Hot Rods Goofy Comments From the General Public

Slightly off topic, but when I was about 6 my dad took me to a good guys show. I was eyeballing a t bucket I thought was the neatest thing I have ever seen in my life. The guy that owned it was near by and asked me if id like to sit in it. Dad lifted me over the door and plopped me in the seat. The guy reached in and fired it up. The big pipes and supercharger roared to life. I was hooked after that. It was the beginning of many hours of quality garage time with my pops. I sometimes wonder what life would be like otherwise. Dad and I got
Matching t bucket t-shirts that day. I wore it till it was full of holes. I still have it. Anyhow, I rarely pass up the chance to let a little kid sit in my car and fire it up for him. Maybe his mom too if she's a looker.

 

I just remembered this one from a few years ago. The wife and I drove her 38 out to the LA Roadster show, we were gassing up in San Dimas. Cute young girl filling her Honda at the next pump, she looks at the sedan and says real nice. Then she points at the license plate (Ontario) and says " I did not know they had their own plates over in Ontario?" Turns out she thought we were from Ontario California..................sure gave the wife and I a chuckle.................

 

even norm grabowski must have experienced it. remember the car he built called a "henway"? (what's a henway)

 

Two things that always burns my bacon:

1. Hey Tom, you still got that Impala? (see my avatar).

2. Spent the summer of 84 finishing out the 33 Ford 3 window coupe 4 inch top chop project in the driveway on weekends hearing this from just about everybody in the neighborhood.....'Why you working so hard on that old Volkswagen beetle?'

 

My dad gets, "What year is that Impala?" quite often. It really annoys him but I find it funny.

 

Yep-- I was just think'n how long I would last at an NRA convention!!!!!!!!!

 

wrench409--Funny story(probably not to the cars' owner)
I have been a Chevy guy most all my life, i'm 60 and my first car (at 15) was a 61 Impala 348/3 on the tree.
In my early 30's there was a car parked in a carport that I had been seeing for quite some time and had always wanted to stop and see about it, probably thought I could talk them out of it cheap, I walk right past the back of the car, knock on the door, older guy appears, acts like I was interrupting something reeeaaalll important, I say; is that your Impala in the carport, he looks me straight in the eye and says hey kid apparently you have never seen a 61 Belair 2 door hardtop before.
I just said sorry and left him(and her) to their business(as he's slamming the door closed).
I had no idea those cars even existed.
Now I just count the tailites before I open my mouth.

 

Good God what a perfect Cadillac.

 

had a 35 master three window cpe .black kid on a bicycle is that a Bentley, chevy emblem in the grille .

 

The difference being most of us would have enough sense to keep our mouths shut so as not to sound like a complete ignoramus.

But then most of us will never know...

 

I agree that there is no winning and thus I don't argue. If I explain anything and they don't agree then I just let it be. There was one exception however. I took the '61 Studebaker Champ in for annual safety inspections (vehicles 35 years and older don't have to do that anymore). The guy doing the inspection was well old enough to know what a Studebaker was and had been a mechanic for a long time. He told me that my bright light switch did not work. I disagreed and he pulled on the turn signal arm and the knob came off in his hand. I told him to let me in the truck and I would work whatever "switch" he wanted. He resisted saying that he had to be the one to do that. My response was, "and do you have to break things as well?" I got in had hit the floor bright light switch. He didn't stop then. He had me open the hood. This wasn't called for in this inspection, but I went ahead and popped the hood. He asked what engine it was. I told him it was a Studebaker 289 and then came the comment most Studebaker folks have heard at least once.. "It is a Ford engine." I could not restrain myself, "Does this look like a Ford engine? Look at the size of the thing, look at the location of the distributor! Studebaker 289's came out in the '50's Ford 289's came out later than that. "That's because this is a big block Ford 289." What do ya' do? Nothing much.

 

I drove my '30 A coupe to the local cruise in years back when it was 100% bone stock. This guy walks up and says "you must be cool, you're wearing a HAMB hat. What are you running under the hood, a SBC?"

I guess he was being a smartass, I hope?

 

My friend Jim and I were cruising around Bastrop, Texas in his 32 Phaeton. We stopped in at a random liquor store to pick up some wine and beer. As we were checking out at the register a true Texas rancher walked in the front door. He took one look at us, then looked back through the glass front door towards the car and he said, "That shore is a nice work in progress yall boys showed up in"

 

Rolled into a car/art walk a few years back in my 50 mercury and whylst I was pulling in I shot a few fireballs out the lake pipes. Parked the car and checked out some art. A little while later I noticed a little girl maybe 8 or 10? Really checking out the car and looking at the exhaust. Just intrigued. So I asked her " you want to know how I shot them fireballs? ".. ."yes" so I explained how I did it and showed her my flame thrower set up. And told her when she is old enough to drive I expect to see flames out of her car.
I hope one of these days I see her in a old car ..
Saving the world one future gear head at a time

 

If I were there I'm sure I would make a dumb comment too; such as,
So, is everyone here a virgin?

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.

I pulled into gas station one day in my Model A. There is a middle aged man standing in front of the building, he says, "that's a nice buggy you have there".
I thought that was kinda funny.

I've also come to the conclusion that most of the general public think all old cars are 'rat rods'.

Like most of you, I get a lot of thumbs up and, "hey, that's a nice car".

What I didn't expect when I first started driving my car is how much older ladies (75 and up) really love Model As...without fail...they love em'.

I will say that I do enjoy talking to 'non-car' people about hot rods. It's a good opportunity to explain our hobby to them and explain what a Traditional Style Hot Rod is.

