I like both steel and glass. Who cares what's it made of as long as your haveing fun. I built my car for me, nobody else. I'm going glass, Real 34 steel is just way to much money for a pile of rust and you need to refi your house for a clean one. As long as it's a Hot Rod it don't matter what it's made from. We're the last of a breed. The next generation could care less about 30's and 40's car's. When we go so does hot rodding. All kids now a days like is Jap crap. Maybe in 30 years they'll be restoreing Honda's? hehehe
You obviously know the wrong kids. I had a whole group of kids in the shop for a field trip yesterday. They dug the old stuff....
I always wanted to build a replica 54 corvette but everyone would call it a glass car so I passed on the idea I had a glass T back in the 70's and had it sideway most of the time. don't know how I lived thru that one!
Whoa! Wait a second! Do you mean to tell me that 36" chops, 42" channels, mandatory rusty rockers and wheels taller than the roof of the car AREN'T traditional? Dude, that's a serious let down. LOL I'm NOT knocking anyone's car so please nobody get their panties in a wad. Every car is an expression of the builder and I like 'em all. My '31 is original Henry Ford steel, including the fenders, running boards, and splash apron. My dad's '32 highboy is Tupperware as I like to tease him. IMHO driving a steel car is no more fun than driving a glass car. They're both hot rods built to serve a purpose and they both do it well. To each their own.
Rich, I agree 100% with you on this... I have had an addiction to Willy's gassers since the first time I saw wheelstand on it's pushbar(the movie Hot Rod didn't help either). I had a chance to buy a "steel" 41 Coupe at the Englishtown, NJ swapmeet close to 15 years ago for $1800 but it was rough, A pillars rotted, frame butchered, glass nose broken, etc... Now since the purchase cost of a parts car has risen above my entire budget, I will be lookin' at glass. The one thing I do agree on with the other guys though is the whole "soul" of the car. A steel car has a certain sound & feel when you drive it. They haven't built that into the glass ones.
Let's face it guys, without the 'glass cars there would not be enough cars built to support the aftermarket industry. There simply are not enough real steel cars needing frames, axles, and all the other bits a pieces we all need. I believe i real steel and built it when I can, but 'glass bodies have made this hobby work for amny years.
Amen to that!!!without the glass industry, we'ld all be really hard up for parts....i looked into glass topolino's for over 20 years,,,all the way back to AI company days...then at Rich's company...Rod n Race...when Rich went and busted his ass making a mold for a streetable door opening full roof topo off an original, hell i yet nuts!!!!!!!!!!20 years of looking at these cars and that day i didn't even think about it being glass or steel!! it was a topolino that had doors and a floor, not a hollowed out race body..every time i started to buy a glass topo from him, something came up..then i had started the process of ordering a glass bodied topo from RNR and bam, my steel body topo falls out of nowhere right in my lap..needed a good bit of lovin to be perfect steel body, but i jumped on it.....i was reluctent due to the repairs that it needed, hey the glass body just needed a chassis to drop it onto...BUT MAINLY BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAPER THEN THE GLASS CAR!!!sure if i had money comeing out my ass , i'ld probably look for a steel car...yes they do have a sound and feel to them that glass doesn't....BUT they look the same once done..they should basicly drive the same too...but the it aint stell it aint real thing is bullshit, in my opinion...be thankfull for the glass indusrty...look back thru the history of rodding and think about where it would be today if no one ever thought about maikng anything out of glass for a hot rod...there probably wouldn't be a Hamb board today to that matter...ya think a hot rodder back in the day wouldn't have given his left nut to have todays glass market to build into a rod??your crazier then jack was in the shinning....the steel aint real just helps some people justify what they have spent to make them sleep better in my opinion...tell me anyone here can spot out a steel over glass car from 20 feet...there's tell tale signs for sure, but.....i'll never knock a guys glass rod,,,i will admit i find steel interesting over glass, but that's due to the history of the car...this was the only thing my wife found cool about my topolino..who rode in it, how did it get to be state side..did it ever haul any Nazi's around??the historical aspect of it...otherwise it was just another hot rod i drooled for to her.....build it..drive it..race it...have fun with it...just don't be an ass and act like it aint a real hot rod cause it's glass...building a rod is about working with what ya can ...if it wasn't, all the ford guys here would be buying the $$$$$$$$$$$ repop 3 windows and stuff...would be alot easier then welding and fabricating replacement peices......no, i'll never knock a guys car for being glass..but i will knock him for a i'm the shit attitude cause i own __________ (fill in the blank with what ever) as to the op of this thread....for raceing, i have always thought and built a GLASS CAR....or changed out as much STEEL FOR GLASS AS I COULD AFFORD... have fun with your project................
Really it doesnt matter. Both have a place in the family of hotrodding . Steel happens to be the more favored in the group. Glass is that cousin in the family that some like and some dont. But he is still related and you cant change it. In the end it always comes down to the golden rule, building what you want, how you want for you and no one else.
I've had a few old Corvettes so I'd be happy with a glass car. There's a Corvette dealer in San Diego with this catchy slogan: "On a quiet night you can hear the sounds of Porsches rusting" To me the hot rod hobby is about having fun. It's the car that makes you happy, not the composition of the car. Life is short, so have as much fun as possible. No matter what car you have, it won't ever please everyone.
If it get's you Roddin then it don't matter. A nice car is a nice car no matter weither it's steel or glass. I went glass because there are so few real 34 Ford coupe bodies around and there price was so high. I guess if i were building a rat rod i'd a gone steel. Ain't cheap makeing glass look rusty. hehehe
I have always had a preference for a steel bodied car. I bought mine from Rich at Rod-n-Race after he made a fiberglass mold of it. This past summer I took a ride in the first fiberglass car made from mine. It was an awesome experience. It didn't matter if it was glass it was just a great ride that gave me a grin a mile wide. I have seen many cars that I thought were steel only to find out later they were glass. Fiberglass fills the void that would exist in rodding if not for it. Not to mention the many parts available in glass when fenders,grills,hoods ect. are not affordable or available. I have been three years building my steel car. The fiberglass version was on the road in 15 months. Go figure!
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