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What is considered a "bomb"?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by lt1tyrell, Sep 15, 2012.

  1. Rogueman
    Joined: Jan 18, 2011
    Posts: 301

    Rogueman
    Member

    Remember when cars used to smoke as they went down the road.
     
  2. Claymore, that "bomb" lowrider "fad" has been around for nearly sixty years.
     
  3. DocWatson
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 10,273

    DocWatson
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Oh, so thats why it suits any GM product so well!!
    ;)
    Doc.


    PS. A Claymore is also a type of bomb these days, that or a type of man whore........."What has 500 balls and fucks people?"
     
  4. way harsh AV88!!!!!!!!
     
  5. Johnny Gee
    Joined: Dec 3, 2009
    Posts: 12,602

    Johnny Gee
    Member
    from Downey, Ca

    And to follow that......

    [​IMG]
     
  6. houtex63
    Joined: Jun 9, 2006
    Posts: 471

    houtex63
    Member
    from houston

    check out:

    www.chevybombs.com

    not sure where the term originates. i have always understood that it refers to the smooth round shape of the car's body, similar to the shape of an actual bomb. primarily pre 54 chevys but also includes most gm bodies. i've never heard of a ford being referred to as a bomb.

    has nothing to do with "it being the bomb". it's a genre of its own.
     
  7. gasolinescream
    Joined: Sep 7, 2010
    Posts: 614

    gasolinescream
    Member

    Would this be classed as a bomba style? It's stock, lowered and has the odd bolt on do dabs. Apart from the kurb feelers I bloody love this car and not a million miles off the sort of thing I'd normally cruise about in.

    [​IMG]
     
  8. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,263

    gimpyshotrods
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The term bomb, and the cars that it really applies to is a reference point to a rich cultural heritage in the Hispanic community. For those who do not know this to simply appropriate the term and use it for a different purpose is tantamount to claiming that a whole culture, ethnicity, and class of people simply do not, and did not exist.

    Bombastica culture is alive and well here in California, where it started. You may not find it well represented here on the H.A.M.B., and you may, where you live, never come in contact with it. That, however, does not mean that it does not, did not exist.

    You can use the word any way you want, but you might still be wrong.

    I choose, out of respect, to use it for and where it is applied properly.
     
    i.rant likes this.
  9. Lone Star Mopar
    Joined: Nov 2, 2005
    Posts: 3,811

    Lone Star Mopar
    Member

    I get "nice bomb" comments around my neighberhood all the time. I dont really consider my car a bomb, but either way it's a nice compliment. I've never heard the term used to describe anything else...automotive wise at least.

    Edit: Gimpy's got it right, it's primarily used in the hispanic community. So living in Dallas, Tx it's just a regular part of the lingo. I'd also add "Bomb guys" in my experience take great pride in thier rides. The fit and finish is usually second to none and they are ALWAYS very clean and presentable. Thats why I'd consider it a compliment.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2012
  10. AV88
    Joined: Feb 7, 2011
    Posts: 235

    AV88
    Member

    Yeah I know, but you got the skills it's the other ten that have appeared in the last 4 months I'm referring to I think it's a bit of a cheat , get a nice stock car a screw shit on , that's hard


    Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
     
  11. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,263

    gimpyshotrods
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    Um, Bomastica culture sees its roots in the late 30's and early 40's in Southern California. I have no doubt that non-Hispanic kids of the 50's could have appropriated the term by then.

    You cannot forget that the movie industry, at least in the era you mentioned, was almost exclusively based about 15-20 miles from where Bombastica culture is said to originate from. No doubt the term could have been heard by screenwriters, actors and directors, all that great distance away, within the same city.

