First, I’m firmly in the your car, your choice camp. If it feels good do it. That said, I’m just not buying the “if it was nice I couldn’t enjoy it” excuse. In 250k miles over 15 years my black D.D. Looks almost new. Took some effort to care for it, and I have to walk farther out to the back of the parking lot to avoid most risk of damage, and I’ve spent a few hours fixing a few scratches. HRP’s faded paint, or a faded old shop truck have a certain appeal. But the rusty crusty pulled out of a field being “preserved” just looks to me like someone ran out of money or talent. And there is a lot of territory between field car and the 10k paint job. Two of my HAMB friendly pickups looked presentable with a trip to MAACO, and a cut and buff in my garage afterwards. Total outlay, $900. I have some antique furniture in my house. Some purists are horrified that I refinished them. My thought is 100 years ago some craftsman put his heart and soul into creating a beautiful piece - and I think he would be horrified if it was now damaged and flaking. He would want someone to painstakingly bring it back to the beauty he created. But to each his own. I’m not against patina, I just couldn’t leave a car that way.
...like I said earlier,...some people like black, some like white,some are in the middle and like grey,...variety is the spice of life,...enjoy all for what they are, all you really should please is yourself....have fun, keep buildin those old cars/trucks.
My cars have had shiny paint jobs, fake patina, patina and don't care a monkeys ass what other people think about them, I drive what ever is my liking
It all comes down to Ricky Nelsons song Garden Party , the line that says"You can't please everyone so you have to please yourself" Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
One additional consideration... one 'complication' that prevents me from painting my sedan is the galvanized filler panel installed by some old-timer way back when, which I love and have no intention of replacing. Seems hokey to mask and paint around it, so the body stays as-is until it's time to give it the full works. In the meantime, I simply apply wax now and again to protect what's there.
When I was in high school there was a guy with a 52 or 53 ford with a 390 in it. He had one exhaust pipe cut off short of the rear end and ran around with 3 hubcaps on it. He won a bunch of money until the car known .
Blake...old school craftsmanship. Look at the right front fender of my sedan....obviously hit hard in its past, but someone removed it and beat it into submission, and the contours are near perfect. Dont know when the last time you tried straightening a fender off an A, but I can tell ya from personal experience, these were not made from reconstituted beer cans...the fact that someone was able way back when to return this fender to use is quite a feat...covering it up would just cover up this cars story.
I might paint this....for now i enjoy the original paint. I am going to blend in the fender and spare....
My family came from Northern Italy, where "Patina" was the word for...shoe polish. When I hear that word, I think of a 9 year-old me getting told to clean my school shoes. So I got shiny cars, and cars with "shoe polish", and I drive them all... but I wont drive an Audi. So drive what you got, like what you drive, and have fun. I was at a show recently and I saw something which disturbed me.....vinyl wrap "patina" complete with surface rust on a 2017 van.... most people were impressed/fascinated, I nominated it for "lamest attempt to get with the cool kids" award.
I built this car in order to learn how to build a car. It was kinda rough and I didn't have much in the initial investment, because the point was to educate myself. I had no intentions of painting it, as I was on a strict budget of $100 per month. I got lucky and patina was/is cool so I sold it before the trends changed again. It's painted Washington Blue now, and looks great, but there was something special about the car that is now gone. All the battle scars of being on a South Dakota farm are but a memory.
There's patina, and there's neglect. How neglect got to be 'traditional' is beyond me. Ratty looking cars were common prior to WW2 and were generally limited to race cars (or cars aspiring to look like race cars) as most builders had little money and what little they had they spent on speed parts. Pretty didn't make you faster. So if you really want that type of patina, build to the era; pre-war cars only, that means no OHV V8s, and hydraulic brakes and 16" wheels are about your only allowable 'traditional' upgrades. After the war, these types of cars rapidly disappeared. Guys now had money and cosmetic appearance became important. This was promoted by clubs, and more importantly, the NHRA as they wanted to change Hot Rodding's image away from the 'death trap' one they had with the general public. The NSRA followed up on this to a degree. These types of cars didn't totally disappear, but got about zero magazine ink. Fast forward to today. You want 'traditional' patina? Look at cars like Gray Baskerville's roadster, 40 FordPU's '39 coupe or HRP's '32 sedan, some others posted. All feature decent original or hot rodder applied paint that's been maintained over the years but is showing it's age. The repaints generally weren't 'show quality' paint jobs when they were done, but made the car very presentable. The '50s/'60s car weren't old enough to have patina yet, but primer spots were common as guys did modifications. But wholesale top coat missing/factory primer showing, major battle scars or rust showing, that's neglect and you're entering rat rod territory IMO. A number of guys have remarked how much 'attention' these cars get. I think it's the same fascination you see when cars slow for an accident.
