Hot Rods Do People Really Spend like This?

Couple thoughts. First, it seems to me that the amount of time and money that it took to produce a car is inextricably linked to the car-lover's excitement meter, for the most part. I mean a Ferrari just shouts "ooh baby, you ain't never driven nothing like me." You see a one-off feature or car that is perfect, and a whole lot of time and sweat equity went into it. God bless the folks with the means to pull this off. They are good for the car lover's world.

Second, when I read the article and saw the car (it is a gorgeous hot rod), the first thought I had about the grille was "now why in the world would anyone ever want to change the front grille on a model 40?"

 

Steve I think that part of what takes away from the traditional feel of many of them is the perfection. it has gotten to the point that fit and finish are way over the top, not to say that it isn't excellent craftsmanship but like the modern bare metal car it is the lack of minor imperfections that keep the traditional feel at bay.

I am not saying that a traditional car is a shit box they were just not as laser straight as a late build can and often is.

 

Reading the WSJ today and among the ads for Porsche, MB and private jets is one for Texas House of Hot Rods with a blown 32 five window featured.

 

In our land speed racing club, a member had a roadster built by Troy (who I can spell his last name let alone pronounce properly) T. It was amazing, they took it to B-ville and captured records with it. Once done they sent it back to Troy who took it apart, cleaned out all the salt , then shipped it to GNRS and was in contention for the big trophy. From start to GNRS was less than a year, cost in excess of 250 large (from the rumor mill). How to afford, have what you make in every store and big box - nuts and fruit. Great team, just a little above my pay grade.

 

LOL I worked for a wealthy man who owned a paving company back in the early '80s as heavy maintenance manager. I was in the process of making a 20,000 dollar ( parts alone) repair to a pavement grinder, and asked in jest how he could make a repair like that. He smiled and said, "If you had to replace the carburetor on your bike it would run you about 200 dollars give or take right." I told him that was pretty close to correct and he asked me how much the zeros were worth. I didn't really have an answer for that they are just place holders. So he pointed out that my cost was the same as his only with less place holders.

In a twisted sort of a way it is right, we don't really spend any less money we just paly in a world where we have less zeros to play with.

 

It's all relative. Technically, there are LOTS of guys here with a much larger investment in their cars than the owners of these high dollar custom builds. A person building a $25k hot rod on an annual income of $75k has a helluva higher "relative investment" than the man building a $500k car on a $5M annual income. So, who is the reckless spender?

 

You've got to change the grill on a model 40 when its channeled and lowered. Other wise the chin is 5" under the pavement.

 

While fit/finish can sometimes be a contributing component of their look, that's really not it; a 'pure' traditional car can have that and carry it off. It's more the seemingly endless, sometimes pointless 'details' so many of these high-dollar cars have. The 'cutesy' logoed gauges are one detail that sticks out, another (and more glaring IMO) is the flawless riveted-on 'bulges' on the hood sides. 'Back in the day' those hood sides would have likely been built as one piece if scratch-built by a metal-master (and this is a car with a hand-formed grill/shell, so you had to rivet those on?). The 'homebuilt' guy would have riveted them on (probably after having somebody else make them for him) but here they look like a 'faux traditional' detail. Not to sound harsh, but I see it as artistic dishonesty to a certain degree. Everywhere you look, there's these almost-but-not-quite traditional details until they just overwhelm the intent. More than anything else, this reminds me of some of the 'over restorations' that have done to some iconic cars (making them much nicer than they were originally), then turning it up another notch to 'perfection overkill'.

I also find this ironic, as I'm much more of a 'traditionally styled' guy rather than a hard-core, but this car misses the mark so much that even I noticed. If this car were a T-bucket and over on Chip's 'Bucket of Ugly' thread, it would have been torn to tiny shreds by now.... LOL.

 

Not anymore, that threads gone "Sesame Street".

 

I only care about what mine is going to cost. Why should I care how someone else spends his money.

 

Lots of different perspectives on a roller coaster topic. I'm noticing that it's high level of craftsmanship seems to blur the traditional "religion" that some seem to adhere to. A dozen years ago the car that nailed what this one did (and in fact the last 2 year's examples) would have been so billet/hi tech/modern we wouldn't even discuss it, or if we did the thread would have been deleted or locked. How does the high priest traditionalist feel about how "our" stuff has now taken over that segment of hot rods? Compare this one to the "First Love" 36 Ford, or Foose's "Impression" roadster. It doesn't compare at all, or does it? Last year it was Lombardi's 32 with the blown Olds, and wasn't Poteet's 34 the year before? Any one of those 3 cars take our thing and turn it into something incredible, something so ultimate we see some have a hard time relating to it as a traditional hot rod. Maybe these builds are so well done there's no box to put them in. I'm just glad that none of them are black 32 hiboy roadsters, which is what I call the "69 Camaro" of traditional hot rods. None of the last three disappear in a sea of conformity. They stand out, they're the "Marilyn Monroe" of their genre. I say keep it up and I also wonder what's next.

