Hot Rods Abandoned “custom” hot rod or never finished

crazy stuff comes up for sale. This jalopy has seen better days. Wonder if it was ever driven as a hot rod or the builder gave up.

 

Thats pretty bad.

 

Crying shame right there.
Looks like it was supposed to be something and is now not much of anything .

 

Probably cobbled together by some kids and made a trip or two around the block before dad told them no.

 

Here in Upstate NY (rustland) that would be marketed as "just needs some TLC ".

 

after the doors were welded it was all filled and painted so I'm thinking it was finished, what do those engine mounts fit?

 

Yeah, I was thinking about the thought that went in to those engine mounts as well... Wonder what was in there??

 

It has the torque tube in another pic I didn’t post.
Flathead?

 

I'm sure it was one of the roadworthy jalopies of the past and I use that term with a little apprehension but even today there are pretty sketchy things operating on the roadways perhaps many times more dangerous than this was in its heyday...I'd love to know the story regardless...

The smoothed trunk area and tailights seem to have some level of skill applied...looks like a rust belter for sure and seeing tires worn into slicks always freaks me out and speaks poverty and a desire to be a Hotrodder no matter where your financial position.

 

... and maybe a bolt on aluminium trans adapter, buy it and rebuild it

 

""HOT ROD OR NEVER FINISHED""

it looks like it is finished to me. finished, done, kaput...

 

It’s offered at $1500

id give a couple to to prove a point.

 

It would make cool yard art

 

Contacted the seller. No info other than it belonged to a deceased relative.

 

Hmmm. Wild stuff, but somewhat worked for a minute or 2. Was obviously a low buck, use what ya got build. Shock mount extensions to use to long of shocks. Way short split wishbones. Motor mounts as already stated, were what they could make work. Steering column might be salvageable. Rear end, toque tube set up might be useful to someone also. Not $1500 of useful stuff tho. At least to me.

 

Its one of those old man " its not for sale, I'm gonna fix it up one day" things.... I guess 1 day never came....

 

I think I see a fairly thick coat of Bondo.

 

Could have been an early drag car with the motor set up and the firewall....guess that motor torque is what did it in !

 

I wonder when did bondo replace lead...just curious...I suspect it's period bondo...the doors were welded and skimmed I mean caked over...but again regionally fixing old shit has its challenges...

 

That’s different

 

I saw that too...crude flames molded with lead or bondo...beer infused...

You know many of these wacky Hotrods may have been shared in B & W in their heyday right here...it looks to have been a Cabby or Coupester...Anthony did you ask just for provenance IF there may have been an old picture to put some of the past to the forefront...

 

I guess this one is definitely not homogenized

 

First thing I noticed, too.

Some neat bits there, I could fix that body, if I had the desire for one of these, but $1500 is pretty steep, and I'm usually an optimist when it comes to pricing stuff like this.

 

...your right just part of the BIG picture...thanks for sharing as choppy as it is it may have even saw ink who knows...

 

Question. Say for instance this orphan ended up at your shop(no I’m not buying, just a hypothetical)
Would you preserve the “art” on the qtr panel?

 

If it was mine I would stand back and give it some thought once I had it straightened out at ride height how it all falls into place...the bondo or lead is holding it together...you can see a c notch in the body...this was lowslung

If I was to keep it I might give it a more flame like flow...

 

I really believe many Hotrodders had great ideas but lacked in execution...

 

Then someone with that skill stole their idea and made it showworthy and claimed it as theirs...

 

No but they didn't call my buddy JD Fikes in Waco Bondo John for nothing.

The car isn' worth 1500 from what I see but I could see paying what the chassis is worth in the condition it is in for it. If you are actually interested in it, wait them out as long as you figure you dare an show up with cash an a trailer.
An hour with a cutting torch and hand full of cut disks would double the value of that chassis if it isn't rotted out towards the back.
Guys on here have fixed worse than that body but it might demand every skill you have and teach some new ones. I'd guess there is a hundred hours of patch panel install on it.
Those shock brackets look tall because they are welded to steel plate scabbed to the frame rather than bolted to the frame, Probably to use the F 1 shocks that came with them.

 

What was it? Lippy