Austin Texas - The New Mecca of Hot Roddin'

You know, I might be showin' my ignorance here, and I've done a search for past threads on the matter and have found nothin', but it seems to me that Austin has become a hot bed of hot rods & customs. Has it replaced SoCal as hot rod Mecca? Judging by all the stuff I've seen and read over the last couple of years, it's been one cool thing after another poppin' up there. It seems to be a happenin' place.

I know Texas is a great state (I've been there) ... I'm just curious from a historical standpoint, what events brought about this shift?

 

Austin is just an all around cool freaking city! Very artsy, lots of history. And, the weather isn't bad, as long as you can take a little heat in the summer. Oh, and did I mention all the college girls

 

It's by no means bigger than so-cal... Some might say it's more focused and better...

But untill I see old cars on the road every single time I'm on the road, It's not even close to the shear volume of So-Cal...

Austin is huge during the Roundup and there are a lot of Hot Rodders here, but it's kinda sleepy the rest of the year as far as hot rodding goes.

And honestly, I think the HAMB had a major part in building it to the level it's at now... There were enthusiasts here before, but the HAMB seemed to provide the means for them to connect and get organized.

 

Ryans quicker... Damn iPhones!!

 

I have said for years if i could ever just pack up and move some where it would be Austin,

 

Plus a lot more house for the buck most of the time. Especially if you want to live a bit out of town.

My sisterinlaw and her hubby live a few miles out past Ryan. A bit over 30 minutes to down town Austin but the only thing you hear is the occasional neighbor driving by and you can't see their cars from the house.

Did I say good food, any form of music that you might want to listen to live, great looking women.

As far as the hotrod mecha thing. I think top quality builders who are active tend to draw other top quality builders and other top quality craftsmen and women into an area.
The Austin area has been noted for turning out top quality rods and customs for a long time, it's not the new thing that it appears to be.

I have to agree with guys being drawn together by the HAMB. I think that works pretty well everywhere. All of the sudden we find out that there is a guy just over the hill building a similar style car and a gal down the road fixing up her car that you would most likely never have known about before.

 

Hey, I'm in Austin right now...
Gonna be at ASS this afternoon, then heading back home.

There is no place like this place!

Hot Rod Haven!

hc

 

just my point of view for the very little bit that it's worth.

i grew up in so cal. theres always something going on. most weekends you have a choice of what events you'd like to go to. many differnt styles to choose from. like mentioned before, you'd be hard pressed to drive anywhere in socal farther then 5 miles and not see a old car. i never drove far to attend a show. paso was the biggest and we drove like 3 hrs to attend that, las vegas was 4 hrs. when you live there you think that driving that far is crazy.

fast forward a few years. i'm now living the mid west ( joplin mo). i like to call it the shit hole of america, some love it, its just not for me. anyways.

i think people from anywhere other then so-cal will, and are down to travel, out of neccity. i attened the round-up this year. drove the 9 hrs to get there. had a great time, will probly do it again next year, would i have done that if i still lived in so-cal, hell no. austin was a great town during the round up. as mentioned lots of stuff to do and, nice people. if been there for work before and never thought it was anything special during those visits, again i was there for work and wasn't able to experience the hot rod scene in full.

i think that the hamb has a lot of great people that are from the austin area, that contrubite alot to the board so it prevails as the new mecca. as ryan stated, socal was the begaining, where it goes from there?? i can tell you it won't end up in the mid west!!!

 

Austin just has this feeling that pulls you in when you are there. Very cool city.

 

There is no questions Ryan's right about the people in Austin. I lived in SoCal until I was 25 and never felt as much at home as I do in Austin. The people have EVERYTHING to do with that. Plus you can't walk down the street without getting hit by a Model A...

 

That's true... I was talking to Kevin about that...

Once I get out to my place, it's so peacefull sometimes I just can't drag myself away...

But I was talking in comparison to So-Cal... No matter how you cut it, it's nowhere near as active the rest of the year...

 

I'm guessing that what's happening in Austin is happening everywhere.

Growing up and living in several SoCal communities, from the coast to the edge of the desert I've seen quite a hot rod presence.
Helps if you can stick around a while, but the cars are there.

Living in Central California - Visalia, which is south of Fresno and north of Bakersfield - I found there was a strong hot rod presence.
Many famous names from drag racing, car shows and even manufacturing facilities dedicated to hot rod stuff were there.

