Hot Rods Original Steel or reproduction?

Take your pick

 

Can of worms. Build what you can and live life.

I have a real Henry 32 Ford and I’m most likely gonna build a glass 32 next.

It’ll be real enough for me...

 

I agree 100%. I'm lucky to have an original '32 5W. But that is just dumb luck. Other guys may not be so lucky or have the cash. So what, we're here for traditional styled rods and customs. Seeing a similar type of car always gets me a little excited be it OEM, Repro, or Glass. So let's unite and not divide!

By the way this theme is asked at least 3-4 times a year. Time to extinct the breed. Or is this theme just traditional?

 

^^^^^^^^^^X2

 

Next we will debate old glass bodies compared to new glass bodies
Imagine guys arguing their glass car is cooler cause it’s older than that new fangled glass

 

I like chilli in winter and ice cream in summer.

And I like pre 65 vehicles no matter what they're made out of, steel, fiberglass, aluminum or plastic. I'll take any free donations sent my way.....

 

I dunno....I like 'em all. I own a Henry steel 5 window that has been chopped for more years than many HAMBers have been alive, channeled even longer. Some tell me I should put a floor in it to make it original. Many say "old" cars have soul. Someone years ago may have cut the back bone out of mine, but maybe they gave it "soul" by doing so. I'm not putting a new floor in it. I wish I new it's history before 1979, before it got chopped.

 

Wasn't this discussed being that T-Buckets came into being in the late '50's , so they are accepted as traditional???

 

No
All hot rods have to have been hand made by Henry Ford himself. All others are blasphemy
Thus sayeth Captain Sarcasm

 

I got a new whip for this dead horse. Can I play?

There's only 1 reason for original vs repro. It's a dick thing. Yeah, I said it, a dick thing. Like a boat that's .5' longer, right? If someone's trying to zero in on the real deal as worshiped here the only way is one done "back then". Even if you took an all stock 3W or roadster and built it with as much old stuff as humanly possible, it's a new build. Period. No grey area. But you CAN put a foot on your bumper in a crowd of your peers and strike a King Kong pose, making sure all within rank know that you have a big one. So that's my overview seasoned with all due 'around the shop' sarcasm.

Real/repro can travel a long road. There are some considerations assuming the price of admission is not an issue. Let's leave the Ford plant for a moment and look at others. I watched a Packard Dietrich bodied conv sedan last year. 12, custom, stunning, all boxes checked except one. "Born as". The difference? About $1.5...MILLION. Yes, it was all Packard but was born with a different drivetrain/chassis and made into as gennie a 12 custom as one could wish, AND with ALL PACKARD PARTS. See here:

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/...l-custom-convertible-sedan-by-dietrich/718899

Another variant, Auburn 12 Speedster. Another car that used all the right stuff including body, chassis, engine, accessories, etc. Nice car too, and the casual observer couldn't tell the difference if you held a gun to their head. Those cars are currently trading at anywhere from $800K to over the magic million mark, but ONLY if it's got the pedigree and blessings of the experts and historical records. But this one stopped well short because although all Auburn it was merely the sum of it's parts. It sold for under $300K but I think it was a smokin good buy. I'm told it was in stunning condition and looks as good as this pic:


Were I of means to I might rather have this one and $700K change in my pocket.

Most of us don't care for or like to travel that road. We just want what we want and do what we can to get there. If the spirit is within and your case of the ass says it's got to be "BLAH-BLAH-BLAH" and must have "YADA-YADA-YADA" then your personal road will be met with obstacles, wash outs, and perhaps even a collapsed bridge now and then. Now what? You can't detour so...

Fiberglass. Fiberglass. Yeah, said it twice. Quit picking on it, please. It came to life for "our stuff" in the late 50s. It's traditional. It's place in our world is as welcome as a hot dog at a ball ga.., uh, screw that, DRAG RACE. Yeah that's it. Drag race. Whew! I almost blew it. There's so much to embrace within our ranks, within the specifics of vitnage rods, who gives a rip how you 'got there from here' when the final outcome has all due RESPECT for tradition? Isn't that really the point? Works for me. Next...

 

For the moment, let's say we're only talking about Ford roadsters.......
How many people, who only have the space and the wallet for one, have built with a new frame and mostly repop body pieces, for price, availability, and time spent reasons? Now you've built it with your own blood, sweat, and tears and it's turned out nicely finished, shining like a new penny and everything functions as planned. Would you consider it a "starter" so you can trade it for or sell to finance the purchase of a very old build, original body/frame example with all the glorious patina, pitted chrome pieces and hardware, possible wind and water leaks, crusty wiring and lines, maybe more creaks and rattles, etc., because you consider it a step up?

