I see the whole rat rod phenomena as a reaction to the high dollar cars from upscale shops like Coddington and Foose. Younger rodders were being priced out of the sport so they came up with one of their own. Do I like them? Not particularly, but I see potential. The rat rod builders are younger on average just like we were in the 40's and 50's. I believe as they get older and their average income goes up you will see the trend continue toward better looking more detailed cars. I applaud their efforts. They are in a learning curve and I will help them anyway I can. It's just a cycle and its human nature. As far as Hot Rod goes I finally had enough. I ended my 45 year collection with this month's issue. I can't say that I have hard feelings that they are no longer relevent to me because being an older guy they aren't that interested in the type coverage I like. They, Freiberger in particular, have oriented the magazine toward the younger generation. I believe when you see articles covering different avenues of motorsports they are trolling for interest to gauge market potential. What I would object to would be for them to try to create a new venue of interest instead of picking one enthusiasts themselves were moving toward. Printed media in general is in trouble. I think they are desperately looking for a market niche that will keep them alive. After all - Bidness is bidness!
I build what I like and have several builds planned out that arent related to each other at all. Each car I do has its own feel. if someone else likes it great if not screw them. Hot Rod has been putting out feelers on the nascar street look for a few years, very few give a shit, they are constantly trying to predict or drive the next trend, this will give the aftermarket something to keep them going. I have subscribed to Hot Rod off and on for almost 20 years now and generally get disgustd with their stories. add this kit from this supplier, buy this kit from these guys, there is literally no fab work on any of their cars, thats great for the checkbook guys but I prefer to weld. Hot Rod does have good coverage on whats new and I can sometimes steal an idea here or there and make it myself.
The cars that will be the new trend are being built right now. As well as a whole bunch of cars that do not fit the current trends and will not fit any future trends either. And the owners probably dont care if they are building a oddball car or one that will be "trendy" when its done. The people that probably care about that the most are Magazine Editors and their Advertisers. Maybe one way of getting a glimpse of the future is looking at the " what O/T car are you building?" Threads that we have on the HAMB every once in a while....
Actually, I wouldn't have a problem with the "Track" car. I personally wouldn't build one, but for the "mainstream" hobby...its something I'd like to see. Atleast it isn't Pro-Street, Pro-Touring, something like that. Any move away from cookie-cutter cars and "perfection" and non-functionality is fine with me, however just not anything I'd like to get into. Yes, It would be an interesting use for rusted out Muscle and such. I've got a nearly dead '73 Charger, and know of alot more cars like this that are too far gone to salvage, but not quite ready for the crusher. I don't think it would drive up "traditional" circle track parts either. But...once the "Rat" blows over for the mainstream hobby, what else would it move to exactly?
trends/scenesters come and go. hot rodding has and will be here forever. let the scenster kids selling "rat rod" tees @ the shows do their thing. in a year or two, they will move on to whatever the "next hotness" is or go back to imports.
Hopefully the people following the "rat-rod" trend will follow this one as well, and get some of those deathrods off the street.
There would certainly be more "abortions" with the whole Open-Wheel look kinda thing...but atleast they'd be somewhat less deadly.
Starting to see a lot of 3/4 and 1 ton Ford and Chevy 4wd trucks lifted 12" plus. Every aftermarket chrome piece of shit, you can find, bolted on em'. And, yuck, 20" plus chrome wheels with low profile mud tires. Junk!!! Also starting to see a lot of people in my area restoring 70's non-muscle cars. Some of the oddball rarer stuff. Probably because they're cheaper to buy initially.
You guys are forgetting the most popular, prolific trend of all time and that's "I bought a Harley, dude" trend. How many people do you know that ran out within the last ten - fifteen years and bought one, or two (the ole lady has to have one too). Everybody has a leather vest, dew rag, bald head, arm tatoo and dress like some bad ass. Everyone has one, don't you? Ten years before that knowone wanted a bike except for real bikers. I think the next trend will be a contest of who can sell his Harley the fastest. Too bad those tatoos are for life or they'd be for sale too. It's fun to think back about the different trends in hotrodding/streetrodding/traditional rodding or whatever you want to call it. I've always enjoyed car shows, the drags, circle jerks, and Nascar, know matter what the "trend". In the moment you do think of it as cool and that's what counts. I always like to see something new or different no matter what you want to call it. Let's hope that people continue to be creative and inventive many years to come. Now, there's another trend coming around the bend, see if you can grap it and hang on for a while. Ye-Haw!!
I just realized that the "Vintage Oval Track" thread had some pretty good examples of what I was talking about in it. Imagine something like this...only done with an Monte Carlo or something...and on the street.
hmmmmm....when I combine THAT look with a "Monte Carlo or something"...PLUS the Rat Rod/DEATH Rod "edge" that seems to be the big thing right now...I see a final result that would be best driven by Lord Humungous and his cohorts. Could the replacement for cuffed jeans be a studded leather loin cloth/thong combo? Maybe GAS MONKEY Garage really IS onto something!!!! Hahahaha
Here's a couple of oval track examples that are more "muscle" related: Chevy II seen at a recent vintage racing event A late 70's era short track Cougar that would be bad-ass on the street (the hideaway lights would finalize the look) Something like this might actually stand-out in that long row of 69 Camaros attending any car show you go to.
Well nothing could be UGLIER than taking a somewhat decent midsize car and lifting it enough to put some 30" twankies on it and then putting lambo, dohickie doors on it and throwing some bass boat flake on it... I would rather see an ugly race car muscle machine, but even that is not appealing to me! Fads come and go so who knows and who decides what it really is?
