Hot Rods MANY OF US ARE BRAND LOYAL GUYS

I am a car whore, I love them all. I always seem to find a way to like all of them for some reason, no apologies!

 

Chevy in particular & GM in general DID have interchangeability , year to year and in some cases , brand to brand , Ford in particular had too many year specific parts , in general , a lack of that same interchangeability . If anything , that's what kept many of us away from them . Just never got in to Chryslers .

 

I like several different makes, Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto, Fargo and Plymouth...

I did own a Studebaker for awhile


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As a teen and up to my late 30's, I was a straight Chevy guy. I got past it at some point I guess I've expanded my horizons. Nowadays I still have a soft spot for Chevrolet's- my current project is my bucket-list car, a 1950 Fleetline 2 door.
But in the garage right now are: 2 Fords- a '66 Mustang and a '51 Deluxe sedan, 2 Chevrolets- the '50 project and a '41 Master Deluxe 2 door sedan, and 2 Mopars (OT)- a '90 Dodge Diesel truck and a 2010 Challenger.
And each one is special to me in its own way. So, like @sololobo said above- I'm a car whore, spreading the love!!

 

Everything with wheels that goes "Vroom" can have my attention. Have had on- and off-topic cars from the big 3. At this moment in time, it's GM and Mopar.

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Well I certainly can't say I'm brand loyal. Too many manufacturers have built too many good cars to choose from and I only have one short life to enjoy as many of them as possible. Vintage European sports cars and American hot rods, I've had my share of each and enjoyed them all.

 

I have been a Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Mercedes loyalist. All eventually drove me away and forced me to stop buying their cars by building crappy products and not supporting them.

There are still certain years and models I would not mind owning but unfortunately, they all had their bad years and models too.

 

Zero brand loyalty here..there are so many make/model/year cars/trucks that I love, and have had, I couldn't bring myself to limiting it to one brand.
Current cars are current cars, not necessarily permanent, carry me thru the rest of my life cars.

 

There is a Clemson professor that live down the road from me and he has a Sunbeam Tiger that I would like to have, I saw it up close and personal yesterday parked at Lowes, it's nice.

 

Diehard MoPar guy but I love Vettes too and own one at the moment.


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I have all three manufacturers in my barn, Currently 1970 Chevelle, 1940 Ford, and 1963 Dodge. Old cars mainly ford products 40, 41, and 51 mercury and my muscle cars were GM Pontiac GTO, camaro, and the Chevelle 66&70. I did have a 55 Chevy, 56 Pontiac, 59 Ford, 63 impala, and a 1963 split window corvette. All this and I worked for Chrysler as an engineering manager but my current cars have mopar engines the 40 has a 392 hemi and my 63 dodge has a 440 the Chevelle is GM.

 

GM (Holden) born n bred. RIP Holden. Owned a few O/T Ford cars over the years mainly because they were cheap but never for long. Bought my Vedette and justified it to myself with the Simca badge and Chrysler build plate. The GM mechanicals helped as well lol.

 

I'm life experience loyal, meaning the cars I fall for are the ones I've had life experiences with. Grabowski and Ivo "T"'s cause I grew up with them at my school or house, 36 / 37 Cords my Dad hooked me on them talking around the dinner table, have had 3 over the years, 49 thru 52 Plymouths, the big drug dealer drove one in my home town and in the early 50's he was a gangster, 55 Chrysler hard tops, while on vacation when I was 13 my folks made friends with a couple that had a red Newport, the man who owned it gave me the keys and said, "Go get me a pack of cigarettes" I jumped in and drove off in his Chrysler, I got the cigarettes and brought them back, my parents were in shock, the man said "I thought he was older", and 53 Buick Skylarks, when I was in my early 30's I found a 53 Skylark parked behind a factory at the end of my street. I took my ES225 Gibson guitar into the place and said would you take this guitar for the wheels on the Buick, the lady said, yes we were going to start our son on guitar lessons, you can pick the car up tonight , They said "Car" I had said "Wheels" I was down there right at closing time and drug the car home. and finally The Ray Vega 38 Ford tub and the Hirohata Merc came to my highs school and cruised in the parking lot, I was completely "Knocked Out" by it, still am. have had a couple of Tubs since, and a 51 Merc I still have. So there you have it "T"'s, Cords, Plymouths, Chryslers, Buicks, Mercs and Ford tubs. Very grateful to have had so many really great cars.

