Foremost and always Fuel Altereds and FEDs. And within those the full bodied are my favorites, Pedregons coupe FED, Mooneyham's "554" fuel coupe and many others. So WTF am I doing here? The hot rods. That is all those were. The overwhelming sense to protect the past here on the HAMB is addictive, influential, and most definitely keeps me grounded to my roots. And though I have not participated with my time constraints, I needed that while working through the past few years establishing anothers dreams. Thank you!!! And now I need that to help me maintain a sense of discipline and direction in what to build. It seems the majority here lean toward the traditional hot rod, chopped or not, channeled or not, combo of both, flatheads, inlines, nailheads, steel wheels or other period pieces. And rightly so, we need to keep that. But then there will come that one individual that says fuck it, I am building one bad ass SOB. There are some here who have blown me away with the chassis and body lines they sculpt, and in some cases against an outspoken majority that just dont see that persons vision until the hell yes I get it moment. That is special. There are so many here that have molded what I want to build next. Littlemans coupe comes directly to mind in the sense of what I am after overall. Yet being realistic and wanting to be almost police streetable, I lean in the direction of Basss coupe, with his attention to detail using self fabricated factory parts to keep the essence of what this whole deal is about. The tenacity and vision to refabricate factory parts to look and fit how he envisioned, and work. Bleed taught us how to sweep those frame rails gracefully and maintain structural integrity. Fuck, I sit here laughing at my first frame quite possibly I needed NOT to build anything for this period of time. But to learn. So what do I want? a 30-34 something with those qualities mentioned above, light and mean, though blown and injected. Affordability will have to play a part in body style. Maybe. She cant be everywhere This stuff is getting out of hand and I am growing impatient searching.
loaded, loaded with problems, my wife has medical issues that keep her in the hospital roughly a week out of every month,i have to work extra to support our family,as she's lost her past 2 jobs due to her health, i try to joke a lot to relieve some of the stress,i also work on my shoebox when i can to relieve or maybe create more stress,then i pass it on to other people when i push their buttons, but i only do it in good fun,don't mean to hurt anyones feelins
Can't say if the cars define me or if I define the cars. I been wrenching on cars for 45 years and just try to make them not look like anybody elses. They are as old as me and and need as much attention. Even my daily driver is a 12 year old cause I can't find anything else rear wheel drive these days, and I refuse to own a front wheeler death trap whose 'saftey air bags' cost more then all my rods put together. (How did I ever get this far without big brother's help)
Ryan always puts things in a great perspective. I mean - I am always thinking things in my head like what he ends up tapping through his keyboard into our own little version of cyber-heaven (read HAMB). I sometimes wonder if our cars are more of what we aspire to be rather than what we actually portray to those around us. By this I mean that we embellish our own favorite personality traits to a more noticable level. For instance the lean mean and aggressive side of ourselves is often kept inside until it is needed but on our cars it is always apparent. I tend to favor two specific kinds of auto-personas. My favorite is he early customs. They have that creative/artistic flare that I often keep introverted. They emit a kind of class and style - a sort of perfection that is almost unattainable in our "real" lives. They also ooze with a kind of cool that every man wants in his flesh form... My other favorite is that of the early salt racers (aka traditional Hot-Rod). Purposeful and tough, stripped of all of the things that bother us it's creative too - but in a mechanical way. It shows off our ability to control such a powerful and unweilding object - like the taming of a beast. It radiates the other kind of cool, the "Fonzie is a pussy compared to me" kind of cool.... If it takes me the rest of my life I will own one of each. BTTT - another great ED from TJJ that proves why Primedia sucks.
My '57 Chevy defines me as a child of the '70's. I love to drive it and re-live the days of my youth. My HA/GR defines me as a man of action. It's built for purpose, not a static display. I plan to get started on my Model A this year. I think I'll build it in the post-war style, but it might evolve into a '60's show car. I've went through changes in my life. My car can change too.
I don't think the cars I have built and/or owned served to define what I am(I'm not really sure I know what I am)but rather what I was feeling at the moment. My 60 Chevy convertible was a means of transportation until it broke and was going to cost too much to fix so I put a brick on the gas pedal and let it drive itself into a river. My 60 Chevy sedan delivery with a million miles on it became my home for a period of time complete with storm window and an air mattress. My 50 Olds 4-door with the 475 inch monster motor and bullet holes(real)down the driver's side became my toy for pissing off Corvette preppies at stoplights. My 68 Chevelle with a really serious 327 and road race suspension that handled better than a lot of sports cars until I took out the side of it in a parking lot after my first wife really pissed me off. My endless succession of Pinto wagons and Cruisin' Vans that made great winter(read throwaway)cars while I tried to keep the good stuff from rusting away. My heated up Mini Cooper Estate complete with wing and ground effects and Yoko A008R tires that made it corner like a slot car and were worn out in 3,000 miles.I lost count of how many BMW drivers went off the road trying to follow me. My current crop of cars doesn't really define who I am either.A Trans Am that I have to struggle to get in and out of that has been used as a truck more times than I can count. My GMC Syclone that sits in my driveway slowly deteriorating and I'm still trying to figure why my wife insisted I buy it. My Safari wagons;one of which looks like a circus wagon when I am ultra conservative when it comes to paint and the other sitting sky high in the shop waiting it's turn to be built;an old race car from the 60's.A 72 Thunderbird that you should need a class II license to pilot and a mid 90's GEO Tracker that is great for pulling down small trees and shrubs.Oh yes and my pocket bike that I've owned for the last 30 years or so that when I ride it sort of resembles a large monkey trying to f**k a football. Every car I have ever owned has been because I liked it AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME.Well maybe not the Syclone. I guess it's like the old saying goes:Life is sort of like a blow job from a great hooker;don't try and understand why just lie back and enjoy it.
