Technical Restored verses Hot Rodded

No problems with restorers thats their choice. I just don't care to drive at 25-35 mph, sweating my ass off and fixing flats. Restomods are where its at for me. Driving my Bubbletop at 75-85 mph on Interstates in overdrive at 1800 rpm's with the A/C on, going to a rod run, listening to my pipes while being completely comfortable. Doesn't get any better then that.

Gary

 

1-205-60B-R549

 

He Haw

 

Very surprised to hear that?? I never drove them enough, but after some um, er, .."events"in my 66 years, I now drive the 32 as a daily. I somehow trained my conscious, to not worry. I don't even lock the doors, I have door keys someplace..lol. I started last winter using as a part time daily, but my 1970 "other" driver is done for, unsavable.

I'm low on funds, so I cannot buy a winter car right now. That turns out to be some sort of blessing in my mind, as I now just keep on realizing that the 32 is very reliable...and I LOVE driving it more than any newer car I might have bought.

At 73, I would think you could very easily get back to your teenager mindset of just "going for it".. In other words, Why Not?..Why waste the "now".

Below, 2 nights ago after I was done shopping at the grocery store...nope, nobody stole it AGAIN lol...and I took time to take a pic of the pink tint in the evening sky. As you can see, I left it with the drivers window down, and passenger window halfway down...my good camera in the unlocked trunk. Radiator upper core is leaking pretty good, slime on the windshield, but I keep a rag for that, and a gallon of water in the trunk.

No spare, no tools, no Triple A, no cell...but people around here would surely stop to help if needed.

..

 

Like I said once before :
Years back, after we completed my son's '37 Dodge sedan build , ( An easy build that started by replacing the complete floor from front to back ), we went to our first show ....A fellow walked up to the car & inspected the car from front to back ...Turns out he was from the area & had passed on the car even for parts as it was "Too Far Gone".....
After his inspection, he turned to me & said: " Congratulations, you ruined a fine old automobile "......
I couldn't have been more proud ...That was 85K++ miles ago .......

 

The first car my father and I built together was a Model A. The car was rough to begin with someone started to hot rod it in the late 60's and it was never finished . I even traded original parts to a local restorer for stuff he didn't need and I could use. Two years latter it was finally finished. Feeling pretty proud I would drive it everywhere. I had driven the car to a Shopko store to get something. When I came out of the store a older gentleman was looking the car over. I said hello to him and he proceeded to tear me a new asshole about wrecking a perfectly good Model A. I told him the story on the car and he just shook his head. Then I told him he should be happy the damn car was just back on the road. He just called me a dumb ass kid and walked away. It turns out the guy ran a small car museum in my town.

 

My dad was a restorer on A's and I think he was disappointed that I went the other way but I kept reminding him that even rodded it was still an A and better off running the streets than molding in a barn. He begrudgingly accepted my concept eventually.

 

Hallrods
Its hard not to become combative in that situation , I have bit my teeth more than once. I would love to look the guy in the eye and say obesely you have mistaken me for some one who gives a shit what you think.

 

gonna make a phone call so I can catch a rye sandwhich

 

I agree with you! Hell I guess the old saying if you don't have nothing nice to say don't say anything applies. I like restored cars also. I don't think I'll ever own one but I do like them. As I got older I hope I got a little wiser in my comments.

 

All the original restorers think they will be worth more money if restored to original spec`s. Can`t put something different on it, it will ruin the value. There`s a local guy restoring a 39 Dodge Business coupe back to original because he saw one on the internet for 40 grand.

 

Choices are whats great about the car Hobby and IMO it changes with time on what we want/desire as a hobby ride. (definitely has for me) I appreciate restored cars and survivors always catch my attention, at this time I'll agree with Gman0046 on Restomod stlye cars, myself I have 2 OT rides, mint/stock that I drive a lot and my 51 Mercury is still here. Diversity, the cars and people is what makes the Hobby fun IMO.

 

I can appreciate a nicely restored car, but it’s not something I would own. I’m at a stage where my life is always short on hours, and I’m constantly frustrated that projects seem to take an eternity. I’m sure I’m not alone.

I’m beginning to see restored cars as a quick and economical source of pre-done rust repair, fresh paint, complete interiors, good glass, and fresh chrome. I’d give up the ability to do it exactly “my way” but gain a lot of time buying a restored car to resto-mod.

