I always laugh when I see or hear people bashing on things like 59 Caddy taillights or fins on period built cars. It would be like saying "I don't like the way John Hancock signed his name Declaration of Independence. If it had been me I would have..." It is far bigger then any of our opinions because it is history!
In that case you can't have an opinion about anything that has happened. Like having an opinion about what's been posted in this thread earlier - it's history. Just because something was created a long time ago doesn't make it a work of art. I don't care if something was built 1 week ago, 70 years ago or 700 years ago, if I think it's ugly I'm gonna say it's ugly. Having opinions, discussing, and learning from the past is how we can shape the future. Custom cars and hot rods are a pretty insignificant part of the large picture tho.
I didn't say you can't have an opinion, but the problem is people are letting their opinions segue history. For example people who find an old channeled hot rod and unchannel because they want a traditional hot rod. It is also effecting the style of cars being built. People are building in a just post war to maybe a mid 50s style. There are very few cars being built in a pre war or late 50s early 60s style. Personally I have never understood the way people Oh an Ah over the Doane Spencer or Bob Mcgee roadsters to me, they are plain and bland. I am a big fan the Fran Bannister roadster, deep channel, sectioned 39 Ford truck grill, custom hood, rolled pan. I have never liked the rear window on Hirohata Merc. All three of the cars I mentioned that I don't care for are huge parts of hot rod and custom car history that were built long before I was born (1981) as such deserve my respect not my criticism. If a real deal survivor or modern fined custom pulled into a show today it would get far more attention then a modern cookie cutter traditional hot rod.
It's very well done, but I'm not crazy about the overall look. Relatively stock sillouette up front, fairly radical sillouette out back. Maybe a bit of an identity crisis. Kinda looks like a '50 Ford being swallowed by a '57 Studebaker. It's not terrible, it's just not for me.
I like to see "different" cars like this. It was built back in a time when if you didn't like the way a new car looked, wait a year, and you can have a different bodystyle. Styling was changing every year or even every 6 months. These styling ideas carried over on the custom side of things. Some of them were common, some weren't. We see cars built in a certain style and think that there is only look or one way to build a particular body style. When, in fact there are many "looks" for the same car.we all have different opinions and thoughts on the same thing. I'm glad to see that not everybody builds a cookie cutter car.
The Jalopy Journal
