Chopped and channeled
Encyclopedia
Custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been modified in either of the following two ways. First, a custom car may be altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. Second, a custom car may be a personal "styling" statement, making the car look...
in the "kustom kulture"
Kustom Kulture
"Kustom Kulture" is an American neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who drove and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today....
and among hot rod
Hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
ders. Both procedures are often combined, but can be performed separately.
Chopping
Dry lake
Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...
s chopped the tops of their cars so severely the windows were only a few inches tall. These were sometimes referred to as "mail slot" windows. This sort of bodywork is also popular on custom car
Custom car
A custom car is a passenger vehicle that has been modified in either of the following two ways. First, a custom car may be altered to improve its performance, often by altering or replacing the engine and transmission. Second, a custom car may be a personal "styling" statement, making the car look...
s, kustom
Kustom
Kustom Amplification or Kustom Electronics is a manufacturer of guitar and bass amplifiers and PA equipment and accessories based in Hebron, Kentucky. It is part of the Hanser Music Group as of 1999, which also includes B.C. Rich Guitars, and Traben Bass.- History :"Kustom" was a brand and...
s, and leadsleds. Roof chopping also quickly became very popular with drag racers for much the same reasons as it did for lakes racers. The first roof chopper is considered to be Sam Barris (brother of auto customizer George Barris
George Barris (auto customizer)
George Barris is a designer of custom cars.-Early history:George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. After the deaths of their parents, they moved to Roseville, California as children to live with relatives. Both were good students, interested in drama, music, and design...
), who chopped and customized his brand new 1949 Mercury. Barris also pioneered a more advanced form, where the B-pillar is removed turning it into a pillarless hardtop
Hardtop
A hardtop is a term for a rigid, rather than canvas, automobile roof. It has been used in several contexts: detachable hardtops, retractable hardtop roofs, and the so-called pillarless hardtop body style....
in the process.
Concept cars, such as the AMX-GT, often undergo a lowering of their roofs even if the vehicles are based on production models. Automaker
Automaker
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
s use the chopping technique to make their show cars look more sleek and "racy", although it would be impractical for normal use.
Channeling
To channel a car the body is lowered over the frame by removing the floor and refastening it higher inside the body, causing the body to rest closer to the ground without altering the suspension. The overall effect is to give the car's body a more massive appearance. Each automobile would have its own engineering challenges as far as modifying the various components of the chassis. Local laws may prevent making the modifications too extreme, and safety would dictate some restraint. Channeling is also popular amongst hot rodHot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another possible origin includes modifications to or...
, leadsled and minitruck enthusiasts, though the latter refer to it as a "body drop".
Sectioning
Sectioning removes a horizontal section from the body of a car, lowering the top half onto the bottom half, and weldingWelding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
the result back together. The purpose is to reduce the overall height of the bodywork of the car. Like a roof chop, it also has the advantage of reducing a car's frontal area and reducing wind resistance. This sort of bodywork is popular on minitrucks, race cars, kustoms, and leadsleds.