The quest for perfection results in sterility

whether it be the AMBR winner or dumb as a plank Miss America.

Do you think that Loud Mufflers by Robert Williams would sound better in stereo? Do you think that Pink Flamingos would be more spectacular in 35 mm? Do you think that robotic *** with someone you don't love is better than out and out filth with someone you would die for? Do you want a perfect child?

Here's my take.

Even back then, people knew that a dual quad, Power Pack 1957 Chevy ran better after it had some miles plonked on her, hard miles, beaten to hell miles, miles that couldn't be ac***ulated by sitting there and commenting on how purdy she looks. Of course the goals of the trophy collector, then and now, are not the same as that of the greaser hellion. And frankly, to me, I can't climb inside the head of one that seeks perfection and even begin to understand their motivation. It is utterly alien. It might be because I'm a talentless hack, but it might also be because I really, really, really love driving the **** out of a car.

I CAN understand being the fastest, what I can't understand is being the most beautiful.

The way I see it is that right can be dirty, it can have stone chips, it can have faded door tops from sticking yer arm out of the window for 110,000 miles. To me a worn down gas pedal rubber is more beautiful than a perfectly chromed A-arm, because as many hours were spent enjoying DRIVING her than polishing some component that was meant to be weathered.

There's a reason why women love filthy punks, there's a reason why a perfectly manicured girl that's got nothing to say can't hold my attention, but one that has wrinkles, furrows and an aura of having lived a life worth living, and can make me laugh, can, for hours, and even years.

What good is that AMBR winner if it's never been driven? To fret over who is the most deserving is actually playing the same exact game as them, it's just different parameters.

I'm glad there's a controversy over this, it makes us think, but I would take my ****ty hot rod over the AMBR winner (any AMBR winner) any day.

The HAMB and the GNRS are miles apart, yeah there's crossover but I kinda like my side of the street a little more.

 

Oakland might be a ****hole,but the GNRS was better off staying there...

 

I need help,got an answer to this?

 

Damn Nads that's deep, and you are dead to the right. Guys with the cars that don't have the $10,000. dollar paint jobs, and all the shiney stuff enjoy their cars in a different way than the high dollar trailer queens competing for AMBR.

 

man i'd be happy to just be able to drive one of my cars... i actually bought one becuase it was sooo ugly "finally found something as ugly as i am" funny thing she's a Fury too!!

 

Right on Nads , I was wondering what Germ was up to and it seems he may have sent a message via your hand! Briliant words brother...

 

Right on Nads!..thats got my vote

 

F@!#$@! I'm saying!

 

Well said.

JH

 

total agreement Nads to much trailer queen mindset over there , but i would still nail dumb miss america why you might ask?? cause im a filthy ****ing greaser

 

Brother, you broke it down!

I was starting to fall into that "I NEED this pretty thing for my car or done to my car, for it to be a hot rod" **** a while back. Getting my body and finding the note I made before I even started, put me back on track. If I'm scared to have someone touch or ride in my car, I need to stop and give up. Driving is what things things are meant for. From the very start, THAT'S what it was all about. Yea, the show queens are cool to look over and sometimes an idea or two from one will make to a street car, but after the show, what the hell are they good for? NUTHIN'.

They don't call 'em SHOW cars for nothing.

 

NADS, that was really well put. I feel the same way about the AMBR and beauty queens. Too high maintenance for my tastes!

 

I wish I knew how to photoshop Nads' head on that thinking guy statue.

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a pretty car.

There's everything wrong with not using it.

I know plenty of unused cars that look real ****ty too, they can't even claim they're nice to look at.

The secret is accepting that even though it'll get scratched and chipped....other people will still be so overwhelmed by it's awesomeness they won't notice. Not only that, but you get to enjoy the car at a level that show-only guys can't even comprehend.

So Nads, paint that **** with 20 layers of candy & pearl, then grab another gear WOT and smile. You'll love it even more.

 

A few years ago the power tour came through Kansas City. One of the cars on the tour was that early 50's Plymouth built by Troy T. Nice car- not really my thing, but real nice just the same. What made it really cool to me, though, was the fact that it was obvious that someone was driving it (covered with bugs). I'm impressed when I see something like that.

 

your'e dangerous when you're pontificating.

now get out there and hang some TUV approved kuryakn doo-dads on your monkey bike. they're intersting.

 

Much praise, Nads! Spot on! Drive it 'till the wheels fall off, go back for 'em, tighten 'em up and keep on till you get there!

 

I couldn't agree more Nads. A buddy of mine asked me last year to go with him up to Ohio (about a 6 hour drive) for a show. I said sure, count me in - till he told me he was planning on trailering his car. His reasoning? His Model A rides too rough to go that far.

