"We drive hotrods for the attention" Kinda long.

I think that holds true for a lot of guys, and that's fine, nothing wrong w/that if they are true car guys.

But there are some of us that drive old stuff everyday (and been doing it since they have been driving) that think nothing other than "This is what I drive, and I drive it cause I like it."

I don't even own a "normal" daily driver.

 

I sold my '49 Plymouth daily, and bought a Geo Metro in '01, when I took a job with a 100+ mile daily commute.

At the time, I was kinda' burned out on the attention; sometimes I just didn't feel like talking to someone every fucking time I wanted to buy a pack of smokes or gallon of gas.

Nowadays, I split my transpo pretty evenly between a '00 Crown Vic popo mobile, my Dodge pickup, and a '53 Customline.

All three cars get some attention (the cop car, I just don't understand the attraction to - but a lot of people notice it); I've just kinda' reconciled myself to the fact that I might not get to pick my nose while driving and not be noticed.

But, I gotta' admit I do dig the attention when I'm in the pickup, 'cause that one (shitty as she looks) is very obviously a hotrod when you hear her run. I'd love her even if she were invisible, but the attention is kinda' like the icing on the cake.

-Bill

 

Both of my cars are Stangs.. One's a '91 with a 351W 5.8L Lightning motor and my latest is a '05 GT droptop... The problem I have is there's so many of these cars on the street... Just about every Tom, Dick an' Harry around here has one. It's gotten to the point where I want to sell both cars and get my '96 F-150 pickup fixed. Maybe somewhere down the road, I'll by a nice clean ol' chevy like I had in my younger dayz. I was always into the early Camaros and the '68-'72 Novas back then. I miss those dayz.

 

You say your 18?? Wish I was your age again... I felt like I was on top of the world back then driving around in a 10 year old Camaro that needed a little work...... Good job kid!

 

You hit the nail right on the head...That's the way most of us feel about our rides...

 

More power too ya!

 

x2.

 

Dig these!I've been a weirdo all my life and proud of it,why the hell would I want to be square?But a square person wouldn't see it that way.Great quote from I don't know where;
"They laugh at me 'cause I'm different,I laugh at them 'cause they are all the same."
Paul

 

There has to be an element of "showing off" in the ownership of any car that is different from the normal run of things. Not a bad thing - just the way the world works.

 

I am down with the OP and most of the responses. BIG difference between pride of ownership and being an "attention whore". A showoff is going to be that way weather its in old cars, or any other interest.

 

I drove my hotrod to work this morning, I leave my house at 5:15 am. Not many folks out that time of day. I park in the most hidden lot on the property when I get here. I dont mind a little attention, but people always want to talk while I'm driving. Cruising at 40 mph I can't hear you over the lakes headers anyway.

 

Pure enthusiasm for the old stuff. That's the element. Attention? Well hell yeah! All the comments aside, everyone driving one gets it and wants it. Attention comes in many colors. There's the build ego "look what I did...", the money ego "look what I bought...", the need to fit in to a group that has similar interests, then there's the pure enthusiast. IMO, the pure enthusiast can handle the attention better more honestly than the guy who avoids or denies it. There's a feeling of sharing and community to all of this as well as specific or dedicated clubs/events. Where the attention whore can be found is at the big meets, the guy with all the latest and greatest built by the best that money can buy. Not all of em, but we've all seen it. In "our world", the stuff the HAMB kinship loves, that same guy has the ultra-traditional super rare priceless perfect period parts everywhere on his build, and in extreme cases the parts are worth more than the car. Nothing wrong with fellow enthusiasts and past proponents casting a wonderous or woeful eye on our cars. We may not start out wanting the attention, but it comes with the territory. The juice is the element of the owner. Sometimes it's sour, sometimes it's sweet. Sometimes you go away scratching your head, "WTF is up with that dude..." other times you make a genuine friend. That feeling of not wanting to be bothered? You have to go to a lot of shows/cruises/races/events to develop that. It comes and goes. Another thing to notice in the attn department, there are some out there that don't even know you're there no matter what you drive. I test drive cars that should make the average driver drool or stare in amazement sometimes. I was at a stoplight in a Murphy bodied Duesy once. Certainly an attention getter, and in a million dollar car you'd expect it and probably should stay aware of it for safety's sake. Several folks seemed to not notice or just be completely ambivalent to the car in general. Several are so wound up about those type of cars they don't realize their staring is driving them into your lane! That's a problem sometimes and requires your attention. Lonley road or busy show, somebody somewhere will notice you in a special ride like it or not. You can share the experience with fellow enthusiasts, or try to keep it to yourself. You still get it. Another way to look at it, that car you have? It got your attention, didn't it?

