Art & Inspiration Insult or compliment

I'm sitting here this Thursday afternoon looking at stuff on the internet and I remember going on the James Dean Memorial Run up in Chalome California this is before the Paso Robles Deal started .well anyway me and my buddy were driving up there ,I had a full custom 51 Merc with Lincoln tail lights Buick headlight inserts heavy chop you name it and my buddy had a 49 Mercury all stock just lowered nosed and decked just like the James Dean car well we stopped at a restaurant to have some lunch and as we came out of the restaurant there was a group of older people around 80 year olds looking at both cars which were parked side-by-side I was standing behind them as I overheard them talking about the cars one gentleman commented to his buddy I know that's a 49 Mercury but the one next to it looks like it's from Mars I was 21 years old ,my first custom that I built, I didn't know how to take that ,but being respectful I told the gentleman it's a 1951 Mercury and he told me ,it looks like it's from Mars!.. LOL ,my question is has anything like this ever happened to any of you guys something similar that sort of Knocked you on your heels let's hear it

 

It get tired of hearing that any of three 210's we own are all Bel Air's from both young or the old that seen these cars when they were new!

 

I've heard my little Bantam pickup is 'cute' so many times it no longer surprises me. It's a complement I know, but..

"Man that is cute!"

"Hey, it's a hot rod, got a blown flathead, three pedals and 4:11 posi."

"Nice, but it's still cute."

 

Depends a bit on what you built your custom for.

If it was to clean up the factory lines, make subtle improvements that the factory should have done (but still be a Merc), then it was an insult.

If you were looking to heavily change the design, make it something yours that the factory could never do, then it was an outstanding compliment.

In either case, it was just one guys opinion. Tomayto, Tomahto. Its only your opinion that counts.

Cheers,
Harv

 

I would suspect he wasn't EVER into Customs OR Hotrods so just let air keep on travelin'...it's just period air...

Is this a 1st for you?...I have a list of things from the 'Class Asses of the Masses'.........I like that saying!!!

Did you say yes it's from Mars how did you get here?...

It has been a pretty lame coupla years for that...and the other thing is to me 90%+ of the observations and comments are positive in nature...

How about you @banditomerc?...

 

I stopped at a cross walk with my hemi powered 27 rpu to let a lady with her little kid cross the road. Half way across I hear the kid yelling. " look mom, a hotwheels ". I think it was a good thing.

 

We were stopped at a tourist spot for lunch , an older gentleman come up to my wife who was sitting in our 32 3W ( avatar) he said “ aren’t you missing some parts? “. Quick as a flash my wife said “ no we have everything we need”

 

I imagine a guy like that might say, "it looks like it's from Mars" in the same way someone might say "far out, man!"

As far as a weird one for me, this summer a guy buying some Model A parts was looking at the A Coupe in the shop and told me he "didn't like it" and I've "completely ruined [my] car."

That stuff would have really bothered me, years back, but now it doesn't land, at all. I chuckled at it.

Some guys love spaghetti and meatballs while others prefer spicy gumbo.

 

Why would anyone call a T bucket a "Dune Buggy"? Or........is that thing legal (same Tbucket)? Older gentleman, Is that one of those "California" hot rods?

 

Brent says, "Some guys love spaghetti and meatballs while others prefer spicy gumbo." Maybe that's my problem, I Love 'em Both!

 

I never understood the reasoning behind ranking on a complete strangers possessions.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Why try and have a conversation or argument with someone who is already proven himself to be an ass.

 

Anything old (1999 and down) that looks like it’s “souped up” is a hot rod.
Anything not painted is a rat rod.
Every nose high old car is a gasser..........

non-car people don’t know. That’s ok. The fact that they noticed your ride is cool. Never get offended by comments of the unknowing. They are just trying to figure out something that looks strange or cool to em.
People ask questions all the time about the junk I drive. If it looks like a Martian ride then so be it.

 

Where's the pictures?

 

Now i wanna see the car! Does it look like a spaceship?

 

There is a huge difference between those "doing it" and those "watching people do it"

All forms of comments are good [even bad comments] face it......you could be driving a car that gets no attention.

You can have some fun with these people [like my husband Kerry with his sharp tonque]
"I really appreciate your sincere criticism f**k you very much"

 

Would you feel better if nobody noticed your vehicle? When you go to a car show and there is something for everyone, is there anything wrong with that? Isn't being noticed enough to make the point of distinction?

 

back in the early 80's i was driving my stock 50 merc through bunk's drive inn and a couple of kids talking to each other said " look it's one of those space cars". so i guess they look like some 1950's sci fi space ship to some people!

 

You raise a good point as I'm thinking of that Jetsons tune in my head...hey! Where's Elroy!!!

 

and us who are doing it, are a very very small minority!

I take them all as a compliment.

 

Just keep in mind where the comments come from , they ain't like us !

 

I pulled into Menards (a big box lumber store in the Midwest) this summer in the Stude, a guy in a tall four wheel drive pulled in nose to nose with me....I told him as he got out that he was tall enough to drive over me, he laughed, then asked "is that a Maserati?" not sure if he was kidding or not a couple of weeks ago I raced at a "once a year..grudge race" at Atlantic, IA, my wife was shooting a video of me and she caught a young woman off to the side, after listening to the video three or four times we determined that she said "what the hell kind of car is that, it's really weird looking". I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder

 

I think what gets me are the people that don't even notice your car. Not that I care, but why wouldn't you stare at the loud, obnoxious T roadster that I had, like it or not, it's definitely something you didn't see everyday...

 

I'm that way when when I go to shows...if it's of no interest to me ie...OT I just walk on by...without ignorance of course...everyone's passionate about whatever floats their boat...

I don't expect everyone to be interested in the Ole Jalopy either...

 

How about the left-handed compliment? A good buddy said this to me as he was looking at my just finished tube framed, blown BBC, 27 roadster, "Much as you fuck up, you were bound to get it right sooner or later."

 

Loud and obnoxious might be a clue...there are some who start and rev it up to the point the decibels are busting eardrums...I even try to avoid them...these are all things that give cruising around a better rating many times...

It's funny I think about Bombastic Threads here with Customs and Hotrod...oil and water ignorance everywhere, what was the issue again...

 

The longest sentence in history.

 

Aren't Friends wonderful...

 

I know it’s off topic but I have 65 Mustang GT350R clone and when my best friends former wife saw it the first time she told him I had a Charley’s Angel’s Car…..

 

I think I ruined a guys day last weekend at a close to me show. I walked past a late model rig with barely a glance and took about 15 photos of a nice little chopped yellow Chevy AD pickup from all angles plus asked a few questions as I hadn't seen the truck before and it had a nice looking V butted windshield in it. Truck was evidently built in BC but has B word wheels so no photos here.

Had a guy who had just walked past the dream truck at The 82 Chevy GMC truckin National in Ogden tell me that I had ruined my truck by chopping it because "they are rare" 50 AD trucks in various looks from unrestored but near perfect stock to the R&C Dream truck and everything in between.

 

Grammar is not really the issue...

I got drawn in too...It's a once a month Thread topic...

I've met all kinds at cruises and shows never really had any bad scenes thankfully...actually the worst problems are from within the participants I find...several cruises I frequented were moved to new locations due to participants treating the parking lots and the roadways leaving as dragstrips...very unfortunate...

I sometimes think if they had more local dragstrips which are unfortunately very few, those that like to race could get their fill and perhaps be better behaved at the cruises but it's really an ongoing issue that only seems to be getting worse with the resurgence in muscle car tributes and Hemi every thing else with wheels...