History Lets Pull Together...It's Time.

Powerparked so others can't get in.

 

OK, This is a pet peeve of mine too. I like constructive criticism when it comes from someone I respect. I have grown to hate the car shows where you hear :
-"You should of did a 69 Camaro instead of wasting your effort on a 77 Z28" by a guy who has no car there and knows he could build one better when he gets around to it.
-"I just don't think Model As should have anything other than a 32 grille shell" by a man who has neither.
- "That's Dated" - Well I did want it to be correct for the late seventies time frame.
- "Another 70's slug vette" - I like how they look and any vette is better than no Vette.
-"I know where there is one just like this for dirt cheap" followed by "Is this for sale?"
- "These kids with their fart cans". At least they recognize a need to create even if it isn't my cup of tea.
-"Who let the bikers show here?"
-"Rat Rods aren't safe" - some may fall into that category but I admire the folks who engineer a quality ride out of random discarded car parts and pull off an appearance of structured decay.
and on and on.......

I try to look for the positive even when I don't like the style. You can praise the nice paint color when looking at a Honda or admire the seats in a jacked up pick up. That rat rod may have the best use of a whiskey bottle for a coolant overflow or a neat way to mount an emergency brake handle.
When somebody does their best, most likely it won't be quite as good as your best and will seldom be what you would have done. Ask yourself, who is going to create the future Car Nuts if we drive off those who are learning the hobby through trial and error. We all have been there and we started some where with some thing. And we didn't let the Old Farts Opinions stop us. Yet

 

The first real car event I went to was World of Wheels in Tucson, January 1974 (as best I can recall, I was a kid then). They had everything! It was great. Not too much later, I got into drag racing, and it was years before I had anything that I would consider taking to a car show, and then only to local outdoor shows, nothing as fancy as WoW. I miss the show....as it was back then....there were so many neat cars to see, of all flavors.

 

I am in my upper 60's, back in the day as they say, when the traditional cars were being built, and before, I seen some pretty scary stuff being driven. Ok maybe they painted it shiny red or blue, but a pig is a pig. There has always be good talented builders but the majority of the alley, back yard, beer drinking, camel smoken guys were building and learning at the same time, some pretty good and some not so good. Thank got we all don't build red 32's or blue 34's or green mercurys will Desoto grills, we get pretty sick of seeing the same things. We are treasuring the greats of our passed, if we don't include the youth and the guys that like other forms of car there will be no one in the future to do what we are doing now for our old timers. I love hot rods and customs, but as an artist of cars, I am open minded enough to appreciate what others create. You don't have to spend your money on others, just try to appreciate the hours OP put into there creation, good or bad. The ones that don't have good skills try to help, not condem. An old guy that love our hobby. There was a time I couldn't weld good either.

 

Those people you speak of in your post, well I appreciate those folks because of something my grandfather told me. He said "Everyplace that you will ever go, there will be an asshole. If you can not find one - you need to leave because you're it".

I like all kinds of stuff, I've built all kinds of stuff, I can really appreciate talent and craftsmanship where ever it is. Although I do question someone's "vision" or wonder about what life experiences they may have had that leads them to a conclusion that what they have built or created is cool. Built vehicles are a form of art, and one definition of art is that the object evoke some emotion- positive or negative

 

Obviously you were not at the Australian Kustom Nationals. I went for the first time this year and did not see any of the attitudes that you are referring to. Don't take what you read on a website as gospel.
There was a wide variety of cars there including many pre 48, classics and customs(probably not enough customs for me having driven down specifically for that) but still a good run and no bitchin or politics that I saw. If you want to see the variety of cars go here.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/australian-kustom-nationals-2015.959149/#post-10802774

 

No Hudson, I wasnt there. I never said it did not have the variety, I never said it wasn't fun. You can go to the OzRodders Site and read Carps Post on the event. He posted many a fine photo as that is what he does, if you know Carps, he is about what I speak on this topic. There was a discussion on this thread about this issue, this is where I climed aboard, as it really irked me. I am not taking what I read on a "Website" as gospel. I was referring to what people felt about the mix, and why some blokes feel they have to stay home cause there are those dam customs there.
There in lies the point.

Carps also mentioned his safety concerns getting to and from the event based on his experiences of the drivers on Oz roads, but I am sure that is hearsay.

 

Come to think of it all now, Hudson is right, why the heck am I coming to a website to discuss anything in the first place?