 

It has been a long time since I was interested enough in a thread to read all the responses. However, this one sort of sums up my sentiment on why I have been into old cars since before I could drive them and why I enjoy passing that same interest on to my two boys. One of my boys is 6 and the other is 5 and I think they are both sort of getting it already...

 

Sinester
I like your post
We do this because thats who we are. Like you also said and I have said many many times - I built it for me !
Fuzzy

 

I like the attention my cars bring, but thats just a byproduct of the true reason for them. For me its about the build the pure joy and satisfaction of being able to tell what a car wants to be and then execute it. While most will never get the statement "The car is talking to me" when you do find a person that understands you have found a true car guy. My best friends and the most important FRIEND (the wife) are car guys/gals. I have some other friends that look at my cars and compliment them but they truly have no idea on what it is all about. I love all types of cars and can appreciate everything from a restored model A to a new Bugatti but I can't stand the guys who write a check and think they are a "car guy" and think they are better than me because they have a "New". Yes they may like the car they "bought" but they can't understand why someone would want to drive a loud, sometimes illhandling, rattley, old car. They just don't get it.

 

Sometimes I dont even think about the car Im driving till someone gives me the thumbs up! Then I think ...I used to envy the guy driving that old car and hope some day I will have some nice car to drive and pass on the excitement of old cars to someone else. Open roads and loud pipes to ya all! =)

 

lyin' out their ass.

 

building my car basicly from scratch and making it run that was the fun.driving it is the bonus,it makes all the work worth it.

 

Funny you explained it like that. I said one time, having my truck was like being handed my Grandfather's old pocket watch. To keep and preserve, so that the younger kids can see how it was "back in the day."

My F100 is pretty original. It even had the original spare tire under the bed and the owner's manual in the glove box, complete with some penciled in notes and name of the dealer where the original owner bought it. It's a survivor, like me.

I love old things. And I love my old truck. My Aunt made the comment to me once, "I don't know why you'd want to drive something older than you." And then, "you need something new, that's reliable." You know, my '06 Fusion has given me more trouble than my "old" truck. Both my F100 and Bronco are dead nuts reliable.

I love driving that loud ass, ratty, smelly, hot as hell Bronco. I'd drive it every day if I could afford it. For what it is, it rides smooth as glass and nothing puts a smile on my face more than putting my foot in the throttle and hearing those pipes let out an angry growl.

Then I love the F100 for just kicking back and cruising on a Sunday.

Yeah, the attention is nice. It makes me smile for an older fella to say, "don't see many of those any more....especially with a girl driving!" I just smile and say "thank you sir."

Anyhow, I'm rambling. But yeah, I like the attention, but that's not the sole reason I drive it. Something about those body lines and the shiny black paint just turn my crank. Even when the front clip was primer and it had huge ass truck mirrors, I could stare at it for days. The smell of the "old" interior, the exhaust rumble....it just sings to me, and it feels like where I belong.

 

believe it. i do sometimes enjoy the attention it brings, but i have never got in my car thinking "wow, i'm cool". i'm secure enough with myself to not need an old car to feel like people like me.

 

the only thing i hope people think about me is "he's not the biggest asshole walking the planet."
i've always been a bit of a loner and do my own thing. i mean i have a small group of friends, but that's all i need. if that's weird, then i'm proud to be a weirdo.

 

People who build cars for attention normally build those damn rats.

 

from what i know of hotrodding in the UK, it's different there than it is here. hotrodding has been a part of american counter-culture for a long time and in many ways is still looked at as a fringe element. i can only speak for myself, but the best times i have with my 55 are cruising a back road at 30mph in the dead of the night with nobody else around. i wouldn't care if every single other person on the earth disappeared when i'm doing it. do i like turning heads? well, of course, but i really wouldn't lose any sleep if i wasn't.

 

I have been lucky enough to be able to borrow hot rods to pick up our son from his last day of school (since my projects aren't running yet). The reason I do it on the last day is I believe it is showing off and thats not a part of my character I want to build on - so I keep it pretty low key.

This year was a lot of fun, he is in 6th grade and it seems now peer pressure to be "cool" is starting. He was shocked at how many older 7th and 8th graders asked him about the 32 pickup this year and yes he thought it was pretty cool to get asked.

