Jim Vasquez
Southern California hot rod and custom car builder with roots in the traditional kustom kulture scene.
Jim Vasquez grew up around hot rods in the Los Angeles area, spending his formative years learning the trade from older builders — chopping tops, channeling frames, laying paint, sourcing period hardware. He eventually settled in Long Beach, where he has spent the last two decades building traditional customs and hot rods and staying close to the West Coast show circuit.
His work sits firmly in the traditional kustom kulture camp: chopped 1949-1951 Mercurys, channeled 1932 Ford coupes, and flathead-powered street rods built from late-1920s and early-1930s American iron. He writes about these cars from a builder's perspective — what makes a correct period build, where the compromises are, and how to tell a well-executed traditional custom from one that just looks the part.
Jim's daily driver is a chopped, channeled 1933 Ford three-window coupe with a built Mercury flathead — exactly the kind of car he's been building and driving his whole adult life.
Magazine Articles by Jim Vasquez
Faking Patina and Clear-Coating Rust
The History of the American Hot Rod
Rod Emory & the Birth of the Outlaw 356
1969 Road Runner Colors
Hot Rod Wheels: Steelies, Wires and Mags
Hot Rod Glossary: Terms Every Beginner Should Know
What "Outlaw" Means: The Culture's Origins
NHRA vs AHRA: The Sanctioning Story
SS Stripes and Emblems: Reading the Design Language
1966: The Restyle Story
The Classic Hot Rod Story
Bonneville Speed Week and Land-Speed Hot Rods
1968's Tunnelback Roof: A Semi-Fastback Gamble
1968 Road Runner Colors
Lowrider Style: Paint and Murals
Gasser Stance and the Nose-High Look
How the Chevelle Shaped GM's A-Body Design Language
Hot Rod Culture and Shows
Match Racing and the Roots of the Funny Car
The Most Beautiful Streamline Moderne Cars
The Tri-Five Phenomenon and the Chevrolet Nomad
Wheels and Tires That Make a Pro-Touring Camaro
Restoring a First-Gen Camaro Interior
