Hot Rods This ain't no disco, this ain't no rat rod, this ain't no fooling around!

pat barnes, from texas maybe? my memory is not what it used to be.

 

During the 80's/'90s I was ignoring hot rods, pretty much into street & drag racing 60s-up type cars. This photo reminds me why...

 

Ha, try ten. I had a Doors cd on in the car the other day, my wife says "Whats that crap?". Shes recovering nicely, the Dr. says the road rash will heal with minimal scarring...

 

So what brought you back? Did you se the car before the flames and top removal? Really, your a muscle car car to the bone. This place is a source of amusement, and you take delight in pointing out the slightest hypocrisy.

 

^^oh WHAAAAAAAA! This shit is getting old...And yes, I have always delighted in poking fun at hypocrisy...

 

Indeed, a closer look in the mirror.

 

Well even though I've been told I don't get it, There was some cool stuff in the 80's and 90's. Here's the cover off one mag I STILL have sitting in my office.



You may not like elements of cars like these, but it was the whole "anti-boyd" thing that was saving roding from being billet dipped in paint plastic smooth nightmare versions of the real thing. The first suede paintjobs I say were in this era, and it pulled me back into real cars after the restorod 70's sucked the life out of it.

Just an opinion.

 

oh yeah... ...changed my hairstyle, so many times now.. I don't know what I look like...

 

See, Dooley gets it!

What's funny is, it was kinda the "second coming" of the beater type of car. Back in the mid seventies and early eighties they were all over. But it seems like about May 21st of 1983 (My completely randomly chosen date the whole world changed...) the whole street rod world as one decided you just simply can't drive and enjoy your car unless it was perfect. We had weeded through almost ten years of that crap when this little bomb made the scene!

 

Chip, you, I ElPolacko, Dooley and a host of others our age think alike. I think that there is an agegroup 35-50 that followed the same stuff here on the HAMB. Maybe that is why Rocky and Scotty and I get along so well despite the age gap.


mmmmm Cal Tanakas coupe!

 

Two cars for me it was Brian Everett's '49 Cadilac Sedanette. The car was way rad and just too darn cool. The second was Joe Kress's '46 Ford hardtop turned Convertible. The car was a hot rod and was bad ass. Stick shift ta boot. Both cars were featured in the May '94 of American Rodder. Wicked cars. If you've never seen photos of these cars you need to. Man they are awesome.

 

Might as well throw Alex aka "flat-n-low" in that group too! he and i always seem to be errily connected as far what we like and dislike.

 

I own an off-topic bike too. WHAAAAA!

 

Other than the flames, I'm really not understanding what was bad or inappropriate about it...

Especially in the context of what year it was!

There were NOT a bunch of cars like that around at the time, Pat was off on a limb by himself with that one. I liked it and remembered it-

 

Pat Barnhart
Not sure if this is the one I saw,he built a real convert also, that was in bare metal and called the WD40 test car. That was long before the bare metal thing was cool.

 

Oh Georgie, a 'bad' day? Shift or lift.

 

Yes, the push was evident with the ad corresponding to the builds and featured cars. That formula work's most of the time.

 

Exactly...if I recall that car, when featured had some good road chips in the paint too.

 

the post reminds me of lurking here and seeing pics and hearing stories of paso robles and billetproof....and of course Rocky's truck...

 

Yep, Pat Barnhart! I spent a lot of time in that car with Pat and his buddy Clifford Campbell (the first guy that I know of that built a fenderless hot rod style PU out of a convertible VW Beetle).

Here is the car before he removed the roof and replaced it with pieces from a real convertible.

 

Back then this old car was a refreshing change from the sea of red paint.

 

Here's a few more shots of Pat's car.

 

Rick Kirsh's pickup from the late 80's I saw this truck for the first time in the first magazine I ever bought off of a newstand, I was about 10 years old...It was filled with billet and tweed rods but this truck always stuck out as being cool to me. I am starting to collect parts to build my own version of this truck...a little crazier but inspired by this just the same.

 

i still think it's cool. they were having a blast, that's what it's about.

 

I'll dig out a picture of a certain Model A coupe that change my life back in the 80's & we replied via the letter system for about 2 years.

Chris

 

Hey, after all this, what happened to the car?

 

Take it from someone who has finished several cars that it doesn't give any noteworthy feelings, ....... but driving them everywhere gives you the great feelings .... specially past the naysayers and negative people.

 

Pats coupe was a outrageous statement for the time... I guess it's that old thing if you don’t get it you never will.
I loved that car and the attitude, it should not be looked at as a "rat rod" it to me was a beater and a highly influential vehicle that I'd like to think helped change people's attitudes to driving and enjoying their cars instead of building something just to show and win pots

 

PFF bringds up another point that some us miss and the masses always miss. There is a massively huge difference between a rat rod and a beater!

 

thanks loogy!

one of the things that you pointed out should be emphasized; pat added the real convertible parts to the car, he didn't just chop the roof off. still, i prefer the roofed, un-flamed version.

(even now, with black wheels and a nice interior, i'd drive the shit out of it)