So What’s Your Angle? And Why?

Stance is a term thats come up on the Journal often because it’s critical to the successful look of a traditional rod or custom. If you took a bone stock old car and did nothing else to except lower it to the earth really well, it already looks a million times better. Stance comes from a few determining factors like your wheel and tire choices (like Big & Littles), but more importantly your suspension and chassis set up (like a Z’d frame and de-arched springs) are key. So whats the best angle for a particular car your building, and what does it say? That’s entirely open to taste and opinion, but here’s a few personal observations:

Tail Down, Nose Up (aka Tail Dragger)

Says: Elegance, Grace, Speed boat rising in the water. Gassers aside, the tail drag can be as mild as an inch or two, or the desire to hide most of the rear tires under the fender skirts.

Best seen on: Pre-War Customs.

Low All the Way Around

Says: Many things. Mainly makes any car look meaner, faster, better. How low you go is a huge factor. Its hard to go wrong with an even amount of lowering at all 4 corners. The amount of body drop is often related to the amount of customizing for some reason.

Best seen on: Any custom, channeled or full fender Hot Rods.

Tail Up, Nose Down (aka Rake)

Says: Racer, Aggressive, perhaps a fan of burnt rubber. This is a stance thats easy to mess up if it’s too extreme, as it begins to look cartoonish at some point. It’s worth noting that the majority of early hot rods had mild or sometimes no discernible rake- Otherwise, a small bit of angle can go a long way here.

Best seen on: Hot Rods, early 60s customs