The Rumblers Car Club show, "Kustom Kills and Hot Rod Thrills," which took place this weekend in Brooklyn, was a little bit like a country fair. Families strolled among the colorful displays, chowing down on hot dogs and hamburgers. There were souvenirs, shopping booths, and live music with an old–time feel. But this was no rural fairground; it was a bleak, oil–stained parking lot underneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The music was by Toothless George, a one–man rockabilly band who lives up to his name; the souvenirs were black devil t–shirts and leather boots; and the displays were classic hot rods, lowered and modified, rebuilt and Kustomized.
The country fair analogy is apt, though, because the "kustom kulture" movement—an amalgam of body art, fashion, and automotive fetishism—gets its inspiration from the bygone America of the 1950s. But it's not simply a recreation of the past; hot rod enthusiasts combine nostalgia with a punk–rock, DIY aesthetic. They mix swing–era hoop dresses with full–body tattoos. They reconstruct cars from the 30s and 40s in their own style. "There aren't too many stock cars here," said Lenny, president of NYC Rumblers. "Everybody tries to do something, rebuild it, chop the top off, lower the car or whatever." Lenny wore a traditional grey work shirt, and had the words "freedom" and "liberty" tattooed on his neck.
The Kustom movement has undergone a resurgence in recent years and has spread to all areas of the country (Southern California remains its heart). The Brooklyn show featured about 250 vehicles, and attracted hot rod clubs with names like the Screamin' Demons, the Road Devils, and the Beatniks from nearby haunts (Jersey City, Long Island) and from afar (Albuquerque, Orlando).
Despite what Lenny said, there were some fairly standard imitations of factory cars, like a pink 1956 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. There was even a "best stock car" award given to a 1949 green Ford. On the other end of the scale were completely fantastic pastiches, like a rusted old vehicle that was fifty percent 1966 Ford dump truck and fifty percent 1931 Chevy tractor, born again as a roofless roadster with a tractor seat and gold details. A majority of the cars, though, were either modified "hot rods" —often '30s Model As and Model Ts with open hoods and no fenders —or customized sedans from the '40s and '50s.
There was a consistent rumble of engines as mechanics talked shop. A man with a long pony–tail and leather jacket stopped at a Chevy pick–up. "Look at the way the light arm goes through the body," he said. A group of men in black–T–shirts, one with a semi–Mohawk, gathered around him to discuss headlight architecture. Not everyone there was an automotive specialist, though. One young man had come to skateboard in the lot, and had stumbled on the show. He pointed out a matte black '50s Mercury coupe, which had a body so low it completely covered the rear wheels while the front wheels boasted spikes. "It's like the Shadow or Dashiell Hammett or something," he said. "You would look so cool with your girl in that."
