Technical Flames, thumbs up or thumbs down?

Stogy, I smiled at the photo you posted. Not because it's funny or because I think the flames
are laid out all wrong. They're what I expect of the era. The thing is, as a kid born in
1950 who started buying car mags at the age of eight, it was probably years before I
saw a flamed car on the street. Our town, for some reason, was a hotbed for cruising.
Guys from bigger towns in the area came to our town and melded with our cruisers.
Maybe it was the girls, maybe it was the pizza places or maybe it was just the slower
pace of Lemont in the evenings. Anyway, we just didn't see a thousand flamed roadsters.
There was pinstriping, mild scalloping and names on the quarter panels. Then metalflake
hit big time around 1967. Flames were at the "Rod & Kustom" shows in Chicago.

By the way, I dig the photo. If I'd been a ten year old standing on the street corner with
my friends, and that coupe passed by, I probably would've gone nuts!.

 

I come down on Most everything you post?...

That's stretching the truth a little...there is actually Very Little you comment on that I have anything to say...at all.

Your Positivity to History is admirable.

We will always be judged for what we say...enjoy your Freedom of Speech and The Hamb...

and most of all
Enjoy Your Flames



Credit to Photographer, Owner
​

 

Flames are a defining hot rod statement. We don't want our cars to look like soccer mom minivans. It is part of the visual things we do to give our cars impact. These cars are not everyday drivers but vehicles for the imagination. We need something whimsical. I don't understand ghost flames; they should stand out. Flames are part of the recipe as much as little tires in front, big ones in back, louvers, and chopped tops. It needs to appeal to the little kid in me, not the old geezer in the mirror.

 

Flames are as "hot rod" as it gets but like anything else it is all about execution.

 

My ‘37 has understated flames. Most of the time I forget they’re even there.

 

^^^ Love it.

 

Like most of y'all......on some cars they look OK.........others not-so-much.
IF I ever had a car with flames I would do the "ghost-flames" look. Just barely visible. One of those...."Oh look.....ghost flames, cool!
6sally6

 

@Stogy I think that what flames were traditionally are nothing like what most of us think flames are. Several of your pics really show us where we are coming from. The early flames or what we see most often of the early flames are for the most part a wiggly scallop.

I was reading an interview with Kenneth Howard once and he said that he believed that flames should look like crab claws. If you look at his examples that is basically what you are going to see. My preference if a flame is in the works falls somewhere between the Von Dutch crab claw and a seaweed flame. Sea weed flames are too busy and crab claws are too clunky for my taste.

 

I've been around. Under the radar, haha. Recently bought a Hotrod, so i'm back in the mix.

 

Used to really like them. Must have gotten over it for the most part now.
I do like some flame jobs. Like Roths truck. Sort of dripping paint more than flames. But it can go both ways.

 

Yes.







Bones

 

I liked these.

 

I prefer them to start at the body edge and not”float” like a decal. California Kid as an example of “floaters”.


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

 

Two more.

 

They were layed out and rattlecan sprayed by me. I liked them... Not many other people did, but I didn't care.

 

I just went through this whole thread and saw some cool pictures and read some interesting comments. my concluding is that flames are for looking at not some much talking about. It's a lot like the Wheels and Stance thread here. There are looks we like and looks we don't like but we will never agree on what they are. Difference of opinion........ I don't agree that bad paint can ruin a car. It can make 'em ugly but it's just paint. A bad chop or section can ruin a car.
Heres a couple of pics of my pickup I think the first in red primer came from where flames came from, to cover front body damage when matching the rest of the paint wasn't possible or important mostly in race cars. The one in black was because the flames were already there and I'd grown used to them. Good or bad they are there until the next and hopefully final Paint job. (for me)

 

Hello,

One of the most unusual appearances of an old car in a recent streaming channel show was the black 55 Chevy Bel Air hardtop. The Queen’s Gambit series was moving right along and when things were approaching a chess tournament prepping point. Then, up pops this old chess opponent to offer some help for the upcoming championships.

The chess guy was a fairly mild and meek. But, when the scene went to the outside street, he arrived in a black 55 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop with chrome wheels and a cool yellow flame paint job. What a contrast with the world of chess versus a cool looking hot rod sedan from the same time period.

The yellow flames stood out in the dark of night scene. But, it was the overall look of the 55 Chevy with flames that would throw anyone for a loop.



Jnaki

Later on, in the series, the same guy who arrived in style with the flamed 55 Chevy in the earlier scenes, arrives in a 1963 Mercury Comet, which matched his concentrated chess playing style much better.

 

Like most everything in Hot Rodding, it depends on the execution, fitting in with the total theme of the build, and working "with" the vehicle, instead of "against" it.

 

I just went through this entire thread, even though it's been quiet for over a year. I picked up a project that I am considering flaming. For me, flames are a style statement. Many that have been displayed don't do much for me but there are a few that stand out and are the examples that would convince me to do it. Seems like there is a fair amount of people who like them, but 'not on my car'.

 

Call me late for the party, but oh yea, I like flames and playing with fire.