Has the hobby gone to the Rats??

Before i start this thread and get bombed by everyone....let me explain by saying that i am not knocking or dislike Rat Rods or Hot Rods. I just want to know is it just me or is anyone else wondering where all the Traditional Kustoms/ Lead Sleds are?? I love the Creativity, Design , and History of the Chop Tops but have been seeing them fade out.... Lately it seems like every Car Show, Every Magazine, Every Tech Article, is filled with Rat Rods and hardly any Kustoms. Even alot of my Buddies i have are selling there Kustoms and buying or building Rats......Is this a Trend? Is it just the thing to do right now? I mean, what? Kustoms aren't Kool anymore? Again, I am not trying to knock Rats or make waves here...I just want to know where all the Traditional Kustoms have gone?? Is anybody building any Chops?? If so lets see pics of some new stuff being built out there! Let's keep blowing up Ricksters photo collection before he gets bored and starts a webpage of Animals and Wild Flowers...hahaha! Just Kidding Rick!

 

I'M BUILDING A CHOPPED 49 merc sled, not a rat

 

I'm building a Kustom 54 chevy.. I still have a few body mods to go, just no money to get to them just yet..

 

I'm not going away. However the bigger the car. The bigger the room and board and chrome plating bill and so on. I know that it takes a mountain of a man to chop a curved glass roof. I know in order to stay traditional kustom, the f'n traffic around you also has to cooperate. I know what you mean. I live in Hickory, NC. The KKOA comes to within 2.5 miles of our shop. Call me the luckiest man in the world but I cry when I see the attendence and enthusiasm. Pictures below are 1976 and 2009, the same 51.

 

Why worry!
Build what you want !
everything comes back around !
1980 still have it

 

One of the problems is we're losing alotta older guys that actually know how to do true custom work. I see very few young guys patient enough and/or willing enough to do the work it takes to build a true custom. Todays society is based on instant gratification. Another is budget. It takes alotta money to do a true custom, where as a "Rat Rod" is pretty inexpensive by comparison. Most young guys i see who are into cars would rather buy something they can bolt on, rather than actually have to cut, torch, weld, form, etc. And guys that can actually fabricate are getting fewer and further between. Just my opinion.

 

Holy shit!!! You said the sunday morning gospel!!!! I feel the exact same way and I have only 1 other friend who feels this way!! We are going to have to cruise together man. I was just on the phone last night with a feature editor of a certain publication till about 1am in a heated debate about todays trends.Some of the stuff going on today in the world of Kustoms is probably making Sam Barris and the Ayala brothers spin in there grave,I just dont get it at all .

 

when I look at a custom I see talent....
when I look at a r-rod what do I see?............

 

I think these are very legitimate observations. You nailed it!

 

Dont forget a lot of todays guys would rather spend there money on pabst blue ribbon tshirts, beltbuckles,grease for the hair,tattoos,and anything else that helps the image,rather then put that money into there cars to finish them! Another thing ..... It is not cool to have filthy white walls when you roll into a show,and that seems to be the cool thing to do lately.

 

someone usually with desire to have hot rod without the talent or money... Don't get me wrong some of these "rat rods" there's alot of money and talent in... but alot are no shop, driveway cobbled...

 

perhaps from a selling point of view.... right now thats where the money is at? maybe in the furture customs will be super hot. remember a few years ago you could go anywhere or do anything that didnt have a chopper motorcycle attached to it. Its a trend and will bleed out (except for guys like us). at that point prices should be more in line and the poser's should dwindle away. any thoughts on this?

 

Lets not forget that it takes alot of effort to just build a hot rod on your own.

I'm young, I have no money, and a limited amount of tools, not to mention that most every car around here thats affordable has either been crushed or is mostly rust. I do have imagination and ingenuity. My truck is not sleek or pretty, or even truely traditonal, but it has been built in that mindset, and it'll be fun.

 

i am building a 52 ford crestline convert, just taking my time though to get it going

 

Too late.

 

Solution: Stop taking magazines seriously, stop going to 'everybody' shows - Nothing of subtance in either, just mind and eye candy - Almost like asking for it, if you participate in the game - CW

 

This is maybe one type of observation. There is an area of our shop that has the "long" unidentified side chrome. You know, the side chrome that is missing its wrapper or paper sleeve from the 50's. This type of area comes from dealing with rocker panel and belt line and side mouldings lying around everywhere all your life.
I gotta say this too. One bad angle on the rear window area when chopping a fifties top and you fucked yourself.

 

Rats, smatz. Build what YOU like. Somebody's not going to like it, no matter what you build or how you build it. Fuck 'em.........

