Projects What era hot rod are you building and what influenced you the most?

1958-1962 dual purpose street/drag style. thats my fav. slicks, olds', 3 speeds, mags, lacquer. yumm.

 

I prefer to build in the late '50's and early '50's styles as that's when I got my first cars and began to modify them. The magazines, shows, and strips of the time have had a permanent influence on me. Of course certain things will be used that weren't available in the '60's such as double pumper Holley, Gennie shifter and hidden CD player (but I would really love to have my old "reverberator" unit back from the '60's that made a mono AM/FM into a "stereo"). But with burned out Smitty's, you really couldn't hear the tunes much. Life seems to be a bell curve, my financial situation has returned to the minor status it was when I was in my teens so I'm doing things very much like I did in the early '60's: simple. Thank heaven I still have those old photos from back then to rely on for influence since the old memory isn't what it was. Will post some photos if my wife ever lets me use her digital camera (can't post from an old Instamatic).

 

My love has always been the '60's era Drag-inspired HotRod, of which both my Coupe and Sedan are examples of.
Glenn

 

Glenn, we think a lot alike.

 

i like the 40s and 50s style builds. bare bones and down to the point. the 60s are mind blowing and just WW. i also like the early 70s all the way up the early 80s. i really dig the 70s because that was when builders started paying tribute to the early builds. alot of 40s 50s style builds but with 70s parts. mixing dirt track tires with jag rears(not my cup of ice water but) etc etc. this is the way im building my car well sort of.

 

My current project is definitely not an era correct car. However it is definitely mid to late sixties inspired. Sixties drag racing got the hook in me when I was a kid and I have not gotten over it yet. So with that in mind, I began thinking about what might fit me, my taste, my memories, my car. I surely wanted to keep the traditional hot rod influence alive, but I needed a bit more freedom. I had to add a few ideas that had been in my head for a while that would not have been quite right in a correct car. So looking at my goals, what I had available to work with I decided it was time to build something for the fun of doing it. A lot less strict, a whole lot cheaper, but still a finished, reliable hot rod.
The basic idea is for me to push my skills up a notch or two, while keeping that sixties feel. So this becomes an interesting and challenging build for me, which is what I like.
BTW, it's a roller now, and so far it's working.

Craig

 

it does have wood wheels...

 

I'll bite. I tend to gravitate toward the late 50's into the 60's. I guess you could just say I like cars that look like they could be hot wheels, a hot rod that is a bit flashy not over the top but getting there.

Im starting to attempt to build this, but that y-block will have a blower on it (thanks to Flatman here on the hamb) and most likey 4 97's:



influenced by many different cars from here on the hamb and these:

 

Late-'50's to early-60's for me - just my preference. Not too many post-'67 cars interest me.

 

Y,
The car in the lower left corner is where I always end up. That looks a lot like my A.

 

1955-1985. Really depends on the car.

It seems like in the early 1980s, it still required some ingenuity to build a car... scrounging for parts, making boneyard stuff work, etc. It seemed to create a lot more unique cars. Once the 1990s hit, it seems like it became easy to buy pre-fabbed parts, billet bolt-ons, etc. Cars started evolving into the rod-by-numbers look. The same thing is happening with Muscle cars today. Cookie-cutter LS1 powered pro-touring Chevelles and Camaros in every magazine, all using the same pre-fab LS1 mounts, tubular A-arms, etc, etc.

 

I'm with AHOTROD and Roothawg. Early 60's drag race inspired with mild custom touches. Though I lean towards the east coast rake look myself or maybe a slight drop in the rear. Radius-ed wheel wells, fender well headers, nosed, decked, shiny paint, window decals, lower front fender decals. No front bumper, rolled rear pan with nerf bars or pipe bar. Those are for fat fendered and 50s rides. Mags or Crager S/S.
Not talking about a gasser look.

Roadsters and coupes, channeled, no hood, headers, big and littles, no chop, shiny paint, engine chrome, I like em low but not ridiculously low. Roll bar, tube axle. Again, drag race inspired, early 60's.

 

Bare bones 40's for this build trying to stay as close to 'traditional' as i can but sometimes the parts just arent around.
I first saw a bare bones A in a magazine about 20 years ago and promised myself one day to build one
Well its 20 odd years gone by and i've finally started.

 

58-62

 

I love immediate post war era cars..

 

Mid 50's is my influence, although I'm sneaking in a couple of items that are'nt strictly correct, such as a 4" CE axle and P&J shocks. Hey, I got them cheap! Cheap rules!

 

yes, those also.

 

Yep, late fifties, early sixties drag race.

 

Late 50s for hotrods, though having said that Im building a mmid 60s gasser. It is being built to run in Vintage Gas class, but it will also be street legal.
Doc.

 

mid to late sixties gasser for me....

 

Roothawg, Gabby Bleeker, Roth, Flamed A Bone, Mooneyham & Sharpe are my influences...

Probably because as a little kid back in ~'68, I adored my (older) teen-age uncles. They wore Rat Fink t-shirts and had STP stickers on all their school book covers...

 

Wow, I am flattered..... but being in the same class with FlamedAbone, well that's just crazy. He's a legend.


Kerry, I don't think you're car will get much better. You nailed it.

 

Growing up in the late '60's early '70's, it's Gasser's and Street Freak's. Then this Board's style fer sure, w/ Tubbed ride's next.........you-know-who rule's that field, Scott Sullivan!

 

Trying to set my 57' up how it would have been in maybe the Mid to late sixties...i just think everything back then was built with a different mind set then you see today as in parts where chosen to coincide with one another rather then thrown in and a fight ensues with the loser ending up in the oil pan and paint came last.You were driving your vehicle at the Brink Destruction but you kept it on the line then brought it back(Most of the time) i just think men were men back then and most of us kids today have forgotten that and drive cars with 6'' exhaust on something that is barely needing 2.5'' so it sounds like a Plane

 

Thank Root! High praise coming from you. Yeah, I thought about one more round to improve the HP but decided to build a digger instead. I don't think I'll regret it.

 

You and FlamedABone have me thinking about a blower now..........

 

i like a little of everything.. i am mixin it up with 50's, 60's and 70's on my 59.if it looks nice im ok with it

 

Right now, Im up in the air with my '34 Ford 5-window, It has a '51 flatty but I love 60's rods....how popular were flatheads in the 60's?? I also have old school slicks for it but I dont think it fits with the flatty, even a built up flatty would look too small for the 12" wide slicks....AAHH hot rodding?!?!?!?! As far as perfect period perfection, I think it is a little crazy and almost takes the fun out of it when you are so nuts about every little part.....a good overall stance, look and sound is where its at for me!

 

I'm interested in all eras from the earliest stuff all the way up until the mid '70's. Right now I'm a little more focused on mid '60's to early '70's Drag cars. I'm still collecting parts for my A/FX style Comet.

 

Chris, ..... a HotRod has got to have some git-up-and-go ya know