If it's your car, do whatever you wish. I'm in the camp that if it's a car I could get a boatload of money from as it is, I'm likely going to sell it as it is and buy a boatload of other things. And then for me, I wouldn't try and change anything that is already hard to beat. Most cars look better lowered at least some. Many look really good with a chop, others not so. (the often mentioned Pacer). I think a Tucker would be hard to improve upon as is. A buddy asked me if I was going to put wheels on my chevy. It has the original black steel rims with white stripes and dog dishes. I told him no, since as far as I was concerned nothing could beat what was already there. You have an Auburn and don't care what it's worth to someone else? Lower it and add flames if you want to.
First get the definition of what a hotrod is, what years of cars were considered hotrod years, and you'll find your answer. you can soup up anything with wheels, regardless of whether it's acceptable or not in the eyes of others, but the window of what is considered a real hotrod is pretty narrow, for me anyway.
While any car may be "fair game", it is just plain stupid to hot rod certain cars. But, I'd never rule out period modifications that can be unbolted to return the car to all original. Those are always appropriate, IMO.
I will add though, that if someone gave me a car like a Tucker or a Hudson(damn....I want one sooo bad) and it was already rodded/kustomized (and it was my style), it'd stay that way. I don't do 'resto'.
I agree. I probably wouldn't do much with a Stutz Bearcat or a Pierce Arrow if it were complete and original. But if it were just an old hulk now that's a different story. The way I see it about anything can be sliced'n'diced but not everything needs to be sliced'n'diced. Does that make any sense?
Basically in this group I get the impression that rarity and %stock and in good shape means as much as anything. A pure stock 1934 Ford 2 door with low miles would generally make many of us want to keep it stock, However a badly rotted or rusted version of the same would be excellent Hot Rod fodder. basically if it is mor emoney to ressurrect then it's worth, then just make something cool that works with what you have or can scrounge for low dollars. A 1940 club coupe Nash might be an exception, and auburn another etc... Like most people said we would sell those and let teh Pebbles beach people go nuts paying way too much to make sure chalk lines match and selling it to some fool and his money. Plus we like to drive our stuff, not park it and attempt to get people to come look at it. An example, albeit poor since this is pre 1965 cars in this forum and likely in this discussion, is the 1970 Hemi Cuda' If I was looking to drive a Cuda' I would look for a Barracuda of the same vintage so I could get bargain basement prices on the base car and then I wouldn't feel bad building it to my tastes and I would feel less worried about driving it. I would think that might be somewhat analogous to what your asking.
Some cars might well be exceedingly rare but that doesn't necessarily make them all that valuable. My Hup for example is one of 3 (according to the Hup Club) 417 touring sedans left and one of about 36 417s worldwide. These things come up for sale every once in a while in restorable condition for around 3-5K. Restored they will sell for around 15-17k. Now a lot of folks don't know it but the 417 is exactly the same body as a 33-34 Ford. A Ford of the same vintage will easily sell for twice as much even though they are more than a hundred times more plentiful. A rod built out of a Hup will sell for twice what a concours restoration would. A rod built from a Hup also makes the hackles jump up on the club purists. But while they dust their cars off twice a year for parades and trailer them to an occasional show I drive mine like a rented mule and put 15k a year on it. Rarity doesn't make a car sacred. It does make one interesting.
My wife frequently asks - "Why do you have to mess with everything? Why can't you leave anything "stock"? I think the engineers/designers have great intentions but when you have the huge amount of regulations, cost considerations and production constraints the cool elements get watered down for the "average" consumer I've never been "average" and always end up changing something! Some classics need only subtle tweaks, while others require the "bomb it and rebuild" workover. s.
I would never HOT ROD anything that was in nice original condition. find a clunker and do that one instead. a car is only original once.
I have a hard time deciding what is a hulk and what is usable. So...I might assume something is too nice to rod, and someone else is cutting something in better condition up.
As said before No Duesys Auburns or Cords depends on the rarity of the car really I would love to work over a 55 Packard Patrician. As far a 1 of 1 hemi cuda's I can do that because there are other cudas without the hemi but its still a cuda. As far as new cars I have always wanted to tool around with a Lincoln Mark VIII or a BMW 8 Series and see what I could come up with.
I saw somewhere a really nice lowered Auburn, high dollar street rod. I think it was green. I think it was a kit body though. Just like the primered one here. I'm sure it's a kit that somebody picked up cheap because it wasn't completed. Same goes for this Packard.
After much thought and contemplating,I have arrived at this conclusion...... There is one and only one car I would not hotrod. This car would be .... THE LAST OLDSMOBILE EVER PRODUCED. An Olds Alero 4 door sedan,its in a musem now in Detroit..... Other than that any mint condition/low production or "one off" cars of any description ......are considered to be fair game!
Anything built by Bugatti. I would have a hard time cutting up a car that you could only buy if A- you had the money and B- you were polite enough. It's been said that if you had poor table manners, Bugatti would not sell you a car. I kinda dig that. everything else is fair game.
In my opinion, any original survivor of any type, shouldn't be hot-rodded. There's plenty of field cars out there to not have to chop up an nice original. Sometimes it's nice to see just what the cars were like back then and there are fewer and fewer of them every day.
Oh come on now! I saw a "Trabby" at the Puyallup Goodguys show last year! even loaned him some carb cleaner to de-oil his points. But ,hot-rodding one is the best way to make it a reliable cruiser!
That makes perfect sense! some car designs are really good from the beginning, and changing them usually makes them ugly. Other cars need all the help they can get.
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