Art & Inspiration When does traditional "expand"? (If it ever does)

For New Years Eve this year I helped a buddy in my car club with removing the engine in his O/T 70's car and while he was talking about his plans for it he was talking about "traditional" and "old school" things he was thinking of doing to said car and that got me thinking as the new year was rang in.

At what point does the umbrella of "Traditional" expand?

Now I'm one of the younger guys on here with being in my mid/late 20's, but with growing up in and around early fords and tri-fives, I have always viewed traditional as this site does, mid 60's and earlier hot rods and customs, but to most of my buddies in my age group their view of "traditional" is slightly newer. Stuff like the "Day Two" muscle cars with big shackles and air shocks, Cragar's or mags, slapper bars, side pipes, etc. is what they tend to think when say "old school"

What about the later "Street Freak" high riding gassers? Or the every early days of "street rods". Stuff like Corvair front ends, true mustang ii fronts ends, Chevelle/Camaro clip grafts or true Jag rear ends. To me that is old school stuff, its not a dropped axle for sure, but you are looking at changes and trends that are around 50 years old at this point. My hard line in the sand is when Pro Street started taking off in the late 70's and 80's. That stuff will never ever been traditional to me, but it will probably be view that way in the future.

Now I know this site is strictly the early stuff and I wouldn't change that because this is one of, if not the only, place to find great info and era correct cars that help show that great era of car modifying and customizing.

This ties into the bigger topic (or can of worms) of the lack of youth with these old cars. Recent years have seen the bigger national car show groups like the NSRA and Goodguys loosen up their car restrictions to try and tap into that younger group of car enthusiasts. So while most of us are set in out ways of how we like and build cars, would being a little open to those with the term "traditional" with the a guy building a day two Camaro or Nova be a bad idea?

Just some of my thoughts from staying up way to late to welcome a new year.

 

What is day two?

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Well, in theory it should never expand. If the purpose is to build to a certain style based on a certain year or era, the history doesn't change, so the facsimile shouldn't either. The style is intentionally obsolete.

That being said, everyone has their limits where they allow for deviation from the strictest of interpretation. For example, no fuel injection, running a modern OD trans, radial tires on a fendered car, etc. Everyone has their own line in the sand, so to speak.

And street freak gassers aren't traditional to this board either but sneak in because they emulate actual traditional straight axle cars. If we want to be technical about it, a street freak gasser or T bucket with Jag rear is about as relevant to the HAMB as a 69 Charger.

 

Day two is factory stock plus modifications like headers maybe a cam and gears etc..

 

Traditional is about as vague as “about this big”

a 70’s muscle car built in your “day two” style can be built in the tradition, oh shit even era correct! Of that style/ build and be called traditional.

it’s a traditional day two 70 nova.

even the hamb goes in phases and fads. Currently there’s a lot of 40’s stuff being built so “traditional” means the 40’s to them. But in 1999 there probably wasn’t a single 40’s build on this page.

it’s all just semantics anyways you won’t find two guys who think a word means the same thing so I don’t see the point of discussing what the word should be allowed to applied to.

change traditional to “cool” and you’ll see how silly this whole thing is

 

Building a car in the style of 65 to 1979 is just as "intentionally obsolete" as building a car styled from the forties.

 

I'm this close.....to completely grasping your question but talking HAMB lines drawn in the sand my 67 Nova wouldn't be a dirty word if the cutoff date was expanded.

 

tradition implies rules,there ain't no rules in building hotrods..you might as well do restoration,where you buy a copy of the judging standards and follow the instructions piece by piece.

 

I'd say that post 1964 we are talking "period correct" rather than traditional. Simply meaning a car from that time frame done up as a guy who could afford one would have done it up with the parts that were available at that time . Also following the trends that were the hot lick at that time. Remembering what we did in the 70's some of that stuff is best forgotten. Some real shaky builds that actually got street driven a lot of miles with things done that we don't condone now.
Some of what we thought was the hot lick would get laughs now. 55 Chevy sedans jacked up with long shackles and air shocks in the back with N 50's on 12 inch wheels with 5 inches of tire outside the fender and no cut out wheel wells. 32 Fords with full fenders with half the rear tire outside the fenders with full width Olds rear axles. It wasn't a "gasser look on the 32 either it was that few folks with a street rod considered narrowing a rear axle in that time frame. psychedelic mural paint jobs that rival some of the wild wall art graffiti around now.