 

@theHIGHLANDER and @Crazy Steve I think that 10 years ago we would have looked at this type of car with disdain and called them 'Street Rods' and not in the traditional sense. I think that most of us can look at one without sticking our tongue and say, "Hmmmmnnnn I wonder how they did that," or appreciate the craftsman ship. I know that I personally can look at an over the top car and find little things that I can incorporate into a build, albeit with less finesse no doubt.

I think that this sort of thread brings out a couple of things that is good for us and perhaps the mods can recognize that as well and that is why they allow us to continue. One is that short of drama (which we sort of kept under control) they open us up to a discussion on traditional styling or even traditional building. The other is that we can see things that are traditional and recognize them for what they are a sort of refinement in our own knowledge if you will.

I think that what I see in cars like this one is the synergy of it. The sum total of the whole is greater then the sum total of the parts. There is not one thing that makes it not traditional but a combination of things that make it wrong for us, even those of us who have a tendency to build traditionally styled cars (like Steve and myself). It would certainly be easy to pic it apart and remake it into what we envision to be traditional, but there would not be much left to work with and when we were finished it would no longer be recognizable as to what it originally was.

I don't think that I would like to see the site flooded with this type of car. The site would not longer be what it is, but occasionally for the sake of discussion it is good to see a car like this one. it gives us a chance to be less introverted.

 

My cars only cost $100.00
$100.00 here, $100.00 there,, $100.00 on the card,,,$100.00 for the swap meet
Easy
(Actually it is now $250.00 each time)

 

So I agree with these two seemingly opposing viewpoints by theHIGHLANDER and Crazy Steve.
First, theHIGHLANDER rightly points out that group-shop-build is traditional, as is occasionally spending big bucks to get there. Appreciate the craftsmanship, dig the car, how can this be a bad thing?

But then Crazy Steve says wait a minute, some of these details are just too much faux-traditional, and I couldn't agree more. The tip of that pyramid? Faux patina, I absolutely cannot get right with faux patina. And I also studied what the hood bulges are for, thought at first it must be the big mill, but they look functionless. Don't get that.

But that brings us to porknbeaner's statement . . . right on. Great discussion.

 

We can't deny the changing face of the cars living at the top of the scrotum pole these days. Like the other 2 I mentioned, the elements we love and generally adhere to have been taken to their limit creating nearly impossible dreams. This one doesn't have much that I'd change. I truly hate the color on this or any other car. Maroon shades bore me nearly to tears. I also dislike that copper cover over the steering elements. It's almost a tip of the hat to the dreaded church of "R/R", no? Everything else is so finished and this car didn't need that at all. Some nail it in spades no matter where you look. Poteets orange coupe does. From the interior to the chassis details, everything in between that takes you there, ending in a souped up Nailhead for a happy ending that would challenge an Asian masseuse. Perhaps the abilities of today's builder and the availability of equipment has served to bring these treasures to us. Maybe the old masters led us there and the current "student" has indeed surpassed the master. And again, why try to describe them. All of it just works. I don't attend big rod meets because they seem to clash with the events my business takes me to, but when I see the coverage in the occasional magazine there's more and more going back and less hooped billet rides. Fine by me...

 

For the record, it was two of us and we were only allowed a week to get the job done due to the deadline. Keep in mind the producers want drama and will produce the show in that manner. We needed more time with the flush fit aspect of the job. Dave also wanted the insert to have a flange and be able to be bolted in because it was to be padded and covered. Lots of work to do in a week and we ran out of time almost before we started. So Dave pulled the plug on the metal one and made a fiberglass one from the buck I made.

