There was low & slow and plenty of go at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. CGC’s Jim Palam went along for the fun ride!
It was hard to pick just one car that embodied the spirit and essence of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025, now in its 44th year. But when the ‘South of Heaven Filthies car club dropped their audacious Hemi-powered ’27 Chrysler ‘H-Bomb’ hot rod right in the center of the Santa Maria Fairpark, a smile-inducing shockwave spread throughout the park’s 33 acres. This, in turn, released dopamine in showgoers’ brains!
West Coast Kustoms was founded by Rich and Penny Pichette. After Rich passed away in 2010, Penny took the helm and has continued to steer the Cruisin’ Nationals into the hearts of enthusiasts throughout the United States – and beyond. This magnetic show attracts car clubs, lone wolves, exhibitors, and thousands of loyal fans. Many of these Kool Kats n’ Kittens arrived before this Memorial Day weekend, gathering to enjoy Santa Maria, CA, and swap car stories and car culture.
Cruisin’ Nationals is a family-friendly community event that shifted into gear on Friday night, May 24th with the popular City Cruise on Broadway in the heart of Santa Maria. The fun rolled on into a rockin’ car show on Saturday and an awards ceremony wrap-up on Sunday. Winners included Bob Gomes’ ’49 Mercury in the Top 5 Wild Kustoms category, Rudy Hernandez’s ’56 Chevy in the Top 5 Mild Kustoms category, and Mark Garza’s ’40 Chrysler in the Top 3 Early Kustoms category.
The H-Bomb is Brandon Garrison’s stealthy-low, Hemi-powered RHD ’27 Chrysler. He was one of several Sonoma County-based South of Heaven Filthies car club members who participated in the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. H-Bomb’s shiny Hemi is mated to a GM TH400 automatic transmission and rises above the Nardo Gray cowl of this slammed Chrysler. The roof is chopped 10 inches, and the wire wheels are 18-inch up front, 20-inch out back. The Chrysler’s beautifully executed body sits on a custom frame with a ShockWave air spring & shock absorber suspension and four-wheel disc brakes. Oh yeah, Brandon sits low on the right side when he’s piloting his radical hot rod!
Girls Just Want to Have Fun! I met Carly Brogren early Saturday morning as show participants were pulling in and parking their unique rides. As we chatted, I found out that in 2016 she satisfied a years-long craving to own a one-of-a-kind custom Lincoln Zephyr. Over the following years of ownership, she hooked up with the legendary Picasso of Auto Paint, Gene Winfield. He not only created this chopped and stretched ’39 Zephyr’s stunning ‘Fade’ paint job, but soon became a close friend. Carly ultimately became his caretaker until his death in March of 2025. Gene was 97 years young when he passed away. Like his unmatched artistry, Gene’s shimmering spirit shone brightly on the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025, adding to the event’s undeniable allure.
Steve Bowron’s radically customized ’64 International Metro Mite is one kool machine. Known around California’s Central Coast as the 805 Kustoms Ice Kream Truck, this fast and flashy cruiser has an international following. Its top is chopped 12 inches, and it features a custom bumper, grille, headlights, taillights, and fender lip. An almost endless list of mods includes custom paint with gold leaf, Mustang II front & rear suspensions, air ride, 600 horsepower 350 Chevy motor, TH400 transmission, and Ford 8.8-inch rear.
Victor Cacho is a well-known Southern California businessman. His Oak Springs landscape business specializes in high-quality construction, maintenance, and hydroseeding. Car guys are more likely to know Victor as the customizer who brings numerous car parts and ideas to Ian Roussel at Full Custom Garage. Joint ventures between Cacho Customs and Full Custom Garage – like this radically altered ’48 Packard named Eater EATER – went from concept to reality in front of a TV audience. Full Custom Garage is now streaming on YouTube TV. Can you guess who did the ‘Fade’ paint job? Yep – Gene Winfield.
Brad Mikkelsen of Arroyo Grande, CA is a nuclear energy professional. He loves the technology of power – and he loves the process of building powerful hot rods. This is his black-on-black, Hemi-powered ’34 3-Window Ford coupe. I’ve decided to call it an Extra-Hot-Hot-Rod. Sitting atop the 354 Chrysler Hemi is a Mooneyham 6-71 blower with an Edelbrock dual 600-cfm carb setup. The way things stack up, Brad’s coupe can not only turn heads, but also snap necks if you’re not careful. BTW, this car is for sale.
