Event Coverage I think I'm getting numb to the hobby

I agree with you Chris

 

I find the same thing and might I gently suggest that it comes with age. You mentioned early 90's, so you've been in the hobby for 30 years. Like a drug addict that needs to keep trying larger doses or harder drugs to get a buzz; it gets harder and harder to see original ideas, because you've seen so many cars in real life, online, and in magazines. I've been in the hobby over 40 years, and don't even try to see all the vehicles at a car show (if I even go to one). I like driving my 37 as a normal car, and that is where I get my enjoyment. I quit taking pictures years ago, when I realized that I hardly ever went back and looked at them later. About the only time I take photos is when I want to show something specific to someone else.

 

sometimes good to take a break from shows - but, it is good to visit with friends - while walking the show away from your ride you might miss the opportunity to talk to someone that was inspired by your ride and would have liked to talk to you about it - great to build rides but, normally the purpose is to get out on the road and enjoy 'em - especially if you can hook up with a buddy or two - but, do have a friend that built rides and never drives 'em - we all be different, yet much the same - unlike others, I try to take a lot of pics at many shows to share here for others that can not attend the show for one reason or another - even if ride taking a picture of is not one of my favorites - often just go as a spectator so that I do not feel obligated to stay at show until the end, and save some money

 

Has to do with neuro plasticity...the same things and the brain gets lazy....next show make dashboards the focus, or tail lights., or some detail to keep the juices flowing....that black hemi coupe is a sure eye candy...thanks for sharing''

 

At 66 yrs old, and been a "car guy" my entire life it takes something pretty special to stop me in my tracks for a closer "look".
I realize this, as I'm preparing to go to a show which is fine.
For me I like a destination to take my car out, and that fills that desire.
To encourage more people into our hobby who may not be as "numb" to what we've seen our entire lives, is a win that potentially may get some new blood into this hobby we love.
Enjoy the day..some of us may be short timing it.

 

I wouldn't say I'm "numb" but I had somewhat the same feeling when I went to the LARS many years ago, it was more of being overwhelmed, how many red (and perfect) deuce roadsters can a person take in one day, their rule of "must be finished" left me wanting to see some primer, rust, patina, etc, the swap meet/special interest parking gave me respite.

 

Burn-out,a thing, that I think happens on any thing you do too much of for too long.
Never have very many $,no matter what I'm doing,so I do things that cost very little,yet is a brake from my hotrods* stuff{ that is #1 hobbie,or is it #2,I have a hard time,cuz I really love racecars*too,always cost me more then I have.}.
Taking a brake now an then,is key,too going back fresh.
In between,I've done custom pedal bikes[ mostly out of junk parts] and fixed up an sailed some sail boats that were junk when I got them.

 

I drove my car to the parts house today. Two miles there, two miles back. Had more waves and thumbs up that I have seen in a while. Felt good, except for the heat. Driving is where the fun is. I enjoy building, but enjoy driving what I've built. Like Anthony, although for different reasons, I've missed a lot of the shows I used to attend. May do a few in the fall when it cools off, may not.

 

@Roothawg , git yer ass up here to ride mountainbike! Or we can split it and meet in Colorado

 

I’m looking forward to my first Gathering at the Roc. Not that I think it’s the magic cure to hot rodding malaise but quality over quantity.

I did just return from a GG show in Iowa. It’s a pretty good one, but a lot of my satisfaction has to do with the people I know there and family.

Also, I was at my first street rod nationals in the womb so I’ve been doing it a while and am a little bored, but I still like cars. Not car events so much.

 

I get inspiration from here, old B hot rod movies and from the old mad fabricators dvds. And yes I’m not cool enough to own a Cadillac.

 

Then I have a day like today.
Spent the day with the kid working in his 51 Willys He fabricated his first parts. I drew em, he cut em.
Torch, shear, brake.
great day

 

That picture of that black three window was all I needed to make my day so thanks !

