Hot Rods In light of Ryan's recent thread

Old cars will always be popular and in demand.
I’m had a few threads stating the price of cars in my area the last year or so have jumped up incredibly.
Even less desirable cars and clapped out “barn finds “ are asking silly money.


more and more I see 80’s hatchbacks going up in value along with camaros and mustangs ( the stuff us 80’s and 90’s kids grew up with.)

who ever would of thought a first gen vw rabbit would be worth what they are or a 2nd gen camaro ?!?!?!

it’s the cost of getting into the hobby with “our cars” the inability for most to work on them, the general lack of car enthusiasm with the younger “plugged in” generation.

Our hobby ebbs and flows.
From what this site is about traditional rods and customs.
To the wild customs of the mid 60’s
To muscle cars
To the Wacky stuff in the 70’s and vans and dune buggies and karts etc.
To the 80’s and 90’s with more, bigger, better more expensive builds street rods pro street car builds started at 6 figures
To the early 2000 and the rat rod craze
And now we seem to have come full circle back to traditional rods and customs and restored cars being “ popular”

and all through this evolution of our little niche of the car hobby world you also had

50’s and 60’s British cars and bikes
60’s and 70’s German cars
70’s into the 80’s pretty much anything “ import”
The 80’s brought on the hatchback revolution , where yes ! You can make a little 4 banger fun to drive and fuel efficient.
Amd into the 90’s with horse power coming back and corvettes and vipers and big horse power trans and camaros etc coming into vogue again.

now your moms grocery getter dodge or ford will leave most of our old school powered cars in the dust without breaking a sweat.

I don’t think our hobby is going to die. It’s simply going to keep evolving and morphing into new a different things.

and yes electric cars, bikes, etc are being modified and hot rodded in a big way .

 

I'm still waiting on the day when we can pick up a nice Deuce for pennies on the dollar as the imports gain momentum, I fear I won't live to see the day but as time progresses the part of the hot rod hobby we love will be a small segment in the future. HRP

 

I read Ryan's post and he's spot on. I think many small hot rod companies will go by the wayside in the future as the demand for their products shrinks. The day will come when there's some form of electric hot rods. I think it's inevitable. I've been watching the electric car ads but for now it's the distance they travel before they need a charge. 300 miles doesn't do much here in the plains of Nebraska. Now if I can figure out where to put the batteries in my 32 Ford roadster?

 

I'm fortunate that my favorite car just so happens to be a lot of people's favorite car as well, and there's an entire industry devoted to just this car and its two siblings.
A friend of mine is currently building a Model A hot rod, and he's been able to source everything he's needed so far, but not without some difficulty. People saying their stuff will work when it won't, poor quality, etc. He's on a budget so he's not buying from the high-dollar guys, but that shouldn't mean you have to sacrifice. Therein lies one of the problems. Whether is a lack of care or not being able to make affordable parts that are of good quality (which in that case you shouldn't be making them at all), there are still too many guys out there writing checks about their parts that their asses can't cash. That's always been the case and there have always been guys working on a budget, but it's no more OK now than it's ever been. On the other hand, there are some guys turning out some really nice stuff for pretty reasonable prices. It's just hard to figure out who is worth the money and who isn't. It's like that with everything though.

 

If you need a special niche part that someone is currently making, better get going and buy it since you never know if it will ever be available later.

Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Please, someone tell me who bought Schroeder! I need a 17" flat 4 spoke Schroeder wheel, NOT that fat dished monstrosity from Speedy!

 

A buddy of mine came up with a new business plan concerning electric cars. Build a cool looking old hot rod flatbed pickup, F-1, AD Chev or whatever, mount a large gas/diesel/generator on the back with all the necessary hookups for charging Teslas etc. Here in the rural expanses of Montana at -25F winter and +105F summer you're not gonna get 200 - 300 miles out of an electric, no way. Advertise on a billboard and wait for the calls to come! LOL!

 

What happened to the flying cars? a flying 34 Ford, I can see it now. HRP

 

This has been going on for a Very Long Time Every
20 to 30 years this bullshit comes up & the same thing
talked about.
And someday it mite happen.......?
But for now I will enjoy my Car & sport.!

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

There was a time in this country, when there was a gasoline shortage and there were long lines to get gas.

I am 68 years old now, and you would have thought that all of the oil in the ground, would have been pumped out by now, but there is still a lot of oil in the ground, and as long as oil does exist, then in my opinion, there will still be the existence of internal combustion engines. Maybe not for the new cars, but for the industrial application, such as ocean going cargo ships, cement trucks, over the road trucks for heavy haul, the large industrial forklifts that move containers around in shipping ports, etc, etc.

As long as the commercial airline industry does exist, there is going to be a need for JP-4 jet fuel, I doubt there will ever be a battery powered wide body airliner.

Kind of makes you wonder how all of the older 50's cars in Cuba, still run around, but then again, a lot of those old cars in Cuba have Continental or what ever engines they could transplant off of forklifts, they make due with what they have.

Funny how in today's world, the power of a micro chip in the computer industry, with a skilled hacker, literally brought down a pipeline company that distributes oil and gasoline, and now there are long gas lines in the regions affected by that hack. Same old wine, different bottle!

