Thread: Who took the "hot" out of hot rod?

Tweet

I have been looking at pictures of many recent gatherings, and I have to admit that the new "old skool" styles are incredibly boring for me. I would not cross the street to attend some of these events. This was very shocking for me since I have been an absolute rod-race & custom guy, totally personally immersed in this hobby for about 50 years!!!

I've been thinking about it a lot today, trying to decide, what is the cause of this reaction, and I think I have the answer.

There are two things involved:

First, I could not see the attraction for some of todays "car culture" members for these older cars, clothes, music, and even hair styles.....then it dawned on me! The difference is that I remember these things from my younger years! My parents dressed that way, listened to that music, and my earliest interest was in these very cars! Today...for that very reason...it bores me to the point of having no interest at all. But here is the difference...for most of them, being 20-40 years old, it is a totally new experience!

The other issue is that, since I have been deeply involved in the car hobby for so long, that you are never ever going to impress me with a flathead, or an inline 6. My '53 Chevy was an absolute pig, even with the bigger '58 engine I put in. I rode with my buddies in their flat head cars, with their multi carbs, cams, and high compression heads, and I gotta tell ya, my 283 '57 Bel Air was light years ahead in horsepower. I guess it's a case of "conditioning". I've ridden in factory Hemi Superstocks, screwed together a few cars that scared me, and been around to see the evolution of performance in American musclecars, and drag racers.

I would be more interested in going to an Import event, and watch the FWD cars go 7s, with nitrous and hairdryers. It simply will never be a hot rod in my eyes, unless it's hot!

You will notice I haven't even mentioned the crude workmanship, and lack of any imagination or sophistication in the appearance of these "vintage" cars.

What has happened to the hobby I love so much? Anyone else have similar feelings?

Foose. LOL

Originally Posted by BigTruckDriver

Foose. LOL

It's the guys like Foose, Coddington (rip), and Trepanier and a whole bunch of others that brought creativity back to Hot Rodding!!!! Before they made it big, the world of Hot Rodding was not much more the red Camaro's and blue Chevelles.... Wondering if this next generation is going to produce their "Foose"?????

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Wondering if this next generation is going to produce their "Foose"?????

Nope!.....Von Dutch! LOL!

Yup.. Started showing up about 5 years ago or so.... The flatties, 301's, and 6 cylinder cars are just no big deal, grew up around them.... I was just barely in on the end of the gasser era, so watching them come around again is no big deal either.

I hate to see Hot Rodding go down to who can find the most unique bolt on to put on their car.... getting harder and harder to find originality in a lot of the cars. I guess a lot of that is just the fact that the aftemarket offers such a huge variety of parts that there's not a lot of reason to get creative.....

I don't know, maybe if I was 18 again just the expense of the whole thing would scare me away.... Maybe we're just a bunch of dinosaurs nearing extinction or something!!!!!

Ahhh, he never was "mainstream"....more of a designer-car guy, to the stars :-)

Dave, I know we aren't alone, simply because people keep bringing me their toys....but I haven't shot any flat black for over 10 years! (except inside the fenders. :-)

Also, I watch younger guys here spending 30-60K on new cars, 50-100K on sand rails, and 250-350K on houses, so I don't think the money is always the issue that some say. Maybe it is for those raising a family, or having a one-paycheck-household.

You guys are just suffering from the "been there, done that" syndrome. Ive only really been in this hobby maybe 10 years, and some of its kinda boring to me. That`s why i liked the rough edge the rat rod scene brought, and these days im leaning back to my lowrider love. To me the traditional scene is getting boring, like the stockers used to be.

Funny thing is, all these traditional purist are bitching when guys like barris is customizing new cars, cause he`s not sticking with his roots, but why would he go in reverse? he`s still pushing the custom envelope.

Same thing you guys are going through, why use 20-30`s tech when you can use 08 tech.

It's just hard to think of the cars that I was seeing at age 10, as exciting. I find it most interesting when producing a variation on custom, that I haven't seen before.

I really think you are right......been there, done that.......but my kids are all in their 30s now, and it's a "new deal" to them.

Originally Posted by DennyW

Levi's, and Blue jeans went out of style to....but, they are back....

They never went out of style in "my world". LOL!

BTW...where is "spudville" I grew up in Danville, Il.

I knew it was some sort of joke....but I couldn't think of an Illinois town that could be called "spudville". :-)

I didn't remember a "Homefries City", "Hashbrowntown", or "Mashberg"

....Lets see...born in Missippi....raised in Illinois....living in Arizona....???

Let me get on the other side of the tracks a little in this discussion. I'm like most of you who are approaching mid-life , and have gone through every phase that this hobby has had. First were the cars we built in High School when we didn't have a pot or any idea what we were doing. Then, when we got jobs we could afford to either spend more on our cars or buy a shiny new muscle car. After that came family responsibilities and we somehow managed to squeeze out a few bucks to keep our hand in the hobby. Finally, once the kids (and sometimes the Wife ) were gone, we could afford the time and money to seriously pursue our dreams.

