The way they "were".....for REAL.....

We all kinda lull ourselves into thinking we are creating the hot rod that looked like they did, back in the day,dont we?
I'm as guilty as the next guy,But we need to research and do***ent that look before we end up with something, all together different.

I think old cars featured in books from the day, are probably as close as it gets to what the average kid "in the day", was building.
I also think we are often told and very often convinced ,that hot rodding in the 50-60's was a west coast or east coast phenomonon[sp?] ...right?.

I just bought this old mag off eBay and it shows some nice examples of MISSOURI hotrods of the time[1961].the-"rod builders handbook"

Here is a coupe ,that in my opinion is as exemplary of the state of the hobby as any I have seen lately,it has a look that screams hot rod.

[sorry] for the poor pics-
This one was built by Bill Reaves of Springfield Missouri ,and at the time of its completion he was only....17! [61yrs old now-right?]
Wonder if he is alive or anyone has any info on him?

Anyone else have any pics from the late 50s early 60's cars that were in possession of "the look"????

 

Interesting that you zeroed in on that one car that has "the look", rather than other cars that had a different look that you're not into now...

I have a bunch of old mags and such, and I'm impressed by the variety of styles that were in vogue at the time I was born (1961)

Bottom line, there's no right or wrong....we build what we like.

 

I have that book - its got some great stuff in it!

 

Ok Squirrel- heres your chance to show us them other styles you mentioned......
BTW..im into customs as a next car

 

here are two more from that book the 33 is a missouri car and the 32 is an Arkansas car......

 

I agree Kenny, not ALL the hot rods in the sixties were in Cali...I've been trying to convince people for a lot of years that hot rods were nationwide!

While growing up in Iowa and Nebraska, there were lots of hot rods...a few on the streets and lots in car shows...keep in mind at that time, hot rods were still considered "hoodlum's" cars and the cops kept on the lookout for them...driving them on the street could and would get you a ticket or three and if the car was found to be "defective", impounded...and no one wanted that!

R-

 

After watching some of the TV specials on hotrodding lately ,one would believe that west coast cars, were all the hot rods there were -then AND now....

I was just trying to present some of the cars that were from that time frame and that were NOT from either coast to reinforce that point.

 

Every time I hear talk about the way it was 'back in the day', I think of this 1963 mag car... '25 Buick Touring with a 4-71 blown Nailhead, runs 12.9 in the quarter... apparently with the kiddos in the back seat (?).

Who's gonna build a clone?

 

Wasnt '63 to about 68 a bleak time for hotrodding in general?

 

here are a few, including some drag cars. Lost more variety in the race cars back then....

the white Plymouth g***er has a Jimmy straight 6 in it.

 

Yea, that Buick was cool enuff in them days to be featured in a mag, but if someone came on here today w/ something similarly styled, they'd be ridiculed for it & told how they weren't built like that back then...

 

Here's my dad's "real hotrod" from the early 60's. He's always said that there were more rods in the midwest than anywhere else.
I know...the second picture has 73' on the side...it was a reprint.

 

This car was built in 63' and I believe this picture was taken in 65'. Looks pretty good to me!

 

And I've been trying to convince people not ALL hot rods in the 50s, 60s & 70s were American.... Hell, that'd make them INTERNATIONAL!

As UNBELIEVABLE as it may sound, other countries built them too....England, New Zealand, Australia....to name a few......fancy that, eh?!

Most Australian and NZ rods tended to swing towards a US-east coast look, i.e. no chops, but heavily channelled. There was also a seemingly greater use of 4-doors and tourers than appears in the US.

 

That IS right Peddro....
were the late 50's thru early 60's a most prominent a time for Rod building there or mainly later years of 60s to 70's?
I will say this- as Roger stated above......most of the early hot rods I remember were not registered,and were mainly slipped out for an impromtu "test drive" mainly......

 

Some of us lull ourselves into thinking that everything built back in the day was cool! Let's be real, for every picture you can show me of a car you think isn't true to "the way it was", I can dig up a picture of a piece of **** that really was built back then, and looks completely retarded! Yeah some people think they got "the look" down, and they don't, but there were people like that back in the '50s and '60s too. There will always be people who get it, and people who don't, but let's not give too much credit to the original hotrodders and customizers. They weren't all good either!

