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True Classic Customs

With body by Brewster, this town car design was mounted on a circa-1934 Ford chassis. People of celebrity status liked the design and accepted the Ford connection due to the car’s snazzy looks in a Depression era that needed a social boost. Ownership was less expensive, too. Courtesy of Gerald Perschbacher

The term “classic” has been used for a wide range of collector cars. Hobbyists say there were classic Chevrolets made in 1955, ’56 and ’57. For some in the hobby, their design and sometimes performance made these cars seem eternally classy. Some say the same for Chevys made in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond. Early Corvettes were quickly granted the same aura in terminology. At times, we hear-tell that Model T Fords are “classic,” which seems to apply not to rarity, but watershed historical offerings that added an aura to cars from select years and styles. The Model A Ford was likewise a benefactor in the usage of the term, while the early Ford V-8 of the 1930s soon grabbed that “classic” aura for its own.

So has the word “custom” often defined modified cars — personalized cars made special by tweaks and extra curves, shaves and additions, including lowered bodies and chassis able to bounce or dance on hydraulics.

The car hobby seems open minded and broad enough to accept such a wide variety. Yet as we examine custom classics as traditionally employed, the term implies that custom touches often had been special-ordered by the buyer of an expensive car when it was new — usually in the era of limited-production or one-off orders reflecting fancy and special cars of high price and status made within the first half of the 20th Century.

Lincoln’s dual-cowl phaeton design in 1932 was an epitome of tasteful design and elegance. It became the basis for special body designs by coachbuilders Murphy, Brunn, Judkins and even LeBaron. Hardly a small car, it bespoke elegance and commanded classic attention Courtesy of Gerald Perschbacher

This is how the custom classics of yore came to be. A buyer of an expensive car wanted additional notoriety when arriving at a swanky event. Movie stars, for example, liked to be chauffeur driven to a grand opening or film release, emerging from the rear passenger compartment as the flash of enormous cameras bathed the dim exterior in nighttime splendor, excitement and enticement. Most often, the arrival car was a massive and exquisite new model with special features and design that set it apart so that it wasn’t just a “big Packard” or fancy “Pierce-Arrow,” but a car of unique distinction.

What made those type of cars stand apart from the run-of-the-mill was often calculated in several features: size (often large, even to the extreme); fanciness (with eloquence that awed onlookers); the expensive elegance often delivered by top brands such as Rolls-Royce, Duesenberg, Lincoln, Packard and Cadillac; and exclusiveness (meaning cost and quality of design plus unique construction — a limited edition or a one-of-a-kind).

As Cadillac weathered the economic maelstrom of the 1930s, it was able to endure. For 1941, it offered extra-long limos and formal sedan- or town-car-type styling for the upper social class. Eventually, many fine cars like this were considered antiquated after the Second World War and were traded on newer postwar versions of Cadillac, Packard and other high-class American brands. Large families with lesser income than the first buyer often bought the land yachts at a very reduced price off a used car lot, not realizing the cost for upkeep and fuel was (at times) beyond their reach. Courtesy of Gerald Perschbacher

When confronted by one of these gems when they were new, people stood in awe and uttered the simplest of words — Wow! — if they were able to utter anything at all. People today have the same experience. Coming face-to-hood with a roadway masterpiece of such glory is a moment to savor.

Illustrated here are the kinds of custom classics that would have wowed people at a movie premiere back then, or on the concours field today.

Duesenberg’s Indianapolis office liked to promote the Model J in seemingly open-car elegance – not a car for the masses, but for the few whose fortunes survived the uneasy ride of cash in Wall Street when investments swung low. High-end movie stars loved the glamour! Courtesy of Gerald Perschbacher

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