If it pisses off the restorers I can live with it. Went through the same stuff when modified and drove OT 70’s Corvettes as daily drivers. I was having much more fun driving mine, while they were debating the proper sheen for a hose clamp.

And that’s what this is all about (to me at least) - FUN with cars.

 

I have a restored Model A, I have (and have had) a Hot Rod. No arguments

 

QUOTE="Jalopy Joker, post: 12770070, member: 19213"]depends on the individual - know guys that have Hot Rods that almost never leave the garage, or their town - know a guy that has put about 230,000 miles on his '33 Hot Rod coupe that he has owned for many years - have known guys that belonged to a Model A club that went on tours for hundreds of miles -[/QUOTE]

True there, I see the local to this area Model A club on the road all the time headed somewhere. They hit almost every parade in the area during parade season and do a bunch of tours on top of that.
There is also a local club that I see on the road just about every week headed somewhere just to be out driving as a group.
I've talked to the owner of this blower Bentley several times over the years as he is a regular at the Concours De Maryhill at Maryhill Museum. It looks like he might have switched to the Excelsior (sp?) tires on it that he was talking about. He came up from around Portland and it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock Sunday morning. A year or two ago he was telling me all the places he had driven it.
On the hot rodded side of the coin my friend Rich's 54 3100 is one of the nicest and cleanest Chevy AD pickups you will ever want to see, Not a super high buck truck but it shows the perfection of the builder. He drove it 40 miles in a driving rain Sunday to get to the show and didn't even wipe it down after he got there. That was all the while the numbers were way down because a lot of people didn't want to pull their cars out of the garage because they might get wet.
As for the restorer vs rodder/customizer thing. I've had self styled restorers flat refuse to sell me a part because I had a hot rod shirt on at swap meets. On the other hand I have had restorer types almost give me some nice parts at the same swap meets because they weren't "original" parts incuding an Appleton spotlight I bought a few years ago. The seller's comment to his helper was "That's an Appleton it isn't worth anything tell him ____ .
Had a high school kid at the 1982 Chevy-GMC truckin Nationals in Ogden ask me why I chopped my truck as they were "so rare" as it sat in a foot ball field full of Chevy AD trucks including the Rod and Custom Dream truck. I just told him that where I came from they weren't rare and the neighbor still used one to irrigate with every day.

Truthfully there are car snobs in every faction of the hobby who like to look down their noses at anyone who doesn't subscribe to their ideas of how a car should be done. You look around and there is always someone who doesn't like your concept of what the car or truck should be and are quite vocal about it.

 

for every hot rod built, the restoration crowd gains a whole bunch of spare parts. sort of symbiotic.

 

Here's another way to look at it -- if we don't drive them what we are doing is saving them for the next guy. Seems like a funny thing to do?!

 

I appreciate the attention to detail and the technical aspects of restored cars from what it was to the accomplished end. Personally I don't want a car/truck that I am afraid to drive. I want the choice to drive mine wether to the next town or cross country. The enjoyment is being on the road not the car sitting in the garage.

 

I agree with HRP . It is built to be driven not sitting inside a building. I have a neighbor who has a beautiful red and white 59 retractable hard top. It even has the plastic clear seat covers that take your mind back. He found a 57 fiberglass boat with the rear fins and front scoop. Restored the boat completely. Drives the whole rig to local car show and turn around run it down to Cali or a show in Washington. He has the right attitude.

 

My OT daily C10 is a “hot trend” truck right now. I keep getting flak from the local club because I’m “screwing up” a one year only 2 tone style. Let’s see: it’s mine, it’s paid for, it costs me a whole $30/month to insure -and- none of them are paying me to have stone stock perfect. Can’t stand the truck, but, love watching them get their panties in a bind over it. V6/400 2wd short bed. Miserable excuse for a truck.

 

Am I the only one that does this? It's a hot summer night, and I can't sleep. So I'll go out to the garage and fire up the Rod. I then drive out in the country. I'll stop at an old section of deserted road. I get out and walk around the old Hot Rod. I'm listening to the mill, looking at the lights. I then get back in and let it rip. The smell of burning rubber as I get tossed back in the seat. A big smile on my face. It doesn't get much better than that. But that's just one of the reasons I like Hot Rods. Hay that's just me. I do enjoy seeing a nice restored car also, and do respect seeing them being preserved. But I think a Hot Rod is just alot more FUN!

