Aside from hot rods, painting is my main thing. Actually, probably more painting than anything else. I think if I had to find a parallel, it is painting that is my skateboarding. And I am compelled beyond explanation to do it. I just installed my first show in 2 years this weekend, and I was able to sigh a deep breath. I told myself that now I can focus on the 28 roadster for a while and let the studio go dark. I might have even said it out loud to myself. And last night I had a fitful and restless night’s sleep filled with dreams of painting new paintings. So I guess I was wrong about that break. Still need to find time to finish up the roadster though…
I believe most of us was bitten by a microscopic hot rod bug and we were infected early in life, we are no different from the kid that plays baseball or took up golf. I know a few guys that are passionate about fishing, so much as to be a absolute religion to them, they eat, live and breath to be on a lake, stream, pond or the ocean and lavish hundreds of thousands of dollars on their fishing rods, tackle. boats and trucks to participle in what they love, Sound familiar, we as hot rodders and custom car builders are just as obsessed, at least I know I am. I don't have any other hobby's and I surround myself with guys that have the same interest as me. HRP
Around the corner from where I grew up, there was a model A coupe with a flathead in it. It was one of my favorite destination on my bike. I dreamed about that coupe damn near every night. The homes in that area where company apartments for a local steel company. There was a lot of turnover. While staring at this model A one day, a new tenant moved in next door to the model A. The guy drove a 1957 Chevy 210 post coupe with a tube grill and the gunsights turned into scoops. I have never been the same sense.
I can feel that. And I got it right away, the context, the reason that inspired the entry today. Maybe I'm more a sociopath to a degree about passions. To one person (like you perhaps) I'd enjoy bouncing ideas and experiences back n forth. To others they simply don't deserve my thoughts, my drives, my regrets or my wins. "Fuck off, who dafuq are you?" I've also become almost a snob. I don't wanna see your car full of blister pack speed shop shit. I'll tip my hat to the ideal you enjoy it, have fun, leave it at that. And if I want your opinion I'll give it to ya. How many topics have come and gone here about those who never will "get it" regardless of words. Good. I don't want them to. I'm a freak for history and authenticity in my restoration work. 4 plus decades of research and results, but some mope wants to tell me I'm wrong, or my reference material isn't real, or I only think I know, blah fkn blah blah blah. "Ok, thanks..." is now my pat answer. In the end, no answer, no words, no elloquence required. I think as soon as an intrinsic mark is hit something dies within. I had an incredible vision of an AD Chevy truck, had a dear friend sketch my ideas because he's so good at it. After seeing it for almost a year I was done. I didn't care. The spark wasn't there any more because the cut here, and splice there and the winged bed tops, yeah it worked. It was better in my head, unspoken, unseen, mine. I feel like if the answer is discovered then the question is now moot. The pursuit is over. I'd rather live the mysteries, and know there's almost an army of us doing the same. Without words. Is that sociopathic? Don't care if it is.
I gave up trying to ride my red Nash plexiglas skateboard in 1979. Gravel roads are not conducive to being a skater. https://vintage-skateboards.com/post/97500966252/translucent-red-by-nash-mfg-inc-ca-1970s
I completely get where Mr. Mullen is coming from. (He probabaly would be pissed to hear me call him Mr.)....He has a passion just like all of us on here have a passion. We're all going to keep trying our best to keep living that passion as long as we physically and mentally can do so. Outside of this community very few people understand us at all. That's fine. I have a neighbor who is an avid hunter. He lives and breaths that stuff. It's all he can talk about, but it's his passion. He bores the hell out of me. I'm not a hunter and never have been. I'm not against it, it's just not my passion. I have a lot of friends my age who have been in retirement communities for a number of years. You know, where they cut your grass, shovel the snow and would freak out if a hot rod was fired up in their little, quiet cul-de-sacs. My friends ask me why I still live where I do and when I'm going to stop messing with cars and come live a peaceful retirement. My answer is always, to heck with that, I'm going to keep pushing forward until I can no longer push! When we give up our passions, the end is near. What reason is there to live when you no longer have goals to achieve and passions to pursue.....Don.
