Thread: Change in trends?

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A couple years ago my street rod business slowed way down, mostly due to the recent trend for flat black and striping. Same thing with bikers building flat black bobbers.

Due to the economy, I did not expect this to change for a while, and I've been doing more muscle cars and a mix of this 'n that.

Recently I have had more upscale rod builders calling about high end repaints and graphics. Right now I have a half dozen who have commited to work. My question is....Are any of you other painters having the same experience, or is it just regional?

I'm a "shiney rod guy", and am anxious to see the tradition for beautiful cars continue...and I figured it would come back eventually, but I am a little surprised to get hit so hard. I am afraid to assume this is a change that is beginning nationally, and suspect it is temporary, but what do you painters think? Is it just me?

I think flat black sucks...Not much more to say about it. whenever I see flat black I assume it's hiding a piece of crap..Paint makes the car.

I also think that the flat black crowd are doing what Bob predicted a few years back and realizing that cars had paint back in the day, also there build knowledge has increased so now they are building better quality fit and finish cars.

Back when flat black was the cool thing most thought purpose built cars were uncool and guys like Troy t and foose were uncool, now you have "cool" guys like Jimmy Shine building cars to compete for national awards, and all of a sudden it`s ok to build a nice shiny car.

I guess with higher quality traditional cars and flats becoming uncool the money guys that were chasing the jalopy dream are now going back to where they started. Im glad bussiness is good for you.

I agree with what you guys are saying, and will ad that as some of you have said in the past ....as a guys budget goes up, his desire to build a flat finished "vintage car" seems to go down.

Still, I wonder if any of you "hired guns" are seeing an increase in business?

Hey i just sprayed someones car, does that count?

Sure! ...but was it shiney or flat black??? :-)

I'm just tryin' to see where things might be going. I hate doing restorations! If you did your job right, the car looks like it was never repainted! {:-(

Mines shiney - but becoming flat black. Paint problems and rust repair, Its on the road, no money to buy paint ( Have the epoxy) So its got spots. Flat black looks cool on a few cars- and now there are too many , is been way over done. I will keep working on mine till it is all primer(not flat top coat) then someday make it shiney again

I know a lot of guys who went to flat because prices on quality paint jobs have driven them out of reach for most. I know some guys who had Cobra paint jobs done recently with no body work involved which ran over $7 thousand. That's a lot of money for an uncomplicated body. They got stuck 'cause you definately don't want a flat black Cobra, but if I've got a rod which will look good either way, I'm saving myself a bunch of bucks.

Originally Posted by Mastiff107

I know a lot of guys who went to flat because prices on quality paint jobs have driven them out of reach for most. I know some guys who had Cobra paint jobs done recently with no body work involved which ran over $7 thousand. That's a lot of money for an uncomplicated body. They got stuck 'cause you definately don't want a flat black Cobra, but if I've got a rod which will look good either way, I'm saving myself a bunch of bucks.

That's true....and I have to laugh because I could not afford some of the jobs I'm asked to do! This has never been a cheap hobby, and never will. A person's best way to save is to do as much as he can himself, and save the labor cost! I've been involved in either my own stuff, or customer cars, since 1965. Today, a much larger number of builders hire out most of the work. That is neither right or wrong. It's just the way it has changed....but it effects the average cost of a nice car a lot.

By the way, $7000 is cheap for some types of jobs, but that is when the quality of the finish is more important. I see production shops who still will paint cars for $250. I always keep a coupon here for those who want to make price the only issue.

My question was not meant to decide why, or which is best, or the reason builders choose one or the other. I was just curious whether other painters were also finding that the number of builders choosing shiney paint is rising?

It is gun metal metalic, and let me tell you, i have a whole new respect for what you do, cause it whooped me pretty good!

Well, as many of you know, I'm very opinionated about cars and things with wheels (you all know of course that I invented the wheel just so I could race)

I've had cars featured in all kinds of magazines including recently Rodder's Journal, hard cover books, front covers of specialty book cataloques, models made of them,best appearing at major races----

I generally will divide things down to there most common denominator----

Do it yourselfers

The one thing that will always remain constant.....people want a concours paint job at a scuff and shoot price!!!!!! and if you're stupid enough to do it "their way" and it turns out like pooh-pooh, then the shop gets the bad mouth.

Quality body work and paint is very, very labor intensive, and material costs just keep going up........ I know of many people who couldn't afford the paint job they wanted and instead of copping out to the flat black stuff, they learned to do the majority of the body work themselves, hired done what they couldn't handle, and ended up with a very nice paint job.... Many folks right here on CHR have done 100% of their own work and the paint and ended up with an excellent job!!!!! It can be done if you are willing to do the extra work and learn from an experienced body man.....

The best thing I see about folks going back to shiny paint, is that I'll no longer have to listen to some clown in his 20's tell me how things were done in the 60's!!!!!!!

Don't you mean "How they were done in the late '40s...right after WW2"? :-)

Speaking of change...Tucson seems to be producing more and more blown street rods. Is that a trend in other places?

Physical problems would be hard to overcome.....unless you have some nephews or neighborhood kids who want to be involved! ...or a hard working spouse. (Okay. Forget that idea.) ...then you just oversee the work. :-)~

Jay, I have worked in the motorcycle/bicycle industries for years and have made the following observation on colors and graphics. "They have to change to stay looking new". Looking "NEW" sells, no matter if it's on the showroom floor or at the car show. Picking colors and graphics is the most difficult thing for a manufacturer because it's like hitting a moving target since your dealing with people and not a solid target number like MPG, H.P., etc. They also have a one year lead time to factor into their choice.

I compare colors/graphics to a grandfather clock pendulum. Safe colors are in the middle of the pendulum swing, such as black's/white's/silver's. These colors might not be as exciting, but they will last in popularity much longer. Anytime the colors get into the extreme range (as in my pendulum example) they have a very short popularity life. Think about the flouresent, pinks, mauve colors thet were all the rage in the 80's. They looked very old in just a couple years. I see Flat/Matte colors as extreme colors and they will not last.

What I see in the motorcycle business is people just want something that looks different than all the rest. If it's chrome, they want it powder coated black, if it's billit they want it painted, if it's painted they want it chromed. There is no consistancy right now because we are in a state of change.

I agree with the other comments on cost of materials. I have spent over $1000 in just undercoat materials on my 32 paint job so far and I have not purchased anything for the top coat yet!