 

I always get into this argument with my FIL. He's a Ford guy and everything else sucks, especially Chevy. I don't understand this mindset. I do understand that you can have an affinity for a brand or be a fan of a brand. It's almost like a sports team. I'm a NY Rangers fan, and as such I strongly dislike the NJ Devils. But I have no actual reason for disliking that team aside from my fandom. Marty Brodeur didn't come to my house and kick my cat. And the rational side of me would have to acknowledge that they were far superior to my Rangers for a long time.

Same deal with brand loyalty. You can prefer the style or engines of certain makes over others. You can prefer Fords, but objectively you can't say that Chevy sucks. Or that Mopars suck. Or vice versa. It's a fallacy.

I like cars. And if you get rid of your biases, you can usually find some redeeming qualities about pretty much any of them if you look hard enough.

 

Even today, the trade of a ES225 for a 53 Buick Skylark is a good one. Great story.

 

...I like most any brand car or truck as long as it has a Chevy drivetrain...

 

Never owned a Mopar- about equal Ford to Chevrolet-

 

If it runs and drives and was cheap I don’t care what it is .

 

Man, there's no telling how many cars / trucks you've ruined along the way.

 

I’m not brand loyal per se ( I’ve owned my F-100 for 33 years, but that’s for another time) I like them all Ford, Chrysler, GM,etc.. I even had a Mopar as a daily driver at one point. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m open to almost anything, like say, this for instance.


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I have had both an Impala and an F100. For me it is much more the "that's cool" factor.

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For my daily drivers I prefer Buicks. My 4 hot rods have been Chevys. But I would consider strongly a:
Henry J
Willys
Hillman
Morris Minor
Anglia/Prefect
Thames
Austin
Or a brand new 1960 Pontiac.

.bjb

 

In '59, Santa Clara, CA., cars had names painted on 'em. (I was no different...)
'55-'57 Pontiacs would cruise Lincoln St., "Tin Indian" #1-27, there were probably more.
But this girl from my high school had a boyfriend with a '57 Ford, always parked in front of her house. On the rear fin was the name: "NO SWEAT"
One night we were across the street, and he came out of her house. She was at the door, yelling "And don't come back!"
He left in a cloud of tire smoke, didn't sound like a Y block Ford!
Never saw that car again.

 

