Dumb question, but why pre-65?

I like the cars and the general feeling on the H.A.M.B. - and I really like cars from the 40's and 50's. Dumb question, though. Why is the cutoff date '64? Is it '64 and earlier, or pre-64? Is it because seatbelts became mandatory in '65? Or more gooberment meddling in the mid to late 60's?

Just asking. Still keeping my '65 Rambler sedan, and like it just the same - but wondering what factors influence the cutoff date. (of course, looking at early to mid 50's Chevy's, Fords, Olds, Buicks and Caddies - and looking at early hotrods, I kind of get the idea)

 

Muscle cars... You could get numerous fast cars from a dealer without an inkling on how to build a hard running engine.

 

I believe it's the beginning of the musclecar eara at work here, along with some pretty dramatic differences in styling between early 60's cars and mid/late 60's and later.

 

And Pony Cars.

 

I'm not certain but I personally think that it is because the pony car era started right at 64-5...

 

Pre Mustang.........................Rich

 

This is getting pretty old.....there is no "cutoff" on the main board....just the classifieds.
There are tons of threads on stuff newer than '64.....IE-threads on '60's drag racing...
Hang around, do some searching, and you'll quickly see what's "welcome" and what isn't....

 

Seat belts were mandated in cars in 1968, as were side turn signals.

 

On that same note, I THINK 65 was when the mandated that the front parking lights stay on with the headlights... It was also the first year Ford made door locks you could lock from the inside and then close the door instead of having to lock it with a key .

 

Not to be a dick but someone asks this about once a month, so if you were to search, you'd eventually find the answer already posted by Ryan himself.


For me, it being his board and his choice is good enough reason.

 

Back to the 50's has the same cutoff. Pre Mustang and the GTO/Muscle car thing got to rolling. (I know, GTO's are 64)

 

Look at the rod magazines from 1960 to 1965...a whole wad of new ways of burning rubber came along, Go Karts, minibikes, super stocks, musclecars, dune buggies... traditional rods and customs were pushed into obscurity by easier routes to motorized fun, and were of interest only to marginalized lunatics (most of them on this board...) until the somewhat different world of streetrods emerged in the '70's.

 

doesn't really make sense since the first mustangs use the pre 64 falcon chassy, with nothing much more than a different body???

I'm here to learn... I have no friends to learn from, don't know anything abought traditional hot rodding except that I like it

I agree with the comment on muscle cars and why they are in a class by themselves.

in my oppinion my '67 mustang is a traditional hot rod, maybe from a different era than most hambers, but this is the type of car a highschool kid like my self in the '70's would have bought for under $500, added a cam, intake, headers, carb, performance ignition & hogging out some ports, and there you have it, what hot rodding is all abought...earning the money working after school, doing it youself, having fun doing it, learning what works and what doesn't, then getting to blast aroung the backroads or local strip all on a budget that most builders couldn't get their car painted with

I'll add this note...vintage mustang forums pretty much suck, most of the guys are high budget billit everything EFI crate motor types, my car has no modern parts at all, even my eldebrock intake is over 35 years old, that's the way I like it and that's why I like the HAMB

 

Marketing changed alot in the early 60's. The youth Market was born. The Kennedy's were young. The Beatles, The Mustang, Muscle cars. Extra money. It was the end of the world as it was.

 

Because the guy who built the forum said so.
I believe it was because he had a fav in the 64 or 65 era, otherwise it would be earlier. Don't quote me on that.

I believe he also set the forum up with a "questions and suggestions" page to keep these questions in one place.

 

I like early to mid 60's cars too, but they gotta stop somewhere.

 

But you could have ordered (if you had the cash and of age then) a fast '67 Mustang from FORD new. With the 289 HiPo and 390 cu in motors and a lot of go fast stuff from the factory which makes it a muscle car whether it came with a 200 cu in 6 cyl or 289 2 barrel or whatever the availability was still there when they were new.

Look up the origin of the term HOT ROD, might help too.


Marty McFly

 

After doing months of exhaustive research work, HAMB founders determined that you Bruce owned a 1965 year model automobile, so the cutoff was set at 1964.