I have an automotive illness , actually a internal combustion , gear driven , greasy , nitro burning disease that encompasses anything with an engine , gears and does “something “. my younger daughter had the same illness with horses , horseback riding , English riding , western , dressage , ponies , and now miniature horse agility training !!! my wife and older daughter have many interests and they ebb and flow with society, their friend circle , the season etc . it started with bicycles, then dirt bikes , then and now cars . I will always be a car guy . I have my interests, but can appreciate anything someone is passionate about and listen to them as it’s music to my ears . most of my family and friends think I’m all out crazy , but get it .
I’m not coordinated enough to skateboard (any form of skates as well) My hobby is cars. My occupation is cars. I’ve never done anything else. I can’t remember not working on cars. Even as a toddler, I was working with dad on old rides. I don’t hunt, rarely fish. Play a guitar but not very well. One week out of the year I take a vacation and don’t work on stuff. Just bought a camper and looking forward to building one of my beaters to pull it. I guess I’m boring.
I can wander through old junkyards for days. Spent yesterday afternoon in one. Wasn't looking to buy anything. Just a nice 56 degree afternoon with no snow,mud or bugs. Know every vehicle in the place and yet every time I see something new. Have 4 of these yards and I rotate which I attend. Most aren't open on Sunday's but the owners let me in. They are my haven..quiet place...restful solace. God willing I will die in one
Great subject. I for one am glad you feel this way. I am more interested in what world wide endeavor you're into??That’s interesting!
Everthing I have done and countine to do is related to cars and racing, I can't relate to people who aren't inerested in cars, racing, motorcycles or some form of machinery or have interests outside of cars. I never played ball and stick sports in school. My mother and father took me to my first weekly dirt short track when I was three mouths old! They took me to Fonda speedway every Saturday night for the stock car races from 1987-1990. I had to stay in the grandstands with my mom while dad was in the pits working. My frist memory is of my dad adjusting the valves on he 390 in his 72 F-100 Ranger. I was a toddler, he was sitting on the inner fender and I wanted to see what he was doing. I stood on the milk crate he had used to climb under the hood, I still couldn't see so I climbed on the bumper garbed the radiator support stood still couldn't see so I started to use the grill as a ladder, when he saw what I was doing he picked me up put me on his lap and went back to work. Looking back I don't know how he was able to run the valves with me on his lap. I went racing (1/4 mile dirt) instead of going to my prom. It's not just the cars themselves I want to know the histroy as well.
Well I am pretty obviously a car freak who has been one for almost seven decades. I do have and share a lot of other interests though and am not a one interest person. There was a time about 37 give or take one or two years ago that I up and figured out that I was pretty damned boring in that I only talked about cars and hot rods when I was around other people even though I had lot of interests. It wasn't being told that I personally was boring it was listening to a coworker talk baseball in the faculty break room every day before school, at lunch and at any other time you were around him. I figured if he bored me that much I must bore others a lot too. People here know me as a car guy but a lot of folks either know me as the guy who takes and shares mountain or sunset photos almost every day on FB, Back ten years ago a lot of locals to the region knew my name as the guy who shared sunrise photos that were posted on a local TV weather report. I have boating friends who don't even know that I am into cars, Truth is I have more boats than I do cars I just don't talk about them here nor do I talk about my cars there. .
I’ve always had two passions in life, semi trucking and cars. Wanted to drive trucks as soon as I got my license, had to wait until I was 26 before anybody would hire me. Dedicated my life to it, and boy has it changed. It used to be fun, now it’s just a job. Too much govt interference, too many idiots on the roads, no respect anymore. Just a underpaid job. Cars have always been my hobby and at times a supplement to my income. I’ve made a lot of money fixing stuff others wouldn’t touch or the owners couldn’t afford for anybody else to do for them. I learned early I couldn’t afford to take my stuff to a shop unless it was something I couldn’t do. Now, I only do my stuff, and even some of that I have to farm out on the late models. I don’t do FWD stuff anymore, don’t do computer operated stuff, I don’t do FI. I still do the fun mechanical stuff, brakes, AC, tires. But, I have done everything on my Lincoln except build the transmission and the driveshaft. I enjoy working in my makeshift home shop. I’ve got guns and fishing poles, but not the patience to hunt or fish. Yet I can work for hours on a simple bracket to make it look and work like I see it. Yeah, I got the automotive sickness, too. And hope I’m never cured of it!