LOL car accident.. Another advantage of not worrying about paint, this is one of my favorite pictures. My daughter was attending the school of rock and I drove her in the 47 caddy every day, teachers asked if they could use my car to take a picture. Kids climbed all over it, was a great time.
I see your point but i bet whoever the craftsman was that did all that work did it so he could paint it and make it look new again , like it never happened. I bet that was the story he wanted to tell. Either way,cool car.
we don't all live in California.,an acquaintance purchased a early 50s ad chevy pu very little paint lots of surface rust was fine in florida but I sure hope he paints it.wont last too long over here.even a rub with an oily rag would help it
I still like patina but had to do a double take on the post date on this thread, (Friday?) by a moderator? Its all cool to me...
Real Patina = Good Faux Patina = Bad It’s ok to touch up or match a needed repair on a patina car, but not do an entire car. Real patina
I agree for the most part and Don’t care for too much surface rust and really hate rusty rot !Ant true back in the day and for me it was the ‘60’s nobody didn’t strive for a shiny paint job . Primer became popular in So Cal in the mid to late ‘60’s But back then you could get a beautiful job for $50 To maybe $400 custom lacquer job depending on if it was early or late in the decade. Paint jobs continued to be affordable in to the ‘80’s and them something happened . Some claim it’s the rising material costs and that’s true and have quadrupled since the 80’s but that still doesn’t account for the prices now of $10,000 just to repaint no body work seems extreme to me . The cost of living , rent etc has all contributed to the outrageous cost to paint. I believe All the above has given rise to the love of patina. I have grown to really like it and there are some real nice drivers in natural Pain weathered condition and I now for the past 4 years own as a daily driver a weathered ‘59 Apache short bed. What’s weird is I get more compliments from all ages on the Apache than I ever got with any of my past or present shiny hot rod cruisers. I think the average person can relate more to a clean but weathered classic or antique ride than a shiny perfect ride. I’m not sure why buy maybe the shine is too showy and reeks of too much money and those without feel like they could maybe afford a patina car. For most of us that’s not the case and struggle to pay for a paint job . I have always been able to horse trade for labor or do it myself to cut costs but since owning my truck . There is something to be said no longer having to worry about a chip or washing , dusting and cleaning all the time. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My old 48 Pontiac had been sitting for 5 years in a guy's yard with flat tires. Just before I bought it somebody shot out the back glass with a bb gun. It had been repainted in a farmer's barn sometime in it's past and all I did was buff out the oxidized paint and hit the chrome/stainless with S.O.S. pads to look better. It didn't have "patina". It just looked neglected and tired. Not a great fan of patina.
Another thought I had being from the Midwest. Normally when thinking of patina one thinks of what salty roads can do over time. Underneath they tend to rot away with the top side patina being a result of that. So when I see rust, I cringe. Patina’d looks cool when the body is solid but I can’t help think about not having a solid body underneath. It all has to fit the theme. Not sure about having a rusty exterior and a show car detailed interior. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
IMO it's like a well worn leather jacket, or old well used electric guitar. Think Rory Gallagher, or SRV for you younger guys. Or even Willy Nelson's Trigger. I have 1 shiny old car and 1 unfinished car (which I do intend to finish some day). I enjoy both of them for what they are. I actually like polishing and waxing the shiny car, it's cathartic. Turn on some blues on a Sunday afternoon and wax the car while sippin' some brews. That's a good day in my book. I also enjoy not having to worry about things with the unfinished car. I'll still clean it occasionally, and polish the chrome/stainless bits. But I don't worry about shining it up before loading up some gear and heading to a gig, or even to a cruise night. Of course, I don't fret about trophies either, haha! Either way is cool, I don't see it's anything to argue about.
1932 Chevrolet Confederate Coach, except for top of hood, and chop seams, ALL original paint, no clear ! Documented on a thread here when going through the process. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
A few scant years ago, I parked my black primered '55 F100, walked up the street to the music store for some saxophone reeds. Someone said, "Nice truck, don't paint it!" An older black dude was sitting by the front door, on the sidewalk...he had a BRAND NEW pair of LEVI'S, and was cutting holes and slashes in them with a box cutter. Yeah, he said it, "Maaan, that truck stays...Don't go paintin' it..." I reached by my side and offered my 13" Bowie I had just finished..."Aw, no, man... No control wit' dat!" His 'slashes' followed a pattern...a 'cool' one. He told me.
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