But after doing this for so many years and seeing so much of the hobby it started to become boring for some of us. When I go to a car show I walk by hundreds of shiny cookie cutter cars that are all built with the same 1-800 parts source, but will stop and stare at a car that the guy or gal used their imagination and busted up fingers to create from nothing. That is why car shows like Billetproof are becoming so popular. The cars that come to these events are the products of late nights and probably late mortgage payments, as opposed to cars that some pro shop turned out for big bucks.

Another aspect is that we are trying to recapture some of our youth by recreating cars that we saw back then, but couldn't afford. These cars are exciting on another level from the tire smoking, fire breathing ones we ran down the quarter mile. They are a visual trip down memory lane, and are just plain cool. Speed and horsepower are not as important to some of us these days as is dependability and being unique. To me, going to most car shows now is like walking through a new car dealer's lot looking at row after row of cars that all look the same, except for the different colors.

I never wanted a flathead powered rod in my life, but I just picked up the complete running gear and engine from a '46 Ford, and can't wait to get started on a little rod using all of those parts.

Just my opinion.

Don

It's all relative to your age, testosterone level, past and current technology as well as the price of gas! One of my favorite books is "Speed and Power Handbook (Special High Mileage Library Edition)" from Newhouse Automotove Industries, copyrighted 1952. Unfortunately my copy has lost it's cover but it is still a prized posession. On page 121 there is a picture of a '41 Ford convertible with a chopped top and rippled bumpers with the caption "...Engine reworked to deliver over 200 H.P. This is a very HOT rod." On page 15 there is a picture of a dual carb setup on a flathead with finned heads and a beehive oil cleaner on the firewall described as a "FULL HOUSE MERCURY". Then on page 22 there is a picture of what was nostalgic in 1952 as what looks like a Cragar setup on a Model B 4 cyl complete with dual carbs and a 4-into-1 header. Today, "HOT" probably means a tubbed musclecar with close to 500 H.P. but it can only run on the weekends due to the price of gas. Maybe "American Graffitti" was the high point of the hobby? Today the trend is toward turbocharged 4 cyls and smaller bodies, so on it goes. For a typical time-boundary (paradigm shift!) imagine it is 1954 and then take a look at

http://www.oogabooga.ca/oogaboogapag40.htm

Yet only a year later you could buy a '55 Chevie with a 265 OHV soon to be followed by a 283, 327 and then 350. The hot rod philosophy is simply interest in what can be modified, tweaked and improved on autos, with emphasis on speed. Just a rambling answer to a vauge question. '

In edit mode I want to mention that I really miss the Barris era smoothie customs based mainly on '41-'51 Fords and Mercurys. Once they were plentiful but I suppose the body work was much more difficult to chop the compound curves than the straight coupes and roadsters of the early '30s models. Still for me the "neatest" cars are/were carson-topped '40 converts and '41-'48 coupes that have been chopped and smoothed out.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

For 20 years- I was into tri-five Chevys.
I got so bored with it, I could have screamed! For me- it was running a motor on the ragged edge of self destruction on C12. For awhile- many wanted performance too. The Prostreet scene came, went, came back & now is in some sort of limbo.
Now what are they building? C6 suspension, crate motors, big 20 & 22" wheels, A/C, DVD, Lexus leather interiors, motor covers, hidden & smoothed everything- all the creature comforts of home. Other than color- they are all clones!
AAAAAAAaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
What the hell happened.
Then the ultimate sin?
Taking Project X & turning it into a real yawner......TWICE!!!!!!

Ok, I'm calmer now.

I'm pretty much on the same page with Pops. The 4 cars in various stages of completion are all throw-backs of a kind. The '36 roadster is just a car that had always appealed. They were, and are, hard to come by in steel, and the lines are just way too appealing to my tastes. The '33 3 window is going to end up much like one that used to be parked in the street on my second paper route. It was the guy's daily driver in the early '60s. Loved the look of that car and lusted after it. The '65 Dodge calls to the hemi SS craving we had in the mid '60s, it will end up very much like the new A990 car we drooled over in the Mashak Motors showroom just down the street from Bob's Big Boy on Van Nuys Blvd. And the last one will be the car I wanted to build in 1980 but it just didn't work out at the time, another project got in the way (during my sports car period). Living in the past? Yeah, maybe, but all good things come in time, and I just see these as "goals" that are finally coming to fruition.

As for being selective about what "winds my watch" and gets attention at any kind of gathering it's probably a product of years of "refining" my tastes. In a brief glance there are going to be some cues that will either draw me in, or just tell me to keep movin' on. It would probably take some amount of over analysis to pin it down, but it's just that some things look "right" and some don't.................those that display "right" get more attention.

In an odd way I've had some similar thoughts to Jay's though. A few months back I started a folder in my photo files called "Cookie cutter cars". This will probably piss off some folks, but it was prompted by the guys who scoff at cars they deem "too nice" to drive, even though they more often are than not. The neuvo rodders who think they are the saviors of what they term "real hot rods". Whatever..............here are some examples of what I see as current day cookie cutter cars.......