 

Ok, Im callin bullshit on this! There are alot of us "young guys"(and im not young, 37) who DO care and WANT to learn. I would love to learn how to 'lead'. That takes a willing teacher and alot of time. Time is something that you "old timers" have on your side that we dont. We have families, jobs, house repairs, bills, car payments,kids sports, etc, etc, etc. The same as you did at our age! Not too many of you old guys built alot of cars in your late 20's to mid 30's because of these very reasons.
Ive seen alot of so-called "rat rods" with VERY amazing fab work and metal work. Also with some inginuitive touches that havnt been done before. It is unfair to judge all off the actions of a few. Even if those few are the most visible.
I feel that "rat rods" are attempting to put the 'trad' back into traditional and a little help from the older gen who were there instead of the constant bitching about how theyre over running the hobby would help.
Remember; you were the same people that painted your cars mauve w/ turquoise heart beats and made Goodguys famous.
Give us a hand instead of a boot in the ass, huh.

 

Going to the wrong shows, reading the wrong magazines and have the wrong friends if thats how you feel.


-Jason

 

Me and my pop were shooting the shit over a cup of coffee one morning and all though he might have been mixing a little hooch in his cup this is kinda his take on the whole r- rod thing.


Let's see what we have here!!!




1.The Fifties........Flat Tops and traditional rods

2.The Sixties......Beads,Orgies,Kustom Rods

3.The Seventies..... Bell Bottom jeans and All a big f#$$%$ing blur

4.The Eighties......Parachute Pants....Rebuilding Rods and Kustoms from the Forties, Fifties and Sixties

5.The Nineties and the new Millenium......Were all fr#%%$#ing broke and this fad called Rat Rod.....JUST ANOTHER FAD!!!




3.

 

Keep the faith. The HAMB has a TON of kustom fans that just need to push a little more as a group for kustom material. I think one of the BIGGEST threads ever on the HAMB was about kustoms. I LOVE kustoms, but when I was at R&C one of the all time lowest selling covers had a BEAUTIFUL kustom on the cover. And that has happened a few other times as well. That doesn't help our case.
But bright lights like Ricksters site and Kustoms Illustrated keep us believing we are not alone.

Guys like the crew at Starlite Rod & Kustom work on these cars everyday showing it's alive and well. Saw plenty of fresh cars this weekend and look at all the new Mercs that were at Sacramento. Kustoms are solid- just not on every front page- and if they were people would probably complain they were too "main stream"

Check out a little bit of Starlite in action.

http://www.traditionalspeedandkustom.com/turnthewrench/perfecting_the_pout.html

 

I'm not defending the "rodent" rods and am in no way making a comparision to traditional cars but to be fair if you throw out the magazine cars weren't most of the original hot rods "no shop, driveway cobbled" to a large degree?

 

if it were easy..... You all know the rest. I agree 100% there's not much in the way of customs being published these days. I've been to the kkoa meet up in hickory nc..... I was very disapponted with the turn out up there. They take time, talent and money to build.... Its very hard to have all three of those these days... And most don't. I'm building a chopped, sectioned 50 ford with 54 packard quarters and and a ton of other custom mods..

 

I truly love customs. I'd venture to say that it's my favorite genre of the car world. Unfortunately, it does take a metric ass-ton of money to do one right. Eventually, I'll have a nice custom in finished paint, lots of modifications to the body, etc, etc. However, there's still the mortgage to pay, utility bills, food, gas, on and on. Back in the 50s and 60s, when customs were at their peak, a man could make a decent wage compared to cost of living and had cash left over at the end of the month. He could take that money to buy a nice welder, torch, metal stock, a decent project car to start with, pay for paint and interior, etc. Now it's hard for me to buy a set of valve covers without putting a bite on the household budget. I'm not a big fan of the "R" cars either, but one can be build for a song and sold for $12K. Once the scenesters find a different fad, those cars are going to be available to fix up and make right. Wait it out and we'll have a plethora of pre-war bodies come up for grabs. We'll just have to cut the spider webs out and re-weld everything.

 

everything comes full circle. the fads have passed me at least 3 times.it's just like flattop haircuts....don't throw away the butch wax.you may need it tomorrow.

 

im building 50's kustom just cost a lot of money to get it were i want it. There not dead just takes time.

 

It's only because we have such extraordinary taste! I think it's always been a minority in the vast field of the automotive hobby. I'm optimistic like JimA up there. Thank God for Kustoms Illustrated and Rik Hoving...and the HAMB. We still have D'agostino and Zocchi putting out a new one every year...and we have our Gambino's and Mastersons and those East coast guys who rebuilt the Kopper Kart. Barris merc freshly restored...and we've got DVD's that show us how to lead and paint. And with the HAMB, I can just ask Jeff Neppl about his firewall and he'll tell me all about it! I think its awesome!

 

not all of us young guys have stopped building custom stuff, my car isn't hamb material,but i've spent ten years working on it, making every piece myself, there are still people out there that are doing this.

 

Customs are a lot more personal- thus always a little quieter. Fine with me- enjoy them when I see them.