i know this has been beat to death, but i was wondering how long before attrition does away with the traditional hot rod. i know we can build cars as long as we can make parts or buy from the shops, but what about the oem parts we all crave? look at the prices they go for now. this is not a doomsday thread either, so don't give me a bunch of ****. i believe hot rods will be around for a long time as long as the so******t gov we have doesn't just simply outlaw them or regulate them out of existence. do to the cost, less rodders will be able to buy them as the years go by. of course, there will be less parts around too. what do you think?
my belieive is that running out of material will not be the downfall of hot rods. what will be is legislation.....with the move to green , eco friendly cars run on electricity , corn based fuel and warm fuzzy feelings our old "polluting" stuff will just not be put up with anymore wait 10-15 years and see if i'm right
Traditional rods may become more scarce, but modifying cars will never end. There's already college geeks with plug-in Priuses that never use the gas engine. Studebaker used to make covered wagons in the 1800s, how many of those are left? I think the decline of traditional rods will be met with the shift in interest away from them. As in us as an interest group dying off, or retiring out of the hobby.
At the expense of sounding like a jerk, who cares? We're here, and we've survived COUNTLESS attempts from the gov't to squash our hobby, but we're still here, up and running. Maybe it won't last forever, maybe it will. Enjoy the present, burn rubber.
Thats why it's so important to support SEMA and the work they do to ensure our hobby/way of life, will be around for a long, long time. Also, know who, in your local, state and federal governments, doesn't support hot rods and vote them out of office. It's pretty simple.
If hot rods get outlawed.....only outlaws will have hotrods...... I have no problem being an outlaw......
Ever tuned your rod to run on E85? That stuff rocks. 105 octane and loves high compression. My non-HAMB friendly car loves it.
I think his real point was how long before it's too expensive to build a traditional hot rod for the regular guy with a secondary point about gov. interference.
Nothing in this country will ever go away, as long as there is a huge industry and demand from 100000s of buyers who pay just about any price. Oil and gasoline will always be around for the same reasons. Basic restoring of old cars is not that expensive compared to other much more obscure hobbies. Besides, if you want something special and unique it always means $$$ - Regardless what we are talking about. The only changes we can count on in the future are increased cost for registration and operation of our old vehicles.
APATHY......thats the problem.The only time people power get`s things done, is when they`ve nothing to lose.Keep people just in the loop, and they back off , for fear of losing what they`ve got.Take away peoples rights a bit at a time and nobody will do a thing.Same with doing away with the Automobile..no outright ban, just a steady errosion, and pricing it out of reach of the ordinary Joe...all in the name of "Greenness".....just think back 10 years or so, i bet things are different.
It's pretty much that way now......depends on what you consider a "regular" guy to be and how "traditional" of a car......
I think you are talking about the downfall of internal combustion engines running on dirty fuel and not the downfall of hot rods. Have you seen this thing? 0-60 under 4 seconds - all electric http://www.teslamotors.com Nothing wrong with an electric Deuce, if that is all you have to work with.
I have no problem being an outlaw either...haha Hell, these rural states are nowhere close to even implementing smog checks yet! So, if the green movement does shut us down, I think it will be a long time from now. Even then, I would think we could get grandfathered in without making a measurable difference in the overall emissions. What they're really after is the major polluters: millions of commuter cars and the coal-fired generating plants.
I've thought a lot about, and my only big hangup is the lack of a good exhaust sound, that just wouldn't be right. Close your eyes and it would feel like you're riding across the back nine in golf cart......
Causes Problems how? I run my converted 4 banger on straight E85 and my daily driver on E50 (I mix it) and they both run a lot better. Reduction in fuel economy, but the trade off is worth it. You have to run richer with ethanol because it has more oxygen, if you don't, the engine will run too lean.
We won't be gone. We just won't be on everyday streets in a hundred years. We'll follow the horse. (watch out for road apples) 100 years ago, they were still more common than cars. Today, horses are still around and you could safely ride one on maybe 10% of our roads. You just don't see people riding them to work. Hot rods will be no different. To some extent, it's already happened with very early cars in stock form. You couldn't safely run a stock T on half this country's roads today. Eventually it'll happen to all forms of transportation.
It really isn't that simple for me. Whether my representatives support hot rods or not falls way down the list of issues I'm concerned about. If my Senator/Congressman/President drives the coolest HAMB worthy car in the world, but wants to raise my taxes to pay for welfare or wants to take away my guns, etc... I'll probably vote for the hot rod hater.
That Root! The eternal optomist! As I read the first post that began the thread, I'm struck about the thought of "Green intervention" or legislation? Are your cars tuned? Do you think that folks will hang us out to dry if they are informed about our looking to achieve best performance from existing (I'm thinking junkyard sourced here!) auto based hardware? It is possible to point to your neighbor's yard...Dave Barry wrote a column about this 2+ years ago, and ask how's your S-U-V behaving? The cost of fuel has jumped in the states, but the UK and European rodders know the challenges that we are now facing, after enjoying many years of good fortune. BTW, the image "we" convey, makes all the difference. There is a spirit of charity and helping out at this site...and it's impact cascades forward in time. I do look forward to seeing ANDY drive his car and that is going to be a part of our future too.
well, i am very glad with all your answers. i am glad also you understood my question. i have been in this stuff for about 45 years and i can tell you, i have seen some changes. the strangest part is, have all the changes really done anything? i guess when you really look at it , it is just the cost of stuff that's really changed. were still building cars just like the "old days" and probably will for a long time to come.
Building a hot rod in todays world cost money. If it didn't, you'd see them everywhere. It also takes skill and or persistance. If you are into it, you will find a way to build one. Hot rodding is also a mind set. We think about our cars differently than the average person who thinks of a car as just a mode of transportation or a status symbol. If a person wants to be involved in hot rodding, he'll find a way or move on to something else. It takes balls and commitment to be involved with hot rods. We are unique and so is our hobby. I hate to use the cliche, but it fits. "If you're not into hot rodding, you won't understand it." While it is true that parts are getting scarce and expensive, the upside is that fresh thinking and innovation are at an all time high. Hot rods will die out only when hot rodders die out. As for the tree huggers killing hot rodding. While it is true that all things come to an end, if you're reading this thread, hot rodding as you know it will still be around when you die. As alternate fuels become the norm, we will adapt and overcome. It is the nature of the beast. Just like high performance engines adapted to the change from leaded to unleaded gas, so will we adapt to the new fuels. In closing, be aware of legislation in your state as well as others. Sitting on your *** and not paying attention will definately make things harder than they are now, but it won't kill them. Oh, that statement about Model T's not being able to drive on todays streets is ****. When the Model T was introduced, most of the roads in this country could hardly be considered roads at all. They were trails at best and the Model T's handled them rather well. If I'm not mistaken, selling 3 or 4 million kinda proves that point. That's why I always laugh a little when I see someone over thinking a front or rear suspension on an early car. People kill me trying to get hot rods to ride like new Caddys. If your *** is that tender, get a freaking Lexus.
The Jalopy Journal
