MOTOR ART........KENNETH HOWARD

Kenneth Howard, calling himself 'von Dutch,' was born in 1929. He was an artist to the automobile and the motorcycle crowd. In the early 1950s he started earning money by doing pin striping along with fellow pin striper Dean Jeffries. Von Dutch has been a major influence in the customizing of vehicles from the 1950s to today. Some of his famous works include the flying eyeball and the custom Kenford truck, along with numerous custom motorcycles and many award-winning custom cars. Among many custom car and motorcycle enthusiasts, he is thought of as one of the fathers of Kustom Kulture.


He also fashioned guns and knifes which are in private collections. In 1958, Von Dutch designed and produced the "Mare's Leg", a cut-down Winchester rifle for the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive.

A lonely soul living out a very modest existents in a transit bus behind a shop just outside of Santa Paula where he maintained a car collection.

Von Dutch's lifelong alcoholism led to major medical issues later in life. He died on September 19, 1992 from alcohol related complications, leaving behind his two daughters, Lisa and Lorna. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

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edited text: © 2012 wikipedia and rumpsville.com