To a point. There are so many different cars inside me waiting to come out. Problem is life comes first and I just don't and won't have the time and money. So I guess what I build is a reflection of me but only a shallow one. I grew up reading Dad's 50's and 60's hot rod mags and hearing his stories of the the car club he was in. Definitely more rough and ready hot rod in me than custom but I love them as well. There's a Stone, Woods & Cook style Willys gasser in me, a Pierson style coupe, a wicked early sixties twin engine rail, a hemi powered lakes tank car... and on and on. I'm blessed to be able to be playing with the toys I've got! Can't build them all but I'm sure having fun with the coupe I've got running. It'll be more fun when I get the blower on her.
I think the person can define the car too. How the person uses a car sorta defines the car. Like driving it across country like Fltblack, BobK or Denise. Flogging the car on a dirt track, dragstrip or other race coarse. Driving it daily. All these can turn an average car into a really cool car! Clark
I think this says it up best for me, too. I've often said that a real car guy needs different cars for different purposes and moods. Thrashing on the coupe can't put me in the same frame of mind as cruising in Shine-O-Matic, and vica versa. And I loved my wife's old 350Z roadster for completely different driving moods. It's why I'll have a muscle car at some point if my '55 doesn't give me that vibe. I just can't understand how car guys can be satisfied with just one. I truely wish I could, as it would save a bunch of time and money. But different cars fill different needs. I am somewhat defined be being a "car guy". But one car doesn't sum me up.
Lessee..... On most cold mornings when I REALLY want it, it won't turn over. Nope the car really defines my wife more than me
I'm an incrementalist. I change things to my liking, but in small bites, and if you weren't very familiar with my cars you wouldn't see the changes at all. I like things that look like what they are: My 38 Chrysler looks like one in an old Chrysler brouchure-but they're truest nature can only be discerned upon close observation. I spent all day today improving the wiring under the dash. I was improving the previous owner's "improvements", and improving my previous improvements to his improvements. See- Incremental change.. My whole life is this way. My cars don't define me, my way of seeing and doing things defines my cars.
Pretty close old and a little off the wall, I drive a 37 Terraplane and the one before that was a 48 Studebaker
Yeah, in a way because I have two different personas. I'm a rough looking old broad, drink beer, smoke like a chimney and use every swear word a hundred times a day. Unless there's a wedding or funeral, I' not into "pretty" and neither are my '64 Ford or my race cars. But I also have a pensive side. I went to college for almost 3 years, can speak coherently and love to read and write. I'm a sensitive loyal person who is always seeking knowledge.. That side of me enjoys solving EFI mystery problems in 5.0 Mustangs, LSC Lincolns and such.. Jan
My ol 55 defines me...pretty good I'd say. My car is a full blood war pony...the last of her kind man.The rest are gone I'm trying to do good and make myself a better person, just like my ol 55 trying to make her better too. Were both survivors and were both loved and hated. Other than the fact that I smoke the car is spitting reflection of myself.. Some day Ill ride this ol gal into hell If I have to...but hopefully we'll be reunited with the rest of the gang in that big prairie junkyard in the sky.
Id have to say my '33 Coupe does. It accounts for all my emotion, short comings and splender. Its got an engine only a handful of people can make work on the street, just like only a few can run a profitable successful business. Its something you CANNOT buy from anyone. Its something I made. -Jason
Ya, 57 Stude Silverhawk, a freak of sorts. Character, a personality all of it's own. Rough around the edges with a touch of taste. Did I mention I'm a petite mom of four who works at a steel scrap yard. Appropriate huh.
My car says I'm schizophenic. But I seem to be the only one who can hear it! {I wouldn't need to be paranoid if you werent all out to get me }
My work on cars defines me more than my own cars do. What I want just might. I like things detailed and finished. I don't care much for rough edges. I like to know that I put as much as possible into every aspect of the build I'm involved in. I like em to have a "feel" vs a "look" and at the same time it's got to be sort of intangible what the veiwer may be feeling. My daily's are in need, my project is on hold for few weeks for other projects, and I daydream about this shit all day. Perhaps some of the cars done in the past have defined me at some level. The Packards were well presented and very proper. The back of my racer used to say "up your...kilt!" Interesting question/topic.
None of them define me completely, but each of them is a reflection (or projection) of some part of me. It's significant that there are several different kinds of car. It's probably also significant that I like each of them for the way it looks, but none of them work all that well.
The Jalopy Journal
