Kustom Magnets

While he had been making hot rod parts for several years prior, Bill Von Esser opened his speed shop at 3307 West Irving Park Road in Chicago back in 1947. He expanded his reach beyond the local scene through ads in national hot rod magazines that had people sending away for his first catalog in 1948. While he stocked go fast goodies from many manufacturers, his house machined parts were without question his biggest sellers. From high-performance heads for your flatty to custom Offy throttle bodies, Von Esser's parts were highly desirable, something that has only increased decades later.

just ride to end of roa

Chevrolet Impala and scroll style pinstriping

Kustom car

central

Rusty truck

Original design by Horror Rudey for Zoghotron

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Custom Manufacturing produced a wide array of custom chopper parts ranging from forks and handlebars to complete chopper conversion kits for all the popular makes. They sold through dealers across the country, but also through direct sales via comprehensive mail order catalogs.

The god of v8

Kustom kulture monster

"Hot Rod" design: 🏎️ A vintage hot rod bursts with energy, flames licking at its sides as it tears down the highway. With its sleek curves and roaring engine, it embodies the timeless spirit of rebellion and speed, a symbol of American automotive culture at its most exhilarating. 🔥🤘

Lowbrow kustom kulture art

Here's my second Vectorized photo of a heavily customized 1952 Ford.

Chevrolet Impala with scroll pinstriping

If you've been around the Southern California hot rod scene for a while, you're probably familiar with Rocket Muffler, the Burbank shop that spent several decades doing custom exhaust work for drag, dry lake, and street racers alike. Their business cards advertised "Racket by Rocket" which was probably a hint to the kind of work they did in squeezing out just a little more horsepower out of V8 engines in exchange for a little noise. In addition to sponsoring numerous local SoCal racers in the '50s and '60s, they also kept a sign out front of their shop on West Magnolia Boulevard offering free welding repairs on kid's toys, wagons, and bikes. Talk about community service!

Purple flaming skull

Lettering flying eye

Post-war America was hot rod and kustom crazy and in the early '50s, Lee Plastics of Detroit stepped up to deliver something the masses very much wanted – Custom crafted taillights! Utilizing precision vacuum formed plastics, Lee developed an extensive line of direct bolt on taillight replacements for just about every popular make and model of American car. Lee Plastics kept this up throughout the '50s and '60s, but sadly closed up shop and didn't make it into the '70s. Today, Lee Plastics unique taillight lens designs remain highly sought after by hot rodders to run on their cars or just sit on a shelf as a collector's item and can fetch pretty high dollars.

Monster chilling

a shovel machine with a lizard on it. made for custom culture lovers in the world

Another Satansbrand Side Show Freak design, this time the lovely Juanita the Siamese Spider Woman. You gotta keep more than your eye on this girl, she talks dirty whilst her mouth is full....... ;) Coolest thing about this design, it is made up from modified bits of Free vector art and old bits and bobs off other things I've done

A magical paintbrush

There's no shortage of hot rod builders in California, but sometimes it's the lesser known ones that were doing something really great, and Randy Spooner was just one such guy. While other guys were designing rides to get magazine covers, Randy was focused on building traditional hot rods that were meant to be driven. For about three decades, Randy's small shop in Fresno, California, turned out quite a few hand built drivers that any hot rodder would be proud to own. No garage queens or show circuit belles here - just down and dirty, old school hot rods meant to rack up the miles.

Old school lettering with pinstriping design

One of the most influential customs of all times is this 1951 Mercury leadslead, named after its original owner Bob Hirohata and built by Barris Kustoms with pinstriping by Von Dutch. The car was on display in Washington on the National Mall in 2017 because of its historical significance.

Usually found loitering behind the convenience store.

2 Tone

Here it is, boys and girls! A new mascot for our favorite holiday! Ring in St. Paddy's the proper way with a Leprechaun Fink!

Zombie monster on wheels

1963 1/2 ford falcon, customized

Inspired by kustom kulture, bikers, and motorcycle with skull for the main object

A quirky smiley face

Inspired by american motorcycle legends signature engine, with some classic wings colored gold illustration

Pinstriped design of an owl, moon phases and number of weeks in a year.

Outlaw's Garage. Socially unaccepted Hot Rod. Original design for light apparel. By Hit the Road Designs.

She she has, and causes, a lot of bones!