The Kustomrama Business Card Collection

Bailon Custom Auto Designing & Building - Home of the Candy Apple Red Paint - Seven out of eleven times national award winner. Another eBay find. When Dick Falk worked with Bailon in the early 1950s, the Alice Street shop was a small one-car garage with cement and dirt on the floors.

Jeffries - Modern Pin Striping. This card popped up for sale on eBay. Dean Jeffries learned the art of pinstriping from Von Dutch. He lived around the corner from Barris Kustoms, and this business card dates back to when he was striping out of Barris Kustoms in Lynwood.

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!

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.

CUSTOM CAR KOLORING by the "ANIMAL" - A Larry Watson business card from his 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 wearing an "Animal" sweatshirt. This card was donated by Marshall Tripp, who worked for Larry between 1966 and 1967.

Barris Kustom City - The World's Largest Automotive Center. George Barris was a businessman with big ambitions, and in the 1950s and the 1960s he wanted Barris Kustoms to be the place for all your custom needs. A one-stop custom shop offering services such as designing and construction, color and paint perfection, and accessories and speed equipment. But, as you can see on this business card, insurance, stock collision, and paintwork were also important sources of income for the shop.

Jeffries Studio of Style - Color Specialist - Flaming - Striping. This card was donated by Howard Gribble. Howard and his buddies used to cut class and head for Kustomland, visiting cool shops in the area. In the late 1950s, Dean Jeffries saw a demand for his business growing to compete with Barris instead of complementing Barris, and when Howard got this card, Jeffries had left Barris and moved into his own shop at 5807 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

Alexander Bros. Custom Shop - Specialists in Custom Painting and Metalwork. Styling consultants for AMT Corporation and Ford Custom Car Caravan. This card was donated by Lee Bailey, and it was given to him by Mike and Larry Alexander when he did an article on their custom shop for his high school newspaper in 1962.

The Crazy Painters - Baron, Roth and Kelly. 50 years experience pinstriping. A business card that dates back to circa 1958. At the time, the trio operated out of a shop at 9001 Atlantic in Southgate, California. This one was found on eBay.

Forey Wall Custom Cars - 15 Years of Honest Dealing. This card was donated by Howard Gribble. In February of 2021 Howard told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that he remembered driving by there, and several other car lots specializing in customs, in the family car. "But my dad would seldom heed my frantic shouts to stop. Do remember one of the occasions in high school when some of us would cut classes and head for Kustomland. We did stop at Wall's and it was like a candy store. But the prices were very high. As you might expect from a dealer as opposed to a private seller, there had to be a profit for the salesman. Not that I had any money to spend at that point anyway. But that experience kinda turned me off and I never again seriously considered buying a custom off of a dealer's lot."

Ed Martinez, Owner Martinez Auto Interiors. This business card was donated by Howard Gribble. When Howard was in high school, he and his buddies would occasionally pile into a car and ditch school for the rest of the day. "Several times our destination was the famous custom car shops out in the Lynwood and Bellflower area. I remember that the reception for us high schoolers was decidedly cool at most places. They knew we didn't have money. But Eddie Martinez was actually very nice, answered our questions and gave us his business card. I was never a customer but remember his kindness."

Kustom Coachcraft by Bill Hines Kustom Auto Enterprises of Lynwood, California. The King of Lead. According to Dave Ellis, the card is from the mid 1960s. In December of 2020 he told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that the shop location was going North on Long Beach Boulevard in Lynwood, California and was on the East side near Imperial highway. "In that time Bill Hines was doing a lot of Corvair‘s putting hydraulic lifts in them and doing pearl, metalflake, and candy paint jobs. One of my very good friends Dennis Cheney (Chumper) worked there at that time. He drove a 63 Pontiac Grand Prix, it was totally painted in metalflake, he had hydraulic lifts on all four corners. On the back side windows he had it lettered Sugar Bear, that’s what the girls nicknamed him. Dennis went on to painting for Boyd Coddington and Fat Jack. He then went off on his own and started restoring old gas pumps and Coke machines."

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. While he was away, two other "Watson" custom paint shops had sprung up in the area, offering custom paint jobs to teenagers that didn't know better, so after returning, Watson had to start promoting his shop as the real deal again. These chromed business cards were made when Watson returned from Mexico. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

Joseph Perez - Perez Kustom Kar Interiors of Los Angeles, California. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson. In the 1960s Joe was known as one of the best custom upholsterers in Southern California, and he did many of Larry Watson's interiors. Marshall, who worked for Larry between 1966 and 1967, remembers Watson once telling him that "you'll never win best interior with black." When Marshall worked for Watson, Joe had a shop at 4819 Nobel Street in Los Angeles, and diamond and pleats were his specialties.

Mr. M's Custom Chrome Center of Lawndale, California. This card was donated by Howard Gribble. "Guess I was driving past Mr. M's for about a year before I went in. That was because I needed chrome rims for my new 1967 Impala." Howard believes Mike put him in touch with Red to install the hydraulic lifts too. "And later, he got Steve Feinberg involved in doing a professional show sign for me. The wheels took a long time to be delivered, and they weren't on the car until Red was already working on the lifts. I remember going by the shop to take the wheels and tires to have the rubber mounted on the new chrome wheels. Red's dad was the only one there, and he wouldn't let me take them because he didn't know me." According to Howard, Mike had most of the custom accessories available at the time. "In a roundabout way, he introduced me to the guy who supplied 5 Buick Skylark wheels that eventually made up the 4 I needed for my Rivie. And he invited me to show my Impala in San Diego along with three other cars that Anderson painted, including the Lemon Drop Rivie that he owned by then. For whatever the reason, Mr. M's shop was gone by the very early 1970s."

Larry Watson, Manager of Bill's Body Shop No 2 in Bellflower, California. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

Custom Car Koloring by Larry Craig. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson. Larry was a contemporary of Watson. He did excellent work, and Marshall remembers that he rented 14903 Lakewood after Watson moved.

Custom Car Koloring by Larry Craig. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this chromed business card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

The Body Shop of Van Nuys, California. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson. In 2018 Marshall recalled that Watson used this body shop up in the valley when he worked for him between 1966 and 1967.

Bill Carter of The House of Custom Color. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson. The shop was located at 14373 Calvert St. in Van Nuys, California. The same address as The Body Shop.

Charles Altizer, Executive Vice President of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth of Maywood, California. Monsters that mean business. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

Herb Speck - George Barris Kustom Centre of Paramount, California. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

Colormasters of Azusa, California. Donated by Marshall Tripp, this business card comes from the office of Larry Watson.

Ray Soff -East Coast Rod & Custom Historian. The Ray Man. Give this man a call if you have any East Coast rod and custom car questions or if you have any material or stories you would like to share with him.

The Kustomrama Business Card Collection is a growing collection of hot rod and custom car-related business cards and stories. Our mission with the collection is to preserve and document business cards and stories from all decades and parts of the world. Please get in touch with us at mail@kustomrama.com or by mail if you have a hot rod or custom related business cards that you want to sell, trade, or donate to our collection:

Kustomrama
Att: Sondre Kvipt
Ammerudgrenda 96
0960 Oslo
Norway