Customs So...How Many times has this happened to you

People never fail to disappoint me , that guy was plain RUDE!.....Your car is very nicely done, different and cool!

 

Age old story! Just like Redheads, Brunettes, Blondes, what's your preference? It's your ride it's damn cool and you obviously think so too, so ENJOY it and let the nay sayers be damned! Hell take it as a compliment you did such a good job on the build it took the dingbat ten minutes to recognize it was a Chevy motor! Joe

 

You've got a cool old car. He probably drove home in a 97 camry. Don't mind his opinion.

 

As a guy who has been both a spectator (more often) and a car owner (soon grasshopper . . soon) at shows, I can tell you that I always REALLY appreciated any of you guys who brought their toys who would take the time to talk to me about what you built! We learn our whole lives and anyone who claims to know it all, for sure does not! I've learned as much from casual chats with hot rodders at shows and cruises than I have from pouring over technical manuals and forums. So please, if some kid comes up asking dumb questions and maybe has heard a few things he shouldn't repeat from other so-called experts, take the time to educate him on what you know and share your own opinions - it's how we grow, man - not just ourselves but the hobby/lifestyle too! My 2 cents.

 

Hell, you don't have to go to a show to have people rag on other peoples cars, just log on to the HAMB, and go to threads like steel vs. glass bodies, Chevy engines in Fords etc.
That's from people who don't drive Hugo's

Mick

 

What he said ^. Great looking car, don't let some dumbass mess with you. He's just jealous.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the support, honestly I felt bad for my 8 year old son that heard the comment this guy made , my son didn't fully understand the disapproval of his comment but did pick up on demeanor , so I think that's what really pissed me off. The Pontiac is a living extension of his older brother, my 8 year old has been out in the garage helping with this build. I don't pretend at 40 to remember what it's like to think like a 8 year old but as a father I new it hurt his feelings and mine too.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

I don't care what motor you put in it, the car is up and running, and thats the whole point. Good on you....

 

That's a good lookin' Pancho!

 

Women and cars... turn out the lights and they all look the same!

 

I get this one from my wife's family... not car people by any stretch. When are you going to paint it? When you finish, are you going to sell it? They have an impossible grasp on that a hotrod is never done. The concept of buying a non-running car without an engine stupefies them.

 

Cruise ins are a "red light special" away from being Walmarts. I attend on occasion but when I do I expect some negative elements such as;
stupid comments,
a few people I try to avoid,
cars that make me laugh (to myself),
cruise in sluts (yeah, you've seen 'em),
trophy whores (you know 'em),
power parkers, (you may be one of them)
crappy 50's music
and expensive beers.

Knowing what to expect makes them more tolerable.

OP, you don't have to get used to it, just a bit thicker skin and remember the words of The Waco Kid "You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons"

 

I'm building an off branded car right now with a SBC in it. I expect these types of comments when the car is done. That being said, engine choice aside, there are always plenty of people who will be quick to try to belittle you, your possessions, your achievements, etc., in an effort to make themselves feel bigger. I've found that pissing in someone else's yard has yet to make mine any greener, but many haven't come to this realization yet. To hell with them. Sure, it's fun to tear into someone who makes a dopey comment, smash them with rigorous cross-examination of their car/lack thereof, etc... or you could just say GFY and be done. Both are perfectly fine in my book.

And stop displaying your car with the hood up. This is the traditional customs page, keep that hood shut, you're ruining the lines! Nice car, have fun

 

If you think these guys are "Asshats", try some of the purists over at the OT 'Cherman' crowd(you all know the group that I mean!! LOL!) At one point I owned an OT (924) that blew the engine, & you should have seen & heard the reactions when I threatened to drop a Pinto motor into it & paint the name "Porschinto"(like "Studillac" in the old days! LOL!!) on the back deck ! Had more fun spreading that rumor!! Almost wished I'd actually done it, but the smog laws in CA changed, so I scrapped it. A SENSE OF HUMOR IS MANDATORY IN LIFE!!!!

