5 Most Beautiful Custom Cars Designed by Chip Foose

Born in Santa Barbara, California, on October 13, 1963, Douglas Sam Foose, affectionately known as Chip, developed a passion for cars at an early age thanks to his father, Sam, who was also a custom car designer.

Chip joined the prestigious Art Center College of Design in 1982, but due to financial struggles, he dropped out after two years and began working for Clenet Coachworks.

In 1988, he returned to the Art Center College of Design, where he managed to graduate two years later.

After graduating, Foose began working at Sterenberger Design and Boyd Coddington, eventually becoming the president of the latter hot rod shop.

In 1998, he started his own company and, during the following decades, became one of the world's most renowned custom car designers and the only person to win the coveted Don Ridler Memorial Award four times.

Foose's many builds are not just custom cars but four-wheeled works of art, so without further ado, let's take a look at the legendary designer's five most beautiful creations.

Mach Foose

I'm sure many of you can agree that, out of all variations of the first-generation Mustang, the 1971-1973 was the most unappealing, but Chip Foose managed to change that.

The story of this beautiful custom starts with a mysterious Japanese collector known only as Dr. Honda, who owned a 1971 Mach 1 and a 2010 GT.

Unlike other first-generation 'Stang enthusiasts, the collector loved the looks of the '71 Mach 1 but wished it would drive like its modern counterpart.

To make his wish come true, Dr. Honda approached Foose with the idea of transplanting the Mach 1's body on the chassis of the modern GT.

The designer agreed and did more than just that. He made extensive yet visually subtle changes to the Mach 1's body that retained everything great about its original shape and eliminated everything that was not.

The result was a Coyote-powered Mach 1 with a modern interior that, for the outside, still looked like it was designed in the seventies - but without any flaws.

The Stallion

Chip Foose's first Ridler award came in 2003 when he debuted a custom 1935 Chevy named "Grand Master" at the Detroit Autorama.

A year later, he received his second Ridler for building this awesome 1934 Ford dubbed "The Stallion."

The award-winning build started as a neglected 1934 Ford 3-window purchased by Ron Whiteside for $150 in 1965. It became the owner's pet project, and it took around two years of hard work to bring it back to life.

When Steve was drafted into the military, the Ford was left in the hands of his brothers, who turned it into a hot rod and raced it as often as they could.

Years later, Ron began to restore it once again. After becoming familiar with Foose's work for Boyd Coddington, he commissioned Foose to transform his beloved Ford into a modern street rod.

Completed in 2003, the old Ford became an award-winning work of automotive art after many tears of hard work.

Under its stunning, Foose-designed, slant-chopped body, The Stallion received a bespoke chassis with modern brakes and suspension.

In what can be considered a blasphemous move, the engine chosen for the Ford was a custom-built unit based on a 350-ci (5.7=liter) Chevrolet LT4 crate engine paired with a TH700-R4 automatic.

Impression

According to Foose, his third Ridler-winning build was first sketched on a napkin during a dinner with future owner Ken Reister.

Reister liked what he saw, so the designer proceeded to make a 1/4 clay model and then began building the car, which eventually became known as Impression.

Though the design was based on a longer, low-slung 1936 Ford Roadster, the Impression's tube chassis and body panels were all built from scratch.

Even more impressive, apart from the LS1 Chevy engine, transmission, and differential, everything else was custom-built. That includes the wheels and the BFGoodrich tires.

Even if it was based on a stock LS1, the Impression's engine received components that made it look like a modern Flathead, which only added to the awesomeness of the award-winning custom.

In the walkthrough video that you can watch below, Chip Foose stated that the Impression is the build that best reflects his style.

The Imposter

Foose's fourth Ridler-winning build started with owner Don Voth's desire to drive a 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS that handled and performed like a C6 Corvette.

He managed to meet Foose and pitched his idea. The designer was intrigued, and after sketching out a design and agreeing on what was probably a ridiculous fee, Voth delivered his Impala SS, along with a brand-new C6 to the Foose headquarters.

Of course, the two cars had radically different dimensions, so to make them work with each other, both the C6 chassis and the Impala body were drastically modified.

Most of the work went into modifying the body, particularly the rear section, and to bolster the now-two-seat Imposter's unique look, components like the grille, bumpers, headlights, taillights, or wheels were custom-built.

The car retained the production C6's LS3 and six-speed automatic powertrain, albeit a Magnuson supercharger was added for good measure.

Hemisfear

The Hemisfear was initially designed by Chip Foose when he was still in college as part of a Chrysler-sponsored graduation project.

Foose presented a highly-praised scale model that was featured in the prestigious Hot Rod magazine and allegedly served as an inspiration for the Plymouth Prowler.

Several years later, Chip began building a chassis for the spectacular hot rod while working for Boyd Coddington, but he never had enough time to complete the build.

In 2005, he entered a partnership with toymakers RC2 Corp, which resulted in a di-cast model of the Hemisfear. Moreover, the company financed the completion of the actual car that debuted at SEMA a year later.

One of the most beautiful hot rods ever built, the Hemisfear was powered by - you guessed it - a HEMI motor of the modern 392 variety mounted mid-ship behind the seats.

Except for the V8, ZF five-speed transaxle, differential, and a few other components, everything else was built from scratch.

Unlike the other rides on this list, the Hemisfear was not a one-off. Apart from the original, four more examples were built and sold to private buyers.

Though Chip Foose has designed many incredible rides throughout the years, the Hemisfear remains his most beautiful and most famous creation.