Don’t wait for stories to appear in the store when you can become a member of Wheelbase Media’s weekly news service and save more than 50 percent while gaining instant access to the new features as they’re produced. Click here to get started.

If you are not a member of the media, but still wish to read this and other feature stories from Wheelbase Media, visit www.shiftweekly.com to subscribe to Auto Shift Weekly newsmag, available for your Apple iPad or for your home PC or laptop in pdf format.

Description

Today, many years after his death in 1992, the Von Dutch name is a fashion brand. And who would have
thought it? Probably not the real Von Dutch—Kenny Howard—who was a pioneer of the 1960s custom-car craze. Born in 1929, he transformed pin-striping into an art form. It all began with his father, who was a professional sign painter.
Howard picked up the craft and by the age of 10 was able to letter and paint like a pro. In the early 1940s, he began working at a motorcycle shop.