QUESTION: Why do some things just LOOK GOOD or are COOL?

Because truth is objective.

 

I think you are trying to find the impossible! cool is what it is, something you can't quite put your finger on or deliberatly construct, its the same as great movie stars and movies, someone like Pachino isn't particularly good looking but when he comes on screen you are drawn to him, Blues brothers, isn't the funniest nor is it a good story but hell its one of the great movies, why? who knows.

I think its not one item or even two but the sum of the total that makes a "cool" rat rod, show rod, movie star, movie or whatever.

A bunch of 97's look awesome on a flattie in a 32 but on a 350 in a 92 camero????? so what is cool? the 97s? the flattie? or the 32?

 

Quality of line, proportion and composition of the shapes involved are makes something look good.

Like the relationship between the ground and the car that it's sitting on form the shape and thickness of the shadow under the rockers.

On a hot rod that shape may be interrupted by struts and links, thicker towards the back to make room for bigger rubber, giving it a more mechanical, purposeful look.

On a custom has a long, thin, smooth shape, like the car is heavy and being sucked to the ground by gravity.

Cool is subjective.

 

Cool is an interpretation. We all see it differently and while some will agree on one item as cool we all see details of that item differently.

I will use my car as an example. I have had comments from different people stating that they like it and think it is cool but it always seems to be followed by what detail about it they think is cool and it is vastly different from person to person and the type of crowd you are around usually dictates what they think is most cool about it. Some like the stance, some like the unfinshed primer appearance, some like the small details, even the stock Model A guys make comments about it being cool because the body is so smooth or becuase the doors fit so well, or the street rod guys that look at it as a blank canvas because it is still in primer, my little girl thinks it is the coolest thing in the world because it is loud and abnoxious. Cool is a perception, I think my car is cool, I think Ryans coupe is cool, I think Littlemans coupe is cool, I think those fiberglass bodies that look like 37 coupes witha pickup bed are cool, all of these are drasticaly different but I still like them all. Ryan may not like my car, or he may not like those weird 37 pick up cars (what ever they are called) but it does not make them any less cool in my book.

You wanna know whats cool? Enjoying your hot rod however you see fit.

 

Any car looks cool if it has the shape of your favorite womans best parts.

 

Great answers! You guys are making the point I intended to make. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only crazy one.

 

After reading this entire thread, that sums up my thoughts on it.

Ain't nothin cooler than the Krylon Special in my eyes and I'll enjoy that car till one of us kicks the bucket.

 

To quote Jesse James........ 'Cool transcends trend'

 

So I'm Jesse James? Who knew?

 

Like asking "what is love"? Cool is whatever catches your eye and turns your crank.

 

It does not matter how many cool parts are in or on a ride but how it is put together or just how it sits. Its something that you can't feel or touch, It hust is. Never goes out of style.

 

Too me cool is the right combination of parts on the right car.

 

Wow these old threads have spider webs on them.

 

cool is .. noticing the thread is 3 years old

 

Cool is... When that 10 year old boy, who has no preconcieved notions of what cool should be, jumps of his bike and stares at your car as you drive. Then yells "COOL CAR"

 

Cool has no definition. You just know it when you see it.

 

4 doors suck.

 

Visors are cool!

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
We as rodders are influenced by what we see in print or in cyber space, or by what we grew up with or all of the above.
But the bottom line is that I go to look at things that I have been told it the utmost and I go huh? You no doubt do the same thing, on occaision.
Because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

cool is any day I can peruse the HAMB and not see any old threads come back up for no apparent reason.

 

I believe they tried to answer this question in the film A Night At The Roxy.

 

And Bobbers swallow......

 

Is it lunchtime yet?

 

Cool will always stand the test of time and to me the cool is in the intent of building something and driving the snot out of it (I always think the UK Hayride events), not in the details because the details are certainly subjective. Think about it this way. Who defines cool? The builder? This board? The masses? I have a 38 Ford truck with a 350/350 combination built by me and pretty much how I want it to be done so I think its cool, but to this board its a pretty run of the mill truck so I'd say many don't think its cool at all. That being said I drive it everyday and get a dozen people who give me thumbs up or ask me about it etc etc everyday as well so is it cool or does it even matter?

Personally the coolest thing to me is when someone stays true to themselves and builds what they like to the best of their ability. Thats cool.

 

My little cool formula, is squint your eyes at a car that is un-cool and put on American Torq-Thrust wheels, lower the car, and tint the windows a little bit, doesn't it look better? for a POS?...

 

Proportion!!!!!!!!

 

Knowing when to stop.


Sometimes . . . too much is simply . . . too much....

 

a lot of things are great for so many reasons from first plan to finished work............. until you find out the owner is selling it .

. ohh ohh youve lost that lovin feeliing whoa whooa lost that lovin feellin.
.
kinda like a used condom... just a place where things were once so fricken happy but now only a fool would hang on to it....

 

Hungry for a big wiener are ya?

 

I think when things flow together without one focal point that overpowers the others you have a good start. You want the eye to check out the whole thing, not just your gold plated mr. gasket scoop.