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KUSTOMRAMA NEWSLETTER NO. 209

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Earlier this summer, I hand-painted a batch of Limited Edition Kraze Painter Weirdo Sweatshirts that we brought with us to the Coupe Devils Bonanza show in Norway. They barely hit the rack before they were gone, torn down by eager hands faster than I could hang them up. That was wild and very fun. Thanks to everyone who snagged one!

I was so happy with how they turned out that I decided to keep going. A couple of weeks ago, I laid down paint on a fresh batch of trucker caps, each one kustom-painted, one by one. They’re now over at Jarlsberg Yrkesklær, where they’ll be getting the Von Franco Kraze Painter design printed on. I can’t wait to see the final result!

If you happen to be heading to the X-TREME MOTOR SHOW in Finland this September, keep an eye out for our buddy Henrik, the caretaker of the wild Kreature Plymouth I flamed back in 2017. He’s been invited to display the car, and if all goes as planned, he’ll also have a small Kustomrama stand at the show with the first batch of these new caps, plus some limited-edition t-shirts, so be sure to stop by and say hello!

As for this newsletter, I’ve been digging deep, spending weeks catching up on all the great stuff you folks sent in over the summer. There’s some real gold in here, so I hope you enjoy this edition. Thanks again for your support and for being part of this mission to keep history alive.

Until next time,
Sondre
Kustomrama Editor

Andy Saunders' Dodge Daroo I Tribute

What would you do with two photos and a dream? If you're Andy Saunders, you roll up your sleeves and build one of the wildest show car tributes of the decade.

This month, we’re excited to feature the Dodge Daroo I Tribute. A stunning recreation of the radical show car Dodge originally unveiled in the late 1960s. Designed by Bill Brownlie and built in collaboration with George Barris and Barris Kustoms, the original Daroo was a futuristic, wedge-nosed 1967 Dodge Dart GT convertible with wild proportions and a low, wraparound windshield that made it look like it had rolled straight out of a sci-fi film.

Andy, a renowned “Car Artist” from Poole, Dorset, UK, first laid eyes on the Daroo around 2000, inside a copy of Barris Kustoms of the 1960s. “The Daroo just grabbed me by the eyeballs,” he told us back in July. “I knew that one day I would build myself one.”

That journey began with a 1969 Dodge Dart he acquired in the early 2010s. After years in storage, the project was nearly abandoned, but in 2024, Andy had a change of heart. “I had virtually everything. Wheels, tyres, lights, and steering wheel, so why not get on with it?”

Armed with just two photos, enlarged prints he kept on the workshop floor, Andy began recreating the Daroo I on January 13, 2025. He sourced a 1967 Dart hood to make the car true to the original, then set about reshaping the body. The rear was shortened 10 inches, the front lengthened 17 inches, and a sharp V-nose was crafted to match the car’s original space-age stance. The result is a jaw-dropping recreation that looks like it came straight off Chrysler’s Rapid Transit System stage.

Andy finished the build on June 15, 2025 — just in time for the Beaulieu Custom and American Show. Total build time? Around 1,200 hours.

For those unfamiliar, Andy Saunders is no stranger to wild custom builds. Born and raised in Poole, England, he began customizing cars before he could legally drive. Over the years, he’s created everything from the world’s lowest car (21 ¼ inches tall!) to a Picasso-inspired Citroën 2CV. His builds have been displayed at events from Goodwood to New York City, and in 2022, a 464-page book titled The Automotive Alchemist was published, chronicling his remarkable journey.

​Click here for more info and photos of the Daroo I Tribute on Kustomrama.​

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Staffan Runhag's 1937 Ford Tudor Sedan

Before he became a respected artist, writer, and founding voice of Sweden’s rodding movement, Staffan Runhag was just a young enthusiast with a vision and a stock 1937 Ford Tudor Slantback.

He bought the car in 1964, back when hot rods were nearly unheard of in Enköping, Sweden. Inspired by photos of American customs and the growing transatlantic style, he set out to build his very first hot rod, a humble but proud beginning for both Staffan and his hometown scene.

