Bumper or no bumper on a taildragger?

So im doing my 41 Plymouth coupe as a late 40's tail dragger with some modern twsit like air ride and a updated chaissis. But i dont know if i should run a rear bumper. im all against a front cause the fronts look dumb with a bumper. but im not sure if just a rear bumper would look good.

So what do you guys think? the bumper i have is junk and i would need to find a better one even off of something else.

here is a pic of it from last week some time.

 

i dropped my bumper...
i felt stupied...

 

Well shit i proved it
I spelled stupid wrong...lol

 

50-51 dodge bumper would look good

 

The bumper can help add visual mass to the rear of the car, but I've seen plenty of taildraggers that look good without 'em. I'd keep the bumper around and mock it up when you're farther along in the build, to see if it adds to the look you want.

 

Tuck a bumper in as close as you can to the rear fender's and make sure the bumper is capable of sitting on the ground when aired out. 41 Plymouth's are one of the best looking cars ever made. Swoooopy design.

 

The thing about tail draggers was kustom all the way, long, snoothe, and shiny, The length issue was accomplished by lowering, bumpers, and continental kits, and chopping is the ultimate lengthener, also sectioning. All these things and chrome lots of chrome, so do it right dude. Rags

 

PLEASE NO CONTINENTAL KIT! EVER! I MEAN IT GOD DAMMIT!

 

Ribbed Plymouth bumpers

 

I personally like bumpers front and rear but to each his own. I tend to think of shaved bumpers as an 80's street rod look but then again the chopped burgandy Plymouth in these pics looks great without. Here's some pics to help you decide.

 

i don't recall seeing any pics of early taildraggers (ones actually from the late 40s) without bumpers. i might be wrong. check out Rikster's site. lots of great old pics there.... i'm just saying. if you truely want to keep it period correct a little research will be in order.

 

Keep the bumpers.

 

Keep the rear. I think Taildraggers should have a sleak back-side and that bumper would help finish it out instead of the bobbed look without one.

Great looking car by the way!

 

no in the front, yes in the rear,,, but a later one modfied to fit. something fatter than original with some cool bumper guards. definitly some sort of filler panel between the bumper and the body

 

mold-in the rear bumper.

 

The "ribbed" Plymouth bumpers mentioned are 2nd series 49 Plymouth, the most popular bumper ever made for only a half year of production.

The other ribbed bumper folks like is the one-year only 37 DeSoto, also made in aluminum by BRIZ.

 

Traildraggers remind me of lhasa apsos. Not that there's anything yada

http://www.justusdogs.com.au/images/lhasa-apso.jpg

 

Well, since you asked. I'm a big stickler for continuity. Don't leave the headlight rings and french the tail lights. If you aren't going to use a front bumper, then don't run one on the rear. But, taildraggers should have bumpers. Look at Kevin's pretty green Plymouth in the photos above. Looks right. Also check out Kustom777's car. That car is SO right. It will end up on Rikster's site. And that is one of the highest achievements, IMO.

Could be a very neat car. IF you do it right.

 

bumpers. not just from a visual standpoint, but for practicality as well. i know you'll actually be driving this car, and if you drive it like a low car should, you'll tear up whatever rear pan you have without bumpers, bumpers will hide the damage. not to mention backing into parking spaces, you never plan on running into things, but if you do it's better to have a slight scuff in the chrome than to have all the bondo come exploding off.

 

bumpers front and back is the way to go

 

Throw some tires into the wheel wells so we get a more complete look............and yes, bumpers. though something round, not the ribbed flat ones.

 

Rear bumper, with guards... you know, for the taillights. The ribbed bumpers is a good idea, considering all the molded in ribs in the fenders. No rear bumper would be better for a car that is raked... kinda like of a scalded dog, or kicked-in-the-tail* look.


* I got shit one time for posting a picture of a sleeping cat, and then saying (in a way that I thought was obviously humorous) that the cat wasn't sleeping, it had passed on. Disclaimer: I haven't, and don't plan on scalding any dogs, much less kick any them (or any other animal) in the tail. Thank you.

 

I just bought a set of ribbed bumpers for my buddy at Billetproof. He is putting them on my old 50 chevy i was working on but sold to him. I thought they would be to big.

I did look at ricksters sight a bunch and you guys are right about to be correct it would have bumpers. I guess the front wouldnt look bad if i tucked it in closer. the stock one was a mile away and looked horrible.

And to bring up another point about lots of Chrome... I was going to shave the belt line trim cause im having a hard time finding any. but i could allways leave the trim holes open untill i find some. I need the belt line and the grill Chrome bad!

Thanks for all the replies most of you guys are thinking the same things i am.

 

Wow - I think you should go without a rear bumper and let the lines of the car speak for itself.

Not to hijack - but I've spied a 39-40 Plymouth off the side of the road a few miles from my house. It's been sitting next to a horse barn surrounded by corrale fencing for months. Everytime I see it I get a sick feeling in my stomach. It's far enough off the road that I can't get a real good look as I fly by with traffic, and judging by the guys yard/farm, it's the kind of place you'd expect to get a gun stuffed in your face if you went banging on the door. I've been trying to figure out a way to scrounge together a wad of cash, and because I don't know the overall condition, I can't begin to guess how much it's worth ... do you have a ballpark estimate how much Mr. Redneck might find enticing and not insulting? Judging by the heap of cars in the yard and the fact the car has been out in the elements for months without moving, I assume he's got no immediate plans.

 

Dude.

Bumpers.

 

What are you going to drag on the ground if you don't have a rear bumper? Definitely do a rear at least.

 

The only reason those silly little street versions of "nerf bars" were invented for cars with rolled pans was because the cops would stop your ass immediately and write you up for no bumpers on sight, and add in too low and headlights out of aim and illegal blue dots and what ever else they pleased.
If your car didn't have any bumpers back then it's because you didn't drive it, at all, or took them off after you got to the car show or took them off just for the magazine photo shoot and then put them back on.
If it's a driver it's gotta have bumpers, and what Chili Phill said about front and rear visual continuity is where it's at too.

Continental kits only look ok on "East Coast Style" cars, usually with the 1/4 panels extended to enclose the kit.

 

Bumpers......................Front AND rear!!!!!

Only Boyd would build that car with no bumpers.

 

Bumpers..................BTW, those Plymouths are a favorite of mine........very cool project.

 

My grandpa always said the first thing they would do when they got a car, was take off the bumpers, weigh down the back with whatever they had, and get it as high as possible up front.

I don't think the police cared or even bothered around here. Cars without doors, floors, bumpers, roofs, etc. were all street driven around here in the mid-late 50's to mid-60's.


The extended 1/4 Panel thing, this car is one of two that was built around here. The other is a roadster and has the front clip off of a '49 Lincoln. All sorts of engine swaps and custom work was done around here, except no top chops. There was some strange stuff done though, one guy had a wagon of some type with the doors leaded shut, and the pillars cut out, to make some kind of hardtop.