Hearses

Perhaps owing to the morbid nature of the hearse, its luxurious accommodations for the driver, or both, the hearse has a number of enthusiasts who own and drive retired hearses. There are several hearse clubs.

Amongst enthusiasts, the 1959 Cadillac Miller Meteor hearse is considered one of the most desirable due to its especially ornate styling and appearances in feature films, notably the Ecto-1 in the Ghostbusters. The famed Harold and Maude car was a 1959 Cadillac Superior hearse. People who make hearses include; Coleman Milne, Binz, Duffy and Fearghas Quinn of Ireland. They are based on Mercedes and GM Vauxhall/Opel.

Celebrity hearse enthusiasts include rock singer Neil Young and two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart, who had his hearse customised for a television show. Sam the Sham of the Pharaohs (known for Wooly Bully and Lil' Red Riding Hood) was known for transporting all his equipment in a 1952 Packard hearse

Lowriders

A Lowrider is a car or truck that has been radically lowered, normally for 'show' rather than 'go' so that it rides as low to the ground as possible. (This is sometimes acheived with the use of hydraulic systems)

Although the term can be applied to many early Customs, it is usually associated with a conspicuous Californian automotive sub-culture.

The term is also used to refer to those who drive or own such cars. A traditional Lowrider will have many factory offered options and often many after-market accessories added.

The exteriors typically feature expensive custom paintjobs, small gold or chrome spoke wheels, detailed engines and lavish, often wild, interiors.

Suicide Doors

Suicide Doors are doors that are hinged on the opposite side to the present-day type doors and swing open from the front as opposed to the rear. Horse-drawn coaches of the time featured doors similar to the French Doors found in homes and this car styling design was incorporated in some of the very early automobiles.

The name 'Suicide Doors' comes from the increased danger of the door coming open if it becomes unlatched while the car is moving. On a conventional car, if the door becomes unlatched, moving air around the car will force the door closed. With suicide doors, the moving air pushes the door open. Major automobile manufacturers avoid the term 'Suicide Doors' due to it's negative connotations and use the terms "rear-hinged doors", "coach doors", and "freestyle doors" instead. The original term is still but used mainly in the Custom and Mini Truck scene.

Channeling

Channeling (also know these days as a 'body drop') is a fairly radical but very effective way of car styling to get your vehicle lower to the ground and 'in the weeds' as it were, without performing suspension modifications. The process in theory is pretty simple but in practice is much more difficult to carry out. Older cars like a Model A are much easier to perform this on as opposed to a later, full-fendered car.

Basically it involves cutting the body loose from the floor, dropping the body by the desired amount, then re-welding the body back to the floor. depending on the chosen amount to be dropped, this can also have a dramatic effect on the the interior space as whatever amount is lowered over the floor is obviously lost in the interior height. If choosing to roof chop the vehicle then this space is reduced even more.

Interiors

Interiors are another aspect of car styling that are best left to professionals if you want to achieve show winning results. However, it's not as difficult as you may think and as long as approached with logic, initiative and above all, patience, there's no reason you shouldn't achieve satisfactory results.

The styling you decide on for your interior should reflect the overall theme of the vehicle. For a genuine 'Resto-Rod' it will be more a case of reviving or re-newing the existing interior rather than radical changes to the design or look. If however, you want to lose that moulded plastic panel look used in later vehicles, you might want to re-design the whole thing into something more sumptuous.

Some of the most popular materials used when upholstering interiors are:

• Leather
• Leathercloth
  
• Suede
• Vinyl
• Naugahyde

and to a lesser extent these days with exception of Lowriders and the like:

• Velvet
• Dralon
  

Whichever you decide, take careful thought. It's what you'll see most of.

Flames

Flames are one of the oldest painting techniques still used to this day when car styling. They can radiate from pretty much anywhere on the vehicle. Front, sides, wheels, the list is endless though the most popular by far is flowing them from the front. They can come in varying effects from long flowing, short stubby and can be single or multi-coloured.

Perhaps the most traditional flame job is red , orange and yellow flames on a black background giving a visual feeling of power and performance to any vehicle.

Ghost flames can give a subtle but striking effect without giving that 'in your face' look. Tribal flames have also become more popular over recent years giving a more quirky look to the flame design.

Every painter has there own method of masking but the most popular seems to be the use of a mild adhesive-backed masking paper to entirely cover the surface of the vehicle before drawing the flames on then carefully cutting out the flames ready to spray the exposed area.

Done correctly, flames can be the finishing touch to any vehicle.

Choosing a Theme

The world of car styling is so diverse and often responsible for initial indecision amongst would-be enthusiasts. In most cases, the majority of cars at any major event or show will look highly desirable on first sight, though sadly beyond your means in terms of personal capabilities and budget.

Every personalised vehicle is simply a reflection of the individual owners' taste. What satisfies the needs of one person may be totally unsuitable for you. It is also a common misconception that endless cash is needed to create an effective style. A lack of funds can usually be made up for by determination, hard work and mainly, initiative.

Planning ahead is the most important aspect of any successful project, so think carefully before you rush into it.

Lowering

At one point in time, everyone one of us has seen a lowered vehicle of some sort. Whether it’s a Honda Civic or a Lincoln Navigator, the uses and methods used to lower vehicles comes in a range of cheap to expensive and dangerous to safe. In this guide, I hope to explain some of the most common methods used and my opinion of them when car styling.

Let’s start with the basics. What is the point of the suspension? It’s not to make your butt feel nice. It’s basic use is to keep the friction of the tire on the road. Without keeping the tire in contact with the road, the car will just go in one direction. You won’t be able to turn because there won’t be anything pushing your car in any other direction. Given that basic fact, no matter what your reason is for lowering a car (looks, performance, etc), you must make sure to keep that basic idea in mind.

So now that you have that understanding, what are the components to lowering the car. There are three basic components: Springs, Shocks, Leaves, and Torsion Bars. Springs and shocks are used mostly on cars and light SUV’s. They can either be separated or come as one unit called a strut(which is very commonly used). A strut is nothing more than a shock pushed inside the spring. Leaves are usually used in the rear of heavy duty trucks and we won’t cover it as not many people actually lower heavy duty trucks as much. Torsion Bars too Aren’t as popular.

Car Styling