The early version of the car kept things mild but meaningful. Radir wheels, subtle pinstriping, and a reliable flathead V8 gave the Tudor a cool stance and classic performance. In a town where hot rods and customs were still a rarity, this car made a statement.

But as with many early builds, the car eventually changed hands. Traded off to Västerås, then sold and resold, the Ford slowly faded from its former glory. By the time Klas Wingren of Borås discovered it, the car was in rough condition. The fenders were chopped up, and the spirit was nearly lost.

Not one to let a good rod die, Klas brought the Tudor back to life. The rebuild included a 1951 Ford driveline, a plush red interior by Borås Möbelklädsel, and a bold flame job in Murano pearl laid down by Ivve Hallberg. By 1978, the black flamed Ford was back on the street, featured in Colorod Magazine, fittingly in an article penned by Staffan himself.

The car would go on to pass through more hands, but its legacy remained rooted in that first build and the ripple effect it caused in the Swedish hot rod community. By the early 1970s, Staffan would help co-found the Swedish Street Rod Association (SSRA), leaving a lasting imprint on the culture he helped shape.

And fittingly, the car that started it all? It resurfaced once again in 2021, spotted for sale in a Swedish street and strip group. A survivor. A symbol.

​Click here for more photos and the full story on Kustomrama.​

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Golden Sahara II to Cross the Block Again as The Klairmont Legacy Auction is Set for September

After years of speculation, one of the most iconic custom cars in the world is headed back to auction. Following the passing of Chicago collector Larry Klairmont in 2021, many have wondered what would become of The Golden Sahara II, the radical showpiece originally built by Barris Kustoms for Jim Skonzakes (aka Jim Street). This fall, the mystery ends.

On September 20–21, 2025, Mecum Auctions will oversee the sale of the Golden Sahara II, along with over 300 vehicles and thousands of memorabilia pieces from the legendary Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum. The auction will be held live on-site at the museum’s North Knox Avenue location in Chicago.

Originally based on a wrecked 1953 Lincoln Capri, owned by none other than George Barris, the Golden Sahara began its journey in the early 1950s as a custom project by Barris Kustoms. Featuring gold-plated trim, television sets, and translucent Goodyear tires, the car evolved through two wild iterations and became one of the most famous custom cars of all time. It was featured in Motor Trend, Cinderfella, and I’ve Got a Secret before disappearing from public view in the late 1960s.

Rediscovered in storage and sold at auction in 2018 for $350,000, the car was lovingly restored under Klairmont’s ownership and reintroduced to the world at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. Since then, it has been a crown jewel of the Klairmont Kollections museum.

This upcoming sale marks another historic chapter in the Golden Sahara’s legacy. Will it disappear into a private collection again, or hit the road for a new era of public appearances?

​Click here for the full story on Kustomrama and a link to view the auction listing.​

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A Royal Year for the Sandbergs and the Wild Bird

It’s been an eventful year for the Sandberg family. In April, they were honored with the very first Kustomrama Award, a recognition given to individuals who exemplify the spirit of “Keeping History Alive.” From Ewert and Astrid’s early support, to Gamen and Sven's groundbreaking work in the 1960s, to the restoration efforts carried out today by Sven and Joakim, the Sandbergs have kept the flame of Swedish custom car culture burning brightly for three generations.

Now, their legendary custom, the Wild Bird, has received one of its greatest honors yet.

On Sunday, July 27, 2025, the Wild Bird was awarded Best Car of the Solliden Classic Vehicle Exhibition by none other than King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Held in the gardens of Solliden Castle on Öland, the annual event attracted around 500 vehicles and was attended by both the King and Queen Silvia. Joakim Sandberg, who had worked tirelessly to get the car road-ready and inspected in time, expressed his excitement: “Extremely proud that we took first prize in the car class, since there were so many incredibly beautiful cars on display.”

The royal recognition marks another historic milestone for the Wild Bird, bridging its radical 1960s origins with a new era of national appreciation, nearly 60 years after its debut.

