I've been holding this in all week. Need to get it off my chest. So, this is a trad rod board, and most people here have an aversion to trailer queens, right? "Fucking A' Bubba!" ok, settle down boys. Now that I have this straight, how do people with trailer queens get into our rod runs? Recently, I went to a show with my parts-chaser 65 GMC shorty/stepside. I only have it a month, and am turning it from stock, into a trad push-truck/shop-truck. I will wear the same paint as my 55, and it already has a 327/4.56 gears, and a few trad tack-ons like Moon disks, louvers, flake, etc. Now when I showed up at the 'trad' show last week, I parked with the street rods and wierdos outside the infield. Of course, because I'm in between builds. I sold my 60 'Cat to Mel, and my 55 is under construction, my 64 GTO gasser is 6 years gone, I haven't seen my 38 Poncho in 10 years...., but I digress. None of my cars ever saw a trailer. They have been on a flatbed after breaking far, or close to home, but no fucking trailers to go show them off. "Repoman, what's your fucking point? You're drunk!" Relax, let me explain. After parking outside the show, I saw cars and trucks that either didn't belong, or were obviously trailered in. So I took my truck inside where I could be closer to my beer, and get a chance to hit the dirt track. Hey, if the trendsters think my parts runner is cool, who am I to argue? I met some cool people. The guy behind me on line for the mud came from Texas. Texas! In a roadster! Then wandering around, I saw some scary rides. One car I saw, I thought to myself - "Repoman, that car is unsafe at any speed! Repoman, that car wouldn't be safe to tow to the fucking junkyard!" Then I saw the owners of the cars leave later, ON TRAILERS. I drove 3 hours in my 40 year old truck. The guy from Texas drove two days, just like the guy from Wisconsin, and the lady from Michigan. Why did this guy trailer his POS two hours from NY? Yes, I am starting trouble. I offer those guys the chance to retort. If a drivable car has nothing to do with the thing you are trying to express, fine. There is a historical significance to poorly built cars by young guys who were just learning to build cars. But where is the place for them? It sure as fuck isn't a party where people drive across the country to hang their ass out on a rocky, muddy dirt track! The car I was most awe-inspired by surely came on a trailer. It was a 34 Ford dirt-tracker that hasn't been changed since 1960 or better. A car like that belongs on a trailer. Why would you build a car today that is poorly engineered on purpose, when you obviously have the skills to build it right? Why put the steering arm 2" off the ground when you are building from scratch, and have the means to make it safe to drive around the block? I'm not trying to call someone an asshole, I just don't understand. My opinion, if you came on a trailer, it should be because you built a radical race car, or your ride is a legendary survivor.
The topic has been covered before, but you are correct. traditional is channeling your car a few inches. Neo-traditional (which is a euphamism for those 2 dreaded words) is channeling a car 15 inches, so the car literally scrapes on the ground at the ever so slight road imperfection. A modest or even radical chop to improve the lines of a kustom or rod is traditional, whereas neo-traditional is chopping a car so severely that there is no back window, or the driver's head pokes through the roof...see my point? In the effort to be more traditional than the next guy, old school inadvertantly transforms into new school. By this same effort, the driveability of the cars decreases, often to the point that they need to be trailered. For the ultimate in irony, the neo-traditional rodder, who is rebelling against the gold chainer, has actually created a car so "traditional" that it must be trailered... just like the gold chainer. Should these neo-traditional rodders be seperated from the gold chainers and the true traditional rodders that "get it"? I would argue no. Just like the young immature punk can evolve into a responsible adult, the rebellious phase may eventually wear off. Primer may seem cool one year, but in a couple years, that neo-traditionalist may see the proverbial light and aspire to build something with a little more class and restraint, with new found skills developed along the way. We all need role models and examples to follow. None of us came out of the womb omniscient in the ways of rodding and restyling. All we can do is spread the gospel
I also agree with your point regarding the trailer issue. The MAIN reason I enjoy this "loosely defined culture" is that it is not: 1. politically correct per se; 2. Has absolutely nothing to do with hip-hop or rap-crap. 3. Gives me a opportunity to explore ( through my projects ) my own "roots" if you will, of my generation's contributions to the Hot Rod Culture. Hopefully that makes sense! I too, am proud to have served!
Well...you did say it wasn't safe to TOW to the junkyard! LoL I guess he was smart enough to know that! I think you need the failures to be visible...just to show the limitations of the redesign. Better to learn from someone elses mistakes than to be doomed to repeat them on your own time. Theres always something to be learned from a car that stretches the boundries. Thats the whole idea. It opens the mind. Sometimes it opens the mind to the knowledge that..."This is how it should NEVER be done!" You STILL learned somethin'...
