Are Hot Rodders a Different Breed

Last night on the Barrett Jackson auction one of the announcers was questioning why a freshly built 33 Ford coupe was being sold. The other announcer said that hot rodders were different from most collectors and are always looking for a new challange and most likely sold the car to move on to a new project.
Got me to thinking....most the guys I know do exactly that.
I have always enjoyed the hunt for new projects almost as much as working on them, but when I get one finished (never completely finished are they....always something to change or improve)...I am ready to start on another. My wife says it is a sickness and there is no cure, except to ease the symptoms by starting another project. I think she may be right.

 

guilty..im afflicted..although i have kept all of mine lately

 

I Will second that !!!

 

A new challenge sounds right...wouldn't want life to be any other way!

 

I have done it quite a few times. Projects are always fun.

 

It's all in the build!!

 

The journey is the goal!

 

not me. i get married to the damn things. when i do sell one, i regret it forever.

 

Yea, the ones I have now are keepers, but in my younger days I sold and traded often. Like the 36 Ford Cabriolet, two 28 Roadsters, 40 coupe, 57 Nomad, and several early Vettes. When I think about those cars I really regret selling them. But like most young guys, I just could not afford to keep them and raise a family. Family always came first.

 

I've built many cars since my first, in the '60s. I always lost interest in them when they were done. I learned to love the feeling of accomplishment when it was done....and much improved!.....but, then I sold it and moved on to the next one, which was already waiting in the back yard.

 

I am the same way, I get to attached to my old cars they kind of become a member of your family. My 68 has been in my family longer than I have.

 

We usually sell a car about every 5 years. But here's a general timetable for the fleet. And unless something catastrophic happens, the cars listed will never be for sale... ever.

'36 5 window: 44 years
'36 3 window: 16 years
'36 4 door: 20 years
'67 chevelle convert: 29 years
'67 chevelle convert 2: 20 years

Well, you get the idea. I think the last car we sold was my '46 Ford 4 years ago. Before that the '57 Safari sold about 10 years ago. We've got our '48 chevy coupe for sale now.

In a way I've always envied my friends that could just sell a car at the drop of a hat. Not us. We too, are married to them.

 

Surely a certain satisfaction comes from stirring the pot. When the painting is done or the marble hewn into final form, you step back, and admire. If extremely lucky, in this craft, you turn the key and the music firing out the pipes warms your heart as you head out...in search of another forlorn mongrel to bring back to life.

On second thought, there is nothing better than building a keeper.

 

I do one car at a time, trying to get it on the road as soon as possible. The best part, to me, is being able to drive your old car alot.
I know that I will lose interest in a car if there isn't something that I can change, modify, or upgrade on it.
My current build/driver ('62 Galaxie) is ever-evolving and I'm enjoying it. Of course, money is also a factor, so it helps to do one or two things at a time, as I can afford it.
Eventually, I will get to a point on the Galaxie where I've done enough to it and I'm ready to move on to a new project. I'm sure it certainly won't be "done", though!

Malcolm

 

where's groucho?

 

Haha... isn't he the King of this? I can only imagine how many cars he's owned through the years...

 

I do a little of both. Some I keep, some I sell. I think we are all looking for the "just right" car to keep forever. Some find it, some don't, but the hunt goes on, and we all love the hunt. I have a friend that builds lots of cars to the point they run around the block and then loses interest and sells them, moving on to the next great idea. I just can't do that.

 

I enjoy the build every bit as much as driving my creation

it's Barret Jackson that holds no interest in me

 

One reason I sold the Touring was because I knew if I kept it I would tear it apart and make changes, in fact that was one reason I sent the Rocky33 down the road. Both sales allowed me to move onto the next project and clean my mental palate.

We will keep the 54 at least until I find a wagaon for Carla, she really wants an old wagon for a daily. Then I suspect the 54 will go down the road.

 

There's a guy on here whose signature I wish I had thought of because it expresses my outlook - Build what you drive, dirive what you build - right on.

Rod

 

It totally depends for me. There is a big difference between building a car for resale and building a car to my specifications with the intent of keeping it.

I've sold a bunch of cars. I recently built a 67 C/10 shop truck. I like it, but it's not a "dream car" of mine, so I'm not married to it.

My 57 Ford has been with me since the day of my senior prom. We've had lots of good times and a bunch of bad times too, and as lame as it sounds, it's been a good friend to me. That car will get finished one day, and I hope to give it to my kid one day in the very distant future

 

I ain't letting go of my junk ! I don't care what my oldlady say's ! LOL !

 

I have had a lot of cars come and go, a lot of which I wish I had kept. I am not alone there, as a lot of you can attest. I bought my avatar '60 F-100 when I was 16, and a lot of people have tried to talk me out of it...too many high school grab-ass memories to let it go, not to mention I really like the truck, and amazingly the style is finally gaining popularity.

I am always looking for a viable second project, but not as a substitute for my '60. More like a project to balance it out when I am frustrated...

 

Of coarse we are different! We look at a bent up twisted rusty chunk of iron and our eyes glaze over. The other folks look and call the trash man!

 

I believe your wife is 100% correct!

 

LOL! Oh hell yeah we're different ! Thats why we do this thing with old cars! You gotta be "different" to put all the time and money we do into an old car nobody else would want ! $500 dollar car with $1500 worth of wide whites and chrome wheels!!! Different? "Crazy" is a better word.

 

Every time I build a car, I swear I'll never do it again. Too much time, too much money. After I sold the last 2 builds, with the money I got, I just bought cars I liked. The 2 that I bought were Hamb cars.

 

I used to be like that when I was into VW's. But that all changed when I got my Merc. It's not going anywhere! I'm still gonna build a Hotrod,but I plan on keeping that one too.

 

23 years have passed since I first started working on my "hot rod" VW convert...and I am thrashing away on my Model a coupe hot rod that I've had since 97 to get it ready for summer this year...I am not about to turn loose of either of them. Those cars are "me" and a part of my character and my kids and my friends know it. I have had several projects way earlier in my life that were never finished, and I vowed to myself to finish the convert and this coupe...and then enjoy them....and I am now enjoying the convert. all I have to do now is finish the coupe...and enjoy it too...and its looking like that will happen. I had a dream last night that I heard my coupe run for the first time and it was awesome. I remember I had a similar dream seeing the convertible in finished trim...about 6 years before it was done...and VOILA! I must be young at heart...like the rest of you.

 

Barret Jackson = Street Rodders=Gold Chainers

Street Rods and Hot Rods...not the same thing....not the same people!!