The Los Angeles Auto Show may be known as a convention for major automakers to reveal new models, concepts, and display their current lineups, but the custom car scene also isn’t without representation at these world-renowned spectacles. Taking up an entire room at the LA Convention Center this year in a perpetuating tradition is West Coast Customs, the world-renowned custom automotive coachbuilding firm that’s made a name for itself making some of the most iconic, ostentatious, and ambitious custom cars for some of the most elite and highest-profile customers in the world.
Born out of Burbank, California cooperatively by Ryan Friedlinghaus and Quinton Dodson in 1994, West Coast Customs is most known for customizing cars for the Hollywood and entertainment jet set, with clientele including the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Kylie Jenner, Rascal Flatt, Sylvester Stallone, will.i.am, and countless others. In other words, if you’ve made it in big as a high-profile individual in the entertainment or sports industries, and you want a car that helps you stand out among the rest, West Coast Customs is the place to get it done. To display some of its latest work while also inadvertently celebrating its 30th anniversary (WCC says they started in 1993, others say 1994, so it probably depends on who you’re talking to), and showcase some of its latest work, the renowned car customization firm took up the entire Petree Hall conference room in the West Hall of the LA Convention Center to showcase some of its most recent and notable works, and we’ve created and curated a photo gallery in case you miss the display.
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Your 2024 Los Angeles Auto Show Mega Photo Gallery Is Here
Just in case you want to get an idea of what to see if you’re attending LAAS or can’t make it.
Showing Off The Art Cars Of Larry Warsh’s CART Department
One of the biggest displays in the West Coast Customs exhibit showcased cars from an art-car collaboration with New York-based partner, CART Development, aptly named Art Car Collection. It’s the result of the efforts and hard work of Larry Warsh, an also New York-based prominent collector, art connosieur, and publisher, who specifically curated the Art Car Collection to represent a cultural bridge between art and pop culture.
Similar to BMW’s collaboration with world-renowned contemporary artists to produce some of its most iconic art cars, Warsh’s Art Car Department perceives cars as canvasses for “cultural communication,” or a blank template for individuals to express themselves and help translate their thoughts, which are wholly representative of their methods and ideologies.
“The Art Car Series represent a vital new genre of Art that bridges the gap between Art and popular culture, one of the most compelling aspects of the art cars is their capacity for storytelling. This presentation sets the stage for cars as a time capsule for future generations to understand and appreciate our current culture,” Larry Warsh said in an official statement.
Here are some of the cars on display:
1950 Buick By How & Nosm
Beginning with this custom 1950 Buick, this unique specimen comes from the efforts of German-born twins, Raoul and Davide Perre, also known as How & Nosm. Known for their extravagant graffiti murals and street art, the two reworked this American classic with a unique exterior paint scheme, all done up in their signature and bold pallete featuring red, black, and white colors, meticuously done up in an eye-catching pattern, which also features unique subliminal symbols and icons. The two created the his art car to represent a “fusion of classic Americana and contemporary urban art.”
1999 Mini Cooper, “Spot Mini” By Damien Hirst
This polka-dotted classic Mini Cooper comes from the work of British-born Damien Hirst, who’s regarded as one of the most influential contemporary artists of our time. Most known as a prominent figure whose rise to fame in the 1990s happened through the Young British Artists Movement, when he preserved a shark in formaldehyde to produce one of his most iconic pieces, “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the mind of Someone Living.” His latest effort with this Mini Cooper is said to represent his overall theme and aesthetic, while the “spot” design is one of his most recognizable signatures, representing the “commodification of art and its relationship with mass culture.”
1976 BMW 2002, “BMW, 2020” By Futura
This uniquely painted and army-green-like late-model BMW 2002 is the result of New York City-based graffiti artist, Leonard McGurr, or better known as Futura. Known for his emergence in The Big Apple with the rise of subway graffiti culture in the late 1970s, Futura is best known for his “abstract modernism,” which blends organic shapes, fluid lines, and a “fusion of typography and abstraction,” ultimately to combine contemporary art with modern graffiti. Futura’s career involves working with some notable musicians, brands, and fashion icons with his work and this specific BMW 2002 represents the mating of his visual art style with 3D shapes, while embracing BMW’s precision engineering and the 2002’s cultural significance, and highlighting cars as an artistic object.
