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History Bring Back the 60s Wacky Show Rodz?

Discussion in 'Traditional Customs' started by Jive-Bomber, Jan 26, 2021.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,753

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

    Bring Back the 60s Wacky Show Rodz?

    [​IMG]

    Continue reading the Original Blog Post
     
  2. Steve Scott, builder of the Uncertain-T is active on FB, I've had several conversations with him. Not sure what happened to the original car.
     
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  3. denis4x4
    Joined: Apr 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,198

    denis4x4
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Colorado

    I too loved the over the top featured customs from the fifties and sixties. I don't think that the economics are the same today that would support these show cars. Remember, there was a nationwide circuit called ICSA that paid appearance money for these cars. Then there was the independent shows that paid too. Throw in tee shirt sales and royalties from model car sales and these things made money for the builder. Thanks to Galpin Ford, a lot of these show cars are being brought back to their former glory.
     
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  4. R&C RON
    Joined: Apr 14, 2011
    Posts: 385

    R&C RON
    Member

    Here are a few from Oakland and Sacramento. At the time the Hot Rodders thought they were silly, but the Kids loved them and they sold a lot of tickets at the door.

    PICT0005.jpg PICT0006.jpg PICT0008 (1).jpg PICT0008 (2).jpg
     

  5. pgj
    Joined: Dec 24, 2010
    Posts: 147

    pgj
    Member
    from aurora co.

    Did anyone notice the rear tires on the baby carriage rod, How did they get them rolled into the wheel like that and how did they hold any weight? I see the fronts are like that to,
     
  6. typo41
    Joined: Jul 8, 2011
    Posts: 2,571

    typo41
    Member Emeritus

    Locally, a drivable stage coach appears on the roads
    And it does bring a smile to the face
     
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  7. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,755

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    I am all for it, here are the ones I currently have.....
    575.JPG 577.jpg april1.JPG december1.JPG dream1.jpg dream11.jpg fut8.jpg futurian3.jpg zingerz.JPG
     
  8. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,755

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    those indy tires sidewalls, and the treads for that matter are paper thin and flexible. I am sure they have tubes in em
     
  9. R&C RON
    Joined: Apr 14, 2011
    Posts: 385

    R&C RON
    Member

  10. He was on here and it was a train wreck
     
  11. R&C RON
    Joined: Apr 14, 2011
    Posts: 385

    R&C RON
    Member

  12. Now that you mention it.. I seem to remember that. I'll definitely say he's "interesting" to talk to.
     
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  13. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

    To me what would make it hard , was the skill level of building then as what it is now
    Back then it was " Look at that" , do that today it would still be "Look at that" but in a different context
     
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  14. 210superair
    Joined: Jun 23, 2020
    Posts: 1,952

    210superair
    Member
    from Michigan

  15. ken bogren
    Joined: Jul 6, 2010
    Posts: 1,056

    ken bogren
    Member

    DSC_0044a.jpg

    DSC_0044a.jpg

    DSC_0046a.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,605

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I wanna take the Zingers that @Moriarity owns and make them RC cars. :D
     
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  17. economics and the demographics today just wont support those cars. When you look at the top tier show cars today, you dont see alot of radical customs and by radical I mean mods that change what the car looks like and make it harder to figure out what they started with. Yeah they can be chopped, sectioned, etc to get classified as radical, but it still looks like they car they started with. A good example of this on display was a couple years ago at the Boise Roadster Show, we had Taboo there and right next to us was the 57 Nomad called "Showmad" its a modern custom tons and tons of work, but it still looks like a 57 Chevy and the crowds were drawn to that and scratching their heads at Taboo.

    And as far as the appearance money aspect, in todays world only way your getting paid to bring your car was it was built or featured on a very popular tv show to Youtube channel and the picking are slim for those old 60s show rods and customs, traditional rods and 50s customs have a bigger following again as they still are recognizable shapes of cars. It doesnt help the ISCA is a shell of what it was in the 60's and really only favors the east coast shows. Before covid threw the monkey wrench in everything, the west coast big shows were setting up to split off from the ISCA due to being looked over for years and rising costs that it just didnt make sense to stay.
     