​Click here for more info and the full story on Kustomrama.​

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George Barris and the XPAK 400 – The Air Car from Mars

In 1959, George Barris unveiled something that looked like it had landed from another planet. Pictured here at an indoor car show sometime around September 1960, Barris is seen with his wild, experimental show car, the XPAK 400.

The XPAK 400 wasn’t just futuristic in looks; it didn’t even have wheels! Riding on a five-inch cushion of air, this radical build could move on both land and water, powered by a pair of jet aircraft starter motors. With its tinted plastic canopy, gold-plated trim, neon fins, and early use of Metalflake paint, the car represented Barris’ bold vision of tomorrow.

Billed as “translated from Martian” to mean air car, the XPAK 400 caused a stir at the 1959 New York World’s Fair and later toured major indoor shows across the country. Sadly, after years in storage, it mysteriously disappeared. Its current whereabouts remain one of the great Barris mysteries.

​Click here for more great photos from the Roger Lick Collection on Kustomrama.​

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Awwww, right, you cool cats and chrome lovers! September’s here and we’re windin’ down the summer with a playlist that’s smoother than whitewalls on fresh blacktop! We’re talkin’ spooky grooves and soulful moves, startin’ with Justin Johnson’s smokin’ ‘In the Pines,’ rollin’ into Junior Byles bringin’ that reggae heat with ‘Fever,’ and Dillinger sendin’ your mind racin’ with ‘Cocaine in My Brain!’ You feelin’ haunted yet? ‘Cause Jackie Shane’s ‘Comin’ Down’ is gonna tug at your heart, and Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ will blow the doors off your ride! So drop the top, grab your baby, and turn it up, this one’s ridin’ deep into the twilight zone of cool! Click here to check it out.​

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Jerry Berg’s Northern Star Comes Home

Here’s a feel-good story that longtime Kustomrama readers will recognize right away.

Earlier this year, we received a note from Larry Moe, caretaker of the iconic Jerry Berg 1934 Ford 3-Window Coupe, telling us that he had made a difficult but heartfelt decision. After suffering a stroke, Larry could no longer drive, and he felt it was time to pass the car on. “As hard as it is,” he wrote, “my treasured ’34 has to go to a new owner who will continue to keep it for what it is.”

Shortly after, Larry shared the good news: he had made a deal with Eirik Berg, the son of the original builder, Jerry Berg, and the car was officially going back to the Berg family.

Originally built in Seattle in the 1950s and known as the Northern Star, Jerry’s coupe gained national attention when it was featured in Hot Rod Magazine, November 1958. Chopped, shaved, and powered by a fully chromed DeSoto Hemi, the lime gold coupe stood out in both show and street scenes. It later transformed into the wild “Plum Cherry” version under Ben Sebastian, then sat neglected for years until Larry Moe rescued it from a garage in West Seattle in 1995.

Larry recognized the car’s history almost immediately, thanks to nerf bars and rounded deck corners he remembered from Hot Rod Magazine as a homesick Air Force kid in Wichita back in 1958. Over the next 22 years, Larry painstakingly rebuilt the coupe, installing a blown Chrysler Hemi and finishing it in satin black. In 2017, at age 78, he rolled it out of the garage, finally finished.

In May of 2025, Eirik Berg took delivery of the coupe and gave it its first drive, in the rain, echoing the stormy night Larry had brought it home three decades earlier. Since then, Eirik has already made new memories with the car, including surprising his dad with a ride to a local Father’s Day show.

We want to extend a huge thank you to both Larry Moe and Eirik Berg for keeping us posted throughout the years. It’s rare to see a hot rod with such a deep and well-documented lineage return to the family that first dreamed it up. If you ask us, stories like this are what Keeping History Alive is all about.

​Click here for the full story and plenty of photos on Kustomrama.​

Got a story like this in your garage? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear it.

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Famous Photo Spot Found – Thanks to Jason Bickford!