 

Scottrod, seems like the picture you posted belonged to a used car dealer? Didn't it have 59 mercury taillights in the roof? I have that picture in an old book somewhere. I don't like it but some may. TP]

 

thanks for the pics.....keep 'em coming! I was ready to bid on that book....but I quit buying books for a bit.....waaaaay too much $$ in the last few months....

wonder how many hambr's bid against each other?

Glad you pointed that out. I wonder just how many actual hot rods were sportin' the parts that we are hot after? Or, how many cars had ALL the parts we chase?

 

All this primer stuff that's used today is cool BUT when I was messin' with this stuff in the early 60's we all wanted our cars finish painted but we didn't have the $$$.

NO one I knew had an air compresssor....when we painted a car we used the exhaust side of an Electrolux va***m cleaner with the insecticide sprayer...usually primer only.

My neighbor Tom Neith's buddy got a new 4 door '60 Chevy Biscayne for his HS graduation present (folks had $$$)...It was an ugly tan...three weeks later Tom borrowed his mother's vac and they painted the car maroon.

The kid nearly got killed when he got home...

 

No matter how ugly a car is, there is always at least one person who likes it, the owner! I'm just trying to make the point that even a cartoony, overdone, ugly car can be "period correct".

This started life as a '32 Chevy and was built by John Hychko who ran Valley Auto Body in Waterbury CT and was built in 23 days from a stock body shell on A rails. To be fair, I think the idea of cutting out the door post for a stretched 3-window look was brilliant. The rest....

 

Well said..

CC

 

The way it was..1951

CC

 

A few more..1951

CC

 

looks a little familiar..

 

I used the va***m cleaner trick in the mid 50s, also wipe on paint using chesse cloth[ no brush marks] from Pep Boys for the shiney stough.

 

Maybe because Gene recreated his "thing" a few years back.

 

I agree with Kroozer, Back then we all worked towards getting a car under paint. That was the big milestone. Whn we first got a car, we did some body work and got spots of primer on to be cool and tell the world that we were cool and progressing towards that finished product. I painted my first car in a buddy's garage because he had a put-put compressor and I painted it in lacquer during a rain storm outside. That thing blushed so bad, but I was cool. Sierra Gold on a 52 Ford Vicky.

 

In the magazines or in real life??? Is todays Rod & Custom indicative of the average rodder on the street today? I don't think so. We bought these magazines to learn and to see what could be done. The cars you see were the best...not average.

Did the magazines cover the average hot rodder back then. Maybe if they were also into go carts or models. Don't look at magazines and decide for yourself what was really happening. Most magazine cars were state of the art for that time period. The average rodder didn't get "ink" anymore than the average rodder gets it today. Did the average rodder have white rolled and pleated running board covers or padded wheel wells?



This is what the average hot rod looked like in 1962. I took this picture of a 34 Ford P/U at York right out of the proverbial barn. Check out the wiring and the brake lines. Real world stuff. Electric fuel pump on the firewall etc. etc.. We've come a long way baby! Would the internet safety police have fun with this hot rod?

There were an *** load of hot rod builders in the 50's and 60's. 99% never made a magazine. Some of them every bit as nice as the few that showed up in the magazines. They were only known to their immediate community.

It's more a result of population density than anything else.

Hot rods in my little D.C. suburb in the 60s:
33 Chevy sedan 394 Olds/hydro
34 Chevy sedan 394/hydro
32 Ford 4dr chopped SBC 4spd
34 3W SBC 3spd.
38 Chevy cpe
34 Vicky SBF (rare)(imported from Calif.)
33 Ply. conv. Olds/hydro
41 Chevy conv. SBC 4spd
Just a few of the pre-war cars from 1 little Mighty Mo in one small suburb in the 60's. Every Mighty Mo and A&W Rootbeer stand had their own "regulars" I won't bore you with the shoeboxes, mild customs and tri-five Chevys. Too many to list. Non were ever in a magazine. They were never seen in Calif. or Missouri but they were still there in the 60s.

There was a g***er post a while back that had 2 39 Chevys from my area back in the 60s. They were in magazines because they were both national record holders for a time. Not your average drag racer.

Magazines are great but they aren't the definative answer as to what was happening at any period of time.

 

Alright, I'll say it first-if you were an FNG doing an intro and posted this pic, most would bust your balls for being a 'street rodder' or 'goldchainer'

 

Hmmmmm... Not sure what you meant by that.