Thanks tdreamer Mine was a little less illegal as we were on school property... I did however have to ward off the cops at one point...
im 15 and im not missing the point. u should see the the looks that i get at skool when im on the computer on the hamb
to me it seems that out of all the people into "old" cars the younger crew understand it more than the older crew because it seems alot of the older people (not all of them) are just going through a mid life crisis...i see more people ages 30 younger building more stuff than people older...
geee wiz carl thanks for the kind words, i wouldnt exactly say im the best....lol, but im working on it heres a sample to show that "i get it"!
I didn't say you were THE BEST. Just better then most would be stripers... By the way... My tool box is boring and in need of your help.
Im am only 17 and I have a 31 model a trust me I get most not all, Im only 17 I got alot to learn yet, about traditional hot rods I get nothing about new cars I cant even tell them apart. So please dont put me in the same boat as some guy that cant tell what a real car is.
some get it and some dont...hell in my family it skipped a generation. my dad was a hardcore musclecar guy but my gramps raised me and taught me how to dress, comb my hair, and most of all, what makes a real car. as for the ricers and newer cars if they put their hearts into it, all the power to them...its just not my deal
Just think how wierd it would be if the young ones had the same experiences and dreams as the old ones. We would be back in the middle ages where nothing changed from Father to Son for generations.
There's a good line in a Simpsons episode where Dennis Weaver is telling Bart and Lisa something like: "back in my day, we used to have a thing called METAL. They used it to make things like lunchboxes and cars out of". And Bart and Lisa seem amazed at this new mystical material they've never heard of before and try to pronounce it, "MEH TALL". Yeah, you can't blame the kids for not getting it. They grow up playing with nothing but big crappy plastic toys and video games, and being driven around in plastic mini vans in plastic child safety seats. Actual steel cars must seem like ancient covered wagons to them. It's our job to educate them and get them interested in the old cars. I originally got interested in cars when I was a kid in the '60s because my dad showed me lots of cool stuff, like a fat scrapbook of magazine car ads he'd clipped when he was a kid in the '30s.
I agree with you, to get angry about things like this is as stupid to me as if someone who's into saving stamps would question me why i dont like old stamps.. By the way I know more old farts not into traditional hot rods (or cars in general as a hobby) than people my age (28)...
All is not lost in my family. I went to visit my daughter and the grandkids last weekend. My son-in-law told me a story about my 2 1/2 year old grandson. One of his toys broke. He told his father "I'll fix it". He went over to his ride-in little car, opened the trunk, took out the little plastic tools and went to the broken toy and "played" at fixing it. Since I only have a daughter who lived with her mother and step-father I didn't have a car influence on her. My grandson must have inherited the car gene that bypassed her!
Alright I just finished reading all of this, I do agree to some extent, There are a lot of the younger crowd that have no idea what traditional hot rodding is all about. But really at times how can you blame them they're just going with the times as kids did back when it was the 50's and 60's. I'm 22 years old, I'm somewhat new to hot rods, i built muscle cars, kustoms, race cars. I drove a 68 mustang coupe with a roller cam 306 in it all throughout highschool and about 2 years ago traded it away for the new love of my life. I now own a 1964 mercury parklane marauder. origianl paint original interior. I stuck a 428 cj cam in it a set of sanderson shorties on it and lowered the hell out of it. I love it people compliment it whereever i go old and young. I am also building my second "traditional" car, a 1948 ford fordor. I also have a list of friends who are in some way shape o form desired car builders but even now the cas they build and much like the stuff i start to see in osr or ckd aren't really as tradtional as they think...just my opinion. I just think there's nothing better looking than a low pre 60's car. So really i guess the point im going on here, is there are a lot of young builders who want to and are putting together vintage or traditional cars..but here i go with this. ...many of the generation that built hot rods back in the day or those of the age are now building those $100,000 billet machines that rumble through the cruise nights with there 3" exhaust. It's odd how yes the younge crowd doesn't always "get it" when they weren't around to see it in its prime, but those who were there are now turning it from a hobby or a passion to an investment or retirement fund. sorry if i ofended anyone.
