For Me I started out a Hot Rod/Street Machine Guy, My stock 55 Chevy became quite fast after lots of work, I wanted to do a fiberglass front and a straight axle but had no welder, My Dad got Me into cars and would help Me work on them, sometimes if I broke down I would call Him and He would come and tow Me home,( even from the street races)We got real good with a tow chain, My Mom got pissed when We topped the trees in the front yard and put a beam across to make a motor puller( with a cable puller), this was in San Fernando, and every Wed was cruz-nite on Van Nuys bvld, this may seem hard to believe but back in the day when You pulled up to a stop light( I mean durrring the day any day) most times you would see atleast one modifyed car, and axle cars were very prolific, at the Street Machine Nats even by the late 70s half the cars were axle cars, and I liked it, but then I started workin for Winfeild and all of a sudden I was a Rod and Custom Guy , and have been ever since. so what about You? Von Doc
When I was a little kid, my neighbor had a '60 Buick and a '58 Impala (late 80's/early 90's) and I thought those were the coolest, and I was already a collector of 1950's "stuff" having grown up going to rummage sales with my Grandma. My dad said if we found an old car cheap enough he'd let me buy it, so at 11 I got my '53 Ford, which I still have, and that started me out on Customs. By 15 it was chopped and I had bought speed equipment for the Merc 255 motor that was in it, looking back it wasn't the prettiest custom but doing it is how I learned. But my dad was a musclecar guy and I've always liked those, and now with my roadster project coming together, I'll have a nice sampling of each. My tastes are pretty spread out, although none of my stuff is modernized and I don't give two shits about late models, everything else I like, even stock restored cars.
both. and more. i like hot rods, customs... and lots of non-HAMB friendly stuff: almost any motorcycle (street, dirt, whatever), muscle cars, vintage european cars, datsuns, air cooled VWs, 70s vans, 4x4s... about the only theme with what i like: most of it is old.
Restored cars, yeah I almost forgot about those, I've worked in a couple resto shops and I do like restored cars, but when I look at them I think " a little nip here and a little tuck & roll there" and well I think it's part of My "illness" that I wanna cut stuff, one time I dropped My Folks off for them to have lunch and then took Mom's 54 Chevy wagon home and lower'd it, I came back in it to pick them up and Mom said" is this car lower?" I said " I think the springs have settled" Dad said " that must be it", He knew, Mom asked "You don't have a motor in the back right?" I said "no", one time Dad and I bought a 65 Vette 327 long block and took it home in Moms 63 Chevy Nova's trunk, when We got home Her Nova was draggin ass, My Folks were the best, it's been alot of years that They have been gone, I sure miss Them.
I'm much more interested in Hot Rods than Customs, I certainly can appreciate them but I doubt seriously I'd ever be interested in owning one. My Dad got me interested in cars, pretty much from day one but he never had a Hot Rod after I was born in '73 until my parents divorced in 1980. After the divorce Mom got his Chevy pickup and Dad had nothing to drive. A friend of his at work loaned him his old F-100 to get back and forth to work and that rekindled the urge to get a project. By '85 Dad had a '27 RPU. He now owns this:
I like them all, that's my problem. I've got a custom 36 ford and a gasser 40 willys-but I've had everything else along the way. Finding myself wanting another hot rod model a, might be next on the list. Who knows-I like hot rods, customs, gassers, gow-jobs and everything in between. It's a sickness.
I guess I should point out that I always had liked custom cars, and My Dad and I would go oggle the cars at the Barris shop, and I built the model cars that Ed Roth put out, but I never wanted to own a Lead Sled until I worked for Gene Winfield, plus until I worked for Gene stock sheet metal was o-kay with Me, now I like everything custom. Von Doc
I love love love Hot Rods....but at 6'4 260 they suck to drive....I know guys will tell ya his comfortable they are blah blah blah...I'll stick to my 50's and 60's cars...lots of leg room Kustoms are for getting the girls....Hot Rods are for running away from em....Thanks Robert Williams
I'm a Hot Rod guy. I like the cars I like because of the way they rolled off of the factory line, not because of someone's interpretation, although I'm in awe of the skills I've seen here on the HAMB...
I grew up in a family of street racers, built a few hot rods, but been dreaming of building a custom since I was 12...now at 32, I'm still building hot rods. Don't know why. My next is definitely going to be a custom! -LUKEY-
[QUOTE="loveoftiki, .I'll stick to my 50's and 60's cars...lots of leg room) I'm still work'in on the sled I got from Gene, it's a 60 Elco that's chopped 5 inchs , so with that one leg room yes head room not so much. Von Doc
Go check out My Post ( My 60 elcamino turned fenderless hot rod ) and there should be a couple pix of the one I got from Gene there, but I'll try and snap a few Sun or Mon, basically I have the 2 most customized 60 El Canino's on the planet. Von Doc
The Jalopy Journal
