Lowriders – Pulpaddict

WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025

There was low & slow and plenty of go at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. CGC’s Jim Palam went along for the fun ride!It was hard to pick just one car that embodied the spirit and essence of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025, now in its 44th year. But when the ‘South of Heaven Fifties’ car club dropped their audacious Hemi-powered ’27 Chrysler ‘H-Bomb’ hot rod right in the center of the Santa Maria Fairpark, a smile-inducing shockwave spread throughout the park’s 33 acres. This in-turn released dopamine in showgoers’ brains!

West Coast Kustoms was founded by Rich and Penny Pichette. After Rich passed away in 2010, Penny took the helm and has continued to steer the Cruisin’ Nationals into the hearts of enthusiasts throughout the United States – and beyond. This magnetic show attracts car clubs, lone wolves, exhibitors, and thousands of loyal fans. Many of these Kool Kats n’ Kittens arrived before this Memorial Day weekend, gathering to enjoy Santa Maria, CA and swap car stories and car culture.

Cruisin’ Nationals is a family-friendly community event that shifted into gear on Friday night, May 24th with the popular City Cruise on Broadway in the heart of Santa Maria. The fun rolled-on into a rockin’ car show on Saturday and an awards ceremonies wrap-up on Sunday. Winners included Bob Gomes’ ’49 Mercury in the Top 5 Wild Kustoms category, Rudy Hernandez’s ’56 Chevy in the Top 5 Mild Kustoms category and Mark Garza’s ’40 Chrysler in the Top 3 Early Kustoms category.