The fun thing about having kids is getting to indoctrinate them... My son is 14 & we're building a 30 A sedan together -- rat rod project for a cross-country trip when he graduates high school. I knew the brainwashing was successful when we were talking about engine/tranny combos for the A, and he said, "Dad, you know a real hot rod's gotta have three pedals." But yeah, like someone else said, most ADULTS don't get it, either.
I'm 29. My Dad and Uncle are 53 and 59 I belive. They like the old hot rods ok, but they really dig on the production/muscle cars of the 60s. I like traditional hot rods and customs. And race cars of all types through 60s. Their picks are natural. That's what they experienced and those cars give them the feeling of nostalgia. Same as the guy who started this thread feels about the cars he likes. We all, know there were no really cool cars from my formative years aside from the exotics in Road & Track. Or maybe some guys Mustang and luckily the import craze didn't strike here until after I discovered American Graffiti. So I got to pick the cars that I have to pretend to have nostalgia for. Lucky me!
So, from skimming over this entire threrad I have determined... different people have different opinions. Fascinating. It just never occured to me.
i dunno, its all perspective i think. even though some cars arent traditional i (gasp) still revere them as hot rods and customs. not my style and not my thing but its all the same spirit. its all about making something of nothing. even if its not traditional i once saw this kid at the local drags who had maybe $1500 in a damned old honda civic hatchback absolutely smoke other kids and dads alike. his idea of going fast was correct. ditched the interior , the a/c, the power steering, anything that wasnt about making the car get to the end of the line as fast as possible but being safe while hes at it. to be better than the rest he knows he has to be smarter and more skilled. that only comes from experience of trying to learn and experimenting. to me this is hot rodding and i would dare to say anyone of you would agree. even if its not a hemi'd willys. the kid wasnt some meathead who went out and bought parts left and right and 1/2 assed put them in a car, he does things right and makes every move with intent of doing something special and creating something from nothing. and its working for him. and as far as older folks knowing whats up with what ive had many arguments with the 50's+ set who swear up and down that mopar only made 392 and 426 hemis and that for a time that stovebolt sixes had oil filters only as an option. but they also swear they know cars. so in all this there is still a strong group of young folks who do understand what the hobby is about. they maybe just dont build the cars you like to look at or drive but they are hot rodding just the same.
I'm 32, between the old guys and the young, raised on 2 '56 BelAirs (Mom's had the 2x4s on the 265), a '55 Chevy Stepside (now mine), and my Dad's friend with a '57 Cameo and a PERFECT '57 Mark II. I was 10 when I saw the replica of the Hirohata Merc in Hot Rod, and I was hooked on customs from that point. If I could afford to, I'd replicate the Kopper Kart with my truck. Check the section on that truck! I think I might get it. Maybe.
It is weird to me what some people think of these old cars we drive around. I was weaing a Weisner T-shirt with a roadster on it and I was having a conversation with this guy .... long story short he was wondering why I had a DUNE BUGGY on my shirt. Differnt strokes ....
LMAO. It's so funny how many people think 30's roadsters look like/are dune buggies. It's kind of like those people who think every car made before 1950 is a "Model T".
As soon as traditional hot rodders relize there are other things to life than traditional hot rods... you'll be able to understand why some kids "Don't get it". I eat sleep breath hot rods and drag cars in general... and like them "traditional"... but I also understand the thing inside me that drives my interest. It's been driving it since I was 3 and exposed to old Fords and other fixed up cars my dad had. That same thing drives other people to achieve and eat sleep breathe other interests. They don't have to "get" traditional hot rods... Above all... I don't NEED that kind of validation to continue with what I do. Looks like some people might though... Sam.
Being younger (31) I can appreciate the "rat rod", musclecar, all throttle no bottle, however, being in the business of car building, which we are, would'nt you agree that a 4 cyl pushing 300-400 horses to the FRONT wheels, says something! and as far as not "knowing how to identify a 30 or 40 era car", well that just shows you how the generations change. My 2 cents.