The evolution of our taste in cars as we mature

When I was a kid, the 57 Chevy was the coolest car in the world. My mind was made up, when I grew up I was going to drive one with flames on it. Then High School had its muscle car influence on me. Early twenties I went through my Corvette stage.

Now working at Baileigh and dealing with the Hot Rod crowd every day. Dealing with the metal shapers that blow my mind with their skills. It’s official. I think I am a 31 (ish) Coupe guy. I just love the look. I have spent all summer going to car shows with my son Justis. We find ourselves walking fast past the muscle cars and Corvettes and heading right to the older cars and Hot Rods.

I’m obsessed now, it’s strange. Anyone else get that sickness?

I just think this is a bad ass look......... I am on the hunt!

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Since I was 5 i grew up wanting that 57 Chevy too but I can't touch one on my budget . So I got something I could afford ( a 41 olds body and frame ) and put 4 years into building it and love it. Bottom line is as long as you find something your happy putting the work into you will be twice as happy with it when you get it done . Ps. Someday I'll still have a 57 Chevy but I'm happy with what I have.

 

I don't know. My mom told my wife not too long ago that when this automotive obsession thing started, she thought it was probably just a stage. Almost fifty years later, it turns out probably not. I've dabbled with various ideas and variations on the themes over the years, but keep coming back to old Fords with mostly stock bodies and axles at both ends. It might be a disease. Then again, it might just be the way I am.

 

I like lots of different cars, which causes storage issues, but the biggest change over time is that I now will drive a 4dr car. Before a family I was way to cool to drive a 4 door, now it is convenient

 

If its old I am obsessed with it.

 

I grew up in the middle of the muscle car era, but gravitated towards hot rods. I always loved T's and when the stars aligned, I was able to build one. As a result, I like anything that's done well. Old and new, it's just got to be done well to get my attention and respect.

 

Funny, I drool over the same cars as I did when I was 12.....'63-65 Riviera, Model A's, and 1949-1956 Mercurys.

 

"The evolution of our taste of cars as we mature"

mature? well that leaves me out.

 

I started out liking tri Five Chevys and still prefer them......Guess I am just a slow learner....lol

 

My tastes haven't changed to much since H.S. I still think 4 door cars have 2 too many doors, really don't care for station wagons or "dare to be different" cars. What's still cool are gassers, pre '40 Fords, and old 'Vettes.

 

1st car I fell in love with was a 58 Chevy Impala that my dad bought for my mom to learn to drive ( she didn't get her license, until I was at an impressionable age... the car had a straight pipe & glass pack ) I was mad as hell the day he sold it, & I was probably only 10 or 11 at the time... next car I fell for was a 66 Lincoln Contenental 4 door... by the time I was driving, I loved the look of a 67 Dodge Cornet 440 station wagon my dad got for me to start driving... it was my pooch wagon, I loved the body style, but it was really rusty & had been bondo'd already once or twice, & had a really worn out 318... my personal 1st car was a 64 Galaxie 500 2 door with a 289... & while I still had that, I bought a 68 Coupe de ville... the strong 472 would roast the tires on command, & that car got me into high speed driving... dangerously high speed driving... once went like 28 miles in 7.5 minutes around midnight one night... way way out driving the headlights...

I survivived my youth, & got into the boring drive back & forth to work cars for the next decade or so... then bought a CJ-5 with a SBC, & started to get the desire for more than just a ho hum transportation... but drove exclusively trucks for the next decade or so... then as I started to get some expendable income, I decide I wanted a collector car... I thought about it for a year or so, & ended up with my 38 Nash... which I love... but they are like "potato chips" love driving the old car, but now need to get something that give a lil thrill back

 

My 55 chevy is the only car I ever bought just because I like the styling. I still like it.

 

I have been working with old cars for about the past 30 years and find that my tastes really have not changed that much. I started with a 56 Chevy 4dr, wanted a 2dr but that was all I could find cheap. I loved the look of early drag cars and gassers, still do and couldnt get enough muscle cars. I keep collecting 55-57 Chevys and every muscle car that I can find within reason. I would really like to do a Corvette gasser 57-67 but the prices for just a junker have kept me out of that realm.

 

Back in Hi School every one and their brother had a 55,56, 57 Chev or a 54, 55, 56 Ford.
But I went for something a little bit off : 34 Dodge panel(413 auto), 30 Ford sedan delivery (4 banger), 53 Chrysler Imperial (Hemi) and still go for the non conformist stuff.

 

Always being car crazy , when I hit 10-11 years old I lusted after (like everyone else at the time it seems) 57 Chevys . Any way ,shape or form I loved them.
Then one day Dad brought home a 58 Plymouth Suburban wagon.
The love of that Chevy was replaced by all things Forward Look ,and as they say the rest is history.