We love tracking down old hot rod and custom car mysteries, such as the places where iconic photos were taken. Thanks to Jason Bickford, we can now pin down one of the most dramatic hot rod photo backdrops of the early 1950s.

Jason has spent the past few years digging deep, tracing the exact locations where some of history’s most legendary custom car photos were shot. One of the first places he shared with us is the Harbor and Hollywood Freeway Overpass in Downtown Los Angeles, now known as the Bill Keene Memorial Interchange. When it opened in 1949, it was the world’s first four-level stack interchange, and George Barris quickly turned it into a custom car photographer’s dream location.

In 1953, Barris brought out Fred Rowe’s stunning 1951 Mercury and Robert La Briola’s 1949 Oldsmobile convertible, posing them beneath the sweeping concrete ramps. One of the shots even landed on the cover of Rod & Custom, August 1953.

We want to send a big thank you to Jason for sharing these discoveries with us. He’s helped confirm a long list of other legendary locations as well. Stay tuned as we roll those out in the coming months!

​Click here for more old and recent photos from this location, plus a Google Maps link so you can visit it yourself!​

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A Barris Surprise: The Bob Baker Ford

We love when the Kustomrama community helps keep history alive, and this week, we’ve got a golden nugget to share thanks to longtime contributors Jason Bickford and Robert A. Radcliffe III.

“I have something really cool that Jason Bickford and I discovered about an hour ago,” Rob wrote us. “I have the invoice for Bob Baker's '46 Ford done by Sam Barris.” That’s right. A surviving Barris Kustom Automobiles invoice, dated April 23, 1956, reveals that Bob Baker’s 1946 Ford sedan wasn’t just a clean custom, it was a Sam Barris-built custom.

Previously featured in Trend Book 143 Restyle Your Car, the car was listed on Kustomrama, but the Barris connection was never confirmed, until now.

According to the invoice, Barris nosed the hood, removed 56 fender strip holes, frenched the rear pan, modified the grille into two vertical bar sections, and smoothed and painted the car in a custom iridescent lime-gold finish. The invoice, personally signed by Sam Barris, shows a total of $249.00 in labor, with a $30 deposit and a balance of $219.00.

Baker’s four-door ran wide whites, Sombreros, a single spotlight, and no skirts, giving it a sporty but elegant look. While coupes were more common custom candidates in the 1950s, Bob’s sedan stood out, and now it stands even taller with a confirmed Barris pedigree.

Thanks again to Rob and Jason for sharing this important piece of custom history. Click here to check out the full invoice and photos of the Ford on the Kustomrama site.​

Got something like this tucked away? Reach out! We’d love to help document it!

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The Pritchard Chevy Comes Home

Some great news just rolled in from New York, literally!

Bill Barrile recently sent us fresh photos of the radical 1957 Chevrolet custom originally owned by Don and Tom Pritchard, now back in Western New York and undergoing a long-awaited restoration. Built by Ron Gerstner of Williamsville for the Pritchard brothers of Tonawanda, this wild custom once stunned showgoers in its debut with a full-on East Coast attitude.

Dubbed “long, low and wild” by the magazines of its time, the Chevy featured a chopped top, a C-notched frame, extended fenders, canted and tunneled Lincoln headlights, and a hood sculpted with raised peaks. Out back, a second ¼-inch rod grille hid the taillights behind a rolled pan. A 283-cid Corvette V-8, set up for competition by Bill Rose of Albany, brought muscle to match the style. Inside and out, the car was decked in pleated white Naugahyde and Wild Cherry paint — a showstopper that scored First in Class, Best in Show, and Best Trunk at the Albany Auto Review.

But after a drag-racing mishap, the Chevy was parked at Don’s mother’s house in Depew, New York, where it quietly sat for decades.

The iconic East Coast Custom was eventually rescued by Fritz Schenck and relocated to Kansas. While little progress was made there, Fritz later listed the car for sale, and that’s when Bill Barrile stepped in. Spotting the ad, he alerted friends back in New York, and soon after, the Chevy was headed home.