 

Hey Root, you'll never be remembered for what you own, it's what you do that is important.
Me and Kerry just finished a walk around our local park, and we were watching people in medieval costumes practicing sword fighting. Kerry said they were reminiscing over an era that was never like that! "Just like us car guys reminiscing over the 50's".
You need to walk away for a while, or try something different. (Crew for a vintage Sprint Car, of vintage Formula Ford if you're a drag racer)
Or better still..... book you and your wife on a coach tour of Europe. You will be forced to meet new people and enjoy this big world out there.
After that you come home to "unfinished business" of building cars with new enthusiasm.
You can only re-hash your memories so many times before you get burnt out.

 

these are all good thoughts. one thing though, if you take a break from working on them you might not have enough time left to finish it. i am 73 and starting to feel it. i am one of those guys that doesn't build to any year style. like the one i am on now. it is a '52 chevy truck i cut the roof off and split the body down the middle and took out 13 inches. built a 4 foot bed and the cab and the bed is racked down. sbc powered as i had a rebuild kit for one. i was thinking about putting in the 425 cad i have. does that count?

 

Who cares . Let them do their thing and you do yours. They probably bitch about your taste on their forum.
I just hang in my shed.

 

I’d be careful about starting anything until you know what you want to build start to finish. Otherwise you’ll have a project and no motivation to work on it.

 

Maybe just a sign of the times. I've been pretty heavy into my bike lately and the car just collects dust.

 

I get it. Was into the muscle cars for most of my life. Got tired of it. Same old same old. Got tired of going to shows and seeing most of the same cars over and over again. All this dropped out of my life as we raised a family. Then was inspired by just one car. Richard Scaldwell’s GN JAP. Richard, Mark Walker, Duncan Pittaway are a rare breed indeed of folks bringing pre-war cars back to life and racing them. Their no BS attitude and imagination was/is contagious. This one car has now taken me on a journey of discovery the last 4 years. My true passion is really auto rated and fabrication, but life got in the way. I’m hoping to catch up. I’m almost done rebuilding my Ford flathead, I’m liking traditional and customs more than I thought possible. I drove down to Hershey in 2019 (8 hrs one way), and have been all over hell’s half acre collecting parts the last 4 yrs. Have met the most incredible folks. Damn, yesterday I took my daughter to a show only to learn it is today. It was 1.5 hrs one way, but I’m heading back today only hoping I see one or two flathead powered rods. The day wasn’t wasted though. We went “antiquing” as there were several flea markets in the area. Found a treasure trove of a place, picked up a 34 license plate and vintage oiling can. Also picked up my first vintage all metal Buddy L tractor/trailer combo. We had a blast. I feel like a kid again.

 

The old docs used to say "Everything in moderation nothing to excess". As for me I've been to some major meets, traveling cross country. In my life it has not been a lot.

Get driving, go far. Use surface roads. No interstates. Be your own show.

 

Shouldn’t you be bringing your unique ride to the show to inspire the other guy? There is a lot of talk about life balance. Take your rod to a little league ballgame, enjoy the game, I’m guessing someone there will like your rod. It will be a welcome change of pace.

 

[QUOTE=" I just wonder how they can get so many guys to think exactly alike......[/QUOTE]
Interesting comment. Reading the H.A.M.B. all these years I see many guys that think alike. For the simple reason that
many cars are built as a tribute. Cars are built like so and so's car from the 40's-50's.
Read the Tardel book on how to build a hot rod is often mentioned.
Traditional hot rods have certain must haves I see in posts.
Probably sacreligeous to say but building a pre-war traditional hot rod involves a lot of doing what has been done in the past because to add innovation or much newer parts makes them more street roddy than traditional.
Same is true for customs.
Watson style paint.
Starbird or Barris style bodywork.
Not saying that is bad. I'm no builder,more of a observer.
As far as 1-800 send it to me mentality on builds goes...Is using our fine Alliance vendors and ordering frame rails,sheetmetal,suspension,gauges etc etc different for us than the street rod types?
I would propose that the number of builders who actually build componets for their rides is small as opposed to assemblers.