The H-Bomb is Brandon Garrison’s stealthy-low, Hemi-powered RHD ’27 Chrysler. He was one of a number of the Sonoma County based South of Heaven Fifties car club who participated in the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. H-Bomb’s shiny Hemi is mated to a GM TH400 automatic transmission and rises above the Nardo Gray cowl of this slammed Chrysler. The roof is chopped 10 inches, and the wire wheels are 18-inch up front; 20-inch out back. The Chrysler’s beautifully executed body sits on a custom frame with a ShockWave air spring & shock absorber suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Oh yeah, Brandon sits low on the right side when he’s piloting his radical hot rod!Girls Just Want to Have Fun! I met Carly Brogren early Saturday morning as show participants were pulling in and parking their unique rides. As we chatted, I found out that in 2016 she satisfied a years-long craving to own a one-of-a-kind custom Lincoln Zephyr. Over the following years of ownership, she hooked-up with the legendary Picasso of Auto Paint, Gene Winfield. He not only created this chopped and stretched ’39 Zephyr’s stunning ‘Fade’ paint job, but soon became a close friend. Carly ultimately became his caretaker until his death in March of 2025. Gene was 97 years young when he passed away. Like his unmatched artistry, Gene’s shimmering spirit shined brightly on the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025, adding to the event’s undeniable allure.Steve Bowron’s radically customized ’64 International Metro Mite is one kool machine. Known around California’s Central Coast as the 805 Kustoms Ice Kream Truck, this fast and flashy cruiser has an international following. Its top is chopped 12 inches, and it features custom bumper, grille, headlights, taillights and fender lip. An almost endless list of mods includes custom paint with gold leaf, Mustang II front & rear suspensions, air ride, 600 horsepower 350 Chevy motor, TH400 transmission, and Ford 8.8-inch rear.Victor Cacho is a well-known Southern California businessman. His Oak Springs landscape business specializes in high-quality construction, maintenance and hydroseeding. Car guys are more likely to know Victor as the customizer who brings numerous car parts and ideas to Ian Roussel at Full Custom Garage. Joint ventures between Cacho Customs and Full Custom Garage – like this radically altered ’48 Packard named Eater EATER – went from concept to reality in front of a TV audience. Full Custom Garage is now streaming on YouTube TV. Can you guess who did the ‘Fade’ paint job? Yep – Gene Winfield.Brad Mikkelsen of Arroyo Grande, CA is a nuclear energy professional. He loves the technology of power – and he loves the process of building powerful hot rods. This is his black-on-black, Hemi-powered ’34 3-Window Ford coupe. I’ve decided to call it an Extra-Hot-Hot-Rod. Sitting atop the 354 Chrysler Hemi is a Mooneyham 6-71 blower with an Edelbrock dual 600-cfm carb setup. The way things stack-up, Brad’s coupe can not only turn heads, but also snap necks if you’re not careful. BTW, this car is for sale.This sexy, turquoise blue ‘62 Ford is a modified third generation Thunderbird. The owner was missing in action and there wasn’t a show card for the car. So, here’s what I’m guessing are some specs, based on how it came from the factory in 1962. Original two-door unibody coupe styling by Bill Boyer. This custom cruiser is chopped and lowered. Power is from a 390-inch FE-series V8 mated to a 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission. The Holley four-barrel-fed V8 delivers 300 horsepower/427 foot-pounds of torque, propelling the T-Bird from 0-60 in 8.6 seconds and covering the ¼-mile in 16.3 seconds.Low & Slow. It’s the Lowrider mantra, placing a priority on style and flair over speed and performance. This jewel is a ’39 Chevrolet sedan, displaying a Dukes Car Club die-cast gold plaque on the package tray below the rear window. Dukes is a Long Beach, CA club whose history dates back over 60 years, with members scattered around the country and around the globe. Regarding the Lowrider style, a senior member of Dukes once stated, “A Lowrider is nothing if not crisply clean, polished, and lit up with shiny paint and chrome.”The Automitron is a vintage ’49 Studebaker custom pickup that was 25 years in the making. A bevy of giants from Kustom Kulture, helped owner John Saltsman transform the pickup from parts-hauler to show-stopper. When John started formulating his plan for the truck in the 1980s, buddies George Barris, “Merc John”, Gene Winfield, Larry Watson, Keith Dean, Bill Hines and Brad Masterson joined his build team to bring about the artsy and futuristic transformation. A peek inside the radically customized interior reveals a shiny-metal Edsel dash, chopped Olds steering wheel, and an under-dash mounted, rabbit ears antenna mini-TV.I move pretty fast through car shows when I’m on assignment so I can capture as much of the action as possible. Usually, the showgoers surrounding the show cars are laughing and having a good time. But the spirit of the conversation and tentative activity surrounding this sleek and creamy ’36 Buick Lowrider was noticeably serious, if not somber. As I moved from the rear of the car, along its side and up to the front snappin’ pix, I noticed a rusty metal nameplate rising up from the bumper. It read The Ghost. “OK, cue the creepy organ music.”Ahh, memories. I was maybe 14, living in Queens, NY, and already obsessed with cars. My parents had a ’53 Chevy sedan, with basically the same specs as the custom ’53 Chevy Sedan Delivery featured here – minus the words Delivery and Custom! My folks’ car was always parked on the street, and during the winter my mom would allow me to go outside and start the car so it would be warm when she got in. I had never driven before but I had practiced all the moves, sitting parked with the clutch in. One morning I got in, pulled the three-speed column shifter down to first, released the brake and took off! I drove a perfect loop around the block and parked just as mom was coming out the front door. And thus, another Car Guy was ready to roll!Some might say that this flawless, custom ’32 Ford pickup is showy and loud, or maybe they might simply say, it’s brassy. And they’d be right. Everywhere we’d expect to see chrome or stainless parts and trim, this pickup sports brassy bits – from the front grille, to hood ornament, interior gauge bezels, rear view mirrors, valve covers and rear end. The more-reddish brass tones probably come from a higher copper content in the metal’s composition. Complimenting the brass bits are orange-toned gold scallops accenting the fenders and center body line.Attention to Detail. Even if you’re not a fan of Lowrider style, you’ll probably agree that the artistry and craftsmanship embodying some of these custom cars is extraordinary. For example, the barely-visible body panel behind the front bumper of this ’48 Chevy Fleetline is a work of art – as is every inch of this impeccably-crafted custom. From the factory, the Fleetline had a three-speed manual Syncro-Mesh transmission mated to an inline Six with a one-barrel Carter carb. Top speed was wishfully about 75 mph!OK, I’ll admit it. I have two black velvet paintings featuring partially clothed ladies. No, they are not hanging on the walls of my home, but they are part of my “Kitch Art” inventory that I sell on my Etsy store, WellPicked. So of course, I had to take a few minutes away from the hot rods and customs to enjoy this wonderful collection of kitch and coolers on display in the vendor area at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. There were also vendors selling kar kulture clothing, jewelry, signs and swag, plus exhibits of model cars and pin-striping techniques – and of course live music and fabulous hot dogs, tacos, churros and kettle corn.Many of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025 participants brought more than cars; they also brought multiple generations of their car-loving families. It was not unusual to see the little kids being pulled around the Fairpark in custom and vintage kiddie-car wagons. When I spotted this Art Deco era, pressed-steel Zephyr wagon by Steelcraft, I wondered how many of us got our first addictive taste of car culture riding low and wide-eyed in a little rusty wagon?

Story & Photos © Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/

For more information on WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025 and club events, please visit https://www.westcoastkustoms.com/

VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS!

