Hot Rods Does your better half / girlfriend encourage your obsession?

My sweetie in the 80s and 90s need to take one now same car and wife 4 EVER Love both more every day NO its not a rat rod just a car I paid 100.$ for, and cut down a tree that was growing threw the roof . If that car could talk I would have to shot it. ha ha

 

Nope, she doesn't understand why I would want to work on junk. She sees vehicles as totally utilitarian to get from point A to point B. She doesn't understand customs, lowering, hot rods. However she lets me do it without much interruption.

 

A reply on the lighter side of topic...........

 

Yep, fixin' to be 38 years together. When we met, I had a hopped up 67 Mustang, and she had a 67 Cougar that she soon traded in on a 76 Mustang II. First car we bought after we got married was a 77 Firebird Formula with the 400 and T Tops. Through the years we have had some nice OT rides, not as many since we adopted our two boys though. After they were gone, lost the youngest in a wreck and the oldest moved out, I built a OT Maverick and started going back to shows and she has went to nearly every one with me. Got her an OT 84 Corvette a few years back, then sold it and got her a 86 one that she has taken to shows and won a few awards with. Since the Grandson has come along and is living with us, the Corvette hasn't seen much use, so we are looking to sell or trade it for her a two door sedan, 40-46 Chevy or 41-48 Ford. She has went with me in the Lincoln a few times, but the Grandson is just too much to handle at most shows, so she usually just goes in her daily driver and leaves when he gets to showing out. She loves the cars of the 30's and 40's as much as I do. She has helped me load and unload cars in all kinds of weather, has laid on the ground in junkyards helping pull parts, helped sand for paint, and many more automotive related things, not a bit scared to get her hands dirty.

 

Not at all, won't ride in them, won't be in the garage

 

photo by VNak... It is not an obsession, but I do like an old hot rod or truck…

Hello,

When does my wife surprise me? Well, if it is about hot rods and old cars/trucks, anytime she sees one where ever she happens to be, she breaks out her Iphone for a photo or two. One year, she and her sister happened to be visiting old 1930s homes that had been remodeled with standard exterior looks of the time period.

They were in an area designated as “historic homes” and the insides were an ***ortment of old style stuffy furniture and some homes with new remodling inside and designer/architect modern furniture which fit the overall good choice. Old on the outside and new/modern on the inside. The one thing noticeable was the aroma. Nothing is better than new/old leather furniture aroma. Not, 100 year old stuffy furniture brought out from a storage facility to decorate old homes.

But, outside of those old restored homes was a car show to attract the folks to see them in a different surroundings of old homes. It was a hit as more folks got to see a different side to something restored or rebuilt in the old hot rod style of cars and trucks.

My wife and I have liked trucks since 1965 and had looked at plenty of Chevy and Ford trucks as our daily driver. But, these old cars in front of old homes were outstanding and she wanted me to see them on her phone. Her photo skills have always been good since our old photoshoot days. So, that was not a problem. I had other things to do on that day and she sent them to me via her phone messaging.

Jnaki

Photo by Vnak
But, old trucks still have the empty bed for hauling stuff and that is good. Then, the ease of throwing stuff in the back is always there. So, now, if we had an old truck, it would be back to the El Camino days and lack of security or having to move our suitcases inside if we stopped somewhere on our vacation road trips... YRMV



But, Trucks are cool…

 

Yep, all the way. Been married to her for 55 years. We got married one month after she turned
eighteen. Sure glad she picked me! This is her standing next to me in her junior year in high
school when I picked her up, along with my sister. Camelback High in Phoenix, AZ.

 

Certainly...And Why Not?...

 

My late wife supported all my auto related endeavours. I was truly blessed to have met and married her, and to have two beautiful daughters with her. Not many women out there like that.

 

Will be in Lincoln to meet friends and get a guided tour of the Museum of American Speed in a couple of weeks. While we're there, we'll go to the International Quilt Museum and check out the 250 Years of American Quilting display. Next spring we/re taking the motor home to San Diego and she'll spend a weekend at the Road to California Quilt Show and I'll take in the Grand National Roadster Show. BTW, we did a month long tour of the Pacific Northwest this year to celebrate our 50 year anniversary.