Now in the hands of Klassy Kars in Akron, New York, the father-and-son duo of Gordy and Kevin Kaiser, the long-dormant custom is finally getting the attention it deserves. Bill reports that the Kaisers have begun sandblasting the shell, removing old lead, and preparing the bodywork for a full restoration.

We’re thrilled to see this historic East Coast custom back in the spotlight! A big thanks to Bill Barrile for keeping us in the loop. He has promised to share more photos and updates as the restoration progresses, and we’ll share those with you as we receive them.

​Click here for more info and photos on Kustomrama.​

Got something similar tucked away or undergoing revival? Let us know! We’re always eager to help keep history alive.

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Are You Still Out There, Cruising, Special Angel?

Earlier this month, we heard from Kustomrama subscriber Rick Stoehr of Tower, Minnesota, who’s hoping to track down a full custom he built back in the late 1980s. Named Special Angel, the car was Rick’s dream project, a radically reshaped 1953 Buick Special that he built at home on Minnesota’s Iron Range, starting in 1988.

Rick began with a rusted-out two-door sedan and channeled it over a 1974 Impala chassis. He “scalped” nearly every panel, dropping in a Wildcat 430 V8 from Jan Purkat, who also helped supply parts and support. Rick even hand-built the Carson-style top himself, and aside from pinstriping and seat upholstery, Special Angel was a true do-it-yourself masterpiece.

The Buick stayed in Minnesota until around 2012 or 2013, when it was sold to a new owner in Texas. Rick later spotted it listed on Craigslist in New Orleans around 2015 or 2016, but since then, the trail has gone cold. With Gulf Coast hurricanes taking their toll in recent years, Rick reached out to Kustomrama with one simple question:

“Are you still out there, cruising, Special Angel?”

If you’ve seen this car, know where it ended up, or have photos or updates, please drop us a line at mail@kustomrama.com.

​Click here for more info and photos on Kustomrama.​

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The Roadster That Wouldn’t Die

Big thanks to Andy Bekech, historian of the legendary San Diego Prowlers Car Club, for sending in a fresh photo of a historic Prowler hot rod, now fully restored and still on the road in 2025!

This channeled 1927 Ford Model T roadster is no ordinary survivor. It has passed through the hands of four Prowlers members across eight decades. First built and raced at the lakes by Chuck “Hoot” Gibson in the late 1940s, it was later transformed into a show car by Carl Burnett, who grafted on a Henry J trunk, added Austin-Healey taillights, and packed it with a 256-cid flathead Ford that made 175 horses.

Burnett’s version graced the cover of Hot Rod Magazine in March 1958 after fellow Prowler Bob Smith took it over, chromed everything, and fine-tuned the details. It later slipped into obscurity, painted yellow, its doors torched off, until current owner John LaBarre, another Prowler, brought it back from the brink. Thank you to Andy and the Prowlers for keeping history alive for 78 years and counting!

​Click here to head on over to Kustomrama for more photos and the whole story of this historic San Diego Prowlers Hot Rod.​

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How much is our automotive heritage worth to you Reader?

At Kustomrama, we're driven by passion, not paywalls. As a volunteer-run Encyclopedia, we're dedicated to keeping the history and legacy of traditional hot rods and custom cars free and accessible to everyone, everywhere. From server costs to content collection, every aspect of our mission needs fuel. Whether it's $5, $20, $50, or any amount you choose, your donation keeps the engine of history running.

​Click here to tip today and be a part of preserving this unique legacy for future generations.​

I appreciate your support!

Best regards
Sondre / Kustomrama Founder / Keeping History Alive

What is Kustomrama?

Kustomrama is a comprehensive online encyclopedia passionately dedicated to the preservation and sharing of traditional hot rod and custom car history. With a mission to keep this vibrant history alive for generations to come, Kustomrama offers an extensive repository of knowledge, featuring over 11,716 pages filled with information and more than 30,000 photos showcasing hot rods and custom cars from around the globe. Our goal is not only to document but also to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the hot rod and custom car community, ensuring that the stories and innovations of yesteryear enthusiasts are accessible to everyone.

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