But, first, we have to begin with Sam Barris, who bought a brand-new 1949 Mercury at the close of 1948. He drove the car around stock as his daily driver, until he figured out how to chop the top on it. That was in 1949. His modifications to the '49 Merc hit such a sweet spot that they have been replicated hundreds (if not thousands) of times since then.
There is a saying on my "side of the tracks" in the car hobby. It goes:
Anyone can restore an old car; it takes a real man to cut one up!And so I think of Adam and Eve. Adam, being created first, was the "stock" model. I picture God looking at Adam and scratching His head, and thinking: Hmmm ... I wonder ... if I ... flared out the rear fenders a bit, shaved that annoying hood ornament, and put a couple of Gurney bubbles on the torso ... maybe slim down the jaw line a bit.
Voilà! Presenting ... Woman ... the Kustomized Man!
I'm just the kind of guy who can never leave a car alone. There is always room for improvement, whether radical or subtle. I will always pick the kustomized ride over the stock one.
One might even be tempted to say:
Any deity can make a man in his own image. It takes a real God to cut one up!
