That's the instance/rake I'm looking for to my 42'... Does anyone know the size of the wheels and tires?
Yep! Totally impractical! But cool as heck! The fronts are gonna stick out too! well sort of...The drum Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
^^^^you are soooo gonna get the scrub lecture. Love the hangin rear tires, not my gig but glad it is yours!
I think, based upon my time in CA, a true California rake, is when you just lower the front of the vehicle without raising the rear.
I'd have to say that would be correct. I read and heard the term "California Rake" in the late 50's and early 60's and still remember a number of cars with California rakes from the early 60's when they just cut a couple of coils on the front springs and called it good leaving the back the stock height often with very visible chrome exhaust tips. Jacking the back up to clear wide tires didn't come about until the late 60's early 70's from what I remember. Before that long shackles were to lower your fat fender Ford, not to Jack up your parallel leaf rear end to clear fat tires. My first long standing memory of a car with a California rake was in 1962 when I was on a family trip to California as a 15 year old and saw a 59 Impala that was lowered to almost ground scraping in the front and had a brace of scavenger pipes on the back all reaching out to the bumper.
When I was 16 in 1960 my dad and I cut 3 coils out of my moms Black 56 Ford Victoria. Mom complained about the ride so he got to more springs and we cut off almost 2. Road good looked great left the rear alone. I added baby moons and drove it on dates until she sold it in late 61. Living in So Cal it was just normal. Jacked up backs and reversed shackles were just starting as I remember and most of the time it was for worn out sagging leaf springs. Scavengers or dump tubes as guys I hung with called them were really popular in 60-61 and guys with 58-60 Chevrolet’s added spacers in the coils spring to raise the rear or the smart one replaced the rear springs with station wagon ones.
Thanks, my dad was a hot rodder from the 30’s. He never said much about it. There may be some in the boxes I have after my mom died 10 years ago at 96. But right now I don’t know..
For a street car the Califorina rake is perfect. It just says late 50s early 60s. In my minds eye when I think of a hot rod it has this stance.
My mom asked me why my 40 sedan set so crooked and I told her it was for better gas mileage because it was always going down hill. Then I got "Th e Look".
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