I can appreciate the effort and skill that goes into building a 'perfect' car, but I have a lot more respect for the guy who built and wrenched on his car himself, and isn't afraid to drive it anywhere, anytime.

 

**** man thats the best speech I,ve read in a long time! True dat!

 

florida still ****s.

 

NAD'S when you speak there is often nothing left to say....... GREGG

 

Let us all give thanks to the builders of the hot subject. They didn't chop up a REAL DEUCE ROADSTER to build that thing. Somebody probably received a scream, "Don't pull those ***ties off of the tires!"
Points should be earned by rock chips and hidden dried roadkill spring wet weather tree frogs.
Paint worn to bare steel on a rocker panel shows more about how much the driver likes his car than what he might say about it.

 

Well put Mr. Nads

 

so is it the beauty in the beauty queen you despise
or the lack of a brain in it's head that makes you talk like this?

what if it had both, a brain and beauty?
which the latest winner had neither

but what if it fit your idea of perfection?

 

"I have seen the mountaintop...and it is good."

 

No doubt, forever!

 

Mr Nads, you are a man of great wisdom!
i have two old cars with ooold paint jobs, i love em. i have 1 getting painted right now and i'm starting to regret it already!

THE ONE TO THE LEFT

 

I will always take brains over beauty, Paul. I don't despise beauty, I despise nothing, most of all I don't despise a human being, which as far as I know is the most beautiful creation in all of the universe, in my tiny mind anyway.

What I have a problem with is kudos, yeah I know, I spend hours every year making a trophy to give to someone, but I don't give it to perfection, I give it to soul. The current AMBR winner is less soulful than Milli Vanilli, it is Millionaire Vanillionaire. I don't have a problem with wealth, I do have a problem with someone who's never seen a hint of dirt under their fingernails go out and buy a winner. I know I'm being presumptuous, and I know, through my days in CCI that there are those who strive on limited budgets to recreate a 55 Chevy Bel Aire as she was in 55 (except ****ly cleaner), but I have to say that the happiest of them all are the ones who have driven their car, and driven it hard.

What is the point of having Barbara Eden in the sack if you can't enjoy her exquisite loveliness?

I'm babbling, I have to go to sleep.

 

I agree whole-heartedly with you, Nads. However, allow me to elaborate slightly.

My problem lies with those people who use your mindset as an excuse to build garbage (i.e. a rat-rodder), but justify it under the guise that they're "********", "greaser", or some other ******** like that. One of the things that I love about the HAMB is being surrounded by such talented builders like Chopolds, Cole, B***, etc who continue to push the envelope, that I want to continue to further my own skills. I love seeing Denise and her Dad drive the bee-jesus out of finished cars.

Build a car to the best of your ability, drive the hell out of it, and take good care of it

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and I'm sure I'm gonna get some heat for this...but...

I have always looked at the AMBR and Riddler winners as more of a congratulations to (and celebration of) the builders. So, when I hear people say they have a problem with the guys who don't have dirt under their fingernails, I get a little turned off because the builder's who built that car have thousand's of man hours and pounds of dirt and metal shavings "under their nails". When you're at the show you don't hear, "Hey where is Wes Rydell's latest car?" You hear, "what did Troy Trapanier or Chip Foose, etc.. bring out this year"? If the builder and owner are one in the same than hats off to that guy, or gal! But if it were up to me the builders' name would be on that giant trophy and not the guy who just wrote the check.
When I lived in Huntington Beach back in 99-02 I had the opportunity to spend some time at Foose's shop. At this time the Grand Master was being built for the Riddler and both Chip and Steve (his main fabricator at the time) took the time to show me how everything fit and how everything was designed to be able to be taken apart easily so that the car could technically be serviced at any one of Wes Rydell's dealerships if he so choosed. They told me that the car was being built to be a reliable driver, so that it could be used after it's tour to the major shows. On a similar note, In 2002 I saw the 2001 AMBR winner "Impact" (designed by Foose and built by Barry White's SRRC) being driven very hard and very fast down a Southern California freeway. I'm ***uming the owner, who lived in Newport Beach, was driving it and he was blowing by everyone as he was definately speeding in the carpool lane. That is something I will never forget, seeing such a high profile, high dollar, car being used for it's purpose only a year or so after taking the big prize at the GNRS. The owner was difinately enjoying his HOT ROD that day.

As a side note, I definately did not like the asthetic appearance of this year's winner. I saw some details that, IMO, seem as though they could have been done much cleaner than they were, but I guess the judges with clipboard and flashlights in hand saw something more.

-Brian