If there talking about the 56 short , I believe the first shot , Nomad version, looks like it's photo shop altered shot of the second shot , the no roof version, the nomad roof , rear wheel wells and rear tires and wheels and the Hot Wheels on the side all look added on..... I live in St. Helens Oregon ,actually Rainier now, I grew up in St. Helens and Im there every other day or more and I have never seen it around. Sent from my SM-T387V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This one illustrates the math the way I'd worked it out many years ago. Note that it's more than a rubber rake. The front needs to be lowered more than the rear by half the difference between the front and rear tyre diameters.
I love a nice rake to a car,I'm sure your really talking about a nice Florida rake. Even my races car were built that way !!!Nose down ass up.
I remember the scene in American Graffiti where John Milner is explaining to the police officer that his headlights were at the legal height, then takes the ticket he received and stuffs it in the glovebox that was already full of them.
I don't know if my car has a "California" rake. I just like a heavy rake. It's a term that has always confused me because I'd see cars with all sorts of rake and they differed so much I couldn't make the distinction. Maybe someone could enlighten me after all these years? Before I go, I tossed a level on my coupe:
Hello, Before there were labels given to things that happened a long time ago, some have caught on as more people use the terms. California Rake was one of those set of words. As little kids in So Cal, we did not read about California Rake as a styling modification to hot rods and custom cars/trucks. At first, they were just lowered to the ground like the low rider community and then, drag racers/salt flats racers. There were more lowered sedans than those with a steep angle rake. As the years and designs rolled on, the front was definitely lowered an inch or two. The rear stayed the same. But, as we all know hot rod/drag race builders, the rear, too got lowered in the suspension area as much or as little as decided. It was not just adding larger tires to create an angle design look for the hot rod. The term “Calfornia Rake” is hard to pinpoint when it became a modification term for old cars and hot rods. We, who were around as little kids and teenagers, used the simple term, “Rake” as the modification for the hot rods and sedans. Suspension modifications were used, as were smaller front tires for some drag racing roadsters and coupes. The big 40s-50s sedans usually kept the same size tires all around, but the suspension was toyed around to get the desires lowering or rake angle. My brother was only 15 when he bought his first old sedan, a 1951 Pale Yellow Oldsmobile two door sedan. At first, it stayed level as stock, but the 5 year old sedan was low, due to needing new springs and shocks. At the time, some of his older friends had lowered their hot rods/sedans by cutting coils and using blocks. Some dropped to the ground, but that was not practical for daily driving to school and work. My brother’s first attempt at lowering did not go as planned. We cut out what we thought was 2 inches in front. After the car was set up, the front dropped too much and various parts were scraping the ground. So, he had to purchase new springs and the second time, after many trial applications, cut only an inch in front. From there, we went slowly for the rest of the experimentation. Those old spring clamps allowed us to get an idea before we finally cut the coils. The final "attitude" given to the big Oldsmobile Sedan drove well with a good wheel alignment, new shocks and trued tires. It drove straight and true, without any high speed wobbles or drifting in the lanes. Also, those Moon Discs also made it have a race car attitude for the daily drive to school and Friday/Saturday night cruises. 1957 with the latest Lime Green paint, prior to selling the Oldsmobile sedan to his friend. Jnaki We all have our own lowering stories and this is one from 1956-57. Different suspension modification rake angles look good on most cars. It just gives an attitude to the old cars that it did not have before. But, as a like or not like, it was a modification that a lot of teenagers did to their old sedans and hot rod coupes. It was not just a 70s-80s thing and definitely not after the AG movie, that some think started trends in hot rodding. YRMV
This chassis/suspension/steering was built to have appropriate caster and still have the rake. But, I get your point 100%.
I went to the original post because I wanted to see what this "California" rake thing was all about only to find it's not mentioned. I started driving in 1966 at 16 and was fortunate to get as my second car a '66 Nova. It sat level from the factory (I was the second owner, purchasing it at 17,000 miles) We put on a set of overload shocks (coil over shock) to bump it up about an inch to an inch and a half. It sat just right. I'd had older friends that were driving '65 and '66 Impalas and '62-'64 Galaxies. Their cars were jacked in front with either beefier springs or simply the twist in coil spacers. It was a great look for them. Us Nova, Fairlane, Mustang and Camaro guys went to air shocks on the rear. There was no talk about California. Hell, Cali was not the be all & end all of cars for us midwesterners. Somehow, things just took a natural progression. I won't say it was a trend around here (Chicago) but there were a good many guys that went to straight axles on Bel-Airs, Biscaynes and Catalinas. That was a look to behold. But there were always exceptions to the rules. Cars that sat perfectly even from the factory, cars that were in the weeds (one particular '59 Impala comes to mind), subframes on Camaros that were spaced with 4x4s, a '65 Galaxi that was jacked up in the front and dropped in the back and could pull the front tires at the owner's pleasure. With hot rods anything went but they were mostly T-buckets.
The last photo was not the norm in California. Channeled cars did exist without a doubt and somewhere and are famous but California was an above or on the frame rail for the most part and still is.
Since the original post was in the customs section, my 2 cents is that all cars look better with a rake, unless it wears skirts. Then, level or ass down. My Merc will be low and level, but if it's a dog with worms, I will let it drag the carpet. None of my other stuff will have a squat, unless I have a couple heavy gals in the back seat...Lol
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