Ego is a funny thing. My whole purpose in life is to go fast and find the perfect cheese burger. Of course going fast with out anybody knowing about it or finding the perfect burger and not grinning after words would pretty anti-climatic,now wouldn't it. So there you are. Good thoughts my friend.
The old-timers around here have a phrase: Humbly Proud. I like it. Says it all. Build your car, but know when to quit. Make it humbly proud.
Wouldn't change a thing. Oh to be the custodian for a while. It belongs in that black on black on black thread from... err - yesteryear.
Ego is always involved in the design and execution (and operating) of a hot rod or custom; there's no escaping it. However, what is important is that good aesthetic and engineering judgement is not overtaken by an ego that is running out of control. I see a lot of severely over-the-top cars these days. To me, it many times reveals an ego that seems desperate to express itself.
thats weird, i had never thought of it that way. In recent years i have expressed less and less ego through myself, yet my car has gotten a lot more "bling" lately, with adding things like wide whites, flaked roof, lancer hubcaps, etc. I guess i'm expressing my ego with my car now. I like the way my ego ride looks, but i don't talk about it anymore. When someone asks about my car these days i just tell them what it is and drive away, i used to sit and tell them all about it when they asked. It doesnt matter what people think about your ride (good or bad) as long as you like it.
I love this car and the roadster for their simplicity. Simple, low, sinister, are all the right words. it is much more difficult to pull it off. Damn ego.
Wow. That pretty much sums up what a rodded 28-29 A sedan ought to look like. Simple...clean...understated.
That was a really good piece, Ryan. You have a way with words. It describes us perfectly. Simple = Cool.
Ryan, Without knowing it you posted a picture of my highschool '29, only mine was a coupe. It looked the way it did because after building the overbored, cammed, muti-carbed flathead, finding a '39 trans and converting to hydraulic brakes I didn't have any money left to put on shiney paint or buy any chrome. It was painted with the neighbors Electrolux vacumn cleaner w/spray attachment. I've posted before about driving it stock from Michigan to Pennsylvania to my grandfathers farm during my junior year of high school, transpanting the engine out of the school bus (1947 Ford) I rode to school my first day of 1st grade and returning to Michigan, finishing high school, and driving it through the first two years of college. That simple av8, understated due to finances, has guided me through a life of drag racing, oval track, and finally back to hot rods that have had a theme characterized by restraint of appearance, kick ass performance. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Frank
This car looks good because of the styling that Ford did with these Model A's. The subtle styling with the grill, fenders, and cowl stand out when I am not distracted with changes. What is usually done to build the hot rodded "A"? Put on a '32 grill, pull the hood and fenders, chop and channel, and finish with shiny rims with wide whites. After that I don't notice Henry's styling anymore. Besides, I am partial to black Model A sedans. I had to add that to feed my ego.
Thanks JG! A good read, Ryan has put it well. He's willing to risk, knows when magic has entered. Stops.
This thread is 11 years old. I wasn't even here then. I saw the picture 10 minutes ago for the first time. The first thing I said was "perfect." The point is that that little A sedan is timeless. It could be in the little pages in '55, Hot Rod in the '60s. The Rodder's Journal in the '90s. Or on the HAMB bumped this morning! Doesn't get any better than that! Seems kind of like the essence of why we are here.
And that very thing is what gets high school kids (and others) caught. There's no cool if nobody knows! And if one other knows, then pretty soon everybody knows.
Every time this thread gets updated the value of a model A sedan rises. Simply done but a car anyone would be proud to drive. Perfect stance.
It's been more than ten years since this thread first appeared, and I put in my 2c on the first day. I liked the car then, and I like it now; I'd happily drive it. If it were mine, though, I'd complete its look with stock Ford hubcaps, either pre- or post-war. IMO the bare-lugnuts look is kinda like leaving the house without wearing trousers.
PnB: gettin hard ta heah ya, Still sleetin' spitten' soon to be fogg-in, Nawth springtime! Be purdy out soon enuf.