Bill Hines is a household name amongst hot rod and kustom enthusiasts alike. He is a living legend who has honed his craft and spread his name without much help from limelight. You can read more about his biography on kustomrama.com which goes into great detail about his projects over the years as well as a timeline of his career.

Images: Kustomrama

Bill spent a lot of time between the state of Michigan and Southern California. In 1941 Bill built his first custom car, a 1941 Buick convertible while working at a gas station that he owned and operated out of Lincoln Park, Michigan.

In a recent interview from Rod Authority’s coverage from Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender, Marcos Santana shared a great story with us about his chance meeting with Bill at a West Coast Kustoms Cruising Nationals show a few years back. He told us, “One of the best compliments I ever received for my 1951 Mercury was from Bill Hines,” he continued, “Bill was walking around the show and stopped to look at my Mercury, he came up to me and said, ‘there’s a lot of Mercurys here, but I really like what you did.’”

You can check out Marcos Santana’s 1951 Mercury with beautiful Candy Apple flames contrasted by a late 70s factory Porsche yellow on Rod Authority’s Top 5 from Viva.

Bill Hines will forever be an icon for several breakthroughs. According to kustomrama.com Bill was one of the first people to introduce candy paints to the Detroit area. He was also one of the first to install a hydraulic system onto a kustom, Tats Gotanda’s ’59 Impala aka Buddah Buggy.

Nowadays Bill resides in Garden Grove located in Orange County, California. He’s still hard at work bringing his flavor of kustoms into the 21st century seven days a week–a great example for a “no excuses” work ethic!