I kinda liked my friends 51 Merc with a mildly souped flatty called "The Mad Bat". Small lettering bottom of front fenders. The driver ,"Unc", was a mad man, & that Merc went like a bat outta he_ _. mike
Lets remember what Hot Rods looked like in the 20's 30's 40's and 50's. Hot Rods not Street Rods, didn't have $30,000 dollar paint jobs or LS 6's or 7's. They had $50 cars that they street raced. A lot of beaters came out of the junk yard with writing already on the car. I like Hot Rods done in an old car style. I have a fake 32 coupe that is what I could afford. But it has been done in an older style.
Mid 60's Mopar with "good vibrations" written on sides of car..Car used to shake so much that the radio antenna would break from the vibration..Some one said thats bad but the car runs so good, so good vibrations..And it was a good runner on the street..'46 Ford Coupe with Buick engine painted gold, "Gold Nugget" in early 60's..Young girl with a '64 Fairlane with THE THIMBLE written on door belt area..Fellow with '65 Comet with Handy Man on the front fenders, he was pretty handy making stuff..
My friend in High School put "CC Rider" on his 40 Ford sedan, kind of cool until his girlfriend Carolyn Castoe saw it. he lost the girl and kept the 40 Ford.
I think a name or other "art" could make or break a car. It's heavily tied into the car's identity and if there's no story, no memories, no history... it dosn't belong. I'm actually kinda anti-tattoo for alot of the same reasons. I've never seen a girl that looked hotter because of her ink, and it seems that most of the time tats are done to be "unique," even though EVERYONE is doing it these days. I also think that your legacy should be in your actions, not your skin. But that's just me! Now actual racers and commercial vehicles (or those trying to look like them) are a totally different story because need a lasting memory from a single glance, but it dosn't do you any good unless you actually win. Regardless if it gets painted on them, I've never settled on names for my cars. Their identities outside of their specs. are still forming in my mind. I bought my 54' outside of Petersville TX on highway 111, so since I'm going for the stockcar vibe, I've thought about giving it the "111" number and painting "Pete" or "Peter" under the drivers window either as a car name or fictional driver name. Most of it's character is (or will be) related to it's hopped up straight 6, bare ammenities, green paint, and it's being an old small town Texas 4 door sedan. Both of my cars were sold new by the Yorktown Motor Co. Not sure if that will play in on not.
I often think, regarding names on cars, how much the times have changed. Back in the early 60s I was in Auto Tech program at a state two year college. A kid had a nice '56 Crown Vic with "Horny Toad" on the front fenders. The Dean made him cover the word "horny" with duct tape any time the car was on school property. Now in this day and age, anything goes. Just look at the tee shirts you see in public. As far as my own experience, I had a pearl white chopped '50 Merc in the 80s with the Ronnie Milsap song title, "Lost in the Fifties" on the rear quarters. Always thought that fit well.
High School in Medford, Ore,,, around 1960 or '61,,, beauuuuuuuuutiful '55 Chev, all black with " Peter Draggin" on the panel below the back seat window. Nicest car in town,, ( except for about 20 others lololol )
I lettered this was on my 1947 flat fender Jeep hood...I called it "the Pile"...I rebuilt from a pile of parts and that is what it looked like when I got it done... MikeC
Seb, That would be Kenny Chapman AKA Omar. 66 Dodge ht with a street hemi, and the biggest duration cam they made, I think. He would shake the windows at Deci's in Manchester when he cruised through.
Gomer Pyle...That is......"Surprise, Surprise, Surprise" It even has a Kilroy ambience..War and Hotrod are entirely connected... Actually Postwar Lakes Racers as witnessed in some of the Posts are garnished with very plain and crude references reflecting Fun, Culture, and in many cases Class of Identification of Vehicle...Many Drove Home possibly Sporting their Added Trim and it was exposed to the masses... Some had more visibly ornate presentation... I suppose there was discussion Then about whether it was right or wrong or looked Cool or Not So (Fights and other Vitriol probably occurred over the nonsense)...Picture and Spoken Fact prove it was there and is traditional depending on Your Circle of Thought and that continues to this Day... I say bring it on but always consider your message and content...and if it is inspired or surviving it can pull together all the seams an secure Visual harmony... I'm pretty sure there was a Hamber maybe @Squablow or @theHIGHLANDER that had a relative with an A Roadster Postwar with I think 'Sex Machine' on the Cowl and hey that was pretty crazy but it was Postwar American History...I suspect he had Done His Part to Stabilize Chaos So I Thank him for his Service and His Ole Hotrod is Memorable...I will post it when I can Find It...
Then there wouldn't be Inspired Lettering on Inspired Hotrods and Customs...The Hamb revolves around inspiration 1965 and Older.
It was @Squablow's friends Teacher when he was Younger...Man what a Cool Jalopy ...So Much Cool going on here...even raised white lettering on the tires @Squablow's post with the story and more at link below... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/old-hot-rods-photos.1038554/page-7#post-12248161 Credit to Photographer, Owner
Yup, that's my buddy's flight instructor's car back when he was very young. The guy is still around and giving flying lessons, I'm hoping to get to meet him. It's funny, if I saw that on someone's car that was built last week I'd think it was dorky or inappropriate, but seeing it in those old pics, it seems really risque' and cool.
Yes, Omar! He was the older crowd along with the Greco boys and the Alevos...Used to BS with him down the doughnut shop in Newington by MacDonalds..
Street rods , not really but............ when I was a kid back in the 60's there was a drag car(55 Chevy)@ Ware Shoals Drag Strip/Starlight Drag Strip... with a huge painted on Falstaff Beer logo on the sides. The rear quarter panels was stenciledwith "The Falstaff Beer Can" with a little can painted on it. The whole car was gray primer. It was simple but oh-so-cool to a 16 year old. (Can you even buy Fall flat beer any more?!) Anyway.......it had a "built 265+ 060 engine that would scream about 8 grand when he would launch. It would lift the front wheels just ever so little but ..........man!!! I can still see/hear it. 6sally6
Mike Colla from East Hartford had 55 Ford 2 dr sedan , light blue green , Edsel wagon tail lights, tube grille, short cutouts (dumps) . It sat on a severe rake. On the front fender, "The Big Dipper" . I thought it was cool as hell when I was 15. Mike Walsh, who's family owned the McDonalds in Manchester, Ct. had a 63 1/2 fastback. They lived up in the hills between the greasy spoon breakfast joint and Shady Glen. Name on car, The Ridge Runner. I always liked names that fit the car and were creative..We just don't need any more "Nova on Sunday" cars
Continually getting stopped "by the man" sometimes just to "have a talk" One cop stopped me and said "I see you don't have gross weight sign on yer truck, as required by law. " said:: get it on there, On the back of the upper bed side, you can barely see "2000 a-go-go " lotta car names on customs around our small town, seemed all of them had a name in early ' '60's and a lot of harassment by THE MAN ...
...and cowl lamps for turn signals filling the stock headlight holes in the grill shell! I'm copying THAT! What a cool machine. Thanks @j hansen! Is that yours?
Looks just right on some rides. I like the lettering, faux business names and speed shops when not overdone. Hey, It’s all just for fun anyway.
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