Probably notating when the car was built as a hot rod rather than being YOM and to me a hell of a lot cooler than having a YOM plate on a Hot Rod that was built as a hot rod in 1954. The crazed (lacquer over enamel?) paint and all. The paint not being intentional but being the result of spraying one type of paint over a too new paint job of another type and having the previous paint shrink at a faster rate than the top coat.
Totally agree on the plate deal. I didn't get to see or talk to the owner but he bought and put the body etc. on a new chassis. I expect the "cracks" are just a result of old laquer. I painted a '40 coupe for a friend in 1979 and it is a ditzler lacquer paint job. It is "crazing" in many places but from 10 feet you can't tell it. The car was stripped to bare metal before I started on it. Thanks for you comments.
Lacquer cracks. It isn't the result of being put over something else. Lacquer gets brittle over time. A car will shrink and expand in different temperatures, and the lacquer won't. Even original paint 50's and 60's gm car will lacquer check. Factory lacquer paint jobs don't have as many layers (coats) as a custom job. I've seen some old lacquer jobs that were almost an 1/8" thick.
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