This sexy, turquoise blue ‘62 Ford is a modified third-generation Thunderbird. The owner was missing in action, and there wasn’t a show card for the car. So, here’s what I’m guessing are some specs, based on how it came from the factory in 1962. Original two-door unibody coupe styling by Bill Boyer. This custom cruiser is chopped and lowered. Power is from a 390-inch FE-series V8 mated to a 3-speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission. The Holley four-barrel-fed V8 delivers 300 horsepower/427 foot-pounds of torque, propelling the T-Bird from 0-60 in 8.6 seconds and covering the ¼-mile in 16.3 seconds.
Low & Slow. It’s the Lowrider mantra, placing a priority on style and flair over speed and performance. This jewel is a ’39 Chevrolet sedan, displaying a Dukes Car Club die-cast gold plaque on the package tray below the rear window. Dukes is a Long Beach, CA club whose history dates back over 60 years, with members scattered around the country and around the globe. Regarding the Lowrider style, a senior member of Dukes once stated, “A Lowrider is nothing if not crisply clean, polished, and lit up with shiny paint and chrome.”
The Automitron is a vintage ’49 Studebaker custom pickup that was 25 years in the making. A bevy of giants from Kustom Kulture, helped owner John Saltsman transform the pickup from parts-hauler to show-stopper. When John started formulating his plan for the truck in the 1980s, buddies George Barris, “Merc John”, Gene Winfield, Larry Watson, Keith Dean, Bill Hines, and Brad Masterson joined his build team to bring about the artsy and futuristic transformation. A peek inside the radically customized interior reveals a shiny-metal Edsel dash, a chopped Olds steering wheel, and an under-dash mounted, rabbit ears antenna mini-TV.
I move pretty fast through car shows when I’m on assignment, so I can capture as much of the action as possible. Usually, the showgoers surrounding the show cars are laughing and having a good time. But the spirit of the conversation and tentative activity surrounding this sleek and creamy ’36 Buick Lowrider was noticeably serious, if not somber. As I moved from the rear of the car, along its side, and up to the front snappin’ pix, I noticed a rusty metal nameplate rising up from the bumper. It read The Ghost. “OK, cue the creepy organ music.”
Ahh, memories. I was maybe 14, living in Queens, NY, and already obsessed with cars. My parents had a ’53 Chevy sedan, with basically the same specs as the custom ’53 Chevy Sedan Delivery featured here, minus the words Delivery and Custom! My folks’ car was always parked on the street, and during the winter, my Mom would allow me to go outside and start the car so it would be warm when she got in. I had never driven before, but I had practiced all the moves, sitting parked with the clutch in. One morning, I got in, pulled the three-speed column shifter down to first, released the brake, and took off! I drove a perfect loop around the block and parked just as Mom was coming out of the front door. And thus, another Car Guy was ready to roll!
Some might say that this flawless, custom ’32 Ford pickup is showy and loud, or maybe they might simply say, it’s brassy. And they’d be right. Everywhere we’d expect to see chrome or stainless parts and trim, this pickup sports brassy bits – from the front grille, to hood ornament, interior gauge bezels, rear view mirrors, valve covers, and rear end. The more reddish brass tones probably come from a higher copper content in the metal’s composition. Complimenting the brass bits are orange-toned gold scallops accenting the fenders and center body line.
Attention to Detail. Even if you’re not a fan of Lowrider style, you’ll probably agree that the artistry and craftsmanship embodied by some of these custom cars is extraordinary. For example, the barely-visible body panel behind the front bumper of this ’48 Chevy Fleetline is a work of art – as is every inch of this impeccably-crafted custom. From the factory, the Fleetline had a three-speed manual Syncro-Mesh transmission mated to an inline Six with a one-barrel Carter carb. Top speed was wishfully about 75 mph!
OK, I’ll admit it. I have two black velvet paintings featuring partially clothed ladies. No, they are not hanging on the walls of my home, but they are part of my “Kitch Art” inventory that I sell on my Etsy store, WellPicked. So, of course, I had to take a few minutes away from the hot rods and customs to enjoy this wonderful collection of kitch and coolers on display in the vendor area at the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025. There were also vendors selling kar kulture clothing, jewelry, signs, and swag, plus exhibits of model cars and pin-striping techniques – and of course live music and fabulous hot dogs, tacos, churros, and kettle corn.
Many of the WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025 participants brought more than cars; they also brought multiple generations of their car-loving families. It was not unusual to see the little kids being pulled around the Fairpark in custom and vintage kiddie-car wagons. When I spotted this Art Deco era, pressed-steel Zephyr wagon by Steelcraft, I wondered how many of us got our first addictive taste of car culture riding low and wide-eyed in a little rusty wagon?
Story & Photos © Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/
For more information on WEST COAST KUSTOMS CRUISIN’ NATIONALS 2025 and club events, please visit https://www.westcoastkustoms.com/