BUT! As for brand preference... I've always said Ford. It always was. Starting in '54, my first car was a Model A chassis, with a Mor Drop axle, juice brakes, and a '33 Plymouth roadster body. I was 12. Sold it to buy my '36 three window, which I chopped with hack saw and oxy-acet torch. Got a deal, switched 2 flatheads for a bud, his Dad gave me the cherry '46 tudor sedan the donor engine came from.
Bought a worn out 59L and did rings, brgs, valve job. A year later went to work for the mechanic that let me use his valve grinder and seat grinder. (and other tools!)
Found a '30 'A' Cabriolet body in a field. $3. I paid cash.
Older rodder I knew sold me a '32 frame, rear end, and '29 roadster rear half.
Built a cool channeled 'roadster'. Flathead power.
Quickly:
*'32 Five window, all apart. Fresh paint, Olds/LaSalle, Pont rear. $275. Kid got accepted at MIT. Mom said 'Get it outa my garage!' Yes,'M.
*'36 Five window, older kid had to sell. $200. Dago axle, juice brakes, original uphol., orig radio. Worked perfect. Reversed '50 Merc wheels, U.S. Royal Masters, 8.20/6.40.
*'34 Ford Roadster, 322 Buick mill, '39 box. Not running. $200 cash. Got it running, traded it for a '56 Austin Healy with 265 Chevy, Saginaw 3 spd.
*'34 Ford roadster, (another one! White, 322 Buick engine.) Torch cut frame, just awful. Fixed everything, sold car for $1,000. Was rich.
Bought a mint black '56 Cad Coupe DeVille, series 62. Dropped it, Clif Inman went ape, dropped his '58 Chrysler, then had Wilhelm chop it. (envy...LOL)
*'55 Cad Coupe DeVille, dropped it, sold it to an excited buyer. ($$$)
*Porsches...more than a few. (my business was Porsches)
*'56 Ford convert, hopped up the 292 /T86 box. Fast, 14 sec. car.
*'56 Chevy Bel Air, black. Seller had the whole dash chromed, couldn't figure out where the wires all went. Begged me to buy it. $300. I did. This was Dec. of '60. Could NOT drive that thing in the daytime! Sold it at night. $2000. Crazy...
* '48 Merc convert. Red. Straight. Chrome wheels, only outers chrome, centers black. Sold it to a young kid that was 'polite'. Cheap.
*'51 Merc full custom, traded my bud Jim for my '36 Coupe, straight across. Merc had Buick mill, 4" chopped Carson (real thing) and '60 Chrysler canted quad headlights.
@Rod&Wheeler Dennis on here (HAMB) ended up with it.
*'50 Olds Coupe, black, '57 J-2 mill, '37 LaSalle box. Grandma bought me this one, I fixed it and totalled it out on 10th St. Beat the '57 Chev...
*'26 'T' Tudor sedan, finished full fendered with flathead. Bought it for $550, used car lot. Lotsa chrome, white tuck & roll, ran terrible. Tore it down, stock cam...broken piston, broken rings, cracked block. Edelbrock heads and intake, three 97s. Built a 5/16 X 1/4 with Weber F2 cam, 'T' was now 'respectable'. 4.44 locked rear, went downtown and earned some $$, "ten bucks a gear". Crappy old black/primer '38 Chevy Coupe with a 302 Jimmie, 5 pots slammed the gate on me Crap! Where'd all that come from??
*Three '54 Ford Coupes, 2 of 'em stolen from me. Grrrr...Never found 'em.
More? Oh, there's more...
*'55 Ford F100, $100 from a Santa Cruz cop. No time to work on it. Ex wife hated it.
*'55 Ford F100, metallic blue, white/blue t&r interior, no engine, no wheels. It was a theft recovery. Tow yard owner owed me a favor, got the perfect F100 for $60.
Shoulda heard ex wife when she saw...Another F100 rolling into the drive of our Aptos beach house! That was 1972. The first F100 was now a parts truck. Made the 'new one' like new!
Had it all those years, What? Only 48... three of my sons, Rich, Kelly, and Tory all have '55 F100s. Ex wife is STILL fuming. I'm a-grinnin'. Ex wife calls now wife Joey 'Trophy Wife'. Yep.
Oh, and I've got a '50 F1, and a '47 Ford Fordor (no rust) and 5 'real' hot rods, and some parts...DD is a Mercedes Benz R129 roadster (300 SL)
I usually drive my F100, though...
There were more cars, too many to list. Loved most of 'em, hated the '56 Chevy. Just did. Clutch pedal was not 'rigid', steering mast loose, doors sloppy, even after adjustment. My 426 Dodge was tighter...and it was a 330!

 

Since I was a kid I seemed to always favor GM vehicles, mostly Chevy. The Harley Earl styling influence of the 1937 grabbed my attention long ago with my first Chevy Coupe and followed with a few 1937 Pickups, a Panel Truck, a Sedan Delivery and a few Sedans including my current longest owned Chopped Sedan. If I were to choose another make vehicle, my first choice would be an early Mopar (Dodge or Plymouth) probably 1934. A second choice would be an iconic 32 Ford.

 

Mopar guy here.
While HAMB friendly Fords would be nice, I can find a Mopar of a similar vintage for 1/3 the price. I'd love to have a '33 3 window, but I could have a 34 Plymouth in the same condition (and fit in it better) along with 2 other cars.
I understand the unbeatable numbers of SBCs in knowledge and volume production of parts, but wouldn't swap one into a Mopar and the cars I like (tri-5s, 'vettes, 50's PUs) are again 2-3 or more pricey than a similar Mopar.
I appreciate the history of the Mopar brand and the engineering, even though I completely understand why Ford V8s dominated the early hot rod scene. I kind of like being a bit different, too. Anyone who has messed with cars for a few years knows every manufacturer did some great stuff and some stuff that is just wrong. Bias can easily go both ways.

Still willing to trade part of my large collection of projects/parts for a nice running T bucket with a SBC.
PM me with questions/offers.

 

...I like most any brand car or truck as long as it DOESN'T have a Chevy drivetrain...

 

I don't discriminate, I drive a Ford and Chevy. My other project GM (46 Olds) is out in the back shed. I've never owned a MOPAR however we had one as a family car when I was a lot younger.

 

I grew up in a house that only drove GM because that is where my dad worked. I also worked for GM for a while and my brother still does. However, I have always kind of liked just cars in general as long as they were old and cool. Pretty sure I have owned about all the American brands now in one form or another and even a couple off brands from other countries although those countries were the UK and Germany, not the most common one that folks seem to own cars from... Anyway, if there were a brand loyalty, it would still be Chevrolet, but it is apparent that I don't stick to that very well even from my avatar...