I'm not trying to make a point, never done or owned a roadster so I don't have a right to an opinion. I'm just curious. I'm sure this is a real thing for some but I suspect it's sour grapes and rationalizing for others but I have no idea how to separate the two.

EDIT ALERT to backpedal!......
You know, never mind because I'm having second thoughts about my post because there are some very nice builds out of old stuff finished just as nice as those from new stuff.
I guess the question is...... Who will pay more for something built with old, original iron and steel?

 

It's always a dick thing.
The whole world is a dick thing.

 

Couldn’t agree more with @theHIGHLANDER...

I’m currently rebuilding a Deuce hot rod with a fiberglass body that was originally built in the early 60’s. In my view it is “worthy” and probably more legit than a new reproduction steel car. Now ask me if I care...

 

I'd rather OWN a real steel car, but some really fine cars have been built with reproduction bodies. I just feel a real steel body has some history, makes me happy. Bob

 

Well none of these are hot rods they are all stock. One of them has a reproduction steel body but a numbers matching engine and frame.

 

The Zipper in my avatar is 20 years old and is ‘glass with 1” square steel tubing reinforcing. This is the second Zipper made and as a roller cost right at 10K. Same car today costs twice that amount. Since I have no intention of selling it, the value is meaningless. The ‘29 CCPU with the 6-1/2” stretch is a combination of real Henry steel and Howell reproduction parts. What’s it worth? Only what somebody will pay for it!

 

I was at the gas station one day and this guy pulled in with an 80's Pontiac??? what ever, cash for clunker candidate. When he spotted my Hot Rod, he jumped out and came running over to me and asked if it was REAL! I said, "Yes! That's how I got here."

Then he asked what year it was and if it was a "kit car". I told him it was a 1932 Ford Dune Buggy! He turned around and stomped off like he knew everything, but he didn't know if it was a '32, '42 or '52, or if it was original, reproduction or fiberglass.

I just shook my head and continued pumping gas. I don't usually do that, but that day, I just couldn't resist. I saw it coming.

 

At almost 70 years old, time is ever increasingly important. I have 2 hot rods. One is a little off topic '27 fiberglass roadster. Took me 6 months to build it from scratch, frame, suspension, paint and all. It is a very sharp car. I also have a '26 T coupe, all Henry steel. It was a very similar build. It took me 18 months. 12 months of that 18 was replacing rust and doing body and paint.
I really couldn't give less of a shit what your body is made of. I can see a lot of reasons why fiberglass is attractive. If some one has to ask, "Is it steel or glass?", then at that point, what does it really matter?

 

Out of three pages of posts, by my count, only ONE person mentioned that a repro is the ONLY path available for some folks, many actually, to enjoy having their own (insert whatever popular model you like here), because there just ain’t enough of the real thing to go around. And if it were not for the repro keeping a bit of a lid on prices for “the real thing”, a lot of the people who now have the real thing...would not. Be thankful they exist no matter where you are in the ‘Bigger Dick’ lineup.

 

Might as well weigh in here.....I prefer original reproductions, but your opinion may vary.

 

Ya know it's been awhile since anybody did anything other than re phrase comments already made.I think it's time to CLOSE THIS THREAD.

 

I see the comment of an original body is an old car and a repop is just a new one with no soul

mine is a new body on a stock frame 39 trans 40 rear 40 brakes 59a Flathead But how does that weigh in to a original body on a fully independent suspension TCI frame? Mine will never be worth what an original is...But I find it hard to think of a boydster with an original body as an old car also

 

Here's mine it's steel but a lot of people at first glance think it's glass because the turtle deck was gas welded on and leaded in when it was built in the early 50's. I could have used a new body and it would look the same. I rebuilt it because I always say "sand paper is cheap and labor is free". It would still be a Hot rod either way.

 

I think regardless of Hotrod material your in an unusual shaped environment that only that vintage shape can produce and that does not change due to material (the squeaks may vary...). My modern built inspired Hotrod has history from many directions of which I will never know...yes I wonder sometimes but really that is insignificant in the big picture. If my Sport Coupe was a Brookville or Glass which I believe neither exists I would have still considered it as I bought a Turn Key Package that caught my eye.

 

I'm lucky enough that a guy is holding my holy grail car (and NO, I am not saying who he is or what the car is, that's how you lose deals) until my tax refund is in. I made the mistake of selling a perfectly good running example of the same car 25 years ago for pennies on the dollar of what I had in it. Sometimes you just need a little luck and a good friend and a little bit of cash. And as far as I know this particular car has never been offered in fiberglass nor has anyone ponied up for repopping the steel.

 

Jim your looking a little Flat today......hey nice Hotrod​

 

Cold too. This is what I started with.

 

That's rust belt metal hands down...a painful start...glad you saved it

 

Wouldn't matter to me, New repro, old steel or glass. If I like it I would buy it or build it.