiac Grand Prix
Jim Harwell's 1964 Chevrolet Corvette - X-Citer
Dan Woods' Milk Truck
Dave Pearce's 1965 Chevrolet Impala
Ed Roth's Druid Princess

Cars Pinstriped by Larry Watson's House of Style

Harvey Budoff's 1950 Ford
Duane Steck's 1954 Chevrolet - The Moonglow
Danny Purinton's 1956 Mercury
Jim Arkin's 1967 Buick Riviera

Bikes Painted or Pinstriped by Larry Watson's House of Style

Bernie Bausch's 1955 Harley-Davidson