this reminds me of going to the houston autorama a few years back. there was a BEAUTIFUL 32 done up more modern style-I mean this car was just crushing. if it wasn't chromed,it was polished,absent of anything billet, perfect stance, perfect chop, just a damn nice car. roght up until I noticed something was "odd" about the motor. there were no accessories on the front of it (s.b.c.) and it seemed just a little too close to the radiator. I got a little closer to see where they "hid" things like the generator ( it had an electric water pump on it-one hood side was up) then I noticed it had no harmonic balancer! closer inspection revealed IT HAD NO CRANKSHAFT. I was so bummed I left. the latest "trend" of radically chopped and channeled cars is beginning to wear on me more than a little bit. I build cars to drive, and you WILL NEED more than 2 1/2 inches of clearance under the car for it to make it any amount of distance. why? because every person here has been forced to drive over SOMETHING on the road,at speed, that they didn't want to. a chunk of 4x4, a brick, a random tire tread,a large sized dead armadillo-you know what I mean. something is out there that literally wants a peice of your ass (which is skating about 5 inches from the ground.) I am not screaming for everyone to build hi-boy style cars. I am just saying there is very little "tradition" in a car that can't drive from austin to san antonio without every pebble in the road being a potential scar on your backside. and it is dangerous in that "get you killed" kind of way. not the fun "maim you a little and you have a good story" kind of way. I drove a triumph tr3-b for a summer and looking UP at the blue oval on the front of a f-350 still gives me the willies. I would rather dump the time and money into something I could enjoy more places than on only laser straight,perfectly flat streets.
Its good to see so many guys saying that the new 'ratrod' style is NOT traditional. i agree that a hemi powered Model A coupe that had to be trailered to the Roundup should not be winning awards.
Chrisntx, you're talking about Bass' coupe? What was the story with that? I saw that thing and it drives. I think he was towing a bike also...kinda hard to drive the A AND the bike....sometimes you just have no choice but to tow. When I head back to CA to visit family, I'm taking my wife and little girls with me...guess what???they all can't fit in the coupe, so I'm probably towing my chevy out there and while Im out there, I'm going to hit some shows with it DRIVING it to the shows when I there (leaving the trailor at mom's house)
Not this debate all over again!! Did anyone ever think a trip to a show might actually me a multi purpose trip. Last year for the HAMB drags I could have driven my A there but I trailered it so I could haul a 9", a banjo rearend, and other parts for HAMB'rs. I also picked up some parts for me and completed the last leg of a relay for a Michigan HAMB'r. There are many reasons for trailering - dont just bust thier balls because since you drove, yours "maybe" bigger.
Trailers...sometimes a necessary evil. I'll go on record to say that whenever I have a "just completed" car ready for a show it's fuckin eh gettin trailered. Days and days of cleaning just can't be wasted on a drive it there whim. Now there is a difference between a rod run style event and an exposition show. I've exhibited at Meadowbrook here in MI and all were trailered, and almost all were awarded. But those owners were in to that so they get it. If it were mine? I guess I'd trailer it the 1st time then it's driven from there on. You can see all the details when it's spotless. You can enjoy the style as well. 57joefo...absolutely right. "Neo-traditional". Great term for the excess rockabilly wannabe thing that's happening. Some of it hits the mark, and some of it should never happen. But then again, the difference in taste, opinion, and style, still swarming over this craft of hot rods and resto-survivors, is one of the foundations of rods and customs since the beginning. My opinion is I won't stand for anyone looking down their nose at me because I trailered something in. If I'm there I'm just like you...period. The way it's supposed to be.
Shoot, I use to think it was OK to tow or trailer behind your RV until I saw how my buddy handled it with his 39 convertible. He drove the motor home and his wife drove the vert. She had more fun. It is kinda fun to look at some of the more traditional rods. I grew up in SoCal in the 50s and 60s and never saw anything like that on the street. I guess it must have been a right coast thing. If I had one now, Id have to trailer it. And once I got to where I was going, Id have to push it, cause I sure as hell couldnt get in it!! Also, proud to have served.
When I get half way through a Hemi Coupe and I want to show it off at Roundup....I'll trailer it and anyone who doesn't like it can fuck themselves and build their own to drive in. Damn. He first cranked that car to move it to put it on the trailer. He had to adjust the clutch running down S. Congress if I remember the story correctly. That said. I agree with about 90% of the sentiment. I broke my car in La Grange..50 miles from Austin..and rented a trailer to take it back to HOUSTON a day before the show. My goal for this car was to get it running and driving reliable enough to get me to the roundup. As long as I have the car...I'll still plan on taking it. The cool thing. I fixed what I broke and I've driven that thing all over southeast Texas. From here to Port Arthur and back. Galveston. Anywhere. Looking forward to next year.
i drive mine very where but the hamb drags.i dont want to be the guy that messed up my friends trip cause my car broke down far from home.if it where just a car show id drive .but im going to drop the hammer on the old pig.