 

I want to split it into two parts.
The hours spent part, as I've been struggling with some car parts myself from time to time on old OT cars, and I've read waaay to many build threads on here, I totally believe someone can actually spend 300 hours on a single body part before they are happy with it.
As for the money aspect, this is a one-off handbuilt car. And what isn't handmade is old parts that you mostly can't buy directly from a store, like you could have done with a 'dime a dozen' Ferrari or Bugatti.
Actually,even if the OP's calculated cost of the grill in question is correct, it's still not much more expensive than the annual service costs on a Bugatti Veyron, and this is still a much more special (and better looking) car than a Veyron.
I also respect most people who choose to have a car specially made in this way, (especially if they are the kind of person who gets involved in the design process, and chooses the base parts, and wants every part to look just like his vision of the perfect car,) a lot more than someone who selects colors and options on a store bought supercar. (even if they can sometimes annoy the living 'F' out of the builder/designer XD)

 

Sounds like this guy got had. I'am no pro by far but I went to the junk yard and for $ 15.00 I got some 5/16 and 3/8 s.s. tubing. Cut it to the lengths I needed, and straighten each piece to within .0005 polished them, made a jig to space them for welding. It may have took me 15 to 20 hours.that was only the insert.

 

Heck... I can't even afford to read the WSJ...

 

All I can say is knowing how hard I worked and all the creative financing I did to build my car will give me way more satisfaction when I'm rollin the streets in my home built hot rod.

 

There are plenty of money guys involved in our Hobby, I always appreciate the quality of their cars and am happy for them. IMO the majority of people do not spend 6+ figures on their rides, have a friend that just put 250+ into his last car and its a beauty to say the least. Most of us spend what we can afford, you can have the same fun with a $2500. Ride as the man that spent $25000. And maybe more fun than the $250000. Ride. This hobby is what you make of it, Enjoy it and be proud of your ride where ever it falls into the picture.

 

I took a metal forming class with Ron Covel, and watched him build a '34 Ford rear fender, with all the correct compound curves, radii and even the wire rolled into the edge around the whole thing, from a flat piece of metal, in under 7 hours... while stopping to answer our questions, explain what he was doing, and bench race.
300 hours for a truck grill?
I'm not saying the guy wasn't BILLED for that, but I'm having a hard, hard time believing it took that long to actually build it.

-Brad

 

Several years ago there was a thread about a guy making a 32 grille and insert from scratch with complete pictures as the project went along.
That thread was either here or on FordBarn.

 

Was here.

 

Yup, neat stuff.
I know several people that have that kind of talent but they don't blow about it.
It's a personal thing.

 

Yea, I know someone who used to say, " Lift & Save the radiator cap and fix everything else". This shit costs. It all depends on how deep the pockets are and how far someone is willing to go. Quite a while ago, I used to say no car is worth over $5,000 (1965 Thunderbird), then $10,000 (1969 L-88 vette), then $35,000 (1970 Lamborgini), then......
the list goes on.

 

If ya want to see folks spend ungodly amounts of money, go to Barrett-Jackson. They will spend up to millions and it is like they bought a senior coffee at Mickey D's. My poor boy 5K ride is like a piece of fly crap to them! But I like to think I will have more fun with it.

 

We’ve been keeping up with this one and figured it’d be a good time to step in. We included the time invested in the grille because it caught our attention. It’s pertinent information, and it’s one of many instances where Keith worked with the Pinkee’s crew to create his dream car that was inspired by both Jake’s coupe and Bonneville competition machines.

Keith is a long time hot rodder (and down-to-earth guy) who has built a number of cars himself over the years. Here at TRJ, we strive to show the best traditional hot rods and customs regardless if they’re built in backyards or professional shops. We appreciate good craftsmanship—and there’s no doubt the “Federale Coupe” has it in spades. Best of all, it's a driver.

And just because we couldn’t resist—here’s a profile comparison.

 

Thanks for posting. As the OP, I am really pleased that this thread has stayed open, has pretty much remained a civil discussion and that a lot of viewpoints, none of them wrong, have been able to be expressed. Most of us will never have the opportunity to produce, or afford, the level of craftsmanship needed to get into TRJ. So in some ways, that's an inspiration. We're not going to like every car presented. We are not going to even want every car presented-our personal rides are reflections of ourselves-beauty, warts and all. It would be a pretty boring HAMB and a really boring TRJ if we all agreed all the time. So let's keep talking - when we're not out in the shop. And, as one of the lucky Lifetime subscribers to TRJ, I'll be offline for a bit every time a new issue comes out.

 

The people who you would need to ask if they spend this kind of money on a car are not on this board.

My original shop location was next to a custom motorcycle builder, who often built motorcycles for people of just such ilk, including the occasional rock star.

Each went in, said what they wanted, maybe, or maybe not, came in to periodically check on the build.

In the end, they were told the price, and a check was cut. There was no question, or negotiation.

Maybe the builder did take that long. Maybe some of you could indeed have done it faster, but if you did, after reading your customer, you'd have been a fool.

I personally have had people threaten me with bodily harm over a $10k quote, while others claim that it was a bargain, for the same job.