Folks Of Interest Are you more of a hot rod guy or a custom guy?

A crossover? Kinda what mine is. Sleeper, maybe.

Ben

 

It depends on what kind of a car I am driving at the time.

 

I like to look at customs and admire them, but never had the itch to build one. I like fast, quick, whiplash rides that go down the road straight. Tis what shifts my gears.

 

Hot Rod,,,,,but I admire the Customs.
When I see the beautiful body lines,,,the custom interiors,,,,and the stance that many have.
I consider a lot of them works of art !

That being said,,,,a Hot Rod is more about the engine and driveline.
And many of them are so nice that I feel out of place looking at them.

I feel like Mr. Hank Kimball on Green Acres,,,, (what were we talking about again?)
LOL.

Tommy

 

I lean more towards hot rods, but I love to look at a smoothed and decked custom. But what turns me off is canted headlights, toothy grilles, and tail draggers. I'm more into a forward rake with bigs and littles. I'd put mine sorta in the middle, mostly stock lines, some trim removed, but no chop or smoothing the body lines, with a later model engine.

 

Customs, like hot rods can miss the mark, I have seen some examples of both which I think the builder just threw every body modification they could dream up and the results was more clown car than anything.

I believe any real car guy would love to have the Hirohata Mercury or a nice Barris Brothers car in his garage. HRP

n gis garage or a nice Barris Brothers car.

 

I can and do appreciate a well built custom, but I'm all HOT ROD and have always been. If I were to stray it would be a sports car with a V8.

 

I admire the work & skill of a custom, but the only car in my garage will always be a hot rod !

 

I like a well done custom to look at but never would build one where I have always loved speed, so there is no denying my love of hot rods and also like a nice driver, but want it to have enough HP to make it fun to drive.

 

I went to a High School here in town where I was a minority for sure as a white boy. Spent three years in vocational auto shop , a lot of that time spent working on low riders. These cars were a work of art for the most part...But damn, they needed some mechanical attention! I can truly appreciate the work that goes into customs and low riders and at one point I actually dreamed up how I would build a 59 Impala low rider with a stout SBC. Best part of all I was well respected by all my classmates no mater what color because I helped all of em with their rides...But still a Hot Rod guy

 

Driving a low and slow custom isn’t near as fun as a light fast standard trans hot rod.

 

my thoughts were always, you buy a custom, you build a hotrod. I only like building, so hotrods get my nod.

 

Hot Rod

 

Yes!
The '58 scratches my Custom itch, an OT '69 GTX satisfies my Hot Rod urges...

 

I'm more interested in customs.

 

Do you all remember when the mags featured both hot rods and customs? Good times for sure , something for everyone and the vendors were diggin it!

 

RUH ROH !

Did Danny say he is coming out the closet?

 

I like both Hot Rods and Customs if they are done right.

Even seeing some of the Low Low's @Woodward was enjoying...

 

I always thought that custom guys were cut from a different piece of cloth. Not a cut down by any means, just different. In my business I like both, but my heart is light, fast and cheap. As I get older, I don't have to go fast, but I like to know that I can!

 

A well done mild Custom does not need a Top Chop any more than it needs to be a light weight under the Hood. I live in both camps and have built several of both. Often times I drive one that is both and it didn't brake the bank to get there. 100% built at home in a 2 car garage.

 

Hotrod, but also admire the work of the customs.

 

I've always been a Hot Rodder. However, if I ever build my 41 Pontiac, it would be a 1940's style custom, with full fade-aways.

 

I've had both but lean more towards the custom side. The 48 is more custom than hot rod by a long shot and will be even more so this time. The 51 Merc was a mild custom. The 57 Panel was about as hot rod as you can get in a sleeper body.

 

I also believe a mild custom can share some hot rod roots especially under the hood, but I had a friend that decided that it was time to build a hot rod since he had always been a custom guy and he owned a beautiful '50 Mercury, He was talking to me at a dhow later in the year and told me he had finished the chassis of his hot rod and I ask what was he building and he said a '5o Mercury.

I knew he had several Mercury's sitting around and had been buying every one of them he found for many years but a '50 Mercury hot rod?

After the show I went by his place to check it out, to be honest I was shocked, the car had a blown big block Chevy & 4 speed, he had a narrow rear axle with huge rear tires (pro street).

After the project stalled he parted it out and built another custom Merc.

HRP

 

The only way to make this happen is to just get busy and do it. I like your plan.

 

My 50 Merc Custom project will be along the same visual lines as my Vicky with a slight twist. I'm tired of seeing every fresh built Merc fitting in one of two molds. Any more they are getting as boring as every 32 Ford Roadster. Mine is stepping out of the norm. Yes you can have both in one.

 

What the story with the grille in your Vicky? HRP

 

I tend to enjoy both. It's funny when I thought of this as to how people outside the classic car world only seem to think of you a car guy. My aunt always invites an older friend of hers to family get togethers who no one seems to like and has been widowed three times. She always asks me if I'm still 'tinkering' with old cars. I always have to bite my tongue to keep from saying to her "yeah, and are you still going though husbands?"

 

But isn't taking a car as built by a manufacturer and making it into a Hot Rod not customizing it as well?

 

Hey wizard,

What size Hemi in your pic?
I like the 6/71 approach,,,should be very nice.
Are the heads in the pic wrapped up in plastic bags?

Tommy