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  18. wvenfield
    Joined: Nov 23, 2006
    Posts: 5,580

    wvenfield
    Member

    I was a kid then and I loved them. I still do.

    It's kinda off topic but I remember a ton of cool trikes also but they have all seemed to have disappeared.
     
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  19. gtokid70
    Joined: Jul 30, 2015
    Posts: 209

    gtokid70
    Member

    FAR OUT AND GROOVY MAN
    gotta love the talent and imagination that went into some of these cars

    Sent from my SM-T510 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
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  20. I just went and looked up that Nomad. It looks like they were trying to erase any character that a 57 chevy had from the factory, yuck
     
  21. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,753

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

    Really good points! I wonder with the rise of Motor Trend TV if they could do a 'Builder Show' around the subject?
     
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  22. Cincinnati Slim
    Joined: Jun 26, 2007
    Posts: 368

    Cincinnati Slim
    Member
    from Cincy, OH

    cg5.jpg
    Let's not forget Carl Casper, he built most of my favorite show rods
     
  23. hotrodjack33
    Joined: Aug 19, 2019
    Posts: 4,128

    hotrodjack33
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Quoting @Jive-Bomber
    "So I ask you, where are the crazy creations now? Not just the 60s versions restored or cloned, but all-new creations. Who makes the nonsensical, laugh out loud, bonkers show rods these days?"

    They are right under your nose...and you HATE them.

    Back in the days of Chrome, candy panels, murals etc. these wild show cars were built to "shock and awe" you...not really drivable...but entertaining to look at.

    Today, in the age of patina and steampunk they are called Rat Rods, built to "shock and awe" you...not really drivable (or shouldn't be)...but entertaining to look at.

    It's funny how you could love one and hate the other. JMO as I'm not a big fan of either style...just here to "stir the pot";)
     
  24. silent rick
    Joined: Nov 7, 2002
    Posts: 5,207

    silent rick
    Member

    where's @Plowboy when you need him? atomic punk indeed
     
  25. RmK57
    Joined: Dec 31, 2008
    Posts: 2,659

    RmK57
    Member

    Is that a Pontiac 6 in the Red Baron?
     
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  26. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,005

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Exactly what I thought!
     
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  27. dreracecar
    Joined: Aug 27, 2009
    Posts: 3,476

    dreracecar
    Member
    from so-cal

    001 002.jpg This was Mine, over heard comments ranged from really bitchin to what a pile of _____
     
  28. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    @dreracecar i love that thing! practical, not at all. but damn its cool!
     
  29. I for one have zero desire to see the return of 'shock rods'. True show rods, yeah, I'd love to own almost any of the cars Moriarity owns (he has excellent taste) but when I looked at the shock rods in their heyday my first thought was 'What a waste of parts'. While the best of the show rods were built by guys who had actual artistic vision, too many were built by guys who lacked that (or had run out of it) and substituted shock value for design. 'Cars' based on plumbing fixtures, farm/garden implements, furniture, rustic buildings, phone booths (do those even exist anymore?), or anything originally pulled by horses that had little or no connection to cars. I'll give Barris a pass on the last one, he had a paying customer request (the Munsters TV show, and to his credit they actually would run/drive, something few of the others could claim), the rest just jumped on the bandwagon.

    I'll lay most of the blame at the feet of the show promoters, closely followed by the model kit makers. The show promoters wanted an increase in gate traffic, and after seeing the first wave of show rods clamored for more from almost any source. The kit makers started commissioning cars, designed to appeal to their core market of prepubescent boys and it devolved from there.

    There's been a handful of true show rods built more recently, Moriarity's 'Futurian' for one and the 'Atomic Punk' for another. But motorized outhouses or hemi-powered lawnmowers? No thanks.... Just a waste of parts.
     
  30. TCATTC
    Joined: Oct 12, 2019
    Posts: 283

    TCATTC
    Member

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