Hot Rods ***Hot Rod Idiosyncrasies (What are your favorite things about old cars?)***

I love the rattle and echo of the uninsulated doors. The starter whine then playing with the choke and feathering the gas pedal as it warms up.The creaks and moans the body makes as I turn out the driveway .The fact that it has no radio or air conditioning you hear everything and feel more connected and in tune with it . It has no computer controlling the warm up process its up to me to know when to push in the choke a little at a time.As I double clutch to a stop I love to watch people. I love the grin and thank you nod from older people for the memories you triggered and you wish you could stop so they could share them with you . The little kids who stop and stare because it does'nt look like all the other cars rolling down the road.I think I sometimes drive it just as a form of therapy or escape from my hectic out of control life.I like to think this old thing loves me back because of the way I appreciate the things most people hate about it.

 

How about the sound of a flathead starter

 

-39-48 ford drum brakes
-ford torque tube headers
-castle nuts and cotter pins
i love original parts modified to do new jobs.

 

My favorite thing about old cars? Driving them. like a time machine, they take me back to a simpler time in our lives, a less hectic time, a time when people cared about quality, a time when Made in the USA meant it was the best in the world. It takes me out of this disposable world we live in now. That's the feeling I get when I drive my time machine, err, hot rod.

 

i cant pick a few because things because i loove them all. the sounds the smells and even the sight of them. i even like the way my cars kinda mark thier territory with a few drops of oil.when i drive my old cars im not lookin out of the eyes of a old man i lookin thru the windsheild with the eyes of a teenager.god what a great feelin.my cars take me back and im happy and free once again...

 

I love the way old cars smell. A combination of old apolstery, gasoline, and oil.

 

I like the fact that they're not inheirantly safe or reliable, but they're honest. They don't care how much money you have, how good or bad your day was, how bad you need to get where you're going. You either maintain and operate them correctly, or they'll let you down or hurt you. Do it right though and they'll take you to the ends of the earth.
That's honesty.

 

-love that the guy with the ferrari at the gas station will walk over to check out your car..

-I love that a regular guy can build something cool. Just takes some hard work, imagination and resourcefulness.

-I like that no two of our cars are the same. Each is a unique expression of your personality and style.

-I like that they are simple to work on. No computer scanners or microchips etc. If I hear a strange noise, I usually know what the porblem might be.

-I love the sound of a straight 6 with gl*** packs, or a v8 with open headers, but also the sound of a bone stock engine purring

-I like the old car smell. nothing compares to it.

-Bench seats. Need I say more?

 

I totally agree.... I LOVE automotive smells. I run a little race gas in every one of my old cars, GOD it smells wonderful with the slight twist of burned oil slipping past the vintage valve seals.

Crazy right?

All that other stuff is great, but the smell does it for me..... and maybe the sound of a solid Isky cam.

 

What I like best isn't really anything that you can see. I like the aura of an old car, the history of an old car. Wondering who drove it home from the dealer when it was first purchased and how excited and proud they were, the places it has been, the families that have traveled in it. The excitement of the buyers of it when it was resold. All these things are what I wonder about and are what I like.

 

The sound of a solid lift cam in a V-8, especialy a 30-30 Duntov.....

 

I love everything about them. The sounds, smells and feelings they give off takes me back to my teenage years. I love the noise of a loud engine resonating in an uninsulated cabin so that you can't really hear the radio. Thats why I pulled out every bit of aftermarket insulation out of my coupe when I got it. I love the vents with the fresh air funneling in, thats why I pulled the a/c out next.I love the smell of old mohair upholstery.The muscle building hard steering of trying to park a car with no power ***ist..the udder simplicity of them with no added on "conveniences".I love being able to actually see out of an old car without all the blind spots todays plastic fantastics have. They just put us back into another world that is gone and did not last long enough. It was a slower, less crowded world then, and I miss it.

 

Skinny rimmed large diameter steering wheels

Signal indicators on my fender tops

No stinkin b-pillars

Real chrome

Huge bore carbureted v8 torque

 

Red wheels and whitewalls,Spun aluminums,Olds Fiesta 3bar hubcaps,solid lifter 303 Olds sound at idle. Being able to hear combustion thru the heads of a flathead.

 

There is nothing like cleaning off an old original part to reveal the "FORD MADE IN USA" stamped into it. Gives me a real sense of pride in our past and apprciation for what once was.

 

I like well crafted machines made from metal and old cars have little machines everywhere. They are not buried under foam and plastic like new cars. The sound of a straight cut gear in the trans, the sound of a Mopar gear reduction starter or a well built engine reving with the intake howling. Music to the ears ands candy for the eyes. I love taking them from rusty junk to well oiled machines.

 

I love just reading this thread!......

 

The whine of old school syncros from first to third and the calm quiet of fourth.
The distinctive burble (at idle) and bllaaat (at speed) of a car with fewer exhaust ports than cylinders.
The whistle of a slightly-too-small diameter exhaust.
That snick snick of that once-per-drive shift.
Actually being able to feel the clutch pedal and letting it tell you where the biting point is.
Shifting by ear and feel because your car didn't come with a tach.
That tell tale rattle of a timing chain that will need to be done... at some point.
Driving a car that actually has low down torque...
Having your throttle cable snap far from home and getting back via your repurposed choke cable.
The smell of your interior after the first truly warm and sunny day after a long, wet winter.
Adjusting your choke at each of those first few lights in the morning.

The fact that making one of these lists makes you want to go for a drive right now......

 

I love the exposed chrome headliner bars and the little bowties on the dash insert on my 55 chevy. The hidden gas filer on a 56 chevy. What cool details.

 

I also LOVE the sway of a bias ply tire on the road, with the triple brake pump to ***ure we are gonna stop ahead....

The flapping of a roadster top, regardless of how tight it was built.

Looking over multiple carburetors.

The grind of coming out of high gear to low, without going to second first....

The looks from other people on the road like you are driving a Space Ship...

This list goes on and on......

 

I love the process of just starting an old engine. Pull out the choke, pump the the throttle half way twice, turn on the ignition, Hold down the throttle about 1/4, push the starter ****on.

 

I have decided while on a road trip that my world and all the **** that goes on in it is way easier to look at through the split windshield of my 49 Chevy. A very similar feeling as to when I had my motorcycle.

 

KiwiKev said it ...my Dad had a '51 Monarch ( Canadian like a Merc ) and to turn the ignition key and use the push ****on starter gave the coolest sound when the flattie started up . Pushing the starter ****on just felt good ....much better than turning a key .

T

 

....and what a feeling , driving my orange 55 Chevy , bench seat with girl friend right beside me , middle of the seat . Impossible these days . You just never see it anymore .

 

I love the way my car smells after I have stomped on it. Like combustion.
I love how you can feel the quality of an original part, and I really love being able to rebuild them.
I love that the odd time I do need to do work on my daily driver old car its a simple or cheap fix, no $800 modules or other electronic ********.

 

I like getting that old car and searching for some history on it or trying to figure out why they changed things that they did, Like why did they cut them big holes in the inner fenders.

 

haha

 

The feel of crank-starting a banger, pulling on the choke wire for the first crank, then pulling the crank again and running around to retard the throttle back to idle and advance the spark to get it to run just clockwork smooth.

 

I just love the smell .

 

Road Trips And watching the world threw a chopped windshield ,the sound of loud exhaust the old car smell and explaining to the officer what a burn out is. JUST EVERYTHING!!