Hot Rods Folk art jalopy? It’s not a rat rod

I was thinking of doodlebug tractors too. There were more of them in my area, but you would also see the occasional home built truck or jalopy too. Farmers tended to never actually throw things away, they'd just get pushed out in the tree line where they could be scavenged for parts to build other things later on.

 

Grew up with homemade stuff like that.
The logging skidders were my favorite. Our local scrap yard had one I wish I’d had bought. 2 straight 6 engines. One to move the rig, the other to work a huge winch. Multiple transmissions.
this particular creation seems more built for fun than work. It’s owner told stories of youthful shenanigans sometimes ending up in jail time for its builders and friends.
The presence of cheater slicks (not the current new ones but what was on it when “restored”) suggest it was not the typical farmers tool.

 

Damn Jake, good to hear from you!

When a buck was still silver!
Sorry Anthony, veering a bit OT here.
Back to jalopies…..

 

That was called a "loggers dream". If you had one of those, you were in the big money! Not only could you skid your logs to the truck, you could also load it with the machine. I ran a woodyard a few years back in the 80's, you seen a lot of home made equipment back then, most had been around since the 40's and 50's. As the mills shifted to tree length wood instead of the shorter lengths, the equipment changed to store bought skidders and loaders, and the small guys went out of business.

 

New category... "Pre-Rudy"

 

Man that thing looks fun. I love stuff like that that hasnt been "improved" to appeal to a modern sense of asthetics

 

I dig it!

 

This vehicle is what’s called ......

A Cut-Down

A lot of the time, a cut down was made by a kid, not necessarily a” car guy”.

Most cut downs were temporary fun kind of like a dune buggy. A cheap date.....really cheap date. They had a life span of .....maybe over the summer.

This one has hung around.

 

...perhaps you missed this...

I'd call it a Jalopy/Hotrod Hybrid...as to travel to all these locales it would have been Licensed and sharing some aftermarket Hotrod parts AND if it traveled all these distances I'd say it it was a bit more robust than a hack job...Many times Teens and Young men/women are not given credit where credit is due...remember many manning the controls and repairing Allied Equipment in WW11 were just in their early 20s or perhaps even younger...

@anthony myrick, thanks for sharing this and braving the barrage of negativity towards the innocence of Jalopy Hotrod...

It would have been interesting to see what revolved Hotrod wise around the Builders responsible for this...If this is local to you perhaps they have some pics to share...

If its a fake and it could possibly be because people do shit like that and lie with a straight face which is unfortunate...I stand corrected, but you saw it and believe it has been around for quite some time by the look of what you witnessed. The wiring looks upgraded in places but that is not necessarily a sign of a faked vintage build by any means...

 

I’ll agree with the short life of a cutdown. The ones my uncles built were used and abused then scrapped.
This one seems built much better that a simple cut down. The owner describing or telling stories of multiple carbed flatty mills, cheater slicks and long haul trips seems like something a little more than backroad, fire lane or pasture fun.
Maybe it is that jalopy/hot rod/cutdown hybrid.

 

Looks like it was built by a guy who wouldn't have joined the HAMB. He'd have been way to busy building and having fun.

 

I did not miss that.
A set of taillights, tag and windshield wipers you are good to go in this state. Now you have to have wipers whether they work or not or if there is no actual windshield is if no consequence:.... Oh these days you do have to have insurance.

A nicer cut-down could be street legal.

It is a neat car that does not fit the narrative.
I like stuff that does not fit the narrative... it reminds us of the reality instead of the pseudo 50s.

 

I’m taking the guys word
But looking at the car, the story seems possible.
He stated he had to rewire it. New tires and brake parts, gas tank and exhaust. But the car is how it was left according to him.
If faked, they did a good job. Nothing on the chassis seems to be newer than 48. Which is after what he said was the original build timeline but also said it has been changed and upgraded after that. However the juice brakes and spring in front of the axle would have been available but from a new car.
Flat head screws, square head bolts, torch welding, the seats, seat belt markings from the 40s, correct carb linkage ......seems like a lot of trouble to fake for something that isn’t particularly valuable monetarily.
I hope to cross paths again. I’d like to ask if there are any old pics of it.

 

I like the seats, it would be nice to know what they were in originally.

Bob

 

I absolutely agree with this!! I know you may think otherwise when you look at my name but my idea of a R.R. is a hot rod that is not painted. I'm not into "shock value" at all. Can I change my name?

 

Amongst the thousands of members posts and shared imagery have been just about every imaginable state of Hotrod Jalopy...some probably shared only a post or two depending on how things were received by those viewing it...some stayed some left...Quite frankly that is unfortunate as its truly part of the bigger picture...