    It was already Hispanic by then. Remember, California was "Alta California de Mexico", before it was California, U.S.A. It has, in fact, been part of Mexico/Spain longer than it has been part of the U.S.A. This was, and is, a Hispanic state.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2012
    i.rant likes this.
  12. gimpyshotrods
    Joined: May 20, 2009
    Posts: 23,263

    gimpyshotrods
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    My neighbors, who are 91-year-old twin brother Hispanic gentlemen were there too. They say otherwise. I have no reason to doubt them. Their kids and grand-kids own and drive bombs. They are some of my best and nicest customers.
     
    Rich S. likes this.
  13. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Some of my childhood friends (older Mexicans, who happened to be 'Pachucos') told me their cars (exclusively Chevys, '37-'41 then) were 'Bombs'. That was their term. It was theirs exclusively, but by the mid-'50s, the term somehow got appropriated by the drag racing crowd.
    Hot Rod magazine used the term for modified cars with big H.P.
    Recall the dragster that had the Olds engine in front, and added Cad power in the rear: The car was dubbed, "Bustlebomb"...
    Yes, kids of the Fifties used it for 'hopped up cars'. But it was well established in the Mexican culture since just prior to 1940.
     
  14. Bombs are alive and well in Calif. I stopped at a Lowrider show in Paso Robles years ago so my kids could see 'em up close. Quality workmanship, mile deep paint and some proud owners.

    My sister lives near Santa Maria, plenty of them cruise around there.
     
  15. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    "Bomb" or "bomber" was a common term for an old car in Ontario Canada in the fifties, 3000 miles from Hollywood. It probably goes back farther than that only I wasn't around to hear it.
     
  16. DocWatson
    Joined: Mar 24, 2006
    Posts: 10,273

    DocWatson
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    Artillery, Mortar and most explosively propelled explosives are still called 'Bombs'.

    They are a lot of fun too!!

    Doc.
     
  17. lawman
    Joined: Sep 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,665

    lawman
    Member

    Very well said my friend !!!!!!!!
     
    Rich S. likes this.
  18. storm king
    Joined: Oct 16, 2007
    Posts: 1,989

    storm king
    Member

    Rogueman nailed it. I remember way back as a pre-teen, my Dad would call any car in rough shape a "bomb". Rat Rod is just a new term for bomb, (or something I wouldn't drive). A bomb is just another way of saying POS...
    If the low rider guys are using it today to seperate their rides ethnicly, oh, well, fine.
     
  19. Rogueman is correct to a point. Before I was old enough to have a solid grasp on reality cars that were right on the edge of blowing up wer called bombs.

    The latino community began calling the old hoopties that they crusided in bombas; bombas as a kind of a tongue in cheek thing. The latino style of customs long before hydrauilics was a little different then what there leave it to beaver counterparts were driving. Late '40s Chebbies were cheap and it didn't take much to make one squat, they were not really called low riders until the '60s or '70s.

    Hombre mira a me bombita. Not to be confused with La bamba which is an entirely different thing all together.
     
  20. Rogueman
    Joined: Jan 18, 2011
    Posts: 301

    Rogueman
    Member

    I meant no disrespect to the lowriders. You can see my 50 chevy to your left is running low.

    I was only saying how we used the word Bomb as related to cars when I was young.
     
  21. I don't think that what you said is disrespectful to the low rider crowd, if you caught that from what I said I was just expounding on what you said.

    If it was something that someone else said well let 'em eat worms if they can't take a joke. :D
     
  22. ClarkH
    Joined: Jul 21, 2010
    Posts: 1,412

    ClarkH
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    I've had the misfortune of driving a few bombs (the bad kind), and the pleasure of admiring a few (the good kind). Shouldn't be surprising that "bomb" can have two completely different meanings, depending on context. That's pretty common. Witness "blown engine," which can indicate a failed motor or one with a supercharger.
     
