After a recent trip to America, one of our stops was to the well known custom car and rod shop of Troy Lad’s, Hollywood Hot rods located in Burbank, California. Surrounded by palm trees and flanked on one side by one of LA’s major freeways, this moderately sized custom shop takes you back to a time when small auto businesses like Dean Jeffries and Ed Roth’s custom shops could be found spread among the back streets and industrial zones of Southern California. California had built itself a strong reputation as the ultimate place where cool custom cars and radical rods were breeding in numbers. The long dry summers drew them (American rodders) to the West Coast while the milk shake diners and rod shows kept them here. Customizers drew inspiration off one another as the custom mods and crazy paint schemes was only limited to one’s imagination! Read More →
Browsing Tags custom car
Respecting those who raised the bar!
Larry Watson was one of the central figures of custom car building in LA during the 1950s. He was a trailblazer of custom paint trends, techniques and tricks. His name is synonymous with candys, pearls and metal flake along with some of the brightest paint jobs seen due to his colour mixing talents. To this day, various styles of custom paint work are still referred to as Larry Watson Scallops, Larry Watson Panel Jobs or Watson flames. His unique style is held in high esteem throughout custom car lore and can be seen adorning custom rides today. Dennis Jones’s 1959 Ford Fairlane is one such car that pays homage to this avant-garde customiser of the past. Read More →
Caprice Photography Automotive Art 