Southern California was ground zero for customizing cars. After WWII, GIs returned home to California and needed to replace the dangers of war with a suitable adrenaline substitute. They began fixing up old jalopies and racing them out in the Mojave Desert. This trend led into customizing street cars too--and the hot rod era was born. "Pin-striping" was created as a way to set off your car, and a guy named Von Dutch (Kenny Howard) became THE guy for pin-striping in the Los Angeles area during the 1950s. My father took his friend's Chevy down to Von Dutch in 1956 for some striping. This is a fun show on his story and what it was like to be there when car custom history was in the making. Photo Credit: Ron Jones #thelongroadshow