 

28 MILES IN 7.5 MINUTES = 224MPH, not surprised you out drove the headlights.

 

Back in the '50's, I loved Hot Rods, T-buckets and 30's Roadsters. Then the '60's came and muscle car madness hit, but I couldn't afford one or the insurance hit. In the '70's, I fell in love with Tri-Five Chevys, affordable plus classic. It wasn't '90.I discovered Hot Rods again, but coupes as I was losing my hair then. Having a '32 3 window and a '31 Model A made me appreciate the comforts of a custom, low and slow.

 

Used to really like 57 Chevy's as a kid. Then saw American graffiti, then turned to 32 Fords. Now I really would like to have a 33-34 Ford 3 window coupe......some day.

 

I was the opposite. When I was a kid I wanted shoeboxes, mercs, 46-48 Chevys, 40 Fords etc. and I thought that late 50's early 60's cars were ugly. Now I'm a late 50's early 60's type guy and love 57 chevys. I used to think that everything need wide whites, fancy hubcaps, chromed out engines and suspensions, etc. But these days I like plain jane basic black mobiles with no "bling bling" B.S. My taste has changed for sure. My car reflects that.

 

My dream car in middle and high school was a 69 camaro..my buddies was a 68 camaro. So my first car of course was a 68 beetle and his was a 69 camaro...lol. Fast forward 16 years and I have been thru almost all "phases" of cars. My last venture was my 475rwhp 900ftlbs diesel truck...now Im in my 48 Ford tudor sedan. I can find something cool about any car, but I think for me I will stick with the oldies. Plus it helps my wife and 2 kids love our "hot rod"

 

When I first started getting into hotrods...not muscle cars...I was grabbed by the real radical builds. I really liked fenderless cars, blown motors, low cars, suicide suspension, spindle mounts, open headers or lake headers, high shifters...etc.

Heck, I even fell in love with some RR styled cars and trucks. I loved the Honest Charley's truck and Billy Gibbons' truck.

Since that time my taste's have evolved and I've come to appreciate simplicity and subtlety...Now I'm more into clean, simple, traditional styled cars with a bit of a modern racy twist...Circle City hotrods builds are all a prime example.

I even find myself leaning towards full fendered, unchopped, and mildly lowered coupes now.

 

I am pretty sure Mick Jagger's parents probably said to him at one time when he was young "Do you really think you can earn a living doing the rock band thing your whole life?"

I used to be a die hard Chevy guy only. Then expanded to other brands of the GM vintage. Now I find myself looking at pretty much any make with interest. More interested now in hand made or modified components no matter what emblem is on the grille or valve cover..

 

When I was in High School everyone wanted 1970's muscle cars since they were affordable. Fast forward 30 plus years and most of my friends are going back to the '70's muscle cars. I'm not a big fan anymore, been there done that. Now I prefer the older rods, the original hot rods. I've got a '51 Ford F1 but I want to build a '34 Ford highboy someday... but I still like the '70's wheels.

Wally

 

I would have to agree. When I was in highschool and college it was all about Mustangs, Camaro's, Firebirds and Transam. Never gave a look to anything that was not in the above list. Funny thing is after restoring and racing many of the above cars, then one day something happend, I was at a car show looking down the row of cars along the street. They where all mustangs, camaro's and firebirds an older gentleman standing right in front of me turns to his buddy and say's " i dont want to go down that row. all thats there is cookie cutter muscle cars. That got me thinking so I went down the row with this thought in mind and boy george the old man was right the only thing that was different was what motor it rolled out of the factory with and the color of paint. I walked over to a 1930 ford Model A coupe on another part of the street and looked hard at it, I seen a lot of personality in it and creativity I was hooked.

Don't get me wrong I still own and have a couple muscle cars that are dear to my heart, but I don't really go looking for them anymore. My taste have changed and I jump straight to the Model A's at the car shows now and spend a lot of my days at show looking at all the customs.

 

Never got into Camaros/Firebirds in high school. Probably because they weren't out yet. I didn't particularly care for GTOs or any other early muscle cars either, they were out. Always liked hot rods. Drew T-buckets on my notebooks because they were easy to draw.

I had a '39 Ford coupe w/SBC 4 speed. When I bought it, $300, it had an Olds J2 with '39 box. (I couldn't afford the $700 the guy wanted for his licensed '32 3 window.) Never got the '39 on the road. Back then it was pretty hard to get a hot rod licensed in NJ and the insurance was VERY high. Did race it and even won a trophy. Actually my brother was driving I was in the Navy.

 

Always a GM guy here, but I love and appreciate all kinds of cars, even cars I would personally not choose to buy.

As I get older I find myself more into the "stock look", but I love a hot rod drivetrain!

 

I too am a Chevy guy but cant get past how bad ass a 31 Model A looks. I feel dirty.

 

Shane,

Your pics look like my old coupe. Let me know when you wanna build one....Ill help you out.

Rob

 

That's it man, I love it. Got some free time this winter?

 

I am glad my taste has changed. It was all about imports. Been through quite a bit. Always a car guy, since the age of 9ish I always wanted to this day a 34 chevy pickup. One day