It got to be that there were so many choices of what to do, that I ended up doing the cherry-picking bit and going to what looked like the most fun that particular weekend.
I'm pretty sure Kerry - of blown Hemi powered Pontiac coupe fame - will back me up on this one.
He got a pretty good tour of hot rod stuff the weekend he visited.


I was surprised to find quite a hot rod presence here in Sunny Arizona.
This weekend, a good example.

The Route 66 Fun Run, a three day rod run/car show/many miles cruise which will probably encompass over 600 hot rods, customs, other interesting cars as well as some folks who come into town in their daily's just to see what's going on.

I keep in touch with a few SoCal guys and it's going as strong - or stronger - than ever there.

Granted, the hot rod movement did start in SoCal, but the reason other venues didn't get as much credit as SoCal is simply that the "ink" was in SoCal.

Nothing quite like working for the car mags, taking in the car scene, hitting the drags and then going body-surfing to wind down.
Pretty much the same for us guys working regular jobs.

The place had it all and still does.

Hot rodding is a heck of an interesting hobby.
Lots of directions to go and for me, I don't have to go far.
Out to the garage or over to the shop of a couple of pals.
Always something hot rod going on no matter the day.

Today, finish cleaning up the roadster, finally got around to reversing the WW's on the front.

Tomorrow, cruise to Hackberry with the gang and eat ice cream while watching the cars come up from registering in Seligman and headed for Kingman.

So what is the great state of Texas doing this weekend?

The Fun Run here is one of our biggest ones and the most fun in my book....

 

I think we just post more pics.

 

Yep, same here... except I'm sure I haven't been saying that for as long as you haha

Hmm, we do have an office down there...



Malcolm

 

There's definitely a great 'vibe' in Austin, but it should absolutely be attributed more to the attitude of the people than to the number or quality of cars here. As many great cars as there are in Austin, without the genuinely cool people it just wouldn't be the same.

I think that's why Austin folks are also a little protective of what we have here... we know we're lucky to have 'it', whatever 'it' is, and we don't want to lose it.

 

I could not agree more with this comment: I can't over-emphasize the quality of people in Austin...
Just outstanding people !
60'

 

My wife and I considered moving to Austin a year or two ago and after the Roundup the spark was re-ignited. I think Austin's rise in popularity can be attributed to a bunch of different aspects. I majored in Architecture and Urban & Public Policies so I may overanalyze this but... A good university is always a key to a good city. If you ever look at cities that have good historical preservation it's always ones with a good academic following to support it. This leaves places like South Congress like they are and keep the Condos away from the city's long established building.

Take where I live for example, Charlotte's Universitie's are horrid and that's why there is no neighborhood preservation besides a few areas. The money makers shakers are the ones that tell us where the art district is instead of that just growing from home based artists. It's a rat race and the developers just push us where they want.

I think that's a good reason for Austin to have a solid base for a cool city. Then it's all the other factors that play in. Cities are only as good as the people that inhabit it so it's laid back type atmosphere is a perfect breeding ground for good people. The Music scene is also a major factor for having a great city. I am a firm believer that Art and it's people are what make a city so when you have the mecca for Music the rest will follow. And because the city is familiar with events like SXSW having a car show becomes welcomed by the city as a whole instead of having to jump over red tape every corner you turn. You could really see that the people of Austin really welcomed the Lone Star Roundup and the people that traveled for the event. The air was electric and you really felt like you were at home for those couple days.

I also think that Austin's value for Homes and property make it available for people wanting to move somewhere else. That and the fact that the employment opportunities have been pretty steady there for some time.

Now I don't live there so I cannot give you a insider's opinion but from traveling there I can tell you that it's not hype. Everything is true and it really is as good as everyone makes it out to be. What I left with was not how I can move to Austin (because I have some really great friends here in Charlotte) but more how can I bring a bit of Austin to Charlotte.

I don't think it will take SoCal's place because there is history there and because as we have seen from the Roundup coverage it rains in Austin....a lot! However, Austin is making it's mark and we have only seen the a fraction of how cool it's going to get.

 

I know Texas is a great state (I've been there) ... I'm just curious from a historical standpoint, what events brought about this shift?[/QUOTE]

It is because Norm Jones(#70) is here!!!!
Skot

 

I moved to Austin about 3 1/2 years ago from the Kansas City area. I first visited here during LSRU #1. Since then, I've met a whole slew of hot rodders that are really into driving and wrenching. I lived in SoCal for a while and my experience there is that it's more about posturing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that people here just seem more friendly. When you get a bunch of rodders together, wrenching on each other's cars, it not only creates a great atmosphere, but also puts more cars on the road. Hell, I've got one of the Kontinentals coming to my house today to help me put in my transmission.