My family owned a wrecking yard and car and truck repair, which had a two bay body shop/spray booth, to fix up what ever cars and trucks we salvaged from our yard, to put out in front of the shop for sale. So I was always into all things automotive, and all things of a mechanical nature. I also have a ton of other interests as well, that are just as addicting as the realm of old cars and hot rods. This thread is interesting, as it very much sums up what is evident to a lot of us, " either you are a gear head or you are not, either you get it, or you don't" It's really just as simple as that!
It's pretty cool, that Tony Hawk, eventually landed a " 900 " On video! That entire video, was a very satisfying experience!
This right here: "...My guess is that we are all built the same. None of us are completely stupid… A little deranged – I think there’s a strong argument – I do. But ultimately, we also know what we have. We have something that we will embrace for the rest of our lives. That’s a luxury.” Succinct and profound.
Rodney Mullen is THE MAN. Tony Hawk is THE MAN. My first love in life was, and is, skateboarding. It completely consumed me. Skateboarding taught me how to succeed. Period. No matter how many times you get broke off, no matter how many people are telling you'll never amount to anything, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is you physically and mentally never giving up. Tune out the pain, tune out the naysayers, focus on what you want. My love for hot rods is related to my love for skateboarding. In the same way no two people kickflip exactly the same, no two people build hot rods exactly the same, making neither of which boring. Additionally, without rules, and with an open-source environment, you can have boundless innovation. Rodney Mullen talks about this in his Ted talks. If you've got a chance to listen, I highly recommend.
Ryan: (a while back) "Hot rodding is a young man's thing." True. "Till the wheels fall off." Also true.
I've always said 'I'm going to drive it until the wheels fall off and then put them back on again' and in puberty I went to an automotive junk yard for the first time and my tongue got so stiff I couldn't talk right for two days... try to explain that to someone....
Lemme throw my philosophical .02 in here. A great skater or bmxer's style is immediately recognizable because it's a reflection of their personality. You see them in a video or magazine and know it's them without a name caption or look at their face. They could pull the same trick as any other skater, but their personal drive and obsession drives them to make it their own. I know a couple jazz musicians who exhibit incredible personality through their playing. The first, a guitarist, I have actually recognized from outside a restaurant a block away not knowing he was performing that night. When he switches to rock-n-roll, he'll melt your face off, but still in his distinct sound. I've even heard him pick a bluegrass tune on mandolin and it's very much his style. The other guy, a jazz trumpeter, decided he'd like to play saxophone because the ladies like it. 3 weeks later, he's playing saxophone exactly as he would trumpet. Now onto my own obsession, like all of us here. Relating to the examples above hot rods are a way to express creativity and individualism. I've read mention of so many average rodders on here who are instantly recognized by their car or builds they did decades ago. Same as our famous heroes. The builder may have moved on, but the car is forever linked to them. I've realized for my own style, the hot rod develops and matures with me. I make a repair, the car puts up a fight, and in the end I walk away with a valuable lesson. It's taught me patience and persistence. To really pin down the reason behind my obsession: cars keep my mind constantly moving. I'm a fleet mechanic which as you imagine gets pretty boring. Same vehicles, same problem every day, but it still has its challenges and opportunities to learn even after 9 years. I'm surrounded by racers and old hot rodders and I get to soak in all their wisdom and past experiences. During my breaks and when I clock out for the day I go to the HAMB and I get to work on my own rod, pushing to get it done while I slowly collect parts for the next build. And I see me in a few short months behind the wheel going to work way too early or taking the kiddos to get ice cream and every chance to drive will be an escape from the modern madness that surrounds us. When I lay down at night and watch youtube on the phone, it's car vids. Then I struggle trying to sleep running my to do list through my head or just dreaming up something I'll probably never get the chance to build. How do Gene Winfield and all the other oldtimers just keep doing it? It keeps the mind constantly active. There is always something new for us to learn, discover, or achieve. Until the wheels fall off indeed....
I just saw another part of this and he said… “it’s a luxury that I’ve spent my life doing what I love….and because of that, it sucks.” I think I understand what he was trying to say, and I feel that. Often.
Let's be honest and concise....... and nowhere does it say it's a bad thing. obsession noun the state of being obsessed with someone or something. "she cared for him with a devotion bordering on obsession" an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind. "he was in the grip of an obsession he was powerless to resist"
The Jalopy Journal
