Trends

I do not want to start a fight…but when does a trend become a trend?

Was there some rodder back years ago that painted his crate satin black with a red top and added whitewall tires and then everyone said hey that looks great? Then a trend was born?

It just seems you go to any car show and there will be a large minority of cars that all look generally the same.

When did hot rodding stop being about individuality and innovation?

Now you can yell at me for bad mouthing all the clones!

 

trends are for sheep...and people with no vision/imagination....

 

The HAMB is Anti-TREND

Sort of.

Actually, we are stuck on and in the era and dialectic of hotrod trends that occured from the inception to about 1964.

 

I agree with DrJ build your ride the way you see fit and if you think that is cool who gives a **** what everyone else thinks!!!!

 

I think it becomes a trend when people start copying it from the media or because someone told them it was cool. Prior to that its just people thinking along similar lines.

 

Two points make a line,three points make a trend.

 

a flatblack crate with a red top and whitewalls? what the hell are you talking about?

 

A trend is,,
When you do something for years and nobody notices,then you wake up one day and everywhere you look you see that people have taken notice and emulated what you have done. HRP

 

A trend ..... The unfortunate by-product of a good original idea .

 

it becomes a trend when you start seeing the chameleons creeping around.They're hard to spot at first, as they change thier colors rapidly to fit their surroundings, and they migrate frequntly.
hotrodding wil never die out, but hopefully the "trend" wears off soon, so people will stop destroying old cars after watchin a hotrod build show on tv, and attemping something they havent got the knowledge, skill, or tools to do.
maybe then i could afford some parts

 

Wanna know what i think the latest trend is? The whole Bellflower style lowrider deal.

 

Man this is way too funny!

 

Don't know, but in late '06 I saw a pretty decent '56 Ford 4dr get s****ped - that had been repainted black with red wheels - and couldn't have been on the road much later than '65 or '66. If that look's a trend it's been around a LONG time.

 

"Large minority of cars..." Hmm,kinda like a TALL midget? LOL!!!
I think the print media and ,now,the internet,have alot to do with whats getting attention. When someone builds a car that really catches ALOT of attention,example,Dan Collins little Roadster. That can set off a trend that guys will follow. At the GNRS,Dans car,SloppySeconds,Robert Lomas and Evels Coupes,got plenty of attention! That makes guys want to build a "finished" car. I'm glad,cause I never cared for the "rusty/unfinished" look.

When Boyd was in his "heyday",many builders wanted that same look,clean,highly detailed,look. Maybe too clean! Painting bumpers,removing stainless,hideing the wires,billet,loud colors,etc. It was a trend that has,for the most part,has come and gone(unless you live in Tenn. HA HA HA!). I hope the Resto-rod,Traditional rod,restored cars,saved Customs and racecars,never go away. Many cars got ****ed up in the late 80's and 90's.

Prostreet is another trend that has gone by the wayside...Hopefully the 20" wheels will disapear too...

 

Well then if you're going to label things like this as a trend then i guess you can consider anyone who chops the top on there car a trendist.
Or anyone who frenches there headlights a trendist. Or better yet anyone who has a HOT ROD of anykind can be labeled a trendist, seein's how there are this many people with hotrods. After all if you look at it just the way it is, there are many things that you can lable a "trend" that is not a trend at all. Bellflower lowriders are no more a trend than as I said, chopping the top on your car/truck or frenching the headlights. It is not a "trend" it is a style.

1shot

 

I don't worry about trends or labels . I just know what I like and what my wallet and fabricating skills will allow and do what i can with what I have and have fun doing it!

 

I completely agree. 40's style,Bonneville style,Lakester,Westargard,Track-T,Streetrod,G***er,60's showcar,all styles. Can you elaborate on the difference between a style and a trend? Pretty hard to define...I think a trend is when a certain detail is copied. Styles are more of wanting to recapture an era...period correctness. Agree? no?

 

Now this guy knows what the **** i'm sayin'.

1shot

 

Drive what you like. If you happen to see another similiar car it only means someone else likes what you do.

Why anyone cares what someone else drives is beyond me.

 

No you have it all wrong, tell me, how many cars were running bellflowers and astros 3 years ago? Not too many, Now, it seems it has grown in popularity enough to where you cant go to a show without seeing them, thus making more people notice them and build them. Therefore i see it as a trend. By no means am i talking **** about bellflower style cars, in fact i do like them.I just notice a **** ton of them popping up in the last year or so.

 

Not here in SoCal! That's where the "Bellflower Custom" originates. There have always been plenty of them here. The Sultans have always been known for their Bellflower style cars,WestCoastCustoms too. I think you are seeing more guys doing them cause the Astro Surpremes are more available now.

 

Well I see your point but still it's guys that keep building the styles of cars that keeps this whole thing going. Imagine if NO ONE built a g***er style car anymore, then that part of Hot Rodding would be dead. we'd have nothing to do with it but look at pictures of it. I don't think we should stop building certain styles of cars just because we think it's going to turn into a trend.

 

Thats another thing to, it has to do with a persons budget.
Some guys can't afford to build something different and so they
go with what appeals to there own personal taste.

1shot

 

OH! For sure...The big, Traditional car builds are taking over many shows. I can remember going to shows and seeing a couple cars of that type,especially G***ers! Now you go to a show and there's all kinds of Period correct cars. It's just like fashion.
5051 and I were talking about wether guys will,someday,want a 80's style,Boyd car,and search like crazy to find Boyd wheels and billet, LOL!!!! You never know!!!

 

I say build what you how you want and **** the rest..

If its trendy, oh well you will grow out of it...well.. some will but sides, they come and go, come back...go again..damn its a vicious circle.

*Another mans **** may be anothers mans gold*

 

Of course! You can't build a Traditional Hotrod or Lakester,with the correct parts,on the cheap! And it's just gonna get harder.
That's why guys like Bruce Meyer and some of the other high-dollar guys can just have a shop build them a period perfect car.
Most guys will never achieve that status,or want to,for that matter!
Money can't buy taste,but it can buy hard to find parts...

 

I bet many of the guys who had cars with crazy flake and candy paint wish they still had them!!! They'd fit right in today...

 

Kustom7777,said
trends are for sheep...and people with no vision/imagination....
<!-- / message --><!-- sig --> All of the Hamb is a trend!
Just look around, Im not saying its bad..... But JUST LOOK AROUND!
Ok..... Now throw your tomatoes..................Sorry....

 

Exactly!!
I don't think we should lable a guy a "trendist" for simply building what he can afford. After all thats part of what the whole point of hotrodding is, building what you can afford, make it look kool and keep adding to it as you go and make it something perfectly individual. Some guys cant afford to build something that is completely different from all the rest. And i said it is a matter of personal taste, I would build a bellflower lowrider right now if I could.