My new Aussie Kustom Kulture blog

[hewey]

I've started my own Kustom Kulture blog. The idea is to feature a lot of the Aussie kustom kulture and retro thing, so the people, the art, the rides, all the good stuff in life Will also be featuring international stuff too. Hewey
http://kustomkultureaustralia.com/

 

[herr_rudolf]

That should be very cool Hewey!

Last couple of years I kinda grew tired of seeing '32 fords and '57 chevies. (Not really but I know there have to be more options...) I'm very interrested in Kustom Kultere using 'native cars/products' from different countries. If I look for customs in Japan for instance I'd like to find Toyotas, as well as Ford Anglias if I was googling for UK hotrods, if you catch my drift. Although kustom kulture will always work best when you let it loose on American iron, but if it works you really can get something unique with native cars from other countries. I know there are still a few untouched 1930-ish Citroens and Renaults that look amazingly 'alike' to Fords from the '30s. And there are Volvo's that very obviously had their designing cues from 46/48 Fords, yet you don't come across hotrodded or custom versions that often.

I suspect Australia has/had a decent car industry so there must be some cool cars ready to be customized the right way. Cool nostalgic styling. I know there are some cool Australian musclecars that can be turned into really cool streetmachines...

Looking forward to the blog.
The custom you've posted is very cool and wouldn't look out of place between Mercs and Chevies.

 

[Ace]

Nice one Hewey, hope there'll be plenty more to ad to your blog. Funny thing is, if I was to live in Oz I would be customizing a Ute, I so dig those lowrider trucks 8) I noticed a lot of them when I visited your country in 2004, they are not sold in Europe sadly. Is there a big Ute-scene over there, or are they simply regarded as utilitycars ?

@ Rudolf: every time I think of Japan and customizing I end up with having nightmares like this:

Beauty is once again in the eye of the beholder :lol:

Sorry about this Hewey, back to the studio in Sydney !

 

[herr_rudolf]

Heheh, your a funny guy Ace...
They reminded me of these 'typically Australian' Customs, ...albeit pollished versions of their redneck-madmax vibe... And look, a Holden Ute. (I think...)

:wink: :wink: :wink:

But what I really meant was...
I like people thinking outside of the box. Seeing traditional customizing as a style-expression let loose on things other than a Model A, or 69 Camaro.

For your information, Japan has been catching up on traditional hotroding and customizing with cars that can compete with the best from the states. IMHO, the best pinstripers come from Japan nowadays. Just do search for pics from the mooneyes/japan-shows.
And these are the domestic cars I was talking about:

I don't like these Toyotas better than, let's say '32 Fords, but I certainly find em much more interesting. It's kinda refreshing seeing domestic cars from around the world given the hardcore 'traditional' custom treatment...

Just like Japan, Australia has lot's of domestic cars with lot's of potential so I can't wait to see them on Hewey's Blog!
8)

(btw, that first pic Ace posted... That's kinda cool, in a strange way... It sooo reminds me of cheap 80's fake transformer toys...)

 

[hewey]

Thanks guys

Herr Rudolph I totally agree with your thoughts on domestic customs. I love seeing both the Japanese and Euro customs from Toyotas and Volvos 8) Ace, utes are really popular over here, but theres a few different 'camps'. There's the mini truck guys who like the modern Toyotas, Mazdas etc. There's the custom and classic car guys who like the old Holden and Ford and Valiant utes (domesticsally made), and these are your 6 cylinder/V8 powered utes, and then the later models of these are more your 'modern muscle car' type utes.

Funny you should mention it, Im in the process of trying to buy a Holden EK ute like this - how good will it look with the bikes in the back!

You should check out this thread I started on Aussie made customs. It applies to any custom made in Oz, so covers both US metal and Aussie metal :wink:
http://www.ozrodders.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20431&start=0

 

[Ace]

Oh man thanks for that link, outstanding cars over there ! Well, there goes my planning for today, I'll be busy for a while :lol:

I really like the Holden Utes, can't believe these sweet cars are not sold in Europe

I might even get my driver's license for a car like that

 

[herr_rudolf]

@ Ace
You're right. Those Utes do have a sweet design. I can imagine them totally dropped on the floor with some classic mags or alloys. Too bad the only 'utes' over here are the somewhat boring Volkswagen Caddies... Next to a cultural thing it is also a geographical thing we don't have utes or many pick-ups for that matter. Because of the rain it just isn't very handy to have an open back car...

@Hewey
I spend whole morning browsing through the photo's from that link. You have some sweet customs over there! Loved the scans of the old Aussie-magazines. I've also noticed the proportions the base material being more British than American. But they do fire up my imagination. I'm more atracted to Australian (late)60's early seventies cars. I'd really like to see someone like Chip Foose getting his hands on one... Thanks for sharing!

 

[hewey]

Just to let you guys know Ive now set up an email subscription option for the blog (you can get a weekly email with updates or updates every time a new post is made), and Ive also set up a Kustom Kulture Australia facebook page which I'm updating every time I make a new post.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Oh man thanks for that link, outstanding cars over there ! Well, there goes my planning for today, I'll be busy for a while :lol:

I really like the Holden Utes, can't believe these sweet cars are not sold in Europe

I might even get my driver's license for a car like that

I read in hot rod magazine some time back that General motors was planning to trade patents with Holden so Holden would get some kind of Cadillac and we would get these. They said they were to swap a Pontiac G6 front clip on it and introduce it in the states as something similar to the old El Camino.......never happened.......another GM failure :roll:

Wonder how much import fees would be on one......... :?: probably more than the truck.

 

[Ace]

This came up on google:

Ouch...might not be such a bad thing the deal went sour...that nose is horrible :lol: imho... :roll:

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

If Americans thought this was a good idea, we'd still be able to buy 'mullet' (you know, business in front, party in the back) vehicles like the Chevy ElCamino and Ford Ranchero!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[deorman]

If Americans thought this was a good idea, we'd still be able to buy 'mullet' (you know, business in front, party in the back) vehicles like the Chevy ElCamino and Ford Ranchero!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Ah, but you can. Just not new. :lol: Basically, it has as much to do with fleet mileage and emission regs as with any lack of market. As a 2-3 seat utility vehicle, it would cut in to their pickup quota. :roll: