Hot Rods White Walls - Front wheels only?

Is "there" a time, or simply: Southern California?

 

Yup.....

 

What seems to be missing is just because a picture found it's way into a magazine doesn't mean much except what is represented in the picture. With out the story, from those who were there, it really is only part of the story.
For instance, if a bunch of people look at the picture of Dean's truck with the WWW on the rear, they might say - here's proof, it was done and must have been cool. Until they talk to dean who will tell you that he hated it and it was just a case of cir***stance.
That is a perfect example of why relying purely on photographs won't get you the truth. All it will do is prove that somewhere, sometime, someone did something - so what. It still doesn't mean it was cool or what ANYBODY wanted to do. A photograph is merely a snapshot of time and doesn't provide the story by its self.

 

For a minute there, I thought there was light at the end of the tunnel...Nope, its a train...

 

^^^^ So it is written......END OF THREAD!

 

then again someone could look at the picture of Dean's truck and say "man that looks cool", so because Dean didn't like it makes it not cool? Cool is a matter of opinion, believe it or not just like today, in the 40's, 50's and 60's different people had different ideas about what was cool. I can post tons of pictures out of the family picture book to show a whole different "what they thought was cool", and that is how my tradition is define. I'm not going to shove it down your throat

it's not from a picture in a book or from somebody I don't know telling me what they thought was cool 50 years ago.

 

The one thing that always seems to come forward is the p***ion of those who were there for what really happened and the p***ion for those that want to "interpret" pictures to justify their idea of our history.

There were plenty of pictures of cars at the track with their racing tires mounted. They didn't take too many pictures as they were leaving with the slicks back in the trunk and their daily runners on all 4 corners again.

If you saw a hot car come into the Mo with mismatched tires on a Saturday night you'd know something was up and a street race was brewing. It wouldn't be like that on a Thursday.

 

Well said.....

 

You're right Cool or style is a matter of opinion. But let's face it, we all run in a circle of friends or peers, and look for approval from those people - that's why we hang out with them. And it is why people on here ask for opinions when they want to do something, they are looking for an approval, knowledge, or acceptance from those that they think have an opinion that matters - to them. It doesn't mean that everyone ends up doing the same thing, but there are parameters of what each of us will find acceptable, especially with in the confines of this thing we try and call "Traditional".
Remember this is a forum that is about continuing the legacy of "Traditional", it is not about new trends or stepping too far outside the box. So when someone asks for an opinion, and someone else answers with an opinion based on what they believe and feel from having experience or knowledge, there is some validity there that needs to be respected. If you want to go back to the start of this thing we call Hot Rodding, then yes what happened in So Cal is the most important, because like it or not that's where it all started, there is no disputing that. As it spread across the country, initially, the rest wanted to be like what they saw in the magazines, which again were based in California. Trends in different areas started to emerge for various reasons, sometimes because of a different vision, but many times based on economic criteria and the lack of ability to get the parts that they really wanted. In the beginning the east coast guys wanted to be like the California guys because that is what they saw and they knew it was cool.
Small case in point. A friend grew up in Indiana, in a small town south of Indy in the 50's. They had a couple of "Hot Rodders" in the area. My buddy wanted Mag Wheels when they became the hot thing but there was no where to buy them. He figured he would settle on Chrome reverse wheels instead, but couldn't find anyone to do them. So he and a couple of buddies ended up doing the "Tijuana Chrome" job on stock steel wheels. Now if someone sees pictures of their three cars done this way they might think this is the way it was supposed to be and that it was cool, but all it was was their lack of ability to do what they really wanted and even they knew it wasn't cool, but was better than nothing. No one would want to emulate that look if they knew the story.
So, while you can make a point for almost any thing you want by finding a picture, it doesn't mean that it was considered cool or that it was what most guys were striving to build. Hell, in 20 years if some kid looks at Old School Rodz or some other rag and sees all the Rat Rod **** is it right for him to believe that this was the biggest and best, and maybe only thing going on in Hot Rodding? We on this forum know that it is only a small part of rodding that is garnering a lot of press for it's shock value, but we also know it is already dying like most "Fads".

 

I like to run my whitewalls diagonal..

no one ever sees both sides of the car at once anyway...

 

Well said, Don (...and we're both old enough to remember the 'East vs. West' rod and custom style comparisons the magazines of the day (1950s and '60s) used to feature).

 

In a magazine hey?

That's hollywood ********.

A guy wanted his car to go faster, he modified it. Often by tried and proven methods. Nothing rebelious or anti establishment about that. What it is/was about is performance.

If he was a serious hot rodder, he took his hopped up roadster to the lakes and competed, and got real verification of the hard work he put in.

Oh, and they had rules.

 

The establishment was just anti-hot rod...lol...

 

I would believe anything you told me about the 60's sir

 

Most of the rodders in the 50's worked closely with the police doing safety and economy runs. Most car club's here in Southern California had guys who went to indoor car shows with white short-sleeved shirts and skinny ties.
They didn't look like hobos with fancy hairdoos.
We used to laugh our ***es off at those ****py ""hot rod" movies, 'cause they were so stupid.
The flicks like "Beach Blanket Bingo" or "The Lively Ones" were more like what really was going on. You know where Doug McClure raced his T-bucket in a parking lot while wearing a coat and tie. Really.
The whole "hooligan", petty criminal thing was all ****.
We had nice club jackets, were well groomed, clean shaven, had shiny cars and didn't snarl at "the coppers" with a cigarette dangling from our mouth.
In fact, I don't remember one guy in the club who even smoked.
The only grubby troublemakers I ever saw was a group of 6 or 8 guys at a indoor car show in East L.A.
Within minutes they were "******ed" out...fast, never to be seen again.
Who needs that childish behavior when you are having fun?

 

May I add that when work was over, we would shower, shave and put on clean clothes and polished shoes before we would get our dates. If we showed up with black clothes, unshaven, and especially if we had tattoos, we wouldn't be allowed near the front door of a girls house.
Things have changed and time will tell if it is for the better. Or worse.

 

Personally i think the look of white walls on the front only is great if you like stuff that doesnt look any good and you're chasing an uncoordinated style.

 

here is my A truck after i added rear WW tires....looks better with all 4!

 

The guys that ran mismatched tires are most likely the same guys that stole the spares out of new cars they test drove
All things “traditional” don’t necessarily look good.

 

i couldnt afford a whitewall in the size i wanted on the rear....

 

And were back out in left field again. These wheel and tire threads are cursed!

 

Without even addressing the "white walls on alloy wheels" or "whitewalls on the front" issues, I dont know what whether something is "cool" or not has to do with whether it is "Hamb friendly" or "period". It is simply irrelevant, and this seems to be the basic argument that the guys who are rooting for this stuff put forward. Bogarts are cool, lift one up, and you will immediately know why, but they are NOT period, or HAMB friendly. LS-1s with Victors, big-*** cams, and big 4150s are cool, they are NOT period, or HAMB friendly. M/T ET Streets are REALLY cool (trust me on this), they are NOT period or HAMB Friendly. I dont happen to think most ****er-dish chopped custom Mercs are cool, but I DO recognize that they are HAMB friendly. Is a pattern emerging here?

 

Wide whites are a tool of Satan! Begone foul harlot!

 

I'm just wondering here, but what do you think people would say about a young good looking lady wearing stockings and high heels on one leg every day? Brave or imbalanced? Is it about the intent or what others think?

I like the signature on here (on the HAMB) that says the only road to failure is to try and please everyone.

It's ok by me, but I'll difinatley have an opinion about it. Everything you can do to a car has been done, but should it be done is the question. Stole that from the HAMB too, but I'm not perfect, so flame away.

Forgive me if it has already been brought up.

 

nobody showed a picture of an LS1 motor, they showed a picture of a truck "back in the day" with wide whites on mags

the topic here really is whether or not it was cool or not back then, it's been established that it was done back in the period that would make it "HAMB Friendly" that's a fact, the only thing left to discuss is whether it was cool in that period...

 

Quote:
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by falcongeorge
Without even addressing the "white walls on alloy wheels" or "whitewalls on the front" issues, I dont know what whether something is "cool" or not has to do with whether it is "Hamb friendly" or "period". It is simply irrelevant, and this seems to be the basic argument that the guys who are rooting for this stuff put forward. Bogarts are cool, lift one up, and you will immediately know why, but they are NOT period, or HAMB friendly. LS-1s with Victors, big-*** cams, and big 4150s are cool, they are NOT period, or HAMB friendly. M/T ET Streets are REALLY cool (trust me on this), they are NOT period or HAMB Friendly. I dont happen to think most ****er-dish chopped custom Mercs are cool, but I DO recognize that they are HAMB friendly. Is a pattern emerging here?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
nobody showed a picture of an LS1 motor, they showed a picture of a truck "back in the day" with wide whites on mags

the topic here really is whether or not it was cool or not back then, it's been established that it was done back in the period that would make it "HAMB Friendly" that's a fact, the only thing left to discuss is whether it was cool in that period...

 

That is something I want pictures of, honestly most would probably never notice if you were just driving by!

 

Umm, did you just contradict yourself ??

 

**** it, I just jumped on that trendy bandwagon of yesteryears! But with a twist though... No WW at the rear, BUT a white wheel. Take THAT!

 

zing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!