A word about 'glass cars

Some people would rather bitch about someone elses car than enjoy their own. I had a choice, build a steel car, or use a glass body that I already owned. I built the glass body, the steel car would have taken two more years out of my life. Some of the people who bitch about glass bodied cars we call "green with envy". My car has been enjoyed on the road for two years now, because its my car, and I built it my way. That is what this is about. If you dont get that, you are missing the fun.

 

Lot's of glass cars built in the 60's. I was born in '75, therefore, they can technically be old to me.

 

Model A restorers accept steel Brookville Model A bodies and body parts as authentic reproductions of the real deal, and don't discredit anyone who uses them in a Model A restoration. So if RESTORERS can accept a Brookville body, you'd think HOT RODDERS would have no trouble with 'em!!

And that term..."hot rodder"...why has THAT not been brought up here in this latest glass vs steel pissing match? I've always loved the idea of fiberglass 32, 33 and 34 Ford bodies myself...HOT RODDERS oughtta instantly recognize the advantages of having readily available, clean, affordable bodies on the market to drop down over their killer chassis and balls-out motor/drivetrain!

Sure, you could drag a rotted steel "Swiss Cheese Special" out of the nearest convenient barn, swamp or cow pasture and crow about it's "soul"...claiming superiority over Joe Hot Rodder with his fiberglass Deuce bodied roadster...but while you're dealing with hidden rust issues, structural damage and/or repair and trying to pound that hulk of a shell back into shape enough to get the doors closed, Joe Hot Rodder is trying out a new cam, tweaking his suspension, or dialing in his latest induction system to go faster with his rod!

It seems to me that the fanatical types who insist that only "steel is real" are missing the mark as hot rodders, and heading off into some curious sub-culture between rodders and restoration geeks! They'd drool over a rusted, bent and broken steel bodied wreck while thumbing their nose at a clean, slick and fast fiberglass bodied hot rod! It's certainly their right to do so, and I say more power to 'em if that's their thing...but I still find it...amusing, for lack of a better word!

Of course, I come from the world of street machines, where fiberglass hoods, fenders, doors and such were always openly embraced as "cool", as there wasn't a better way to make your machine lighter, faster and cleaner at the same time! Many a rusty fender has been tossed into the dumpster in favor of a new fiberglass part, and it only serves to make the car in question that much cooler...and more HOT ROD than restoration! After all, the heavy old steel parts were STOCK...those lighter fiberglass parts were aftermarket stuff designed to lighten your ride up and help it go faster...and they earned you kudos from your buddies as well!

So, when it comes to fiberglass bodies and parts for early Fords, I'm all for 'em! Let some freaky geeky steel-only fanatic have all the twisted, rotted old bodies they want...I'd rather run a 'glass body and have something to be proud of...a HOT ROD that doesn't make appologies for what it is or isn't...because it's just built to run and look good doing it! If such a car somehow lacks "soul" in the eyes of those weirdos preaching the gospel of "steel is real" over their rusty altars, than so be it! To me, any genuinely cool hot rod has soul, whether it's steel, glass, aluminum or ???

Now...them retards painting fiberglass to LOOK like rusty steel? Total losers! What the fuck is THAT all about?! Either you dig the idea of running a glass body on your hot rod...or you're one of those hardcore dudes over there worshiping the "steel only" train of thought...which ARE you?! Painting fake rust on a real fiberglass car is just plain gay...a cop-out and a pathetic attempt to gain favor in the eyes of the steel geeks who will only hate you MORE for your efforts...so what's the point?! Now, in THOSE cases, where people dress their fiberglass street rods up to look like rusty metal, I can understand the disdain for them. But in general...bring on the fiberglass bodied HOT RODS that aren't ashamed to be what they are!!

 

I was thinkinking about this last night - my buddy Sam's 57 Chevy (57 Heap) will be 50 years old next year. Sam did a great job building the car and used it's original body and frame. Sure there are some patch panels and new suspension components and the small block dates from thte 60s but most of the car was built in 1957.

This is the point that makes the biggest difference to me. Sam's car is registered as a 57 Chevy and most of it truely is a 57 Chevy.

My car is considerably more questionable. Sure I have an original 1931 Henry Ford steel body, but everything else, including the frame, will be reproduction hot rod parts that are available through many mail order or online manufacturers. The sbc is of 60s vintage, so it's old, but not that old. It will be titled as a 31 Ford.

If I think about the age of my car the same way I consider the age of Sam's 57, I don't think I can really say my car is 75 years old because alot of it isn't. That's my sticking point. How much of a car needs truely to be the year(s) of manufacture to be real/authentic?

That's the issue I have with reproduction steel and fiberglass bodies. A Brookville 32 roadster wasn't made in 1932, so it's not a 32. It's a reproduction. Just my opinion.

