Love Kustoms Creates a Custom 1950 Suburban to Haul the Grandchildren
John Bottger decided he wanted a hot rod, but it had it be dependable and spacious enough to haul his grandchildren. A ’32 Ford roadster or a ’40 Chevy coupe wouldn’t get the job done. So, he joined forces with builder Zac Love, found the shell of a 1950 Suburban, and got started.
After five years of build time, the custom ride that rolled out of Love Kustoms met John’s dreams, and then some. Chopped, sliced, smoothed, tweaked, and polished, this Suburban is a far cry from the bare-bones workhorse produced nearly 75 years ago.
From the ground up, the Suburban is substantially more hand-built than massaged stock components. The chassis is custom piece designed and fabricated at Love Kustoms that incorporates an independent front suspension with Ridetech coilovers, plus a four-bar rear suspension with more Ridetech coilovers. A Flaming River rack-and-pinion handles steering while Wilwood disc brakes reside behind 18×8- and 20×10.5-inch U.S. Mags wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber.
Power comes from a 350c.i. Chevy V8 equipped with Edelbrock heads, intake, and carburetor, plus MSD ignition, Hooker headers, and finned dress-up items. Magnaflow exhaust components handle those chores while a TH400 automatic transmission feeds the power to the 3.73 rear gears.
The multitude of body modifications to the 1950 Suburban start under the hood with a massaged firewall, custom inner fenders, and smooth hood skin. The rest of the body has been touched by the team at Love Kustoms, from small changes to substantial reshaping. The top is chopped 3.5-inches, the hood is pancaked 2.5-inches, and the front end is completely reworked with a custom grille and frenched headlights and hand-formed front valance.
The custom work continues as you move toward the rear, with smooth running boards and a one-off rolled rear roll pan. The rear hatch is custom, too. All the window trim is hand-built aluminum and the wing vents have been deleted. The PPG cream paint and candy root beer accents were applied by the Love team.
The interior received its share of original work, including the rear deck and steering wheel trim ring being made of 150-year-old reclaimed oak. Classic Instruments fit in the modified stock dash that is enhanced by a custom under-dash panel. A Billet Specialties steering wheel sits on a chrome Flaming River tilt column. The leather interior is the work of Hobgoods Upholstery in Spring Hope, North Carolina.
While John initially feared his 1950 Suburban would be “too nice” for grandkid duty, it has started to see more road miles and passengers lately. One thing is certain – if John takes the grandkids to school, they definitely arrive in the coolest vehicle in the drop-off line.
Photos by Damon Lee and Todd Ryden
