Sadly, Larry Watson passed away on July 20th, a day before his 72nd birthday.
The Custom painter supremo, who created the ‘panel painting’ style most famously on his brand new ’58 T-Bird, will be sadly missed by his fans and admirers.
No doubt there will be plenty of ‘Watson-style’ tribute cars appearing in the future.
RIP Larry.
Images from Kustomland: the Custom Car Photography of James Potter 1955-1959 by Thom Taylor.
Perusing Paul’s extensive collection of car books (I mostly look at the pictures), I was struck by the number of cool Tbird customs by legendary George Barris.
For all our square-Bird friends, here’s a beauty: the 58 “Ultra-Bird”. Barris customised this t-bird for his wife Shirley’s birthday, painting it in 30 coats of Candy Red with white pearl outlining, adding 18 side louvres and illuminated hubcabs. It won the Motor Life ‘Car of the Year’ in 1959. Shirley is marvelling at how George managed to convert a miniature car into a full-sized version just by the application of Kolor Crome products!
So blog readers, what do you think of custom cars? Sacrilege… or you can’t get enough of the chopped, channelled, sectioned and lowered?
Check out some background on George here.
Image from Barris Kustoms of the 1950s by George Barris and David Fetherston.
Compare the above 2 images. What’s wrong with the second picture?
Anyone out there with a TBird with a removable hardtop will be able to relate to the misleading advertising (or creative licence) of the illustration above.
See the ease with which these 2 be-suited gents can remove the roof, smilingly? As Tracy will attest, the fibreglass shell roof is no featherweight. And after tears were shed (OK, that was me), we decided to agree to leave it to the wonders of engineering to remove and replace the roof.
So I ordered the original Spare Part roof pulley to do the work. In due course, the pulley arrived from Larry’s Tbirds in U.S. After further due course, and due indolence, it was attached to the garage roof.
Problem is, my garage doesn’t exactly feature Cathedral ceilings. So the process of removal involves: removing car cover, reversing the car with pinpoint accuracy, detaching the aerial, attaching the pulley straps, winching the roof, driving the car forward, replacing the aerial, and eventually driving to destination.
To replace the roof, perform the above in reverse order. Or consider the guidance of the ad: “the hardtop can be leaned against the garage door for months!”. Unless you need to use the garage door on a daily basis… in which case whingeing and winching go hand-in-hand.
The 50s and 60s represent the pinnacle of aspirational advertising, the reassurance of “you’ve-earned-it” rewards, and a better-looking version of yourself driving a wondrous new Thunderbird…
Elegantly coiffed ladies in acres of chiffon alight from Tbird convertibles outside the country club, houndstooth-checked equestrians admire the latest-release model, and jet fighters race alongside a stylish gent in his new ’59…
Then there’s the copywriting: “A Thunderbird is a promise”, “Your ‘someday’ car could be yours tomorrow”, and “That special excitement is waiting for you now”.
Where’s the dream in a Hyundai Getz or a fuel-efficient Ford Focus?
