History Expanding on Joey's underrated thread,what else is underrated?

I still think jail bar fords are ugly, but I think all the'41-'48 fords have been under-rated. For me, it was those horrible ugly-assed monochromatic ones that were so popular in the eighties, man, those things REALLY put me off those cars, and they were EVERYWHERE.
I could really go for a long door coupe with fiestas or lancers a healthy rake and a 6x2 olds or hemi with a hydro.

 

I especially liked the Pepto Bismol pink ones.
Bonus points for Yosemite Sam on the back.

 

Sweet Jesus, don't remind me...trends...I wonder what people will be saying about the current fixation with babyshit colours 15 years from now...

 

Yes! Nash/AMC/Rambler
Underrated but make good hot rods

 

Beautiful American. Love the color.

 

the 49-54 Chevs were always thot of as mild customs, not so much performance cars;...here's my 52 back in the day set up to emulate the gasser style cars...
wish I had it back today.

 

[squirrel, post: 11604786, member: 3595] "People are no longer embarrassed to be seen driving Edsels."
Reminds me of a 50s joke. Define 3 time loser. A pregnant prostitute driving an Edsel with a Nixon bumper sticker.

 

We still have the 59 Olds 88 4 door my grandpa bought new. In all my years of going to car shows, I’ve seen only one other. I’ll bet a 2 door hardtop or vert would be a cool Custom but don’t think I’ve ever seen one.

 

Hello,

Our teenage son was approaching driving age. I knew how important a first car is to a teenager. The old hot rod ideas and experiences came into play as my thoughts started rambling. The first car had to have something different, other than a lowered Honda or VW sedan so popular in his age group. I knew he wanted independence like we all did as teenagers.

As a parent, our worries were reliability and safety, as well as “coolness.” So, I looked at several “under the radar of the insurance companies” to smaller size cars that could be just the right thing for low cost insurance and safety. The lowest cost insurance wise for a teenager was a truck, but not a 4x4. That was out since he wanted to take his friends around the local So Cal areas. Trucks were limiting as to passengers.

I knew of several shops that could do things that I was not able to do during this time period. So, any major modifications were ok to do for the different teenage car. We went to see several used USA cars at some dealers. The choices and designs were not too great, that was due to the smog restrictions and basic styling of the factory cars. The only real cool car was a 1992 GMC Typhoon, but it was considered a 4 wheel drive truck from insurance companies, so that was out for our son. Now, my wife and I started more interest in this all-wheel drive road hugging terror, for our daily drives. A possibility for sure.


Thanks, @themoose

Then one day this 1961 Comet was sitting by the side of the road. It was a Light Blue Silver color, for sale, and had no dents other than a small ding on the rear bumper. It looked like a little old lady from Laguna Niguel drove it since new until it was for sale.

We looked at it carefully, while the insurance agent said it qualified for the compact car discount. (actually, there were 3 in our family and 3 cars, so the family car identification was not going to work. It was his car, but a family insurance plan.)

Jnaki

I already had plans to change over the low powered motor with a larger v8 along with adding some custom touches. With the money saved, a new paint job, adding a v8 motor and other things were ok on our family budget.

With the help of @themoose , the car was lowered and the Moon Discs were added. I told my son that the suspension would be upgraded for a better handling and ride. He was ok at first. But, we did not buy the car as it was destined for Arizona.

He wanted a different car after seeing what that Comet would look like in his thought process. Then, we took him to see a real live small Ford Station Wagon, with the hopes that the wagon would cover his interests in camping and going to the beach, as well as staying in the lower insurance cost range.

To spice up the plain Blue, small station wagon, we told him that some add-on accessories would look good on that small wagon. I knew that any plain car or station wagon would always look better if we added some new wheels and possible paint if it needed it. He just wanted a reliable car and did not care what it looked like. The idea of his first car and freedom was thrown in that conversation somewhere.
ideas for the small station wagon...
If he did not like the small Ford Station Wagon, I could always make it look cool with paint and wheels. Then my wife and I would use it for our expanding "landscaping project-mobile." Plus, the surfboards were now in the 7-8 foot category and would easily fit inside when walking away from the station wagon. (not needing any exterior surf racks) You just needed some different surface stuff, like Astrodeck patches or strips. No wax, as the interior heat still creates a melted mess inside of any station wagon or car.

So what was the final outcome? We read about a small car that came from Texas with very low miles and went to see it as a family. The young woman was a recent So Cal resident from Texas. She had just been given a promotion to a V.P. Company status and a new BMW was her company car. So, our son ended up with a different, low mileage, 4 speed, hi performance car that met the discount small compact car insurance standard.

It had some real Texas experience with some small dents in the hood and trunk lid. It was described as “Texas Hail Balls…” He was fine with that and said that it gave the cool sedan some character. He drove it for the next 100k miles/10 years, and gave it to a friend for $1.00 in the end. The small car was safe and reliable. It only had the standard oil, brakes and gas to contend with, as no other repairs were necessary.

 

Since Greenblade resurrected this tread, I got a chance to read through it & have to agree with him & "choffman41"

Once I bought the 55 Nash in my avatar, I started paying attention to the older "Upside down Bathtub" cars as well as the Hudsons' of the era There are some really cool hot rods & customs built on these platforms! I also have 3 OT cars (66 & 67) that fit in Greenblades comment as well...Sorely underrated!

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ar-transport-hauling-open-or-enclosed.614419/

 

Hey Metal Muncher...
I am so glad you posted this...
I just pulled this one out of the garage...not stock but just gently warmed up with MG Midget motor and trans and disc brakes...so cool these little cars and they repop almost everything for them...it reminds me of smaller 1950's Chevy maybe....



other than the crazy UK threads these are super neat cars...