  23. Special Ed
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 7,967

    Special Ed
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    It's sad to see some of these responses. I liken it to asking a Texan about New England clam chowder, or an Alaskan about grits. If you don't know the correct answer, why respond? (except some of the respones were pretty stinkin' funny!) Gimpy and AtwaterMike (and maybe others?) both answered what was posted from a fellow in California, asking a legitimate question. "Bombs" are a way of life here (California), and have been for over sixty years that I'm personally aware of...
     
    gimpyshotrods likes this.
  24. 345winder
    Joined: Oct 27, 2010
    Posts: 1,059

    345winder
    BANNED


    i agree,, some of the reponses are clueless as if the are dismissing that the whole so-cal "bomb/bomba " thing never existied or is a new fad.. it started in the 40's back in the zoot suit era...has been around ever since...

    just because this style of car building was no where ,wear they were,or because THEY have never heard of it.. doesn it mean it didnt exist.. i DO understand people call things differently across the US,,,for example. when i first moved fro So-Cal to KY...i had a slammed 64 Cal-resto style bug...i hadnt been here a couple weeks and people kept telling me "nice lowrider" and i was confused...only to find out back then in this area people called anything lowered a lowrider,....so i understand the regional differences in dialect..but saying Bomba's are a new fad is a lil rediuclous..:)
     
  25. Special Ed
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 7,967

    Special Ed
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    "politically correct"? What in the world are you talking about? :confused:

    Well, if you won't believe any first-hand, eye-witness accounts, any other "proof" offered would be questioned by you as well (photo-shopped, touched-up, altered, etc.). Contact these guys, if you want a little history. Their photos only go back fifty years, but you'll get the idea. Perhaps they can convince you. If not, there are threads right here on the HAMB pertaining to this very subject. A simple search may quench your thirst for "proof" .... :)

    http://www.dukescarclub.com/pb/wp_860360ce/wp_860360ce.html
     
  26. Special Ed
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 7,967

    Special Ed
    Member


    Sorry ... But somehow you must have gotten the HAMB confused with the PEOPLE'S COURT. :rolleyes: Even though your theatrics ARE actually mildly amusing. :)
     
  27. traffic61
    Joined: Jun 15, 2009
    Posts: 1,545

    traffic61
    Member
    from Owasso, OK

    A '74 Pinto? Now NSRA Friendly!
     
  28. wawuzit
    Joined: Jul 18, 2010
    Posts: 56

    wawuzit
    Member
    from tennessee


    http://www.cbforum.net/forum/index.php
     
  29. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    There is no "correct" answer. The term "bomb" for an old car was in common use from coast to coast at least as far back as the fifties, maybe farther.

    The Latinos in California may have first used it in an ironic way. A lot of terms in car culture started that way. Now it has a specific meaning quite different from what it used to have.

    How many people today know that the name "hot rod" originated as an insult in the newspapers? Early hot rodders preferred "hop up" or "gow job". To them the term "hot rod" was as bad as "rat rod" is today.

    Or what about Rat Fink? Do you know a rat is a stool pigeon or police informant, and that a fink is also a stool pigeon or police informant (the word comes from Pinkerton as in Pinkerton's detective agency.) Rat fink was first used among union organizers in the early 20th century.

    Rat Fink became a generic term of abuse in California in the fifties, divorced from its original meaning. Then Ed Roth picked it up and used it to label his cartoon character.

    How many proud Rat Fink T shirt owners have any idea what they are wearing? Well they know what it means today and that is all that matters.

    Language has a way of changing and growing. The same word may be used in different ways by different generations, and in different parts of the country.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2012
  30. Rogueman
    Joined: Jan 18, 2011
    Posts: 301

    Rogueman
    Member

    Wow! I never meant to have a part in getting this started.

    I have been educated on what a Bomb is today. There are some really nice cars called bombs today.

    Back in the 50s and 60s we called and old piece of crap car a Bomb down in Southern Texas. I didn't know or care what was going on in California.

    I'm not sure the word Bomb used as a car pre-dated WWII. I wouldn't mind seeing the proof on that.

    I don't think I seen my first Lowrider until the 70s or 80s around here.

    Our dads did put sand bags in the trunks to get the tails down.
     

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