Custom car builders exploded in the early 60s—so did their creativity.
I’m biased but I think that era was a high point in the world of custom street machines because there were no limits.
The November 1963 edition of ‘Rod and Custom’ featured the definition of perfect custom touches to perfect platforms.
Jerry Sutherland
There was a mildly customized 1960 Ford Starliner in the magazine that had all the cool touches car guys looked for 60 years ago.
The ’60 Starliner didn’t need a lot of help in the styling department because they had (in my opinion) some of the nicest lines ever seen on a Ford.
The 60s Fords were clean, but distinctive cars, so the builder only added a few personal touches. One of them was a grille from a 1960 Meteor (Canadian)—that was a good call because the Meteor grille was a subtle, but noticeable improvement.
They also removed the hood and fender emblems but kept the fender gunsights—that was a great call.
The builder loved the Meteor trim, so he added the Meteor pieces to the back of the Ford. I can imagine how many guys thought he custom-built the trim when all he did was bolt on the Meteor stuff–he simply added new holes for the taillights and backup lights.
The last feature was pure early 60s—he radiused the rear wheel arches and added Indy 500 aluminum mag wheels. He topped the mags off with period correct whitewalls—this Ford had it all back in ‘63.
The next car was a 1959 Buick. You could successfully argue that the ’59 Buick was another car that didn’t need to be customized–but a guy back in the early 60s had another plan for his ’59 Buick.
He got rid of the Buick’s canted headlights. That in itself was unusual because canted headlights were still a big deal in the custom world, but he went in a different direction. He turned them into horizontal headlights and frenched them in beside a custom three bar grille.
He also lowered the Buick eight inches, dumped the front and back bumpers, and added rolled pans front and back.
He tunneled the taillights and fabbed in two recessed antennas on the rear deck—the car looked like a prototype for a Batmobile.
He added chrome reverse wheels because chrome reverse wheels were hotter than Marilyn Monroe in the early 60s. These were standard, period-correct, customizing techniques and they made this ’59 Buick (in my opinion) a much cooler car.
The last car was a 1960 Pontiac. Again, this was a cool car in stock form—like most cars built in 1960, but it was taken to another level as a hardcore custom.
This Pontiac was built by a custom shop in Detroit by guys who clearly knew what they were doing. The front end was a work of art. They built a custom grille and extended the headlight housing, so the outside lights were a recessed part of the grille and set in a chrome tube. The inner lights were set in the custom grille—it was a brilliant move.
The builders extended the fender and headlight housing and made it flow into the rolled pan so the whole front end was tied together. If you look up the definition of early 60s custom cars, this ’60 Pontiac would be in the article.
The back of the Poncho was equally cool. The Space Race was a big deal 61 years ago and this custom reflected that in a big way.
The rear rolled panel had a lower inset custom grille and the taillights also had a grille treatment that gave the back end a Jetsons-like afterburner look. It was perfect.
There were other state-of-the-art touches like chrome reverse wheels, dual antennas–plus the car was lowered. You name the custom touch and this ’60 Pontiac had it—it was another big winner in my opinion.
You see tributes to 50s customs all the time with deuce coupes and ‘50 Mercs but I never see a custom with a circa 1961 vibe. That’s too bad—early 60s needs to make a comeback.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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