 

Mr brother, 7 yrs older than I, gave me some bad news.
He was out of the hobby for 50 yrs and I got him interested again.
He bought the 61 a few years ago.
Still running the original 283 two speed.
Last week he told me he bought a crate 350/350 with all the summit aftermarket Chinese chrome.
I just can’t understand the attraction.

 

Great points:

I make progress so slowly it’s more likely for me to rust out before burning out.

 

It sucks but we really are “ upper shelf” in this hobby .

think about the costs associated with being traditional .

when I built the 261 in my 50 Chevy by the time I was done with all the traditional go fast and shiny bit and the rebuild etc etc . I could have easily dropped an LS1 with a modern trans between the frame rails for probably a 3rd of what it cost me to built an inline 6.

no where near as cool as an inliner , but cheap , dependable , go fast power . Boring as all heck , but cheap and fast .


One of the reasons I got rid of my 55 Buick was the leaky Dyna flow and the cost and labour involved in fixing it and I wasn’t overly keen on how it drove .
I could of and did consider a suspension and drive train swap , but the car was a clean original example and I decided to send it down the road .


The recipes are all over the place .

traditional hot rod .

gasser .

custom .

low rider

tuner

restored

restomod

prosteet

what ever you want to build it’s out there and most likely has been done .and there is a recipe of :
Drive train
Suspension
Interior
Body mods
Etc etc

that you can perform and follow to get the car you want


I enjoy hunting parts and looking for stuff , holding old rusty gold in my hands like a fat kid with a cookie .

most folks it’s easier and cheaper to 1-800 hot rod parts there cars together .


When I go to a show I’m more interested in the swap meet area then the cars as most cars to me are cookie cutters with few exceptions.

I still like and appreciate them but would rather look at junk then 10 of the same cars in a row .

 

Well, I have to say you picked two nice ones to photograph. I feel very much the same. For that reason, we (my wife has always gone to shows and events, more on that in a bit) go to two shows a year, right here at the Gilmore, and maybe two or three of their (Gilmore's) Wednesday cruise nights. I don't want to be one looking back through rose colored glasses, but, where have the hot rods, street rods, and customs from the 80's and 90's gone?

I like new Corvettes as well as the next guy, muscle cars are interesting (I've had a couple of each) but most cruise in's are used cars in a parking lot. My suspicion is that as my contemporaries (old white guys) don't want to be uncomfortable, and would rather drive the Chevelle, the 'Vette or the Mustang to a show with the air on and stereo playing CCR than get their balding heads sunburned, buffeted by the wind and arrive smelling like gas and exhaust fumes driving a hot rod. I get that, I like to comfortable too, but I don't really find it entertaining.

When we were enthusiastic NSRA members, we went to half a dozen big events, all over the country. every summer. Our circle of friends went as families. Wives, kids, and while maybe our wives simply tolerated a bit of nuisance for the cause, we all had family fun. Doing that was pretty much (all of our) family summer vacations. I notice more and more that guys going to the big events now are going by themselves. Perhaps it's that in the circle of friends I have now, their wives have had enough after 30 or 40 years of this nonsense, but it looks like it's more just guys going alone. Like guys going fishing or golfing.

I'm not advocating the return of pastel paint jobs with dry brush graphics and grey tweed interiors, but there was a vibe that seems to be missing now. We have more fun simply using the cars to do recreational stuff we'd be doing anyway. Hauling the trailer to go camping, going to the store, going (like last night) to a winery to have wine and listen to an evening concert or going out for dinner.

Plus, my wife refuses to let my buy a new Corvette...

 

Hey now...

 

I haven’t lost him yet though.
He brought this home last week.

 

oy vey
/oi ˌvā/ Pete

 

Hey Pete, does he wanna sell those bumpers?