Venting on Hot Rodding's future

Another thing that has a strong effect to our hobbie (in America) is the fact that most of our iron is going overseas, and I mean ALOT of it! Hell, I sold a '35 Ford pickup to a guy, and it turns out he lived in Sweden, now I really had no problem with this until his buddie,(a vehicle transporter strictly for cars going from the U.S. to Sweden), says to me that he is transporting 50 cars a WEEK on the average (Hotrods,customs, classics,bikes) This is just to Sweden...now, don't get me wrong, I do dig the fact that you guys in Europe are 'carrying the torch' and making cool stuff but, I guarantee that in 20 years or so we will be looking through Europes 'Vintage Auto shoppers' to buy our iron back.

 

One point on the stuff going out of the US is,
A. Most of the country's this stuff is going to never had it in the first place so have to import. I think with the growing fan base in Europe there will never be a surplus of old car parts there to buy back.
B. A lot gets imported to OZ as well. We didn't do too well post WWII and most of the cars were used until they couldn't be patched up any more to keep em going. What is good tin over here I keep seeing guys on this site saying to ditch it and find something better. You second rate steel is our first rate stuff, we need your cars.

Hey, that gives me an idea, some people sponsor children. You guys in the USA should sponsor us by sending over good cars and Hemis............

 

I say you guys otta start building your own cars, Ha-Ha-Ha, no, I'm kidding, sometimes it just feels like its all disapearing too quickly and big $$$ for 'Shit'.

 

my son got that movie f&f tokyo drift (thats their hotrods) i saw about half the movie when i noticed a 67 mustang fastback. now me being a mustang freak i got excited. my son asked me why. i said wait till you see that thing move.i just knew that they were gona do to tokyo what they did to us(show them what american muscle is) but nooooooo. when time come to get the stang out they put a fuckin nissan motor in it .i was sick .its bad enough we got guys putin chevy motors in fords but now a nissan.we got to draw the line smewhere. thats like beatin your dick with a hammer.(it dont make no sense)

 

Interesting thread.
Well first of all, are we talking about "hot rodding" or "traditional hot rodding". I live here in the LA area, most of the guys I grew up with are all into 60's-early 70's muscle cars. I posted a couple of videos on you tube thursday of the street races we have here. Ive seen 60's camaros, Novas, chevelles, Mustangs, Bugs doing wheelies, Even a 12 second datsun! One of my buddies has a 10 second SS monte carlo that he races. None of the gay import tuner guys ever come because they know they will get their doors blown off and lose their money. A lot of people have been trashing 70's and 80's stuff but lets not forget about 2nd genereation camaros, mustang 5.0's ( ive been seeing a lot of those raced out lately) Grand nationals, Caprices (my uncle always told me those would be the hot rods of the future), Impalas, I could go on naming cars but you get the idea. SBC or 302's rear wheel drive cars. Many of these 70's-80's-90's cars can be had for dirt cheap now,
as far as real steel 20's 30's 40's cars, they are getting harder to find, but they are still out there too.

 

I first read this thread tonight, but some of you have touched on something I've been thinking about, off & on, for about a week, now.

Most of you like to label yourselves as "traditional" rod builders or owners. I feel the need to ask......what, exactly, is "traditional" building?

Does it mean that one can build a rod ONLY from 1925 through 1960 vintage "donors"? If so, I suggest that "our" chosen term is incorrect. (Hear me out, please.)

I suggest this; "Traditional" building is rounding up what you can, on the cheap, and fabricating the rest, in order to put together a car that can be driven, is reasonably reliable, and won't burn itself to the ground in the first two hours of life.
Look at it this way; A 23-year old GI comes home from WW2, wanders out back of Grampa's barn, and rounds up a '36 Chevy coupe body and frame, a Ford flathead V-8 and trans, and a rear end from who-knows-what. After he gets done, he has a car that he can tool around in.
The key here is that he used contemperary, relatively modern donors to accomplish his goal. If this is "traditional", then wouldn't something like a Geo Metro body, and a V-6/trans and rear from a small pickup also be considered "traditional"?

I'm only suggesting that it's not about the car, or vintage of material used, it's about the methods and means to accomplish the goal.

I can see it now.....a Nissan Sentra coupe, 3.8 engine/trans and rear from an '88 Ranger, all bolted together. Yank the fenders off the front, clean up the inners, do some custom treatment to the nose, flare the rear quarters, give the hood a pie-cut narrowing, and maybe even a 2" roof chop.

