sadly. The cobblers childen wear no shoes. my baby is broken right now, and my poncho seems to be wounded.if I could get out from under customers cars long enough to work on my own junk, I might actually own a nice car someday. but yeah...My Cutlass is a big chunk of me for sure. I don't know who did the defining, but we are a matched set. and fortunately for the both of us, we seem to be getting better with age.
my car kinda does define who i am... its not done, always changing even in my head, and prolly wont ever BE completly "finished" according to many out there other than the majority of HAMB members who actually look at cars like mine and nod knowingly when i say "i want to move that over here, lengthen this and tac it to here. . ." its not about the car as a whole, or myself as a whole... its about the project and how as in life, the car is always in flux. . . i guess what im trying to say is, my car, my self and my life in general really ARE about the journey
I believe my car defines me....I'm an old soul who was born too late, just like my car; new hotrod/old build style. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't come back!
Being different. Long summer twilight drives on a lone country road,no tunes but the symphony of pistons. The echoes of glasspacks and flirting with the law as my low,chopped open wheel image crawls into your rear view mirror.
My cars never define me... I define them... They are products of my mind and imagination. I set 'standards' for them like an era I want to stick to but then I take those parts and try to make something completely unique in execution. I have no interest in building a 'clone' of some car in the past. Cars are a blank slate that I use to express myself... I'm arrogant... I think I can build every car I touch better than anyone has ever built that particular car.... I'm always right... Of course 'better' is a subjective thing. This leads me to "The LOOK..." That term annoys me to no end... There SHOULDN'T BE A 'LOOK!' There should be your style which in turn should be as completely your own as possible. If the car you build looks like another car (from any time in history) that should be a cooincidence that is only aparant from about 20 feet away. DETAILS are what turn a "LOOK" into a uniquely personal statement. If you set out to build a '40's style hot rod,' it should only look like something in the mags of the era from a distance. Up close it should be a unique statement of what you are. This doesn't mean you throw the idea of a '40's style hot rod' out the window make some rediculous statement. The CHALLENGE is to make the statement within the confines of what the CAR is trying to say. Also, 'the LOOK' is all about perception.... What 'the LOOK' is to one person may not be to the next. Some people might say the Westergard tail drag is 'the LOOK.' While the next guy might say it's the tail drag coupled with the skirts. While another guy might say it doesn't have the look without the rake, skirts, AND the dark, single tone paint. Etc... My eye doesn't see generalities when looking at cars... I don't see a 'LOOK'... The 'LOOK' is too high-level to mean anything to me. I've seen way too many cars to be interested in the 40-foot impression the car gives. The car should make the same statement at a foot away from the engine mount as it makes from 40 feet.... I'm a nit-picker, a perfectionist, an elitist, a snob... I'm a historian, a restorer, and a destroyer of fine tin... I'm a traditional hot rodder... Whatever that means... I'd be that way if I never owned another car.
I think it misses the point when you try to say another man's car defines yourself... I'm defined right now by a stock Model A, an altered drag car... and three projects that are in pieces. (Model A speedster, banger powered 40's era Model T roadster and a '55 Chevy 150 drag car with history) Sam.
Having to get ourselves from point A to point B everyday is such an awful, robotic, polluting chore...So, why not do it with some style, with your artistic signature. turn some heads, have some fun..I'd like to think I was undefinable, unpredictable..my daily driver is a 53 Studebaker and my wife drives a 59 Edsel, 69 Eldorado, 74 Cougar XR7, 59 MGA, 59 Nash Metropolitan, 39 Chevrolet..mixin it up...
loud, minimalist, slightly over engineered, handles well, goes like stink, leaks oil everywhere, and doesn't stop worth a shit...pretty darn close.
Wow! I guess that I'd have to say the simpler the better, Every car that I have built has been a very simple car. All the ones that I own are not flashy in any way, just straight foward lil gow jobs. So I'd say each one of them has my personailty down to the newest car I have resurected, if that can be a definition=lol!
i dont have a picture right now. here is his brother "gayjose-bot" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYoZxxov-fM&mode=related&search=
All my cars reflect part of my identity. Different cars, different aspects of my personality. The one common thread . . . none of them are common. Craig
Define me? No. I would have to say my Merc completes me though. Always wanted one,so I guess i'm complete now. My first car,'67 Bug,was fast,out of control,just like me when I was 16. '49Merc,slow,fat,needs more attention to get where I want to go. Just like me now.
In a word, no. My cars are simply an expression of personal aesthetics, not personality; two very different things in my case. If cars were a reflection the owner, I should probably be driving around in a rusted out '92 Lumina. And I don't look anything like my dog, either.
The car I feel the best about was my 65 Impala, that car had so much style. I had that car for about 6 years, I did a ton of work on it and I always felt really good about driving it and cruising it around. It wasnt overly aggressive but it was a Super Sport, with a 327 , 4 speed. I guess it was a mirror of what I wanted to be in my early twentys.
It's An exercise of creating rolling masterpiece(s) from neverending visions in my head. Always eccentric, never cookie-cutter.. If you ask my wife, she'll just tell you I'm NUTS... Spoons
"...motor boats worthy of an asphalt wake." Really well worded, Ryan. My cars don't DEFINE me, but unfortunately, they probably do describe me.
Me? Well, I build them without a lot of fan fare, I drive the wheels off of them, and I always let my work speak for itself. My cars usually say more than me
My A is very much like me. It's usually there but happy to blend in to the background. Always willing and able to go somewhere. A little dirty and rough around the edges. Never affraid. Let's go have some fun
I lost interest in rodding in the mid 80s due to becoming disgruntled with the way hot rods were about how much chrome you could put on them. Three years ago I suddenly discovered that a whole traditional movement had been quietly building up behind my back. Suddenly, I was back where I belong. The rods of the 70s thru 90s were flashy, gaudy, extroverted, expensive, everything I'm not. (except when onstage with my rockabilly band... LOL!) Now I'm back to the late 40s and early 50s..... restrained, simple, cantankerous, but still with an attitude and a desire to differ from my contemporaries. And I'm loving it!
My car does not define who I am. As complex as an automobile can be, even modern ones, human beings are the most complicated of all, and it takes a lot more than a Chilton's to figure out what makes me tick. Lots of guys here are coming up with responses like, "no frills" and the like and how it relates to them. This logic is fine. A-->B. But reverse it, B-->A, and it makes much less sense. So what are you? I'm a white, middle class, straight 22 year old male. I graduated from the University of Delaware 2 weeks ago with a BA in Sociology and Criminal Justice while minoring in History. I plan on going to law school. I am a moderate democrat; pro-gun and pro-capital punishment, pro-choice and in favor of the legalization of marijuana (not starting a politcal debate, it's just to illustrate a point). I enjoy playing guitar, ice hockey.....Do you guys see what I'm saying? Nobody could ever get all this about me from looking at my car. Though a car can certainly give a casual observer some insight into what your automotive tastes may be, and even a little hint to a person's character through attention to detail, color choice, etc...for a car to define a person must mean that that person is a terribly shallow being. That being said, here's a picture of my car; 57 Ford Custom 300, 383 Chrysler/Torqueflight
The Jalopy Journal
