Hot Rods Is the traditional "fad" over where you live?

It is not common around the 2 areas I am familiar with. I would attribute it to high cost of parts , lack of easily available parts. And the guys that grew up with it are dieing off so they can't pass on knowledge to the younger guys to get them interested. It takes a lot of determination to build a true traditional car. I think the younger generations don't care about the past like my generation did. WW 2 guys were our heroes.

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What music would that be? Swing from the 40's? Rock & Roll from the 50's? Or maybe Surf from the 60's?

 

DooWop

 

Ding ding ding!!!! EXACTLY!!


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You don't get out much, huh? LOL

 

To the contrary, I'm out playing music about 6x per month these days, that's down from about 9 - 12 gigs per month last year at this time.

 

Huh. Bet you don't hear Blues at the car shows either. LOL
Point I was getting at is that Rock-a-Billy, Psycho-Billy and a bit of Surf (Dick Dale style), is what the young traditional guys listen to , for the most part.

 

Actually, at the GNRS, the Mighty Mojo Prophets and Kid Ramos are both regulars in the Suede Palace. Kid Ramos also typically plays at the Moon Eye's annual Christmas party. 2 of the biggest shows in the So Cal area.

 

Rockabilly is cute.

Smokey Wilson is the real shit

 

Interesting enough, but the GNRS is not exactly a younger guys' traditional show. ;-)

 

To each his own.


Too bad Eddie didn't live long enough to find out he wasn't the real shit ;-)

 

All of the above

 

I enjoy music as well as anybody but IMHO it's always been different strokes for different folks,and HAMB ain't the place for this discussion. Here' it's hot rods and customs we discuss, not music.

 

Oh, Eddie is cool. But that aint a car song.

 

Sorry for the digression, but actually, maybe it's not so much of a digression. Maybe it's right on target here. There's always been a strong connection between cars and music. The guy's above kinda linked popularity of traditional rodding to Rockabilly and Punkabilly, and face it guys, that is a fad. Talk about aging out of something...

 

Exactly...the cars & hot rods of that era and the people that were there originally would have been listening to the music of that era, so are naturally associated with it. There is a solid link to the two. (well not Punkabilly shit as that's 'modern' )
That's why the traditional style of rod has been big in UK/Europe/Japan/Aus etc as the music of the same era has had a big following since the late 60's - and still has.

 

I have read through this thread several times, and the word traditional keeps coming up. I will be repeating a little of what others have already posted, but going to repeat to keep my line of thought. The word traditional to me is a loosely used word that describes a place and era or time. Which can also be separated in each era by local, East coast & West coast, when talking about hot rods. Are we talking about traditional 40's-50's dry lakes hot rods, traditional 60's hot rods, traditional 70's resto rods, traditional 80's billet street rods, traditional 90's techno street rods? Traditional is a broad term until made specific. That being said, in my opinion none of the above traditions will ever leave hot rodding. A tradition may thin out every once in a while, but never gone. I think the attachment to any of the above traditional eras depends a little on which era you came through and were impress by. But if we are talking about traditional 40's-50's hot rods, I would bet almost every hot rodder has an appreciation for that era, whether you own one or not. To me it's a love affair with the pioneers and beginning of hot rodding. I want to drive down the road or highway, or track, and feel and know what they felt with their vintage machines. Don't get me wrong, I like and have owned all the traditions above except billet & high tech. "Everyone should wear their own hat". Now to answer your question if you were pertaining to vintage 40's and 50's hot rods fading out? Not here, and definitely not in Colorado. A matter of fact I have seen it growing in the last several years do in part to the vintage functions like the Vintage Drags, Vintage Hill Climbs, & TROG. I think what some are calling a small group of vintage diehards, is larger than most think!
Thanks,
Zane.

 

Like many have said. I don't think it really was here or at least in any large form. There are many cars that teeter on being traditional. My roadster being one. The whole traditional scene,( that's really what it is vs a fad) is heavily centered in certain areas of the country, central Florida is not one. Don't get me wrong there ARE SOME traditional cars here. Just not a big scene. That "scene " has escalated in popularity with certain groups who feel the need to be "in". Like traditional choppers , parts prices have made it almost impossible for a young guy with a family building a car from scratch. Hell its hard for me at 48 with a good paying job to afford to build the car I'd like. No I don't have any credit cards. If I can't buy it for cash I don't need it. Like many other styles of cars or bikes for that matter, once the big money guys get involved the grass roots guys capitalize off of the trend and prices go up. In the eighties my buddy made 3k a week back halving everything the rich guys could bring in, now nobody wants a big tire car. Even some of the fastest cars on the streets are running small tires. Stick to what you like, and can afford.


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dang, now we got a music review
John Milner said the music died with Buddy Holey and hated the Beach Boys

 

After a recent experience with a younger guy and some others around their age..30s, the problem is this.They start making some money but wont spend it where needed on car parts. They will ask 50 people how to do something,45 say the correct thing,5 dont.They go with the the 5ers because they told them what they wanted to hear not what they Needed to hear. they want to look the part and just drive something. Cant and wont put in the effort to learn and when something is going to be a bitch to fix,well they just keep driving it or find some dope to do it for them. Not willing to learn.
Its hard to keep this going with the crop thats buying cars. More interested in the look .Clean fingernails and slicked back hair.Cant change my oil on the driveway cause if I spill it...Oh the environmental disaster!! They dont own shirts with holes burned in them or with oil spots.Cant be seen looking like a slob.
Good luck out there,things are a changing!