Now donning my Nomex.........Roger, the FNG

 

graverobber, the future of hot rodding will not change much except that 4 doors will be more common than now and the styles will carry on to those that have been looked over for so many years by those that have their noses up cause there are 2 more doors than those previous. accept it that one day you will be searching out a 4 door impala cause you wont be able to touch a 2 door in the future.

 

...I may have missed something here..

are we talking about the imediate future?
like in our lifetimes,
or the distant future,
like in multiple generations?

'cause the frying pan is getting warm..
and while this frog is just fine..

how do I know what a hundred or two years might bring?

 

wait wait wait...wtf is with all this debating of the term traditional and talk of "hot rodding" late models; I reckon every one on this board knows that they can get a late model cheaper than a chopped up A body...traditional is not just about building it yourself and on a budget, it is also about style...



N e who Im lookin forward to the future of hot rodding...i figure that there will be a drop in price and abundance of speed parts once all these ninnys decide that their "rat rod" isnt cool anymore once boyd and friends get off the tv. Then we can buy it all up on the cheap and build some whicked rides!

 

I didn't read all the responses, but I figured I'd throw my two cents in.

I don't see there being any shortage of good projects around. Sure, a Deuce 3 window or a '63 Corvette or a Hemi 'Cuda is going to be pricey, but there are tons of cool, buildable cars out there for not much money. I know that I'm drowning in old car projects, and I'm not shelling out big bucks for them either. Seek and ye shall find.

As for the future of rodding, we're already seeing more open wheeled hotrods being built from newer stuff. 30's and 40's truck cabs are popular, and custom made bodies starting with cowls are getting more common too. I expect to see a lot more of that kind of stuff in the future.

Four doors are starting to get more accepted too. Seems like there is an age limit, the younger you are, the more likely you are to accept a four door as a hot rod project. Doesn't bother me at all, just means new and different stuff to look at.

 

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Easy, Brad......(Not pickin' on you, just using your words as a response.) That's why I asked the question. Whether we like it or not, "late model" bodies are the future of rodding. (Assuming the government and tree-hugger crowd allows rodding to continue.)
That's what raised my Q's to whether "Traditional" is about the type or vintage of car, or the methods used to build it.

There will come a time, if not already, that the younger crowd simply will not be able to afford vintage steel, or it will not be available. Boneyards are being locally legislated out and closing up, China is buying scrap from us by the shipload, and that steel is from all the older cars that yards no longer find economical to keep around. There's only so many of them, and they won't last forever.

Personally, I like the older body styles. The cars had character, unlike today's offering, including the last three decades, with a few exceptions.

To survive, and be reachable to future generations, rodding MUST look to other sources, and those sources are unfortunately, later models that will still be available in the yards. I honestly can't say I agree with the prospect, but it's on the horizon, just the same.

Hoping to keep this on an intellectual level, but still wearing my nomex....Roger

 

"That's what raised my Q's to whether "Traditional" is about the type or vintage of car, or -----"

or nothing.
it's all about the iron....

 

i can see late models becoming popular and people building them up with some monster motors. that doesnt mean they have to replace the real rods. there will always be steel around, just got to wait awhile for some of these old farts that are hoarding everything to knock off

 

to me cars are like artwork the word traditional is much like the word renaissance it more of a mental time line than a physical. so when i build a car i stay true to that time line. i saw a 32 with 20'wheels on it ...thats like painting the eyebrows back on the monalisa just cause u thought it would look better.respect the art of cars the boddies,the chops ,and the w.w.w.are part of that art.

 

Traditional means just that traditional. If we were all into building buggies to be dragged along behind a horse traditional would be what they built back in the day.
Not taking the latest shit and building to an ethos.
Shit it ain't hard, a traditional rod is one built to the theme or if we are lucky actually in a time period.
Taking a Sonatra coupe and doing all the shit you said to it is not and never will be traditional hot rodding. I dunno about over there in the US but that already has a name over here, street machines.
Why is it so hard for some people?

 

I've heard Bikers saying soon as these RUB's loose intrest we can have Harleys on the cheep.I 'm still waiting and bikes just keep going up and up.Hot roddings' only difference is there just isn't as many hot roodders as rich urban bikers, thank God.

 

When I was in high school a 40 Ford coupe was less than 30 years old and a Model A was not even 50 years old. To a kid in high school today, that would equate to a 75 Chevy Impala and a 65 Mustang.