By Jay Hirsch
This now famous 1955 Chevy Aztec started life in Southern California as a 1955 Chevy Bel Air convertible. Southern California from Los Angeles to San Diego was the home of hot rodder’s and custom car people beginning in the late 1930s. After WWII this car culture spread across the country, and in California it exploded into a car world unto itself.
While “rod jockeys” (a term started in late 1930s) were modifying 1932 – 1936 Fords with souped up engines and eliminating fenders to make a car lighter and faster, there was another group of car people who were more concerned with design and making their car a rolling piece of iron making personal statement, like a piece of “art.” The slow ride down a street and the “wow, look at that car” was the sole intent, not peeling out from a traffic light that changed from red to green. …