 

There always have been a few traditional hotrods around where I live but its mostly streetrods.

 

funny...my thoughts in the late 70's early 80's was a build like an early car some what was seen in Rod and Custom....just basic rod....no blower to beat someone....just a get around fun to drive roadster....started collecting...still had a two year wait on my 32 frame....didn't want to rush the guy....he wanted the rear end !

 

For some reason this thread made me think of a guy I knew who bought a '32 Chevy coupe. He wanted to build a street rod and dragged that car around from shop to shop for 20 years ( true!) having different "specialists" do their thing on it. He'd get it out of one shop and trailer it to car shows, shops, or friends homes to stand and around and talk about it, and then do it all over again when it came out of the next shop. I don't think he did much work himself - it's hard to work with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. The project, having spanned so many years, was a mixture of street rod "trends" but finally it was finished and it was very nice rod ! He drove it for a few months and then died.

 

I'm 78 years old, a Wisconsin native. And I still play with cars. As a kid, most of my buddies were "car crazy." I was just as crazy as they were. We loved "hot rods," usually old and cheap cars we could yank out the old "mill," using a block and tackle attached to a thick tree branch, and put in an Oldsmobile or Cadillac V-8 mill we bought at a local salvage yard for 50-75 bucks. We had no rules to abide by. We street-raced whatever we had. I had a '36 Chevy with a GMC 270 stove bolt six. Ran like a scalded dog, but no more than three city blocks. After that, guys with V-8's overtook me. Which is why I'd only bet money for the three-block limit. My past is why I keep at it. I am presently "rodding" a '39 Dodge 2-door sedan for my grandson. I've already presented a '47 Ford pickup rod to my older grandson. It's not easy, especially for a retired English teacher with little natural talent, but I don't give up. However, I still don't follow any rules made by other people. Instead, I follow my own particular drum beat. That's the only way to build a rod, traditional or otherwise.

 

Fads come and go on a regular basis. Some last longer than others. Followers are "fadists" and usually easy to spot.

 

Me, too - except 57 years ago. (Family car was a '52 Mainline Sedan flathead V8).

 

I just like old shit that makes a lot of noise, looks cool, goes fast, and scares women and small children. Just so happens early hot rods and customs are what grabbed me the most in my late 20's early 30's.

We're lucky around here to still have a strong presence of traditional early hot rod/custom guys with a mix of old guys and us younger guys, but the purist restoration guys still probably are the majority. Unfortunately the older resto guys still lump traditional hot rods in with "rat rods" if it isn't a shiny fully restored car. I just do my thing and have fun.

I'd say the "fad" is still strong, every year after TROG you see another new batch of guys looking to build something that they can enter in the race or look like something they saw there. I've actually seen it's been a lot of older guys into street rods, newer Harley's, and muscle cars that are seeing the fun the guys on the beach are having and wanting to build one similar.

 

For most it never was a fad. You can rationalize a couple dozen ways as has been done here already. Music, age, even Street Outlaws as mentioned, but the reality is look at a street rod book from about 8-10 years ago. Then go maybe 5 years ago to the current build styles. Even over the top cars are laden with vintage stuff that's dressed to the nines. Skinny wheels, older colors, organic interiors, raw metal, it's like fashion trends. The well-dressed rod today does it's best to incorporate top drawer craftsmanship and good old kool stuff. This "thing" we're so fond of has influenced a huge demographic and an industry as a whole. Fad? Nah, the rest have caught up with us...

 

I feel like I definitely grew up in the wrong generation. I just turned 30 in April, and my style and like of cars is that older than 1955. I love Traditional Hot rods, but definitely appreciate making them more safe and road worthy. I applaud the guys who can actually afford to build a ground up Pure True Traditional Hot rod with all true Parts and the like. I unfortunately cannot afford that so I have to use Repop stuff for my personal stuff. I hate Muscle Cars, they just aren't my thing, I hate Rice Burners, and don't get into "New Muscle" Cars either. The newest I like is the 55 Chevy 4 door that I DD. I do like to update with modern drive-line, but that's because I'm really good at building the Chevy LS and also Tuning it. I am also a Computer Nerd I play Video games and love to build Hot rods.

I get that a lot of guys hate the Rat rod thing, I don't much care for them either. But some of you have to admit it did bring a younger crowd to this hobby we all love. Most people my age cannot afford to build a $25,000.00+ Traditional style rod so they do what they can and build one for $10,000.00. There has to be some change or these beautiful cars will disappear completely. I do my best to make subtle changes like Disc Brakes, 5 speed transmissions, EFI in a car with an old school Trans and rear. Things to make this thing safer and more fun for all involved.

 

Surprised to see my thread keep popping up, turned out to be a much bigger discussion then I expected.
Iron Trap gave me a revelation. Looking over the posts I'm seeing the popularity (note I did NOT say fad) of traditional cars has to do a lot with the area and that somewhat correlates with local events. I've been to the dirt drags in Colorado, was amazed at the turnout of traditional hot rods and read about TROG, LSRU and other traditional based events, my guess when you have close by things to participate in it helps fuel the fire.