 

I went to a lot of car shows in the early 80's with the 38 Chevy I still have, but for a variety of poor reasons I pretty much quit going, the car deteriorated over the years and now has genuine patina This year I went to a car show in Red Oak Iowa, my father in law wanted to meet us there so I thought why not drive the 38, then we would have our chairs to sit down conveniently located. I happened to be by the car (think I was dropping something off) and a guy was looking it over. He said he wasn't a fan of the paint job, but..........then he pointed out the myriad of things that he liked about the car, little details, etc, he was like one of my neighbors, a base coat/clear coat guy.

The guy that painted my car and trimmed the interior in about 1982 happened to be at the car show in Atlantic Iowa a week or two earlier (where I had lived for 30 plus years), he hadn't seen the car in probably thirty years, I dinged him for the paint deterioration and he just laughed at me, looked the interior over and was happy that it had stood up well. For what it's worth the silver paint was de-laminating in a couple of years, just like it did on factory applied finishes back then.

My cousin gives me crap about it not having a nose high stance, he's a gasser sort of a guy and one of his friends, that builds cars (he had an award winning car at KKOA this year), wants me to will it to him, he'd just drive it for a year or so (he likes the way it drives) but then he'd paint it and jack the front end up My father in law sent a picture of my car to his brother in law and the first thing he commented on was the dent in the fender and the sad paint job. My father in law told him "it's a driver"

My experiences at car shows have been really pretty good, maybe I am not going to enough of them?

 

I like to tell em, "Give me $xx,xxx for it and you can redo it just like you like or think it should be. I built it for me, not you!" That usually shuts them up.

 

I would have just said, "Well why don't you build the one you like so I can comment on how well you did?"
I have never witnessed that kind of behaviour, but even as a non affected party, I would have told the guy that there is always a reason, and maybe he should know why a particular thing was done before opening his pie hole.
Bob

 

HEY!

 

It actually makes me kind of happy when someone turns their nose up at my car. The general public has horrible taste so it makes me feel like I've done something right. You ought to be glad the 'dude' driving the Prius thinks your car sucks.

 

Actually if you want to be truly old school not being liked is the first rule, isn't it.

 

Happens here, too.

 

Mike Myers in Wayne's World (1992) said it best:

Wayne Campbell: "Led Zeppelin didn't write tunes everybody liked. They left that to the Bee Gees."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105793/quotes?item=qt0405548

 

Too many people these days don't understand that although we're all entitled to have an opinion, nobody is obliged to listen to it! As stated earlier, lucky this guy isn't in Canada or Australia, he'd be up to his ears in Pontiac's with Chevrolet engines. Sweet car man, drive it and enjoy it with your family.

 

X2.. Yep, a Canadian Pontiac was built on the Chevrolet chassis. Until sometime in the early 60s, the small GMC trucks had the American engines and transmissions. I had a 1964 GMC with the 292 engine.
Bob

 

how old are ya now? when i was 25 i used to get upset at every piece of criticism about my rides (and i had a lot) they were fighting words man !!! car shows were the worst place to get them comments.
but you will find as you get older (im now 53) i dont give a ratts ass if they like my car or not, I DO.
so invite him to sit and have a brew and discuss it with ya
jus my 3c

 

I'm glad you have experienced it the other way. I have also.
However I have experienced a lot of the negative over the years.
When I finish my present project I'll probably attend a few events things like maybe Deuce days in Victoria or other events like that.
But I'll be pretty selective and pass on a lot of them.

 

He was a dick.

 

Great point! You may recall that, in the '70s, GM got a lot of bad press for putting sbc's in the "wrong" cars. I worked with a fellow who bought a new olds with a chevy in it. He got a check to compensate, and told me it didn't make any difference to him; his new car ran fine the way it was! He didn't even know the difference...

 

Hey Dash, you always tell him it's a Canadian Pontiac.

 

Oddly enough I think mine is a Canadian Pontiac , not sure but from what I've been reading my body is a fuller body which was sold in Canada. Or from what I'm told or price together.

Since I'm on here let me consult the guru's. Is that BS or carry water?


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.