 

PM Ryan he may be able to do that for you...

 

Those seats remind me of the old 2 1/2 Ton truck seats from the '50's. Studebaker in particular. In one of my old line companies, B 1/110th Inf. we had one that when you lifted the hood it was blue and had the CD logo on the underside or the hood. It was also visible under the coats of paint on the hood and doors. Those seats remind me of it but it had legs that raised them in the truck. The seat backs adjusted like those and the legs could be cut off for lowering them into the car here.

 

Dang, that is a big load of fun right there. I really dig the crazy curved roof and open cockpit. I'd love to own it, even if just to drive to family picnics. Stick an ice cream maker in the back connected to a hit-and-miss, you're the life of the party!

 

Doodlebug in my Avatar I found in a chicken house in WV. More fun than a barrel of monkeys. Plus the bed dumps!!

 

I had one of those in the early 60s I built out of a rusty 48 Plymouth. We ran it for one summer, come fall I traded it straight across for a 41 Ford pickup that didn't run to an old farmer. He fastened a barn door on the back and used it to haul feed and seed on his farm. It was still on that farm, not running, into the late 90s.

 

I think it's kind of ironic that some of the comments about "RRs", which are taboo on here, are posted on the "Jalopy Journal". Thanks for sharing, Anthony. I think it'd be a blast to drive.

 

I figure if you don't think that is cool they have plenty of room for you at Hotrodders.com or some other lame site.

 

I absolutely love this cut-down jalopy! I see similar cut downs and doodlebugs pop up for sale up here from time to time but they are usually, at best, long neglected field/woods yard art or set up to push/pull stumps and plows. This is one of the coolest examples I've seen and it looks like A LOT of fun.

EDIT: I have like 6 cowls, frames, and a hacked up 36 bed that was turned into a trailer and I want to go home and build one now.

 

A Rat Rod is something that is made out of junk parts made to LOOK like it's made out of junk parts scabbed together plus don't forget the obligatory spider webs, rats, and other doo-dads attached. A cut-down or Doodlebug is something that was being built during the same era (40s, 50s, 60s) as a real hot rod but either for fun or for work. They had a purpose other than just to see who could put together the junkiest looking thing possible.
My doodlebug was made out of a model A sedan with a dump bed so the farmer that built it could use it to pick rocks and haul potatoes out of his fields. These days me and old A-bone the skeleton share driving duties.

 

2X what 49 ratfink said.

 

I still believe since this was Roadworthy and I suspect licensed whether by legal means or not it really puts it in a different category as Doodlebugs and Cutdowns are not Hotrods per say but Farm assist vehicles, also possibly Yahoo field and private lane vehicles...and that doesn't mean you couldn't have a hopped up motor in a doodle...many probably unfortunately were old Hotrods repurposed when Dad took it away when they got in trouble with them...

This thing apparently was equipped with drag slicks and other racing hardware over its tenure as a Jalopy Hotrod

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/folk-art-jalopy-it’s-not-a-rat-rod.1242552/#post-14210976

...did it ever do the Strip who knows...perhaps it just for street and kept the Law busy...as we know street racing was a problem back in the day...

I know Cutdowns as they still exist in the Vineyards and farms dotting our wonderful province...but the only way they'd be roadworthy is with one of these...



Just another detail that gets lumped in with the R word is the Webs...like em or not those are actually present on late 50s early sixties Hotrods, the Ice Box being one...



https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/any-history-on-the-ice-box.931199/

This Hotrod History is dotted with eccentricities that get muddled up in newer phenomenons...

I'm still learning as I was too young to experience 65 and earlier...

Credit to Photographer, Owner
​

 

Wow you are so right about the Cutdown connection to Jalopy Hotrod racing...



http://www.catamountstadium.com/WeeklyBlog_March132018_SomeofDamndedestCar.html

This was a QUOTE below from a story featuring this Jalopy Cutdown...

"Kenny apparently had to go to this more standard car later after the cutdowns were banned at most tracks"...

Now this racer is crude and is considered a cutdown but you can see where some inspiration may have crossed the shop floor into what you've shared...

By the way the pic is in the early 50s...

Credit to Photographer, Owner

​

 

While it is cool that it was built in the '40's by some kid on a farm or in the back yard, it is not my style. I do see a lot of parts that could be use for a more "refined" hot rod.
Anyway, thanks for posting it is cool to look at.

 

These are function over form creations. It’s not particularly pleasing proportion wise but I wouldn’t change a thing.
I may be in the minority but I place these jalopy, cutdown, circle track fodder creations in the same historical place as the more refined traditional hot rods of the era.