 

1965, any guy with good credit could walk into just about any major brand's showroom and drive out with a car off the lot that would run as quick or quicker than the rod or lower class gas car that guys had been busting their ass to get good times and speed out of. Be it a 66, GTO, 442, SS Chevelle, or Big block or Hemi mopars. Most of them were under 4,000 bucks out the door in 1965 dollars.

It was not only a change in the cars but a change in the attitudes of the young guys buying and racing them. Why work your ass off building a hotrod that would run 13.00's when you could buy a car off the new car dealers lot for a payment of less than 100 a month that would do the same times out of the box. five or so years later it was GI's coming back from Nam using their combat pay to buy new super cars instead of being like their dads and uncles coming back from WWII 20 something years earlier and buying an old V8 Ford and hopping it up. Now it is kids coming back from the Middle east and buying ricers or euro cars and going faster than we dreamed in the 60's
Also the early 60's cars were for the most part the last cars that guys bought and actually customized when they were new. Not by putting bolt on crap on but by making serious changes that actually improved the looks of the cars.

I can remember some of the then "older" guys buying new 59 Impala coupes and pretty well taking them straight to the body shop for custom work that often included filling in the eyes in the hood/front end and changing the grills out. By the mid 60's that was pretty well unheard of. I don't remember anyone locally buying a 65 Impala and making visual changes to it.

Auto wise there were probably more wholesale changes made on the cars of the mid 60's than in 1949 when the traditional 48/49 thing got started.

 

It is pre 65. That is 64 and older. I got a thread pulled on a 66 car. Didn't complain. I was an ass for starting it. The world changed in 65. Electronics. Alternators. Buy a hot rod from a dealership. If it was up to me I'd say pre. 60. But that's just me.

 

Anything after that is NOT COOL

 

Because that's the way Ryan wants it!
nough said.

 

Not so cast in stone IMO- if it's deemed traditional (especially racing), it might be allowed. Even Ryan gave the ok to the 70 Rod Shop Cuda thread & that's not pre 64.

Read awhile & you will learn.

 

this really isn't a good argument simply because you could always order a fast car from the factory - like a 1962 Chevy 409 2x4, or a 1963 Ford 427, or a '62 413 Dodge (all of which some say are the real origins of the muscle car era). Want a more appropriate example? how about a 1957 Fuelie Chevy, Oldsmobile J2, Ford Sunliner with the 312 interceptor.

Oh and going by the definition of Hot Rod would that mean Allards, Studillacs, v-8 corvairs, or any other small shop built conversion vehicles not be welcome?

On an interesting aside, my 1967 GTO is heavier, less powerful, and physically larger than my father's 1962 409 Chevy was.

I also think the year cutoff is kind of arbitrary since many cars are the same or similar enough on both sides of the year cutoff, but things also tend to be fluid round here from what I can tell. Got a 1966 bel air or thunderbird that has the custom sled treatment it seems to slide, got a 1966 Mustang with slapper bars, a 302, headers and a jacked up stance and nobody wants to hear from you. A lot of the sled styling treatments I see round here are later 1960's and early 1970's style designs (I am looking at you panel paint jobs) anyway but manage to sneak in because they happen to be on pre 1964 cars.

Honestly, it is like the supreme court's definition of pornography - You'll know it when you see it. Take a look around, you'll get the idea of what fits.

 

blah blah blah... get over it.

 

A. Because Ryan said so. B. Its the WWW, if you want it go find it like you found the HAMB. C. No one says you cant like them , just don't do it here.

ps.Like the man said there are exceptions and youll know when you see it.

 

I think it has something to changing from the gold standard or Vietnam or something like that either way pre 65

 

I liked this answer the best! I will look for a FAQ or general questions section, and all answers were great.

About this being the WWW and start yer own - I'm sure there must be at least one other person in the world that likes underpowered, goofy looking sedans. So - off to see if underpoweredgoofylookingsedan is an available domain name. In the meantime, I'll read posts, listen and learn - and check out the Classifieds section. There is way too much cool stuff there!

Hope to run by the Driveinvasion at Starlight Six to check out the cool stuff. My anti-cool car might be there - but I'll disguise it!

 

Anyone think this will be debated on a HAMB like site for pre-1980 cars after the NSRA change is made???

 

The year was 1968, not 1965. That is in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).