So where do you guys draw the line between comfort and style?

Sometimes we confuse comfort with convenience. If I was building a road car and intended to spend 9 or 10 hours a day in it I would want it to have all the bells and whistles. But if I was building a car to too toodle around town it would be built bare bones.

 

my fiance and i are looking for a cool BIG car for her.
she says it has to have a giant back seat.
who am i to argue?

 

You decide, I drive the piss out of it. Can you say monkey fucking a football!-MIKE

 

Has to be a bit of both. No matter how cool the car is, nothing looks more un-cool than some tall or large guy squeezed into a car.

 

if its not remotly comfortable then i want like it = wont be driven much and thrown up for sale im not talking about ps, pw, pb ,pseats etc (creature comforts)

im mean if i cant sit in it comfortably then i dont need it

 

I don't see how comfort or style should be mutually exclusive, but it's harder in smaller cars. As we all know by now, when you build a car from scratch, you are essentially the new designer / builder. Regardless of what you think you want, or of other cars you have seen that you like, YOU still have to think out the seating, steering wheel position, head room, visibility, safety, controls, chassis design, drive train, etc. etc. Color, wheel types, tires, etc. are easy, the fluff stuff of style. If you start by slinging it together and try to work the bugs out as you go, there just may be too many conflicting elements to work out well and cause you to start over in certain areas. If you want to drive your ride long distances, it not only HAS to be comfortable, but it needs to have the fuel range (engine efficiency versus tank capacity) to avoid stopping every 100 miles or you will just never get anywhere. What would make that 100 mile range even worse is the fact that you might be brutally uncomfortable ta boot. A little motorcycle butt is easy to recover from. But cramps from spaz seating positions will drive you crazy... and probably keep you from going or make you turn around. Besides, it's no fun when you can't drive them. You can't ever forget the form and function part of the deal. Garlits never took a road trip a dragster. Imagine trying FED style seating / controls in traffic on a road trip!?!?! If you are going to drive it, it HAS to be comfortable, eh? Gary

 

I've ridden in bare bones no frills cars that were comfortable as hell and you could do a thousand mile road trip no problem. I've also ridden in and driven some cars that had a lot of bells and whistles and they were so uncomfortable that by the time you made it from the fairgrounds to the burger joint during a rod trot your legs had developed permanent cramps.
My best friend's 29 A roadster was great to look at but with the firewall being recessed with the pan from a wheelbarrow the leg and foot room was non existent. His next car was a 48 Pontiac Convertible that you could ride in all day and be more comfortable than in the Lazyboy at home.

In the 70's one of the guys in Waco had a chopped and channeled 32 Ford Cabriolet that had recessed pans for the seat springs in the floorboards. You sat with your legs almost straight out and were only about two inches off the floor but you had a full cushion under your butt. He was a huge guy and was pretty cramped in the car so I don't know what happened with it after he had driven it for a while.

I have no idea how many seats I have had in the 48 since I chopped it. The most comfortable one was out of a 66 Toronado that sat great and all but the foam fell apart and I pulled it out. I'd love to find another one. The worse is probably the seat that is in it now that looks ok but is like sitting on a board and kills a guy on any trip over five miles.

You have to wonder how many rods have been put up for sale right after the first long road trip that the builder made in them after they got them on the road. And I'm not talking about the ones where his significant other whines because it is too hot, too noisy or too cold to ride in.

 

Model A's are like a fat chick trying to fit in a size 5 dress, so lose the original seat riser, reflip the firwall and use the rear bottom seat cushon out of a mid eighties camaro or a pinto, this might help.

 

It's not just hot rods - back in the early '60s I bought an XK120 Jag roadster... I'm tall and after the first drive with my head above the windshield I took out the seat bottom and put in a thin cushion... much better. Drove it for a couple seasons and sold it.

Some cars are made for short people (and sometimes I wish I were one).

 

i drive the crap out of my truck. i decided comfort comes first. as much as i admire rpu's i could never build/own/ride in one. even in my 58 i had to raise the seat to get some leg room. then i added ac, pw, ps and cruise. i'm 6'4'', 220lbs and a gimp to boot. knees in my chest is not an option, nor is a 3rd pedal. size 14 boots doesn't help either...

 

Thanks for that mental image.

 

it's even better in real life.

 

I have never once worried about comfort....and I now have the back problems to prove it.
Model A's ain't exactly the best place to start for comfort anyway...
But, now, for style??? Ohhhh yeahhhh....

 

CHANNELING!!!! That's where I draw the line.

 

I drew the line at about 36 or 37!

 

Righty-o......do these two look comfortable, or cool? Well they are cool but not cool looking.

 

i never thought i would say this but.
thank god i am short and skinny!

 

I also drive a Model A (29) Truck....drove it from Indy to Mobile, Al. first trip.......I'm 5'7" 215....yeah...a fat boy, but 5 months ago I was 250.....I noticed you asked about being cool or comfortable....I noticed you didn't mention anything about it being an inteligent idea....that tells me your a True Hot Rodder......it being an intelligent idea doesn't matter as long as its cool and maybe a little comfort.

 

When I was putting my roadster together I used a Caravan seat and had to add 5 inches to the chopped roof I had. Well, that looked stupid so I cut the roof back down so it looked right and tossed the Caravan seat and built my own seat lower to the floor. It's a little hard gettin in and out but once I'm in it really aint bad. I've driven it 3 or 4 times for an hour or more and I can still walk when I get out. It's not a car I'd want to drive 1000 miles but 80 to 100 it's fine, and I'm 63.

 

I think I have the best of two worlds. Cool Custom and all the comfords of home.