 

Hey, that rod has coilovers... I HATE coilovers

Just kidding. Great looking car.

//Magnus

 

maybe "IT'S NOT REAL, IF IT'S NOT STEAL" but it can still be kool!

 

steel = hot rod
Glass = street rod or dune buggy
there is no such thing as a 32 33 34 ford made of fiberglass

 

you know my only problem with the glass and steel thing is if its a glass repop or a steel repop you shouldnt call it a 32 if its not because no matter how you justify your repop its nothing more than a kit car and should not be portrade as real and i dont think should be in the main car shows it should get its own little roped off area in the corner like they try to do with "rat rods" or you know traditonal hot rods but they can get the "look" but thats all there still 2000 and something repops "kit cars" there just not the real thing there just dreams.

 

Same thing can be said for anyone who makes their own steel bodies (like the one at the bottom of this post)

Jesus. One blend of molecues or another and all hell breaks loose. Cars are not living things. None of them have a soul of their own. They could be said to be IMBUED with soul by their builder, and in that regard ANY car lovingly built by it's owner has soul. Steel or aluminum stamped en-mass by machine has soul but fiberglass hand laid by a person doesn't? Who came up with THAT rule?

We decry glass bodied cars that might have bodies made in the '70s and '80s as not being traditional or not having soul, yet this car, that has almost nothing on it (outside a couple key bits) dating back to the traditional rod days, and even the steel of the body is new, is something most here would love to own...

 

My daily ride....real or fake?....cool or not?.....Doesn't really matter, as long as it makes ME feel good.....which is the reason most people build stuff.

 

You can use more than one of these "." per post. Not bustin' on ya, just makes it easier for others to read.

 

Next show i go to im gonna ask to be placed in a different spot and catagory cause you think its the way it should be.
This shit is really getting laughable. Anyone wanna start a pool on how many pages this is gonna make
Oh im still pissed cause they fergot the god dam instructions when I bought my car. Maybe ill have em just put a rope on my gold chain
Dave

 

Who built this car? Really nice! And point well taken.

 

If i remember right a young kid well a lot younger than me built this car. I think it was also in one of the mags. Its a very nice piece. Ive seen it at a couple shows. Other than that i cant tell you who the owner is.
Dave

 

wasnt' this on here at the beginning of summer, or further back.....

i don't have any details other than, if i remember correctly, a REAL young kid built it.....i think he even weighed in on the comments about his build skills....

 

KIRK! shot that at the Indy Goodguys. Said to look for more later...

 

I don't have an opinion about glass cars other than every time I think it might be cool to build one (actually happens to me quite a lot), I think about actually doing it and realize I couldn't...

Brookville bodies are cool, but I think it's even gay-er than a glass body if you build it "Bare Metal" like that 28/9 av8 in Rodder's Journal a couple issues back...

What are you proving?

 

If it looks good who really cares. Nostalgia is cool to a point. It's really about the cars. I would rather roll in a glass 34 than a modern shit box anyday.

 

hahahaha fuck thats funny man.

 

Everyone is gay until proven otherwise.

 

this thread kinda hits a nerve with me also, and it makes me thinks about something I was going to post just after the K-zoo NSRA show last month.

I was there with my Father in-law (a car guy, but not a "hot rod" guy) and i was pointing out the ridiculous "coast to coast" cars and how NOTHING on most those cars is remotely old and he responded, "well, if thats the case how come you cant bring a PT Cruiser in here." He went on to say those things dont really look like a 37 ford unless you squint your eyes, same as a PT. And i though it was a really good point. Which makes me wonder, never having registered for one of those shows, what does it take for a car to be "allowed" into an NSRA show like that? How far is far enough? I often leave that show pondering that, esp after reading about roth being denied entry with his stuff in the past...

 

I have just one thing to say, a dude at the Studebaker/Packard meet wanted to trade my beat '34 Ford body for a done '32 'glass roadster body.

I said no.

 

i think glass bodies are like clones they look the same but have no soul ............and thats the point .not everybody can have one .thats what makes it so cool. if i could have a beounce clone girlfriend i would..wouldnt everybody. and most guys that buy glass cars want to get out easy. they dont want to look for a real one. tell them to go to 'e harmoney.com'

 

Oh And Rust Fn Kicks Ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have no problemwith glass cars. There is a local guy here who has a 34 Ford glass car he bought. The only problem is it is a body that was made from the mold taken of my steel 34 Chevy when my buddy owned the car. This guy refuses to admit his car is a Chevy because the guy he bought it from told him it was a Ford. I even showed him my back window compared to his and the sealed up deck lid with the rib up the center from a Cadillac hood that replaced the deck lid. I am not in any way disparaging the owner of the glass car. The seller misrepresented it to him, the owner is a genuinely good guy.

 

Maybe if I mention my car is fiberglass in my post asking for help, someone will help. Jeeezzzus, who cares?