Can a car be TOO nice? Post-build depression.

Not sure if I can get my point across, but Glenn (AHotRod) and I had a similar but brief conversation this weekend. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm complaining about being fortunate enough to have a nice car, that's certainly not my intention.

Have any of you ever ended up finishing a car that turned out so nice you feel like you can't enjoy it any more? Too much cleaning, touch up, worrying, trying to keep it like it's just finished, attention, questions, etc?? It's not necessarily the work involved keeping it clean either, I just can't explain it. Glenn said the same thing about his beautiful new 'Lime Squeezer' Model A while we were cleaning it the other day - "this car is too nice".

Maybe it's kind of a 'post partum depression' thing but with cars.

I busted my *** all winter on my Caddy, and it turned out really nice. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging - I couldn't have done it without help from good friends like Mike (earl schieb) It's far from perfect, but it is the nicest car I've ever built and owned. I got a lot of compliments on the look and build quality at Billetproof last week, and it performed flawlessly on the trip.

But now that it's all done I wonder.

I guess part of my deal is that I drive my stuff on a daily basis and to shows and cruise-ins all over the place, and the last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time cleaning before, during, and after a show - but I feel like the car deserves it now, ya know? Shiny new paint and chrome, white interior and wide whites make for a lot of cleaning, and if you don't stay on it they look like ****!

Another thing is the attention the car draws just around town - I don't really like the spotlight. It's cool when you display your work - like at a show or cruise-in - but I can't put gas in the car or go through a drive-up window without playing 20 questions with everyone I meet. I try and be polite, but if one more person asks 'dang, how you see out of that thang?' or 'dang, is that a mercury?' I just might lose it.

Maybe it's because I've never really owned a 'custom' before, I've always been a Hot Rod / truck guy. I'm just as happy (maybe more) driving my daily - a '53 F100 around - it's not a 'rat rod' just an old truck. I don't worry about where it's parked or even lock it, and it gets washed every time it rains.

Maybe it's just me - but don't be surprised if you see me trying to sell or trade the Caddy toward another old truck. What I'd really like to do is sell the Caddy and the F100 and get a 40-41 Ford pickup to double as my daily and cruising vehicle. Keeping 1 vehicle insured/running/fueled sounds good too.

Anybody else get this?

 

I completely understand

 

some times beaters are more fun.

but if you built it once you can fix anything that may happen to it. i get **** all the time for how i treat my finished cars.

 

You know, I thought about this before I even started my T Bucket. I didn't want to be one of those guys who was always shining his car or chasing away people who might accidently lean on it. I think what you have to do is decide from the start how you want your car to be used. If you only want to show it, then go with all the shiney **** you can afford. If you want a driver, use it where it will look good, but won't ruin your fun with an all day session of polishing and wiping.

On the flip side, there are the people who are so glad they got it right, that they don't mind the hours of cleaning. You just need to make the choice before you start.

As for the attention, it goes with the territory, man.

 

Don't know what you're talking about
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...that's Bruce's problem now...

 

My friends son built a 48 Woody and was so obsessed with the ****in thing. He would tell me to take my shoes off before getting in! Then I would have to wait for him to wipe the thing off before taking me home. It was like a Museum piece. You model builders might have seen the car. On the model box they changed the color to green. You can tell it's his car because the plate has "LOG RIDE" on it. I thought of the plate for him,HA HA!
He finally sold the car to this guy who told him he was gonna drive the **** out of it,LOL!!!! He was mortified!!!!!!

 

Ditto. Never been there myself so I can't relate at all....See sig.

 

im going thru the same thing right now with my plymouth. the last few cars ive put together were never finished by any means and they were a ball. then last summer i bought my moms 67 camaro and it was a driver but it was really nice and it got really old fast worring about how nice the paint was and freeking out about a rock chip and what not. but then i really want a finished car at the same time.

 

I have been told that sometimes nice built cars are sold, after a few years of going to car shows and cruises, because they start to show just a little wear. The paint job that once was perfect, now has rock chips, and small rock dings. To bring this way too nice car back to its former glory, it would take a new paint job. This repaint would increase the cost too much comparing to the value of the car. By selling the car, the worry of repainting, or more damage happening is now over. This added to the constant cleaning chores is why the daily driver project seems alot more fun.

 

Gator, I was gonna post here requesting you show some pics of the Caddy you mentioned but instead looked up some of yer previous posts to see if you had shown it on here before... you own the purple Caddy that was at Billetproof last weekend? If so...damn!!! That car is beautiful!! I would be a bit paranoid of it gettin messed up too. Excellent car! Congrats on it and good luck with your decision.

 

The guy who I consider to be my big brother has built three different cars that he got to the state that he wouldn't drive them because they might get dirty or they might pick up a bit of road rash.

Way back in the very early 70's in Waco my wife and I went to an antique car event that was held in town close to the then new convention center.
While we were watching a couple very carefully roll their over restored Br*** era Model T out of an enclosed trailer a guy rolls down the street in a big two tone green Duesenberg that was either a survivor or an older restoration. Pipes blasting away and a big grin on his face. He pulls into the lot, lets a few people out of the car and hollers to some folks standing there looking at the car "hop in and we'll go for a ride". They hopped in and away they went roaring up the street.

The Br*** T was probably worth five thousand at the time probably less and was considered too nice to drive while the Duesenberg was worth between 50 and 75 thousand then (1970) and the owner drove the wheels off of it.

