Customs come in a variety of flavors as mentioned above: mild, full, radical. My 57 Olds is a mild custom. Custom interior, nosed, decked, shaved, smoothed, frenched, lakes, smithys and many more little changes. The 57 Olds had a factory low roof line, so any kind of chop would have made the car a radical custom. Paint jobs, other than the original colors can also be mild or radical and can define a car as a custom.

Some radicals are simply that, a one-off vehicle. These are usually more show cars than street cars. Although custom building is still with us today, my preference runs to the customs of the 40's to the 60's.