Thread: 1930 Willys Street Rod Pictures

Tweet

Ooooooo, what a dream!!! NO, not the car, the invitation to be critical!!!!!!!! Whaddayamean, first rod..........what about the deuce coupe?

Anyway, part of the answer is what are you looking for, for you. Don't just do something because it's "unusual" or "priced right".

Al and Streets have already blasted the color, and even if in person it doesn't look so harsh, it is major dated. It's like, not the '80's anymore dude. And it plays into the mixed themes on the car. It's got that neat rad shell, the stock head and fender lights, which hint at vintage, then it's got the billet wheels, pastel paint, "race car" seats, and tweed interior. The engine is dressed out more for a street machine look. I would have mentioned the stock hood under the vintage stuff, but as you've pointed out, they butched that.

At a quick glance it looks like a pretty nicely done car, allowing for how pictures usually show a car better than it is. Little things bother me about it though. As Al pointed out, the headers are way too close to the ground. Part of that could be how high (or low) the engine is mounted, but they also drop down too much. Indicates the builder either cut corners by forcing (or settling for) inappropriate parts. The way they did that hood to clear the engine is right out of Disneyland. You don't have a good side view, but from what I can see it sits way too high. Looks like there might be 3-4" of air above the tires before you get to the fender. That might be because of the headers, or it might be 'cause the chassis is set up wrong. Which leads me to the rear suspension. If I'm seeing it right, those rear coilovers are at a weird angle, and the four link is fixed in a position that might work ok, or may tend to lift the rear on acceleration. You definitely want to take a long drive in this beast over every kind of driving surface you can think of, and around twisty roads too. It just might be an ugly driver/rider. Too tough to tell about the front suspension install from pictures. Yet another reason for an extended drive. Firewall mounted master cylinders aren't my favorite because they clutter up the engine compartment. That's a matter of taste. But, I've seen too many that were just bolted to an un-reinforced firewall, which eventually leads to stress cracks, and potentially worse. Do a thorough inspection there. I guess my point about these several items is that they indicate a builder who either doesn't completely "get it", takes some odd "short cuts" (compromises, whatever), or just slap dashes stuff out and who knows what that means about stuff you can't see in the pics.

Is it worth $25k? Tough to say. We're back to the willing buyer, willing seller thing. My first inclination is no! This is where the "dare to be different" crowd pipes in. "Yeah man, it's not one of those cookie cutter cars, go for it. You can't build it for that." That may be true. Of course, it's been my observation that people tend to say stuff like that when they're spending other people's money. But rarity doesn't ensure value. It's a combination of desireability, and demand. Old Fords are more common, and more valuable, because they have the longest line of potential buyers. Supply and demand. People can argue with that, but they'd be wrong. It's their right to be wrong, but that doesn't mean you should join their little group. Now, this all goes out the window if you can afford to pay anything you want, have ecclectic tastes, and don't mind taking a beating financially when you decide to part with that little "beauty". Again, personal choice. There are a lot of pretty nice rods out there in the $25k range that are better built than this car (at least from what I'm gathering from the pics), and if you needed to sell it either on purpose or because of an unexpected need, you'd come out better. And you wouldn't have to wait as long, because these oddball cars take longer to sell because of the limited market interest. Again, using the overall market place as a guideline, this car would have to be as nice as a $35k '34 Ford to be worth $25k..............................and it just doesn't look that good in the pics. But then that's just my opinon; thanks for asking.