“Eroded Ferrari” By Daniel Arsham
Inspired by the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, contemporary American visual artist Daniel Arsham created this unique sculpture that replicates the car using fiber glass, while representing and mimicking “the effects of decay and time, all in an effort to make a statement about permanence. Arsham is most known for his work that represents items as if they were just unearthed from an archaelogical dig. Of course, with only 55 250 GT California Spyders made in 1961, making it one of the most highly collectible and valuable collector Ferraris in all the land, Arsham couldn’t source an actual 250 GT California Spyder. Thus, Arsham hunted down and hired the original Kentucky-based prop master, who created the replica kit car used in the movie, for his own sculpture. And the result is what you see in Petree Hall at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Arsham is known to have worked with some other high-profile brands and figures such as Porsche, Dior, Pharell Williams, and USHER.
1963 Buick Special, Untitled Art Car By Keith Haring
This specially treated 1963 Buick Special is a result of the efforts of the late Keith Haring, an influential figure in the New York City street art scene in the 1980s. Known for his bold and vibrant imagery, often involving graffiti and public art, Haring built his reputation for art themed around the emotions of love and sexuality, and concepts involving social justice, and the human condition. He often used his art as a method and vehicle to express his desire to spread awareness for HIV, AIDS, and LGBTQ+ rights, particularly as an activist. This 1963 Buick Special, created in 1986, is one of Haring’s most daring works and is one of the many art cars produced by Haring himself.
2012 Dodge Challenger, “Vanishing Point” By Richard Prince
At first glance, this modern Dodge Challenger might look like a bit of a botch job gone wrong, but it’s actually the result of famed painter and professional photographer, Richard Prince. Known for his provocative work representing and embodying themes of “appropriation, identity, and consumer culture,” Prince is most known for his Cowboy series of art work, which repurposed and rephotographed some iconic Marlboro ads to portray the signifcance and meaning of cultural symbols of modern society, all in a message to hopefully alter and provide a different view of how art influences and portrays society. This Challenger is one of his latest creations and newest ventures, inspired by the 1971 film, Vanishing Point, all to display how muscle cars, like the Challenger, are an identity of American culture.
1973 Chevrolet Camaro By FAILE
This uniquely painted 1973 F-Body Chevrolet Camaro comes from Brooklyn-based artist duo, FAILE, consisting of Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller, who are both known for their street art, pop culture references, and eye-catching graphic design. Both built a name for themselves in the art world under their alias throughout the 1990s, combining influences from both vintage and modern aesthetics. This 1973 Camaro specifically represents the height of FAILE’s visual art design and is described as a “moving collage,” all to show that art can be both relevant and accessible.
1986 Chevrolet Custom Van, Untitled Art Car By Eric Haze
This custom-painted 1986 Chevrolet Custom Van comes from the iconic Eric Haze, an American artist known for his graphic design, street art, and graffiti. Haze’s work is most notable for his bold use of typography and geometric shapes in his designs, particularly through his rise to fame and works as a well-known street artist in the graffiti scene throughout the 1970s and 1980s in New York City. He’s worked with some iconic figures such as teh Beastie Boys, EPMD, and LL. Cool J. and in 2020, Haze reworked this 1986 Chevy van to showcase his style and to exemplify how art can be done in an accessible manner and can be found in unconventional places.
Other WCC Vehicles On Display
Complementing the central CART Department display are other notable West Coast Custom vehicles such as Travis Scott’s BMW M3, Oscar De La Hoya’s Chevrolet C10 pickup truck, Paris Hilton’s Bentley Continental GT, will.i.am’s Concept Tesla, “The Merc,” Suburban X’s Escalade, Ryan’s Root Beer Rolls-Royce Ghost, Jay Z and Kanye West’s Maybach 57, Jose Cuervo Devil’s Reserve Ford Bronco, and a 1:3 scale Visionary Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen by Virgil Abloh.