 

It's a state of mind. If you can't enjoy driving it why have it? I think of it as, I drive a new truck would I leave it at home or constantly be polishing it? Not bragging either but my cpe has been in the winners circle for Goodguys and NSRA more than once, in Street Rodder mag 4 pak twice. I've driven it all over the country, hit a deer with it in 02 and it was off the road for 2 years. Since I got it back on the road in Aug. 04 I've put 42,000 mi on it. So drive it and enjoy it. That's what it's all about as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure any of you who have seen BobK's vert would agree on how nice it is. Look at how Bob drives the wheels off it. He's having a ball with it.

 

Just blame it on that ****er Mike....

He painted it too nice, what a dumb***

Your caddy turned out way better than I ever expected, I guess you had the vision.

It is truly a ride to be proud of.

Rich

 

I had an friend, who was into restored Model Ts, he thought he wanted a NICE one, more than is abilities were able to produce, so he sold his amatuer restorated A roadster and bought a AACA National Sr. 1st place winner 1911 T touring (this was about 25 years ago, so the prices were comparable back then). He kept his beater '15 T. He had the car for about 2 yeaers before he got tired of the upkeep the thing required to stay a Sr. 1st place winner, so he sold it, and pocketed the money left over after buying a half finished A sedan so he could drive it to shows and keep dry if it rained.

 

Larry just think of all the stress you have. You have to one up your last build??? let alone worry about stay-back nice or lean-on nice!

 

I bought a 49 caddy once to make sort of a cadzilla type kustom. The thing was the car was too original/nice for me to do anything too. I could not bring myself to it. So, I sold it to a retired couple in palm springs and bought my rusted out 52 so I would not feel guilty doing stuff to it.

 

It's all about your at***ude!
I like to build stuff that's "not too embarr***ing to take to a car show" but you could drive it cross country, if you like.
I did this with my 55 Olds back in the 80's. Looked almost like a show car, but i drove it over 120,000 miles since I built it. Yeah, it looks pretty shabby, if you look close, but it was Oh So Much Fun!
I stopped in a gas station, near midnight, in Ohio once, on the way to Indiana or Illinois. I popped the hood to check the oil, and some guy comes up and checks the car out, and asks me if I'm really from NJ. He then tells me that my car is good enough for magazines, and I must have trailered it. "Are there any trailers here?" I still don't think he believed me, after pulling out, and hitting the highway.
I tell my friends, who I do cars for, "If it's so nice, show it for a year, then drive the wheels off of it!"
It's funny, though we were talking about "post partum depression" the other day. After doing the Kart, it seems we are all bummed out, can't get back into gear, haven't even wanted to look at the truck, after spending so much time with it!

 

Drive the wheels off of em no matter if they are nice or not.





What's a few hours cleaning compared to the fun!!!!!!!!!!

BB

 

Hey Slag,

Where did you get those orange racks at?

 

This is true !

 

Bob, you're off the road....AGAIN!!!

 

I sort of understand where you are coming from. I finished my roadster 15 years ago, and it was a work of art. Granted it was built as a race car, but the first couple of years I was obsessed with keeping it perfect. Once it got a few battle scars on it I quit worrying about it and just enjoyed driving it. Fast foward 15 years, it had been wrecked and rebuilt, welded on and beat on and it is showing its age. Eventually I will blow it apart and spruce it up. but for now I am having fun driving it.
I quess my point is, enjoy what you have created now. Time will take its toll and the car will evolve from a mastepiece into a driver that can be enjoyed without worry.

 

This being an even numbered year , I washed my Studebaker .

 

Keeping a car looking nice and clean is a pain in the ****,,,then you realize you built the car or truck to drive and enjoy.

I was a slave to "BLACKIE" my ol' mor-door 32 sedan for the first few years,,,then I started to say I'll clean it up later.

I still try to keep the ol' gal looking good but after 9 years of use she has her share of scratches and paint chips and needs a bath.

I really believe the nice paint made me long for the days gone by when all I ever had were beaters,,,,probably why I painted the truck with semi-gloss and didn't remove any of the original minor dents.

I do tend to drive the truck more,,,almost daily since it hit the road,,,,and it really needs a bath,,the rain helps put the rain don't help the whitewalls. HRP

 

I saw your car this week end at Billetproof and I completely get where your coming from. I can only sit and dream that my car could one dat be a clean and complete as yours, but then the dilemma of driving it as much as I want to comes into play.

You are right, the wide whites, interior, paint and chrome can take a beating, then it brings down the look of the entire car. I guess that's why some people eventually get into the trailering think with their cars.

Sometimes in life we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't. Just use the old build it, drive it, break it, fix it mentality, but add in clean it... a lot...

Todd

Hope to see it again this week end at the Lo Down Ho Down...

 

I understand, as I've done that. Make it too nice, ****s the fun right out of it.
You have to have 2 cars, one of each. One nice, one beater.

 

Luckily, most of us don't have this "problem"!

 

Have wrestled with this dilema myself alot. My Deuce Five-Window is a nice car, not bragging, it's just nice (Rodders Journal #31). That being said, I have driven the **** out of it over the past few years.

There were some issues with the paint and Custom Auto has stepped up like true champs to fix Duponts problem, (this will be another thread/rant). So the '32 is going to be a pristine car again. So, does it get driven alot or no ?

My '40 Coupe is in the upholstery shop right now and will be on the road in the next 4-6 weeks. It is also a nice car and I'm gonna beat on it like a rented mule, that is a given. Does this cut the Deuce a break ?......Not just yet as it's going the 650 miles to Viva in Two weeks through potentially bad conditions up here in the mountains.

Have come to realize that anything I mess with ends up on the "nice" side of the scale, and I tend to drive them hard. The fun is out on the road........

Johnnie.

 

I've alread started having those feelings about this....



but **** it.... shakedown to Austin... what the hell...