Early 50's cars as hot rods NOT customs...GALLERY

Too bad its against the "rules" to build anything other than a "gasser" or "kustom" from an early fifties chevy or olds...

 

dunno if my daily driver fits into this category? its mid to late 50s but i always think of the Z cars as more of an early 50s american looking design.





AND YES!! I DID GET STUCK ON THAT BEACH! haha

 

My 1950 chevy progress. Still tons to do.Rear will come down more.327ci with a 5 speed is the plan.

 

Lookin' absolutely awsome!

 

I thought you'd post soon enough..... Magnifico!

 

Very nice! That will be bad ass when it's done.

 

Here's a couple of Dad's old hotrods. He never owned a custom in his life...strictly hotrods. I realize the Starliner is pushing the envelope a little, but just enjoy the show! and Yes, those are fuzzy dice hanging in the Chevy!

 

I borrowed this shot from another thread, it shows how little you have to do to shoebox, to make it cool !

 

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JShaw, your truck showed you have hot rod blood in ya. The 50 confirms it.


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July 1960 Hot Rod, readers letters. Apparently had a "near full-race" 283, 3 speed and 4.56's. 4.5's? Yea, I'd say that qualifies as a "hot rod". Check out the cones.

 

Is that a Plymouth?

 

hell might as well post a picture of mine again with its new front susp installed. it now has more rake.

 

So nice

 

Boones... Nailed it!

 

Looks GREAT! What size wheels and tires are you running?

 

Yup.

 

Perfection!

 

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I love it! What tire did you end up running on the front?

 

Does a 50 Desoto count?

 

Funny, my 54 has those same accessory bumper ends. I was planning on selling mine!

 

Thanks for the complements. In those pictures, the fronts are 6.00 R15 (26" tall)bias and in the rear I normally run a Hurst cheater slick (29x8x15) but in the picture you are seeing a 235/70/15 (a little narrow for me) but height it right.

I am getting rid of the bias and going with either 165R15 (25.25 tall) or a 205/70/15 (26.25"). I want narrow but also something I can cruise to on the freeway to California for shows. would love a 195/70 but can not find that size..

anyone run a 165R15 on a big car on long road trips. do they wonder in the lanes like a bias?

as for Real Rodder rims. the fronts are 5" and the rears are 8 trick (10" with 2" removed from the rear) for a full reverse.

 

i am running 195 65 15 on a 15 x6 wheel. plenty wide for the highway and short. mine are 25 in tall. tirerack.com has 3 listed 195 70 15. 195 65 15 are a lot cheaper though, and short height.

 

thanks for the tip on the 195/70 at tirerack. I missed that. I want a narrow tall tire. That has always been a hotrod/ drag look to me

 

Oh yeah!!! Now there's somebody who gets it! It's refreshing to see those cars as hot rods and not kustoms like 99% of them out there.

The car is perfect, don't change a thing.

 

I put about a 100,000 miles on the Plymouth with a 165X15 on the front and a 235/75X15 on the back and never had any problems to speak of. I don't find that they wander or do anything crazy if you chassis and alignment is happy.

 

i worry more about weight limit on small tires. all the weight of car on the front two tires when braking. i also ran 195 75 14 on my old chevelle and at 125 mph it got light on the frontend and felt like bicycle tires trying to steer. that was 25 years ago,wouldn't do it today. i do agree they was fine at normal speed limit though. just common sense driving.

 

Hell yeah! I'd say you and Boones nailed it completely. What drivetrain are you running in your DeSoto?

 

The one comment I have to that is there is a major difference in weight distribution between a '51 Chevy and a sixties or seventies Chevelle. The later car has almost all of it's engine weight over the front wheels. back in the days that I ran the afore mentioned tire combo, that included many a blast across Arizona and southern New Mexico well into the very low triple digit range... (Damn, I'm late! I think I can make it from Lordsburg to Los Cruces in an hour... It's only 110 miles!)