 

My wife keeps extremely accurate and up to date records of all of the money I spend on my cars and reminds me periodically of the tally so I don't have to worry about it.

 

You guys are lucky to have wives like that. I have never been married, over many many years I have gone through many girl friends. Yea, they are all into my hot rod life style for a while and then the opposite. To bad for them, There is always more!

 

Brenda has supported all my automotive hobbies since we met and she still does. HRP

 

After 43 years I shouldn't complain. She loves riding and driving our cars. She loves car shows and never gives me grief about $ spent...BUT she has NEVER been in the garage to help, Never held a wrench or screwdriver.
She has no interest in the process or build...just the finished product.

 

This picture should pretty much explain things at our house.
This is her NEW car, the evening it arrived, just a few days after our 50th Anniversary in May, 2026.

A few weeks later we spent a couple days cleaning and installing the insulation on the underside of the roof together. She won't be in the shop when I'm putting on the new rockers, or doing heavy mechanical work, but when it comes to things she can help with, she will be right there by my side, getting her hands dirty (she has helped me bleed brakes before).

 

Not an obsession and nope, she tolerates the car thing. We both try to be grownups about things- still working for us.

 

Yup...says so right on the hood

 

She sometimes questions my spending habits but understands that playing with old cars makes me happy. She doesn't necessarily encourage it, but she doesn't discourage it either...

 

I have to say yes until recently. We haven’t participated in events the last few years. Since I’m getting older I feel that I need to rethink how I practice this lifelong obsession. We aren’t quite seeing eye to eye on things right now like we used to. Time will tell I guess.

 

I'd more say she puts up with me than encourages me. Just last weekend she was on me about something I bought, and I said "Yes, but honey, if I asked what you thought before a purchase, I'd never have a boat...."

 

Since Jnaki brought this thread back up 10 years after I commented the first time, my wife now has her own old car again…just 2 years too new for this place.

 

Met my wife of 43 years at a car show. She likes cars but does not have the p***ion about them I do.
I have my own bank account for car stuff and she has her own for her hobbies
When we were working our paychecks went into the community fund and our 'fun money' accounts was available foe emergencies. She has sat in the car for hours as I forage in a new to me s****yard and I have done the same while she explores antique shops. Works for us.

 

Having fun in the 31. So I would say yes.

 

Also in her 63 Nova conv.

 

yes 100% , her words “ if you can’t beat them join them” The T coupe has gone to fund the finish of my wife’s 49 ford coupe. Can I chop it ,yes dear, can we have power steering, yes dear, can we have a 4speed automatic, yes dear. What about new suspension and disc brake ,sure. She makes all the cosmetic decisions and has never been wrong with colour and upholstery and body trim . [AT

 

Wife #1 did not, the house and social life came first. That one lasted 9 years...
Wife #2 wasn't too interested but put up with it 'til she wanted a big dollar house remodel. That one lasted 31 years...

The lady I've been with for 12 years now is very supportive, is willing to help on interior stuff and gets to drive the roadster if we're taking both cars to a show. I'm very fortunate that she allows me to be in her life!

 

No. But she tolerates it.

 

Hmm…

“Senior wife”, mostly. If I need parts she’s on the web hunting for the best deals she can find. 3 or the current “builds” are “her” trucks, all OT. 2 lowered, 1 4wd conversion. And has 2 805cc metric V-twin cruisers. “Her” next “build” is another OT, first year Outback “battlewagon” on mudders. “Violent Crimes Day” (Feb 14th, buy her cheap chocolate, will make sense) is 30 years married.

“Junior wife”, our tenant that ought as well be our daughter, is addicted to 4 cylinder OT Ford Rangers. And destroying them finding nice fishing spots… 33 going on 14 next month…

Both are riding me to get the 350/SM465 from the C60 into my 1949 Dodge truck, swap in the rear mounts/springs from a junker Z71, a Ranger 8.8 rear axle, and the Astros off the 1969 D to W project… “They” want to go to the local cruises in style, whether separately or some combo of the 3 of us. Note, the 49 was pulled from street use in 1974…