I hesitate to respond to this thread because the topic is so worn out and boring. But since this statement seems to be directed towards me and my club, I feel like I should respond. 1. We give out the Kontinentals Pick to the car we like best. Period. It's not based on the odometer reading. If you looked over Bass's car, you would have seen a bunch of really cool hand made pieces. The motor mounts alone probably would have earned the pick from me. Or the drilled friction shock levers. Or any number of single parts. The car as a whole is totally bitchin', from front to back and top to bottom. That's why we picked it. I do not make judgements on how other people have fun with their cars. 2. Having said all of that, Bass drove his car to the park and around town the Roundup weekend. His build went down to the wire without time at the end to put test drive miles on it. He didn't feel that sorting out problems on the way down 35 after not sleeping for 2 weeks was the best way to go. Yes, jumping in and driving it would have been more hardcore. Hooray for hardcore. Somebody else could have trailered or rode the bike. That would have been way hardcore. Hooray for hardcore. 3. Traditional? Not a lot of '64 GMC's in the little pages. But there is a bunch of show cars that hardly, if ever, saw the road. I'm not trying to knock the truck at all. Just the opposite. Trying to point out how skewed the phrase "traditional hot rod" has become. 4. Have fun with your car and don't worry so much about other people. I promise that all of them are doing their best to have fun with their cars, their own way.
Sometimes I leave the roadster home, hook up the trailer and go cruising cuz it's so damn cool looking. Everyone thinks I have a cool car inside and that's enough for short trips. Heck, I even take it to the big shows and park it with all the other trailers, then make believe I have a really cool car inside the show. Last cool run I made with the trailer, it was filled to the brim with *(^&^% tumbleweeds. Twice. Now it's filthy dirty inside . . . and I even swept it out . . . twice. That's ok though, now I don't open it up at the car shows. I keep my lawn chairs in the pickup and power park with the trailer. It's so cool....
I think we (or at least I ) are thinking more of the cars that never see any road miles popping up at these shows. like NONE. like can't possibly be driven,cause there is no driveshaft. or crankshaft. as far as Bass's coupe is concerned, I can see why Fishman would n't have driven that car from Dallas. I will also bet 100 bucks to anyone that he drives that car to Austin next year. ( and probably to the day of the drags, probably where ever he can.) the idea of getting your balls peppered by every pebble on the road for 3 hours is none too appealing. I would imagine as soon as it gets more floor in it, we will be seeing alot more of Mr.Bass in his car.-and if it is on a trailer, it will be because the bikes in the truck bed couldn't ride themselves. Buzzard-you should probably mention at least a couple of the maladies you personally have suffered while driving your trailer queens across this big ass state of ours!you know,fire, violent removal of somewhat vital suspension components, bashing your skull in on the roof of your car over speed bumps (wait-that last one was me...)having to drive "creatively"through ditches dressed up like "drainage grooves" e.t.c., e.t.c....
I gave Buzzard band aids after an "incident" with that beauty of his. Afterwards I felt guilty for continuously checking his car out while everyone was running around looking for stuff like...[SIZE=-1]fire extinguishers.[/SIZE]
hey-off the subject-Home depot has killer metalflake silver ones for about 20 bucks. they are begging for a quick coat of candy,and presto! a fire extinguisher (a,b,c, at that)that matches your car.
I gotta say something here. I fully agree with the "trailer when necessary, drive when you can" philosophy. Cars are built to be driven, but you can't always do that when you want to bring more than one vehicle, or your wife and kids, or your bikes, etc. One thing I don't like about these debates is that "us and them" attitude that some older guys take towards the more radical chopped and channeled cars. I personally would not build a death rod below scrub line, but the artist in me wants to give guys that like this stuff a little more creative slack. Where would this hobby be without radical thinkers like Roth? These guys have created a look that they think is cool, that's it. And a lot of them are younger guys, like me, who are learning, experimenting, trying stuff out, and building what their experience and budget allows. I think, like another poster said, that this phase will fade, and that traditionally built hot rods, like blue jeans, will always be in style. Also I'd like to see the term "rockabilly" divorced from "rat rod". Not everyone who appreciates old music or likes the aesthetic of the 50's is an idiot. There are a lot of guys my age who are into that stuff simply because they identify with the more traditional values of an era they missed. In an age of nothing left to discover and no one to look up to, lots of people my age are just looking for something a little more simple to identify with. Cuffed jeans? Greased back hair? Traditional tattooing? Just my generation's outward "fuck you" to the technology-obsessed, celebrity-worshipping, fast-food society we've created for ourselves. I went to the Pileup with some friends last year, had a great time, saw some amazing cars. One of the coolest was a death rod with no roof panel, sparay-bomb paint job, less-than stellar body work, too much chop, etc. I saw these two guys pull up. Out came two punk looking, leather clad dudes I can only describe as Munster-billy(tm). If I had taken pictures, you guys would probably rip them up, but you know what? These guys drove from Michigan or Minnesota in 30 degree weather with no roof panel or windows, fucking HARDCORE. I talked to them at the bar a bit and they were both cool as hell, no attitude, just car guys out for the love of the hobby and a good time. And no trailers.
I wasn't talking about guys who use the trailer for practical purposes, and I wasn't directing it to the Kontinentals. I was talking more about cars that are not street worthy, but are trying to appear so, - [barely] rolling art pieces? Sorry I bought it up. I have been to exactly 3 car shows in my 15 years of driving hot rods. I hate them. Then I hear about the promise of the Showdown, and it was great. I didn't even have my car there, like I said, I showed up in my parts chaser. Again, I'm sorry I bought it up. Maybe we should close this thread before it pisses off the rat rod trailer queen contingent.
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