My two cents on O/T

I enjoy the HAMB immensely. I have "met" and communicate with some really interesting people through it and have received lots of positive feedback on the threads I have posted and the things I have expressed through the HAMB. Like any society, there are varied personalities, interests and opinions. First I believe the moderators do an excellent and at times thankless job at herding the cats towards shaping and maintaining the integrity and relevance of the site. Without rambling further, I feel that posts about the history of the automobile, automobile racing and how it relates to hot rodding are critical to the success of this site. Ryan's posts are wide and open-minded in regard to this, and this is why I joined in the first place. Anyone who looks at a Bugatti, a Miller racing car, a Maserati A6GS, a Duesenberg, an Auto Union streamlined record car and does not make the connection to the traditional American Hot Rod should at least accept that others might. I encourage the editors to continue to promote and defend topics like these presented in a relevant light against the O/T "police". Thanks.

 

But oddly,I have to ad that in Europe,wouldn't some of the vintage European tin be considered their hotrods and customs?And by not recognizing this wouldn't we be discriminating against our brethren from across the pond?Just a thought.

 

My 1/2 cents worth. As long as Topic is part of the heritage or roots of hot rodding I am for it. Bunny Phillips (Overton) was an American Hot Rodder of the highest order. He choose to Hot Rod Bugattis and was respected on both sides of the Pond. His shop was the gathering place for many racers and Hotrodders of the 40's and 50's. He loved machinery at a level that can only be described as trancendental. By that I mean it really went beyond any label. A thread on his life and accomplishments would make any Hotrodders jaw drop. Offys, Millers, Indy, Sprints, Midgets, Bonneville have all been inspiring Hotrodders since the beginning. Now a days people have magazines and the internet for inspiration but not having a connection to the bloodlines of Hotrodding would be tragic. So I say PUR SANG!!!!!

 

There is a gray area between Hot Rods & Vintage Road Track Racers.

Or maybe its better to call it overlapping...


There were Maserati's, Mercedes' and Bugatti's at Indy, and there was a Offy powered Scarab Grand Prix car.

All these cars answer to the same laws of physics, so it makes sense that they develloped in the same direction for quite a while.


But this is a Site for Traditional Hot Rods & Traditional Customs


Sometimes, a Thread about a Vintage Road Racer can add to that.
Give a Historical Perspective, etc.


As long as we keep in mind what the Main Focus of this Site is...

 

Just one more thought, Early Customizers were inspired by European coachbuilders too! Even Edsel Ford!!

 

Same goes for Detroit Concept Cars, and Vintage Euro Coachbuilt Cars, IMO.


So some is good, but too much is, well... To much.

 

Godammit. I still say jet powered pickup trucks have no place either here or on a dragstrip

 

Could be...

But not all Jet powered cars are O/T.






But lets not try to define it too sharply.

So we can stay flexible if and when a interesting Thread about a Borderline Off Topic vehicle pops up...

 

Oh boy, I didn't know this was a problem! All the information I've colleced in the past 48 years is on different parts of the car hobby, Hot Rod, Indy Cars, Drag cars, ANY pre 1965 race car. Nobody comes over to the house to look through the filecabinets, sharing the stuff on the HAMB with others that have bits of the pizzles has been a real joy. Sorry if any of the stuff I posted offended anyone.

 

Kid, the stuff you Post is of very high quallity, and very much appriciated.


No reason to blow any of this out of proportion...

 

Ok, That is very kind of you to say, I just want to be sure I wasn't part of a problem.

 

It looks like we didn't have a Social Group yet.

So I started one...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=363

 

Ok, so where do we go? By "we" I mean those of us who appreciate the traditional METHODS of hot rodding, but just aren't into the wide whites? I know there are a number of us here on the HAMB who march to a different drum. I'm NOT talking about billet, or rat, just good quality hot rods that are built in our OWN style, not the style of the 40s, 50, or 60s?

Street Rodder is useless, and I want to claw my eyeballs out everytime I see some groundscraper with no floor over on Killbillet... Is there nothing in between?