While he wasn’t ready to spike-up his hair and tattoo a car club logo on his chest, Car Guy Chronicle‘s contributor, Jim Palam, was more than willing to motor South on Highway 101 and immerse himself in the cuffed-denim and octane-fueled culture of the 18^th annual VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS!

There are lots of things that go together well – like bows & arrows, macaroni & cheese, Batman & Robin. But for those of us with octane in our veins, the rhythm of our lives purrs along best when there’s a stick shift in our hand and a wailing car song in our ears. From Jackie Brenston’s Rocket 88 and Chuck Berry’s Maybelline, to Golden Earring’s Radar Love and Deep Purple’s Highway Star, thumpin’ music and high octane has long been a potent elixir helping to fuel the fun and adventure factors in our Car Guys’ lives. So, it was with a tingling in my spine and Ramblin’ Man on my radio that I headed to the Ventura Fairgrounds for the VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS!

This was the 18th annual gathering for this popular Central Coast car event at the spacious Ventura Fairgrounds. Acres of oceanside parkland and thousands of square feet of indoor meeting space got covered and filled with almost 1,000 hot rods, customs and vintage motorcycles. There were also pedal cars, vendor booths and an outdoor stage for high-energy music acts that fired up the fairgrounds, including the Delta Bombers, The 40 Acre Mule and Jackie Mendez. If the music wasn’t blasting from the live stage, it was booming from premium car audio systems that seemed to be a requisite component of the flaked and slammed Lowriders and Customs on display.

As I worked my way around the Fairgrounds I was struck by the dichotomy between the perception and reality of this denim-clad, Mid-Century influenced car culture. Tough LA street guys talked to me about their mission to pull kids out of gangs by providing projects for them in fabrication and speed shops. A heavily tattooed member of Satan’s Escorts dug into his cooler to give me a free bottle of designer water. Ruby-lipped moms and bandana-wrapped dads pushed their happy toddlers around the Fairgrounds in custom pedal cars. While there was rockin’ music and high-octane in the air there was something else, something special, much more present: there was lots of love – for the custom machines, the exciting music and of course for family and friends. Kudos go out to the hard-working staff of this event, especially to show producers, Aaron & Holly Stein

Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908. With its simple design, interchangeable parts and affordability it not only became the best-selling car in the world, it became the choice for many hot-rodding transformations in the 1940s and 1950s. With the prosperity and Jet Age stylings of the 1950s and 1960s the “T” lost some of its allure, but you’ll still find excellent examples like this supercharged T-Bucket, top photo, at car shows and rod runs around the world.

Stacey Gann has a precious heart. Her full-custom ‘29 Model A Preciosa Corazon is another fabulous Kreation from K-Daddyz Kustomz of Bakersfield. Triple ascending and truncated velocity stacks give the motor from Mark’s Automotive a pipe organ profile. The club’s name, Loco Banditos, is scripted below an array of floating chrome buttons on the rod’s grille.

While there were over 22,000 El Caminos produced in 1959, it’s still pretty rare to spot one these days. It wasn’t the shimmering chrome or drool-inducing Candy Gold paint that alerted me to Gustavo Palacios’ long and low ’59 Chevrolet El Camino – it was the ear-drum-cracking, sonic thumping from its explosive audio system that stunned me and many of the other 7,000 attendees at the show. (Note to self: Add ear plugs to gear bag for next show).

FINK: An unpleasant or contemptible person; avoid at all costs. FINK ROD: A bad-ass bright metalflake green, supercharged ’34 Ford 5-Window Coupe; get behind the wheel if it’s the last thing you do. This Kustom Kulture Advisory brought to you by Fink Rod owner, Lillard Hill of Bakersfield.

FINK ROD Specs: Wicked from every angle, this homage to Hot Wheels and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth gets its bang from a supercharged Chrysler 392 Hemi. Power is delivered to a 4.56:1 Halibrand quick-change rear end via a Turbo Hydramatic 400 trans with a Gear Vendors overdrive. Fink Rod bites at defenseless roads with its massive 31×16.5 Hoosier tires!

Welcome to the Unfinished Line. Back in the day you rumbled through town in your primered hot rod not so much because you were going for a look, but rather that you spent your entire budget getting it running. These days, a primered, traditional or “patina” look is often the end goal – albeit most primers are now clear coated to seal and protect the finish. Edwin Hernandez’s ’38 Master Deluxe Business Coupe is a good example of one of the endless possibilities that can be achieved when going for a weathered, patina look.

