is "the look" more important than the driveability ???

Boy, can I relate to all of this. Lots of great thoughts on this. I'm in the middle of building a 32 roadster full fender with a little 4 banger. Before I tore into it I was amazed how well the ride was. I guess form and function. On the other side we are starting on a 32 coupster channeled with a v8 flatty that I have a certain look in mind and knowingly will be somewhat uncomfortable at my age. But that's the plan so I guess my old form will have to fit the function. Thanks to you guys I have already changed what I had intended to do the coupster.

 

Jeff
Now you raise a new question that no doubt has been addressed but worthy of mention none the less.

If a car has a stated purpose, like say for instance your pickup, and is built to perform that stated purpose doesn't form follow function in that situation?

 

(Video was deleted at time of writing)

Kinda along the lines of what Ryan stated, it's about the owner's intent with the car....and that's where the compromise comes in. Do you only plan on running it around town on short stints or to shows? Then comfort be damned. Do you plan on road tripping it for thousands of miles cross country or using it as a true daily? Then you'd better be comfy in that bastard. I'd wager most of us lie somewhere in the middle.

My point is there are many factors to consider. For me, I plan on long road trips so driver comfort is paramount. That's why I'll only chop my A coupe 4-5 inches max and no channel. I'm 6'1" and I should be okay for long drives. A 6" chop would be killer, but that's likely crossing the "comfort line" for me. Fortunately, a 4-5" chop is close enough to the look I'm after so I'm lucky.

 

It's all about the look, period....

 

I can answer the Kustom/Custom part....I build my cars to look good sitting or moving! STANCE is big when building a custom! my cars ride like shit, BUT they look good! can I drive them 1000 miles a day ya, but its hard on my back, and kidneys......that being said we are driving old cars, I enjoy driving something that is 60 years old....if I want all the creature comforts and to be comfortable I will drive my 20 year old daily driver

 

I respectfully disagree with you, sir. I know far too many cool looking hot rods that stay in their garage because they're too uncomfortable or too inappropriately designed for their intended use.

 

Again comfort is a realitive term here. I have reached a point in life where I can no longer sit on the floor for instance, so I either need to raise my seats a bit or build a toe box. Its just life.

On the other hand I still don't feel a need for a radio or an A/C, although I do like to have wipers and a defroster. Most summers is rains here and in the winter I need to keep the windshield thawed. I don't own a second car I drive what I build. Now the wife is a little different, she likes a radio and A/C her car(truck) is late model, but when I mentioned putting tunes and an A/C in my latest build she came completely unglued, she says that it is not a hot rod with that stuff. So I suppose that she makes concessions for the hot rod.

Many of those actually ride on a stretcher to the fair grounds once a year to park in front of the lawn chairs.

 

If its a bar hopper, or cruise nite car, who cares. When you get there some people wont like it either way. so make yourself happy.

 

Right! The look is only a part of the whole hot rod experience. If it looks like a hot rod but drives like my daily driver...that would be an unsatisfactory experience for me. For me, it's the look, the sound, how it steers, brakes, and feels on the road that let's me know I'm driving a hot rod. That's what puts a smile on my face. If it's a little uncomfortable, so what? If it's stupidly uncomfortable and it's intended purpose is not specifically for racing, then it wasn't built right. If it's built right, the balance Ryan is talking about can be achieved. Therein lies the art.

This is just my opinion, though.

 

Looking cool is good, enjoying a car enough to actually drive it is better. How many 'cool' rigid choppers never get ridden because they just suck to ride on??

 

Saxman
I personally like the feel of the older cars as far as driving is concerned.

I think where I take exceptions is when someone builds it to look a certain way then it doesn't have the shit to back it up. All show and no go so to speak.

 

I personally like the transition of motor & driveline & road viberations... "feedback"
I don't like the crick in my neck from laying my head sideways, with my back all twisted & getting all that "feedback"

but in all fairness... maybe if the builder built it to fit them, & I slip in, with my 275 lb 6'2" form, I don't fit...

perhaps some of the problem, could be on resale... if the car was purchased complete, & it fit the builder, but not the buyer... it's likely to be a trailer / garage queen

 

I think Ryan nailed it.

It's all about intent and staying true to the car without compromise.

Norwell and Saxman have also got it figured out.

But what the hell do I know?


.

 

Agree!

 

Remember Gator with Burt Reynolds? Jerry Reed's bodyguard "Bones"", played by 7'+ William Engesser. Driving around that Lincoln with his head out the sunroof.

 

That is why the R__ Rod crowd doesn't fill their roof. You have to be able to stick your head out to drive some of them.

 

If you can't drive it then what's the point? Kind of like being married to the hottest woman in the world. . . but she wont let you sleep with her.

 

Its kinda like "laying frame". It has to at least look functional, or it turns into a clown car. When I look at a car, and its obvious a human cant fit in there without being a contorsionist, it no longer looks good to me. A car is still a car, it needs to at least look functional to look good. One thing to keep in mind about the Steele car, it is a roadster, and if you look at a lot of old photos of it, the top is off in most of them. I'm glad I'm only 5'10". I wont even comment on the "car" in the video...

 

yea you and I are about the average size of people from "back in the day"

 

That's true, but the form depends on how you define the function. If the function is to look good, the form will be entirely different than if the function is comfort, or speed, or whatever. There's lots of "functions", each resulting in a different form.

Bob

 

Well Bob you make a good point but what function does a car have that can only be drug from one fair grounds to the next on a trailer. It makes it a lot like a gal in a gentleman's club looky no touchy.

Curbfeeler,
Couldn't you actually call what we do to a car a down date? I mean if we are using the bits and pieces that we use to make it fit the period that we are after we are kind of going backward to what most consider to be an update.

 

NEVER! Driveability is foremost!

 

that crap scared me as a kid

 

Ryan hit the nail on the head.

If your main goal is to have a comfortable car buy a new Caddy.

 

I think a lot has to do with how old the driver is. When you are in your 20's you can sit in a cramped car on a hard seat, but as you get a few years under your belt you start to appreciate comfort a little more. Our bodies change and what was once fun isn't so much fun as we get a little older.

Hot rods will never be like driving a Cadillac, and they shouldn't be, however, I have seen some hot rods that would be tough to drive even a very short distance. One that comes to mind is a model A coupe that shows up at various events like Turkey Run. It is super low and nasty looking, but I have never seen him drive it. People ooooh and aaaah over how wicked it looks, but all he does is load it on a trailer, bring it to the show, unload it, then put it back on at the end of the day. To me that car is a total waste of time and effort.

Don

 

Well I think that comfort was not the original intent of the thread but that drivability was.

But being as we are on the whole comfort aspect of this whole thing, I may have to back peddle a bit. It is 106 out side now, I just went out and rolled the windows down in my mildly O/T parts chaser and I am thinking that maybe just maybe an A/C might not be such after all. But in the interest of being trad I am going to tuff it out and go drive it to the store anyway.

 

I didn't get that from Ryan's post.

The CTS V is pretty impressive on the go pedal, comfort, and looks.
Its doable but not easy nor cheap.