 

At a swap meet I had my 37 Chevy parked, when I got back there was an older fella (at least 85) standing next to it , looking. I was quite prepared for the usual banter, nice or dumb, when he says - "My dad bought this car new- ",
I replied "Oh, he had a 37 too?" He said. no, THIS one- and pointed out a few things that were hidden and known to me! It had the original paint, and he showed me a ding he put in the fender (which I didn't fix) when he backed into a fence in "about '55"! Sometimes you are prepared for the dumb-ass comment, and then you get thrown a curve-ball!
He didn't like the fact I painted the stovebolt blue when it was overhauled- "Stuffed the engine up" he said!
There's just no pleasing some people!

 

Went to the DMV to do the title work and the young lady at the counter asked of it was a coupe. I politely said, "No, it's a tudor. See right here." as I pointed to the title.

The bone-head behind her at the next desk overheard and yelled out, "They were all coupes in '32!" I said, "No, it's a tudor!" He replied, "They all have 2 doors!" I said, "Yes they do, even a 4 door!"

I begged her NOT to put coupe on that title, but...

 

I had a young female apprentices working with me and was showing her pictures of my chopped 1940 Ford convertible, then she asked me why my doors were so tall.

 

So you legally have a 32coupe and you're complaining?

 

Good trip bringing the '37 home. Had another guy drive across 2 lanes of traffic and down thru the medium then across another 2 lanes of traffic and across the lawn into the station we were getting gas at. Drove right up to the trailer, looked out his window a few minutes then drove right up to where I was pumping the gas. "what year is that car?". "1937", I answer. "I have one that looks a lot like it in my garage, did they make them with smaller tops?", he asks. I told him they made a hump back and a 5 window coupe. "The coupe kind, would it have dropped down just behind the doors?", he asks. I'm wondering where this is all headed. I confirm what a coupe looks like. "Yep, got one in the garage at home, never knew what it was. Dad had it and drag raced it all thru the '60's, some big old engine that sticks out the hood. Gas something or other. Glad I know what it is. They worth anything?" I confirm they can be worth something. He then says "I'm interested in selling this one, I don't want it, still has the title in my dad's name and some spare parts, maybe you can come and look at it some time if you are interested". Told him I would be glad to follow him home but he was headed someplace and didn't have time right then. I explained I was 10 hours from home and wasn't usually in that neighborhood. "It's not going anywhere, call me next time you come thru and you can have it if you want. Nobody even knows I have it." Gave me his number, we're still trying to get back that way to see what it really is. He said the grill is exactly like mine, the front looked just the same but it had been a drag car and needed a lot of work. Never know what somebody will say to you. You have to listen.

SPark

 

Yes and No... It's a tudor.

 

Can't be...........they only made coupes in 32

 

A kid pulls up to me on an ATV points at my roadster and asks "where do you buy cars like that". You just expect goofy stuff like that from kids, but it's hard not to laugh.

 

I had a 26 Chevy Touring (true barn find, as the barn had caved in on the car) on a trailer headed home. I stopped to put gas in my truck and was surrounded by an entire family crowded around to get a good look at this crusty old dog. I assume that it was the father of the group that asked, "Is that a Cadillac ?" I responded, "No it is a Chevy, I couldn't afford the payments on a Cadillac." The conversation ended with a smile and everyone seemed happy with the response................ Jeff

 

"Your car smells like a go kart" - various girls

 

Back in the 80's I found a 38 Chevy Convertible rotting by a barn in L.A. (lower Alabama) and just had to rescue that rare little car. Several years passed and I scrounged enough parts to get the Old Girl running again with an all stock running gear. We had a cruise coming up and I stayed up all night the night before mixing NAPA white primer with Yellow tint and resprayed the entire car before getting a little sleep. I called it "Moon Glow Yellow Primer"
While at the cruise (next day) 2 older guys walked up to inspect this all steel Chevy and when they were satisfied with what they saw, they stood by the car making comments about the rarity and what a nice car this would be in a finished state.
It was a shocker when one of the Guys stated, " Hell, he's already F-ed It Up by putting House Paint on the Damn Thing...................... Oh Well........... Jeff

 

Someone asked me why I had aluminum foil all over inside my car..(he was talking about the new heat shealding)

 

That is awesome. No other words to be said.

Are you sure?

I had one of my dads clients see my '54 and notice a small dent in the dash, and say is dad's '54 had the same dent. who knows if it was the same, the world can be small. makes for a kind of weird story.



Man, some of you guys are assholes. I get as many goofy questions or comments as the rest, but you guys have to realize, we are a minority. The world doesn't revolve around our small niche. These people are trying to make conversation about something interesting that they have no knowledge of. I have certainly been in the position where I've been in a shitty mood, for whatever reason, and somebody asks a silly question in relation to my knowledge, but I really try to understand that they are simply trying to connect with a person who knows something about something they don't, which they have at least a small interest in. But the person approaching you only sees the car, not your personal struggle. You should really take that as an escape from your personal struggle and an opportunity to talk to another person as a human, not a "car person". That being said, this thread was about the general public. If some "know it all" comes up to you, I say have at it. Absolutely, nobody know it all, so I don't care about how the "know it alls" feel.

 

I'm seriously considering having some business type of cards made up that say, "It's a SEDAN DELIVERY, not a NOMAD!!!", that I can hand out, or slip under the wiper blades as "educational material" (I wonder IF I could get that by the IRS?). Especially when they say, in the same breath, they used to have one just like it (?????). I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

You hear some great ones at car shows too.

"It's a 350 bored out to a 454."