 

Because it's a community of like-minded folk, that's why. Smart ass remarks aside (and I may yet make one myself) most folks here have said countless times the same thing you're saying. Our founder did a blog entry recently about lowriders and it clearly went "off the grid" just a wee bit. I think it's because that FELLOWSHIP you speak of is already here. In plain ol garage speak you're preaching to the choir bruz. Proof? I often post a stock restorations here and never get a "...WTF is that doing here because we're all (add your favorite term)...".

Separation is as important as unity, but just like politics, religion and booze, IN MODERATION. I don't I ever want to see DUBS here. I don't want to see a muscle car on 20s and using an LS3-4-what-the-fuck-ever for power. That isn't our world here. Folks here all like the same style, vibe, time period. Hot rod or Kustom or competition, as long as it reminds us of the early guys with balls the size of blown HEMI pistons it's in. What I personaly like and don't like is nobody's biz but mine and those close to me personally. Do I HATE the other stuff? Right hand raised my HAMB brethren, some of it I do. I just don't go viral and carp about it. They are at least having fun, sometimes more than me, but not really. I build the shit daily, stock or mod, and there's even one in the shop with 17s and 18s.

"...you're preaching to the choir..." is worth repeating. Lots of well grounded guys here who have a lot more in their lives to offer us than a Deuce hiboy or chopped Merc. Embrace it and recognize more than the sum of pictures and words. It's there if you take off the rose-colored glasses, (not you, all).

 

I think the Fellowship is more important when you are from a small place. There is only 50,000 people in Cheyenne and there is only a handful of traditional hot rods. So you go to any car function and you get restored originals, street rods, tri five chevys, mustangs, corvettes a few rats and lots of muscle cars. The fellowship is one thing that holds it together for us. You may not like peoples taste in cars but you have to appreciate their passion and workmanship. I look at it as expanding my network. Denver is only about 100 miles south of us and you can get to shows with like minded people but for a Tuesday night cruise in you see all types of cars because that is all of the car people in town are there.

 

Last year while walking around the piston power show (largest indoor venue in the area and very diverse) I said to my Honey, "you see all that I put into my stuff right, look around because every one of these exhibits has as much". She stopped dead in her tracks and tried to figure out how many lifespans of work and dedication it would take to fill that exhibition hall.

I'm more than reasonably certain that I'd have very little in common with a guy who builds an 80s 4dr caprice on 26" wheels and thinks its cool. Not zero but very little in the car aspect.

 

I get it, and I agree. Build what you love, and respect what others build. Even if it ain't yer cup o' tea.

 

I am 64 and have been fooling around with cars and bikes all my life.I make it a point not to denigrate anyones ride.Sure I would rather see a show full of traditional rods and customs but if our car culture is to survive we all must hang together and try to get along. I am also a life member of the N.R.A and I can assure you from bitter experience that if we do not we will be devoured piecemeal by the nanny state.

 

I don't get pickups that need a ladder to get into---I'm not terribly crazy about the new Camaros, Challengers and Mustangs. They are all cars. I guess those of us that lived back in the day are very lucky----and the aforementioned new generation of car guys will feel the same way, down the road. It's all about cars.

 

"traditional boobies" Now I understand! Thanks Larry!

 

Wise words and very well thought through.

 

i think i am a normal guy....i go to shows and look at the cars that appeal to me and enjoy them very much...then i look over the cars i am not really interested in and see lots of neat little tricks and make mental notes about them....
i have 3 cars and all are very different to each other.......this is where the normal comes in....the cars we enjoy are just an key for meeting great people from all walks of life, weather they have a car or not really doesn't matter as long as they have an interest in them.
the only reason someone builds a traditional/hotrod/custom or whatever is coz someone else has one and wants to be a part of that....could you imagine being in a group of 1 ??????

 

My take is easy (in my my mind) to understand. There are 2 factors here...... do I APPRECIATE something and do I LIKE something. I can appreciate the workmanship, time to build, innovation, etc of a car and still not LIKE it. I can LIKE a car regardless of whether or not I'd BUILD it. Pretty much everything I see falls into those 2 categories. I guess it's fellowship in a way.......

 

When I get to the point of caring about someones else's opinion of my stuff more than I do, just shoot me. Variety is the spice of life.

 

If the point is that some people will not attend a show because "X" cars are allowed in, I'm okay with that. It is their choice.

If the point is that those people should attend the show, and should look at "X" cars, to support the show, or learn something new, or for whatever reason, I have to disagree. In general, people don't like being told what they should do or should like.