During the ride this year he asked why people always smile when they see a hotrod?

I replied - if you pull up in a Ferrari most people won't notice and if they do they automatically think your rich and stuck up, the same goes for Limo's.

But when people see a hotrod, it already looks like a cartoon and who doesn't smile at a good cartoon.

 

i'm cool with what you're saying and in particular the last line of your post. there's a million 55's out there, but only one is mine, so that makes it one in a million to me.
i can tell you that from an early age, i've never "fit in". i still don't really go with a particular group or seek out a certain type of person. i've always been a bit of an outsider, but i've always had friends, too. i learned when i was a teenager how to be myself and do my own thing without the approval of anyone else. i think we all agree that we do enjoy the attention a hotrod can bring, but when that attention isn't there, and it isn't always there, it's the love of our hotrods that keeps up going.

 

i like when babes wink at me

 

x3

Some of us humans do things to distinguish ourselves. Certain cultures distinguish themselves as anti-establishment, out of the mainstream, countercultural, rebellious, defiant, individualistic, independent, non-conformist, just different, whatever you want to call it...those are honorable values...punk rock in the 70s, R&B, rock-n-roll, rockabilly in the 50s, zoot suits and swing in the 40s...hot rods, motorcycles, skateboarding, surfing, jivin' while the rest of the world is waltzing...slam dancing just to shock the disco crowd...pompadours, ducktails, growing your hair long, cutting your hair short, shaving your head, tattoos...you're rejecting conventionality.

We might build them for other reasons, the zen satisfaction you get from demonstrating/mastering your manual, intellectual, and artistic skills, but we drive them for many reasons, the adrenalin thrill of speed and power...you get that even out on a lonely road with nobody watching, the pride of ownership that comes from building something yourself (ties back to my reasons for building them), and so we don't look like those hamsters in the wheels on that damn Kia commercial...they're an expression of our individuality and without a crowd to stand out from, that expression wouldn't make any sense. The two can co-exist. There were mornings when I was out surfing all alone and just as happy as those crowded days when my buddies were whooping at me when I dropped in on something nobody thought I would make. I've played rugby in front of huge crowds and in front of nobody but my team mates and my opponents...but I can't deny a sense of pride when we strolled into a pub in our jerseys and looked down on mere mortals who will never know the thrill and camaraderie that we knew.

Sorry if I rambled a bit there...too much coffee this morning.

 

Interesting thread. I bought my car....not because I couldn't build it but because I never knew it was exactly what I had been wanting my entire life. I now know it is fulfilling like few things in life can be.
My car is a lot like playing in a a good band. I did the band thing in the 70's in Chicago. I didn't play in the band for the "look at me" thing but rather for the rush that came from those,every so often minutes, when every thing is right and the band is one. It is better than sex. Any musicians out there know what I am talking about. I get that from my car almost every time I drive it.
I enjoy the thumbs up and especially enjoy the little kids trying to look out their window at the car.......but most of all, I enjoy the rush of driving it. The view out the office window is what I always envisioned a hot rod to be.
My wife finally went with me to a local show a couple of weeks ago. We got there, looked around for about an hour, got in the car and put another 300 miles on the car. Screw the show !! Driving is what my car is about. She now understands and is looking forward to this weekends travels..........she even wants to drive the car.....

 

Since i was a kid I've played with toy cars. Matchboxes, Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning, Aurora, Revell, Monogram, you name it. My car is my only toy left, if you don't count my snowmobiles, motorcycle and go kart. I like to build my toy, I like to play rough with my toy and make lots of noises. I sometimes break my toy. I like to fix my toy, I like to shine my toy, I like to modify my toy and make it better than it was before. I like to bring my toy to places where others bring their toys to play. I like to talk about toys with kids who know about toys and maybe we'll each learn something.

I don't care if anybody who has no toy ever sees me, and i don't want nobody touching my toy because it's MINE!

 

I parked my old 55 V Rod in front of Taco Del Mar one day last summer and bought a fish taco and was sitting in the window watching as about fifteen people walked by the car and stopped and lingered and began talking to each other 'around' my car.
It's the car that is the fun part. People just enjoy the old rods, they are drawn to them, all by themselves.
Now, 'if' you need some attention, then yes, this will work for you. Buy an old rod, you will make friends, even at the local Taco stand....
The best part, of owning that car was just driving it, alone on back roads, it was simple "FUN", thats enough right there.