Yesterday I was able to watch the 2021 PATE swap meet in Texas on YouTube, all three parts of it, talk about evolution, to be able to watch footage shot on a smart phone, of a myriad of parts and cars and trucks at a large venue, the ability to hit the remote and look at the price and the phone number of the car or truck that you might be interested in, it made me smile, but then again, it made me stop and think about how much longer will the element of a swap meet exist ?

The entire global supply chain, is backed up because of the Covid virus, so that in itself, is an anomaly in the essence that, this isn't the daily obstacle that world wide industry often faces or deals with, but it does demonstrate just how vulnerable the element of ( Just In Time ) parts distribution and manufacturing is and was !

As to the fate of Hot Rodding and the ability for specialty parts to be manufactured, a local well known custom made frame and chassis manufacturer ( Art Morrison ) is doing well, is his product spendy ? Yes indeed it is, but as long as a car body can be found with rotten, rusted out undercarriage and if the customer is willing to step up to the plate, then that particular industry will continue. Its just evolution.

Gone are the days of when you could go to a wrecking yard, to find the old hulk of a car to salvage and to put back together, its sad that the younger generations wont have that experience of being able to do that!

No doubt, the rest of the world of HAMB friendly era cars and trucks, that are affordable for those younger enthusiasts under the age of say 30 or 25 years of age ( its extremely rare that today's kids of say 17 to age 20 will get bitten by the Hot Rodding bug ), the ability to get started into the hobby can be a hard feat to accomplish money wise, who would have ever thought that a total rust bucket that is nothing more than a pile of parts would have the asking price of $10,000 ? And that is just to buy the non running car in the first place!

I don't think our hobby will ever be truly dead, but there is no doubt about that the parts supply and the manufacture of parts for the hobby is evolving into a realm of, only those that have the money can enjoy it. And that isn't even addressing the quality or lack of quality that is evident from offshore manufacturing, its another indication of a type of evolution that isn't based upon high quality versus volume of produced parts. Volume wins, high quality suffers.

There was a time when this was a computer.
There was a time when the village "BLACKSMITH ", was the go to person to make what you needed to keep your world keep spinning, ( hand made horseshoes ).



" Everything old, is new again " At least, lets hope so !
The recent build in Brazil, of the " LEVIATHAN " by Gui ( @Drmalacarne ) is a perfect example of that.

 

You might have to charge an exorbitant amount because of the time it takes to charge most of them. How many you could do in a day might limit the profit.
I guess it depends on how desperate they are.

 

I thought I would never see the long lines again but here in the South we are going through the second gas shortage created by hackers this time, long lines, limited availability and if the station that do have gasoline restricts the customer no more than 20 dollars worth.

This sucks. HRP

 

My great state is trying to ban the registration of new gasoline powered cars by 2030. I think we are in for one Hell of a ride. But I also think Hot Rodding will survive, I am just not sure what it will look like.
B

 

There will never be an electric powered hot rod in my mind. The sound,smell, and rumble are part of it for me.
The electric technology focus should be for commercial equipment tractor trucks and commercial aircraft. This would be the best way to transition to electric power. All the while building the infrastructure nessecery.
They will have a hard time getting my ride away from me.

 

It’s a natural progression as a car guy to get to hotrods, I started with Morris minors in the late 80s then 50s and 60s Gm and fords then rods,,, most my friends went muscle cars but never wrenched on them themselves then family trucksters, and they don’t play with cars no more,,, those of us that continued to play eventually went down the hotrod route, older , cooler , faster , louder...
The mini truckers in the 90s are now punching out nice traditional rods and customs with next level engineering,,,
All the 70s and 80s family cars in Australia are now commanding high prices,,,the young guys are getting older and wanting what they wanted when they were little kids and then once they’ve built that they will want what dad had and then what grandad had....
The cars are getting older every day, we cannot make time stand still... my stepsons 13 and already has a bucket body and chassis, a coupla hundred bucks, he ll build it as he wants it and I’ll help if asked.
If he wants to build it electric I’ll help cause it’ll make him a car guy forever.
A kid with a spanner and a dream is a powerful force, once he knows he can make something run with his bare hands , he will never stop having a go at fixing something,,
Styles change but the grease disease never leaves you once you catch it

Those that continually say it’s going to die are the same ones we say in Australia “Would whinge having a root” (look it up)

Hotrodding is safe and in good hands...

 

I try to befriend the young guys that I see at different meets, swap meets, car shows, cruises, etc. I let them know that they are the future of our hobby. Most of the people that I meet are appreciative of an 80 year old guy taking the time to speak with them and treat them as equals. When I was in my teens I was fortunate to meet and hang out with some members of the San Francisco Ramblers car club. they treated me with respect as I did them. I learned a lot from them, and to this day I know they set me on the right path. Just remember, the youth of today was us yesterday.

 

You guy's must have seen the electric Camaro putting out 1600 hp
and racing around the Street's of L.A.
it was Quick as a Bunny
Then I Seen the Mustang that put out the Same 1600 hp and that Race around LA
and it ran like a Raped Ape.

Just my 3.5 cents

Live Learn & Die a Fool

 

I'm not one to come up with wild theories but your comment prompted me to think wouldn't it be interesting to find out if this so called hacking the system was a way to usher in these electric cars by causing a panic about fossil fuel shortages? Watched the news this morning where fist fights were breaking out at the pumps and a guy trying to fill a plastic water bottle from the pump.

 

A plastic water bottle would be an improvement here

 

That is classic. I was waiting for the car to go up in flames after he lit up a cigarette after driving away.