Mad Max rods... That blue Chevy II is more like something I was leaning towards. No real standard of how well or how it should look when put back on the road. Thats my biggest problem with the muscle crowd I have, there is no real creativity or ingenuity when it comes to reviving rusted out hulks. Imagine combining a rusted out four-door '63 Pontiac Tempest and a decent chassis. Strip, Patch, and chop on the thing until it makes something "interesting".
Engine downgrades. Flathead-powered Thunderbirds ... Model-A four-banger Shoeboxes ... mass hysteria!
Next mechanical trend will be low buck fuel injection. Like sub-$500 multiport out of junkyard and homebuilt crap. The next visual trend will be the streetrodification of oddball 70s and 80s cars, now that streetrodificationing 50s and 60s cars is normal. There are some amazingly modified G body GMs running around already. As much as I'd love to see nascar streeters, don't think it will happen. The average fan just isn't mechanical enough, and wasn't a fan when RWD platforms were competitive. Me, I'll just keep trying to sync the cars in my head with what's popular on the street. Cause there's a couple hundred cars up there that need to be built, so it's not hard to select one that parallels current trends. If NASCAR hit the street big, then I'd build dirt IMCA streeters Rowdy!
And the replacement for Converse Chuck Taylors could be thigh height boots, with eight buckles and studs all over.
I'm prone to believe the "vintage lakes-style racing thing" will more than likely become quite prominent in the near future. As for me, personally, I'm going to do what I've always done;...as I damn well please! I don't follow trends and/or fads;...I follow my own instincts. That practice has always worked for me! Pleasing myself has NEVER been a big challenge;...or very expensive!
I like being considered uncool and non trendy by dorks that have to have the latest thing. If we all did what the general population thought was cool we would all be driving BMW's or Hummers.
I think the HAMB is leading the next trend. Smaller cars, more modifieds and customizing ala plowboy truck and no fenders to show off the high dollar suspensions. Here's a couple examples from Spitzer.
Can't the same be said of rat rods or ANY car for that matter? This next part is for all the guys and girls who walk the walk and then change back to "normal" when they get home. There are a lot of people who hopped on the "traditional" "retro" "whatever you want to call it " bandwagon. Now you sit back and PRETEND you were in it all along. You weren't. Maybe your dad was and in a lot of cases that is a very big maybe. For whatever reason, you saw a way to express yourself and built it and in some cases you paid to have it built. Whether it was a shop or a barter with a buddy, you paid to have it done. It's time to climb off the mountain you created and realise that you are no better than the guy that drops $50,000 for a Brookville. All this dividing the ranks is going to kill this hobby. We are ALL hot rodders. Some just took a different path. As for the $50,000 rides, I bet a lot of you would have one if you could, but you're trying too hard to be in the "scene". A lot of you don't have a clue as to what the "scene" is. You're just falling into something that you think might make you a badass or perhaps express it. No problem. Everyone has to have their own grove, just don't take it to the point that you're thinking you're better than anyone else. Are there guys who are for real? Sure and that is great, but where were the rest of you all these years? Hiding? Waiting? If you were waiting, what the hell were you waiting for? All the new publish that has sprouted? All the new meets and gatherings? You saw something that looked "cool" and "hip" and you climbed onboard. Oh and you saw how CHEAP it could be to be a badass. So, you checked it out, overheard the RULES and slipped in. No harm done. Just admit who and what you are and stop the damn bashing. As for the quest for "patina" and "rust", I have looked at a lot of photos and talked to a lot of oldtimers and I have yet to have one say he didn't want his car to look like the ones at the carshows and magazines of his day. Yea, PAINTED and PLATED. If you can't afford to have it done, say so. Don't act like it's a freaking movement because it's not. It's called a limited budget.
Yea forgot about that one. A lot of nerds in my area now have Harleys. Some of the richer nerds have the $50,000+ choppers. They get off the bike wearing leather, then change into preppy clothes and jump into their Lexus or BMW. I used to have a bike about 12 years ago. If I still had it, I think I would want to sell it for this reason. Ask a lot of the current NASCAR fans who Cale Yarborough is, and watch the funny looks you get. A lot of us remember when NASCAR still had "stock" cars in it.
It's already been done... and done well. http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/featuredvehicles/mopp_0605_1968_dodge_charger/ I'd love to see 60s and 70s nascar-inspired stuff on the street. Capped bumper ends, aluminum plates over the taillights and LEDs hidden in the back window, baseball bat-rolled fender lips. steelies with wide tires that actually have a sidewall, window retainer strips, hood pins, maybe a cage and no carpet. just a big simple motor and a means to harness it through high speeds and a few corners .... What true car guy doesn't think that would be fun to drive???
Well, my stuff has had red wheels since the '60s.....I ain't changin now. Besides......don't they say that this trend crap tends to run in circles??? One of these days my red wheels will be in style again....until then, if you don't like 'em, look the other way when I drive up. The only "trend" I follow is "drive it like you rented it".
My prediction for the next trends? Vintage tuners (like late 60's / early 70's Mazdas with newer built rotarys, and old corollas & coronas with built 22R's). Some of those cars weighed next to nothing. Really sick-fast diesels. Some of the shit I'm seeing on youtube of these hopped up 3/4 & 1 ton diesel pickups is making me want to own one. Cafe racers and vintage foreign bikes. Cool, and for the most part cheaper than a Harley.
The Jalopy Journal
