In 1954 Darryl Starbird rolled up the doors to the Star Kustom Shop in an old chicken coop with dirt floors at 734 E. Mt. Vernon in Wichita, Kansas. The shop wasn’t much, and it sat so close to a railroad track that in the middle of the night a train took out the back end of a ’51 Ford, but that didn’t de-rail (no pun intended!) a 21 year-old,  bright-eyed kid bound and determined to bring the profession of customizing (a virtually unknown craft in a town built on the prominence of the aeronautical and aerospace industry) to the streets of Wichita. Within several years those meager and humble beginnings turned out customs and hot rods that not only flooded the streets of the now aptly named “Kustom City,” but all across America as well. 

   The cars of Star Kustom Shop were featured in every magazine title from the Pacific to the Atlantic and beyond. By the end of 1960 Starbird’s signature touch (bubbletops) had also swept the rod and custom world by storm making him and the Star Kustom Shop a prominent foundation in a booming industry. The Star Kustom Shop kept its doors open a mere nine years (Darryl opened the much larger and upscale Starbird Custom Auto Creations in 1963), but in those few years some of the most legendary cars and dozens more in the rod and custom world (including the Le Perle, a ’57 T-bird with the first-ever chromed undercarriage on a full-size custom, Jim Minor’s ’55 Plymouth, the Big T, the Big Deuce, the Li’l Coffin as seen on the 1960 Car Craft cover, the Futurista and, of course, the Predicta—a ground-breaking futuristic bubble top custom) came to fruition entrenching the Star Kustom Shop as an icon in the industry.

        Fast forward to the year 2008 and it’s like a flashback to 1954, another bright-eyed 26-year-old kid, Dakota Wentz, was bound and determined to once again see the streets flooded with rods and customs bearing the Star Kustom Shop crest. After seven years in the hot rod publishing industry, including stints as Associate Editor of Super Chevy and Custom Classic Trucks, Dakota set off to follow in his grandfather’s, Darryl Starbird, footsteps and continue on the tradition. 

     Growing up the grandson of Darryl, Dakota is versed and skilled in the ways of old school customizing, but has blended his own new school style to once again create a signature look that belongs to none other than the Star Kustom Shop. Just like years before, the Star Kustom Shop has rolled up its doors again, this time in San Dimas, California, to bring back the art of customizing, frenching, shaving, nosing, decking, channeling, chopping, sectioning, plus all things hot rod to the streets. Other than customizing SKS also offers chassis work, electrical, custom paint, turn-key rides...let’s just say SKS is capable of all things custom &  hot rod. 

          They say history repeats itself, and just like it took Darryl several years to get SKS into the limelight,  Dakota has followed suit to bring Star Kustom Shop back from the ashes. In only a few short years Star Kustom Shop creations have graced the covers of Custom Classic Trucks, StreetScene, Kustoms Illustrated, Speed & Kulture, Trocas and have been featured in Rod and Custom magazine, Street Rodder, Custom Car Deluxe and various other national and international magazines. They’ve also been seen on the floors of the biggest stages, including the Grand National Roadster Show, Starbird’s Tulsa Rod & Custom Show, SEMA, West Coast Kustom’s Cruisin’ Santa Maria, KKOA’s LeadSled Spectacular, Long Beach Motorama and various NSRA shows—including two entries in the coveted Builders Showcase at the Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky. 

         From the smallest job to full on show cars, the Star Kustom Shop is the  destination for all things custom and hot rod related. SKS works hard to fulfill your needs on pretty much any make, model or year.