There doesn't seem to be the rodders' rivalry here that there is in SoCal. People aren't trying to exclude anyone or one-up anyone. We're all just guys with the same passion and we happen to be lucky enough to live in one of the greatest cities left in America.

No, Austin isn't as big as the SoCal scene, but it's a helluva lot more fun and friendly. Of course, we get about 1500 Californians moving here each month, so it may get bigger some day. We just have to let them know how we do things here so that our town doesn't become just another LA or San Diego.

 

Hermit....or curmudgeon???

 

Now, if we could just get rid of the Politicains and those damn Longhorn fans in Austin, I'd move there is a flash.

 

Austin is a cool place. My sister lives there and she knows a lot of women ...but they're all ugly.

 

I agree that Austin is awesome – I've visited several times (not during the Roundup though) and love it. I actually have seen old cars driving around every time I've been, but I kind of seek them out too. I always visit Austin Speed Shop while I'm there.

In addition to SoCal and Austin, there are pretty big, thriving scenes in Washington state and central Pennsylvania that are worth noting. I'm not sure what the draw is in Washington, but there always seems to be an endless supply of old tin – just ask Chris. I think the PA scene is the result of Hershey, Carlsile and York events that have been going on forever.

 

Don't be fooled, so-cal has still got it. You don't really see ALL of the 'stuff' going on in so-cal here on the HAMB. BADBOB does a lot of good coverage, plus some of the other regular California posters put up some good coverage. The HAMB is kinda like the local hot rod newspaper for Austin, so you see a lot from there (and rightfully so, good stuff) But, southern California still has the big three ... quality cars ...talented people ... and good weather. I'm sure everyone's experience is a little different, but I've met a ton of nice folks there. Having good weather for a hot rod outing happens WAY more often than not, which is just conducive to the car culture in general. More activity = more opportunity for meeting new folks, exchanging ideas, trying different things, etc., etc. It adds up year after year. You can really see some quality hot rods at just small local happenings, and not the same five or six cars every time! I wish all hot rod folks could have a little hang time in so-cal, it's worth it. Don't get me wrong, Austin is great, but......

 

We have nice weather. Isn't 95 degrees and 85% humidity nice? I guess it is if you're near a river.

I lived in Austin for a few years when I was in school. I played (and still coach) for a rugby team there. We drove up there to party when I went to school in San Marcos. We're up there often for the music scene and rugby matches.

But, I'm a San Antonio native and I've got my home town loyalty. San Antonio is a great town, but has long suffered in the shadow of the "cooler" Capitol up 35. It seems to me that while I always see a San Antonio presence at Austin events, I rarely see an Austin presence outside of Austin. There are shows all over the central Texas hill country all the time. There's one at Riley's Tavern in Hunter this weekend. Anybody from Austin going?

Boerne has a show coming up. The South Texas Showdown is Memorial Day. I haven't been yet, but I hope to take part in the Hill Country 100 next Fall. There is a big local cruise to Castroville on Friday nights. There's a big local cruise on the first Friday of every month at Acapulco's down in Southtown. I'm guessing the Austin crowd still goes out to Oak Hill on Fridays?

Anyway, it would be nice to see some of the Austin crew at some San Antonio and Hill Country shows. Maybe they have been there and I just missed them.

In terms of the friendliness of "the scene," I think that's true of all Texas towns (I've lived in lots of them). The rivalries I've heard about in SoCal don't really exist here, but I think that proves the point that our scene is smaller.

The only problems I've seen are at Friday cruise nights where lots of leaf blowers show up. But that's a different and completely understandable rivalry. I don't really care about that cool checkered flag pattern on your Mini Cooper, kid.

 

From way up here, it sure looks that way.

I always wanted to go to So-Cal, in my mind it was the go-to destination for just about anything I wanted to experience. Last summer I went to Tacoma for the Hotrodarama and was blow away by how pure it was, why would I need to go all the way to So-Cal when something just as cool was so close to home? For the past few years I've been looking at the photo threads and comments made by people who attended the LSRU and I gotta say, I've pretty much pushed the So-Cal thoughts from my mind (still plan on going some day) Next year I'd love to fly down and take in the Roundup.

Not gonna lie...it was the photos of the BBQ shacks you have that did it for me...

 

Norm rules.