Simon Gluckman’s Best of Show Hot Rod ’32 Ford 5-Window Coupe gets the “Hot” part from a blown ’56 Olds motor. This London-to-LA transplant’s Bedlam Car Club is home to some of the purest looking and sweetest running 1940s and 1950s traditional hot rods in Southern California. Bedlam, which took its club name from an infamous psychiatric hospital near London, is a relatively new and small club. If you hear that Bedlam is coming soon to a show or event in your town relax, it’s a good thing!

Aaron Valencia made the right decision when he arrived at a fork in the road of his troubled life. He went into rehab, took guidance and support from people who cared, and when he got a modicum of success with his automotive repair and fabrication business, he quickly focused his time and energy on helping disadvantaged and at-risk kids. In 2014 he helped found the Lost Angels Children’s Project. He’s pictured here in a white tee with three young men – and a custom pickup – whose lives have been redirected to a positive future thanks to the Program and this dedicated Car Guy.

One of the ways the Lost Angels Children’s Project raises money is by restoring a classic car and raffling it at shows like the Ventura Nationals. When I asked Mike from Salinas who was polishing his gleaming ’51 Cadillac Coupe how a young guy like himself managed to afford such an outstanding custom he joyfully responded, “I won it!” It was from there that I was introduced to Aaron Valencia and learned about all the good things the Lost Angels Children Project does. Check it out @ https://www.lostangelscp.org/The ‘35 Ford 5-window Coupe, with its sleek lines and rum-runner stance, has long been a favorite of customizers. Joe from JV Garage in San Diego brought his dropped, chopped and skirted ’35 to the Ventura Nationals and it’s a real beauty. Fat Firestone whitewalls make a snappy style statement against the custom-mix Buckskin Tan paint.

805. It’s an iconic California number. You can be from the 805 if you live in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo or Ventura Counties. You can drink an 805, which is the immensely popular blonde ale from Firestone Walker Brewing Company. And if you’re motorcycle builder Caleb Owens, an 805 is perhaps the highest profile build to come out of your shop, Cro Customs. Built for the brewing company, the 805-badged chopper is an understated and tastefully transformed ’51 Panhead FL. And yes, it’s wheels are wrapped with Firestone tires.

A low center of gravity has distinct benefits – if you’re racing an F1 car, but if you’re Adam Hartley rolling your custom ’52 Chevy Pickup from Vegas to Ventura for the Nationals, a slammed to the ground stance at the show has nothing to do with racing geometry. It’s an attitude bred from anti-Anglo Lowrider culture that grew over the decades into a worldwide automotive aesthetic – as popular in Japan today as it is in Southern California. And you don’t need an X-framed Impala to go low. Today’s hydraulics technologies and suspension kits can slam or stance your pickup, your Prius or your Peterbilt. Just watch out for those speed bumps!

VANdalism? Here’s one for the It’s a Small World files. One of the first Customs I encountered when first entering the Ventura Fairgrounds early Saturday morning was this radically chopped and shortened ’71 Ford Econoline Van. My current mechanic who has helped me dial-in my 914 Porsche worked at Cory Motors in Santa Barbara for years and yes, this is a 40 year-old project by the original owner of the shop. The resurrected van is currently owned by Travis Walker.

Meet Maria – and her ’51 Chevy Deluxe Coupe. She and her husband have been transforming their Chevy slowly but surely, from a survivor to a showstopper. It’s perfectly fine that it’s in something of a Rat Rod stage right now because that’s a “look” too that fits Maria’s style. “I’m not worried about the details now. We got her driving well and we’re always cruising.”

Jim Ramierez from the Throttle Kings Car Club landed a main thoroughfare parking position for his wicked ’34 Buick hot rod. While the heavily-modified, unpainted body is a hammered-metal piece of art – thanks in part to the gang at (Jimmy) Shine Speedshop – I just couldn’t take my eyes off its high-rev Nailhead Buick engine. Introduced in 1953, it was Buick’s first V-8.

OK, flashback to the beginning of this report where I was talking about all the love firing-up this Car Guy gathering. It must be the love of hot-rodding that motivated Ed here to get up at 2 AM and drive his matte-red, 425-inch Nailhead Buick-powered Coupe from Sacramento to Ventura to make a showing at the VENTURA NATIONALS: RODS, CUSTOMS, BIKES & GUITARS! That’s over 500 miles each way and, according to Ed, he would be driving back home the same day, but not before he grabbed a classic drive-thru burger. You gotta love it!

For more information about the Annual Ventura Nationals Hot Rod, Custom Car & Vintage Motorcycle Show, please visit https://venturanationals.com/