EYE CANDY

THE PEDIGREE BEHIND THREE VISUALLY STRIKING CUSTOM-CAR STYLES.

- BY RORY CARROLL

MODIFYING AND REPURPOSING CARS goes back nearly as far as the automobile itself. And whether the changes are made with the intention of increasing performance and speed or for purely aesthetic personalization, the result is a specific look that sometimes gives rise to an entire automotive subculture. These cars have their own vernacular and rules, their own artistic practices. They are trend makers and arbiters of style, and they reflect the environments that birthed them. They’re about so much more than themselves. Road & Track dug into the origins of three such car movements, following their narrative arc right up to today.

SWAGGED OUT

LIKE KLEENEX FOR TISSUES, Donk has become a generic term for custom cars riding high on big wheels. Within the scene, however, this generalization is frowned upon. Donk refers to a 1971-76 Chevy Caprice or Impala, exclusively. “That's it,” says Sage Thomas, better known as Donkmaster, whose shop, In & Out Customs, is in Charleston, South Carolina. “It can be a two-door or convertible, or four-door, or station wagon, but it has to be that year, specific. No other one.” There are no arguments about the preferred nomenclature, even if the origin of the word itself is uncertain.

Kenny Lewis, the founder of I-95 Motorsports in Oakland Park, Florida, agrees. “Monte Carlos, Cutlasses, the Rivs, they’re not Donks,” he explains. “It’s only a specific car that’s a Donk.” Lewis is widely considered a pioneer in the big-wheel field. He remembers taking notice of Donks as a teen, with their candy paint, Cragar 30 spokes, and Vogue tires. A car built in that style today could be called old-school. It wasn’t until the early 21st century that the current Donk look started to emerge.