 

Oh, and just to clarify, Camaros and Novas ( well, technically the Chevy II is) will NEVER be traditional to this board.
You can call them a traditional muscle car if you'd like, but it has no place here.

 

As for youth,the kid with the '99 Accord with a spray can paint job and a fart can is as much a hotrodder as anyone else is,he is customizing his car to his tastes..and that is what its all about.

 

We can think it but, we can't say it...

 

Traditional on this site means pre-65 style. You could have a "traditional" muscle car built in the '70s style but that's not what this site is about. '65 will probably stay as the cutoff here-unless Ryan changes his mind.

 

We're running out of 32 Ford's and 57 Chevy's. Everybody wants an icon. But they're getting harder to find and therefore outside the reach of most financially. Yeah you can buy one that somebody else has already built, but if you wanna make it your own, there's more money on top of what you paid for the car. Its all in what you like in my opinion. If that jacked up nova with side pipes is what you consider traditional, there's nothing wrong with it, just doesn't fall into the cutoff here. That's the cool thing about America, we're free to choose, and these days i choose the hamb era.

 

It’s all relative man.
We got folks building traditional 70 style vans.
I’m building a mid 90s mini truck with classic custom mods. Shaved handles and a body drop.
I drive a slammed short bus, traditional? Crap, don’t know, don’t care. It’s just a bunch of fun
This place just discuses traditional pre 65 rides
Don’t over thunk this stuff

 

I totally understand holding the line otherwise it turns into Mazda Miatas and flamed PT Cruisers.
I can’t put pictures of my high school cars on here a 66 Corvair Corsa,65 Mustang fastback and a 67 Firebird convertible .... but it’s worth it.

 

Traditional muscle carring.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

The 32 stuff etc. will start hitting the market again as we old guys die off. Tough to say but it is a fact. You can’t take it with you! Once we get to the time in our lives when we realize it’s over for us, the stuff in the garage will be sold. We need young people to keep this H.A.M.B. tradition going. JMO, I’m old what the hell do I know?


Sent from my iPad using H.A.M.B.

 

No. Sorry, but absolutely not.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Dont matter if its a Donk,a PT Cruiser or a low rider when it comes to car people,they all drink your beer and talk shit in your garage when your trying to work on your car..this is a private site,it has rules,ok..but if we are discussing the car culture get real,we are all the same..

 

Absolutely.
No different than a kid in the 5Os with a beater model A pulling off his fenders and muffler.

One of my students driving their fart canned Hondas or Miatas is the same as this kid pictured above today.
But I dont come here to see 99 accords and the like

 

A kid who put only a rattle can spray job and a "fart can" on a 1932 Ford roadster, would also have not been rightly called a hot-rodder.

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

You beat me to it, Anthony. LOL

Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I see what you mean,but I remember when I was a snot nosed kid messing with junk and the oldtimers looking down on me..

 

A gow job was hopped up with what they had or could scrounge..half the time they tore the fenders off and drew shit on the side of it..back when a 32 was a used piece of shit 5 dollar car..my point is its all relative...disagree? Im ok with that

 

It's sad to think about but yes you are right. But I've lost older friends that had the desirable iconic cars, and they wasn't given away. It doesn't matter if we are alive or dead, 32 Ford's aren't losing their value. If anything greed from the family that gains the car is thinking that they have won the lottery.

 

Exactly

 

I was never saying about changing the cut off here, I personally like the cut off as there is a pretty good line there where the popularity of hot rods and customs began to fade from "mainstream" (probably not the best term) but there is a definite shift in that area of time and this a great place to learn why that is. I apologize if that is how my original post came across, but I was thinking on the broader spectrum outside of the great website and forum we have here. We have our rules and guidelines, they aint broke so no need to fix them. It was just a though and observation as time goes on and that stuff just on the other side of the cut line is now as old or older than the stuff on the good side of the cutoff when this place was formed and looking at from the perspective of a guy who was born in the middle of the billet wheels and lets paint the whole car like a Easter egg.

 

And in 50 years we will be arguing over how "traditional" this is, lol

 

90% of the market is in the tank..the true builds will always pull the dough,but the rest is dropping like a stone..