 

Don, In the fall of the year in 1970 I was told about a elderly gentleman about 60 miles away in a another county that had a nice Model A coupe for sale and was told not to mention I was going to turn it into a hot rod, I met him and the first thing he ask me what was I going to do with the car and said " you ain't going to make a hot rod out of it,are you? " I said " No sir" and after that we agreed on a price and I gave him a deposit and told him I would come back the next day with a trailer.

I talked my pal into loaning me his trailer & and his back to help me go pick up the car and we arrived around 11 AM, I rang the door bell and his wife told us he was in the shop so we went around to pay him and load the car, he looked at me and ask who was the guy standing beside the truck, I told him it was my friend and as we walked out of the shop he looked at Alan and looked at me and handed me my 50 dollars back, " What's the problem?" he said, "You lied to me, and I noticed Alan was wearing a Posies T shirt and I didn't pay any attention to it when he got in the truck.

Remember the Poise T-shirts? Anybody can restore a antique but it takes a real man to cut one up?

He felt bad but it was my fault for not telling him about the owner and his dislike for hot rods. HRP

 

My Roadster was built in my garage. It was painted with a rattle can. Since going back on the road I have put 45K miles on it. If you don't drive it why the hell do you have it??????

 

I can appreciate a restoration, but have no desire to own one. If I can’t drive it, there’s no point to having it.


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I've owned an OT Corvette for 41 years, but I've just never bought into the "lifestyle". I know 'Vette owners who qualify as elitist snobs. They will only hang out with other 'Vette owners and feel like Hot-Rods are just pieced together junk. They buy all of the clothes and every known accessory as long as it says Corvette somewhere. You can see them at most any show, that for the entrance money, will allow most anything in. They remind me of the restorer folks who would rather die than ever say something nice about a well executed "hot-rod". It's a big world and I would like to think that we could all get along and appreciate any type car for what it is. Life is just way too short to feel any other way. JMHO.

 

From the day I got involved with hot rodding my goal was to make my cars go faster. Naturally that rendered them no longer stock. Carried on that theme on all my cars up to today. Now I only deal in retomods with all the original chrome and trim just the way it left the factory. Originality ends there. Every thing else is performane orientated. I've also heard "you've ruined a perfectly good car" several times over the years. Its my car, my money and I do with them whatever I want.
I got the drag racing bug at the age of 15. Attached is a picture of a 36 Ford drag car we built as 16 year old teenagers in my Grandpa's garage. Definitely not restored. It ws originally flathead powered and later swapped out for a 327. It was taken at NY's Westhampton Raceway by our local newspaper. I'm the skinny kid in the middle. Never knew you could have so much fun drag racing.

 

I enjoy them all. I have hot rods, mild customs/cruisers and one stocker model A. If I could only have one, it wouldn’t be the stocker, but the stock model A wouldn’t be the first car I’d sell either. I use the model A as my fall festival ride. It’s a great ride if you care more about the journey than how long it may take to get there. There is a lot of charm associated with driving a stock original 1930s car.

 

OK! NOW. We have fully documented the fact that we are individuals, have we not? BUT, some here are just as hypocritical towards the R==rod folks. Just doing their thing their way. And I suppose someday, it will be the internal combustion folks against the 'lectric folks!

To paraphrase an old Tom T song, " I like cars".

Still like redheads better than blonds!

Ben

 

I'm into hot rods because I'm incurably creative. I am constitutionally incapable of leaving any design of anything alone. I am accordingly not sure if it a good thing or a bad that I am simultaneously perpetually broke.

I wouldn't say no to the Esders Bugatti Type 41 if by some inconceivable concatenation of circumstances it were to be given to me. But what I really want to do is to reply to the Esders Bugatti Type 41 through design. That necessarily means that the thing I'd be making is not the Esders Bugatti Type 41.

I bought the Morris Minor not because I admire it, but because the Minor is far more boring as manufactured than it would have been with the flat-4 it was originally conceived around. That is, I bought it in order to put a flat-4 in it, and I've been struggling to crack that nut for 25 years. If the flat-4 had made it to production I'd probably not have been interested.

My dad doesn't understand that. He has cars he admires as they are.

 

We will agree to disagree, I don't care for rodent rods but I do like redheads! HRP