The History of Custom Cars

Between the years 1941-1945 and World War II was in full force. Raw materials such as steel and rubber were being sent overseas to support the war effort. Because the demand for these materials in the car industry was so high new cars were very expensive in the United States. Also, import cars from countries such as Germany could not be purchased because of the fact we were fighting against them. Instead of buying new cars people began to fix up cars they had in order to make it run better. Before long this did not satisfy people's needs. They started to give their cars a personalized, or might we say, custom style. Custom paint jobs were appearing and cars were modified to make more noise as they cruised down the road. There were even people who gave their cars a different shape by hammering, welding, and sawing away at the body of the car. It wasn't long before customizing cars had become a hobby for many people. Car customizing shops started popping up and movies were being made all about custom cars. A new trend had begun and will continue to grow for many generations to come.

Car customizing was most popular in Mexican-American neighborhoods in southern California. The way these people customized would later be known as Lowriders. The Lowriders were usually wide low profile cars such as the "Cadillac" and the "El Camino" that were dropped extremely low to the ground. Sometimes pickup trucks were even used as Lowriders. The cars were lowered my placing sandbags in the trunk or modifying the suspension system. Before long a law was passed that made it illegal for cars to be lowered past a certain height while in motion. This did not come in the way of car customizers. To solve the problem, hydraulic systems and air bags were added to the car. The airbags and hydraulics would allow the car to sit low while in a parked position but rise above the legal limit while in motion. Along with their low arrangement, low riders were also known for their decadent appearance. In fact, "Appearance is the most important Lowrider feature." said Danny Parr, the author of "Lowriders". Exterior changes could include fancy door handles, hood ornaments, and suicide doors, which are doors that open from the front instead of the back. Interior changes include plush velvet seats, steering wheels, and walls. Some Lowriders even include fish tanks and TV's. The Lowriders were one of the first styles of car to be customized.

From Mexican-American neighborhoods in southern California the idea of custom cars spread into other makes of cars. The next types of cars to be customized were T-Birds and Fords. This style of customizing became known as Hotrods. Hot rods are usually heavy-duty gas guzzling machines. They are made out of heavy metals and have exceptionally immense engines that produce masses of torque and power. Many people were so impacted by Hotrods that movies were made with a great focus on the cars, such as "Grease" and "American Graffiti". Unlike Lowriders, Hotrods were often made to race. Racing could occur either in competition or against friends. Hotrods are still being raced today at racetracks all across America.

Trucks are also another type of car that can be customized. There are many ways to customize trucks. The most common way to customize trucks is to make them Off-roaders. "Off-road trucks" is a classification for a truck with four-wheel drive, large tires and a raised suspension. Usually Off-roaders have bucket seats with four point harnesses. Four point harnesses are bolted to the frame of the truck in four places, (hence the name), and are designed to keep you stuck to your seat in case of an accidental roll. One type of Off-roader is a Rock Crawler. Rock Crawlers have extremely large tires with low pressure to stick to rocks and are raised off the ground. This allows the trucks to crawl over boulders and large rocks. Rock Crawlers have no practical purpose except for fun and climbing rocks. Another way trucks are customized is in the Lowrider fashion. They commonly have tinted windows and large rims. Many times there are deep bass stereos installed into the back of a truck. "Adding a stereo system is another way to customize your car. Any electronics store should have a sound system you can put in your car, everything from receivers, amplifiers, and CD players to speakers. And you can place the speakers anywhere in the car, even the trunk. Just remember this: the city has a noise ordinance, and you can be fined for anything above two decibels," says Katie Rowcliffe from cyhigh.jacksonsun.com.

Along with extreme car raising and stereo systems, trucks can be customized for practical reasons as well. For example, something as simple as adding diamond plate around the edges of the truck to protect it from scratches, or adding a bed liner, can be classified as customizing as well. Trucks will go down in history as some of the biggest, loudest custom cars.

The most recent cars to be customized are import cars from Japan. These Japanese imports are known as Import Tuners because of their need to be finely tuned for maximum performance. These cars are extremely fast and lightweight. When customizing these cars it is common to buy a full body kit, which includes front and back bumpers and sidepieces that cover the lip around the edge of the car. Other changes to the Import Tuners include changing the color of the tail lights, upgrading to larger rim size, and tinting windows.

When tinting windows you can do it yourself for around 15-30 dollars or receive a professional job done for around 100-280 dollars. You must follow certain guidelines while tinting windows. When tinting the rear window it can be as dark as you like but the side windows must not go over a ten rating out of 45. The rims are also a big part of Import Tuners. The average size for a rim is 17-18 inches but can be as large as 24 inches in diameter. Import Tuners are usually designed for racing. Although racing on tracks with your "Tuner" is legal, many like to participate in an illegal form of racing referred to as street racing. These sideshow events have become a grand problem in large cities such as Los Angeles. The popularity of racing tuners has been recognized in movies and video games including "The Fast And The Furious" and "Need For Speed". Car customizing has reached an entirely new level and is continuing to grow.

Car customizing has evolved vastly over the more than 63-year period since the beginning of World War II. Many new styles of customized cars have developed and brought forth new designs for the modern stock cars. No matter what, cars will never stop being customized and the idea of having a personalized car will never become dull.