Can a wrecker be considered a traditional hot rod?

Remembering that in the early 70's the little old wrecking yard out east of Waco and down the road a little bit from the little market that had a meat counter that you could buy a chunk of real good summer saussage, a chunk of cheese and Premium saltine cracker for a quarter a sleeve and get a six pack and then go spend the day at the wrecking yard had an old yellow Packard that was cut down to basically what Mike802 is describing. It had a wrecker boom on the back and had either been the yards yard dog or used to tow with way before 1973.
The big problem with one now is that as others said, it is more of a novelty than hot rod and to carry it off you would want it to look like a period correct 30's or WWII era wrecker that was parked out next to grandpa's Texaco to tow cars short distances to the station. It would have Bubba factor but probably not get a lot of respect from hot rodders. Probably get a lot more attention from the rat rod fans.

If it were me I'd want to go with a pickup that would have been between five and ten years old when grandpa had the station and set it up with a period correct factory built wrecker boom and have it functional and then paint it up just as you figure he would have done to have the sharpest looking small wrecker around to represent his shop. Back then you didn't have a beat to crap tow rig if you were on the main drag in town as it represented your business and when you went out to tow someone's car you wanted to show up with a good looking truck with good paint. The Best looking AD truck in the Valley in the mid 60's belonged to a gent in town named Jack Passenger who owned a nice little garage in a primarily residential area of town. No junk sitting around just that very nice and very shiny dark blue pickup with the partial side racks with Jack Passenger Garage on boards on the side racks. He was also well known for racing Hudsons on the local circle tracks in the 50's and early 60's and beating a lot of V8 cars in the process.

 

You can hotrod a school bus, but it’s still a school bus.
Now you can make a cool wrecker/tow rig, but if it can’t tow, then it’s not really a wrecker or
A hotrod . If it can tow, it’s not a hotrod.
Babble aside, if you want to build it, then do it and enjoy the journey.

 

I'm a truck guy, always have at least one or two or....
Old theme styled p/u's, trucks, can be cool...isn't that enough?
Traditional Hot Rod....of course not.
Getting hung up on labels can stifle creativeness.
Do your thing and call it what you want.
If your only concern is qualifying for this site, keep to the non-Tow Truck only mods/attachments....I'm sure it would get a pass.

 

I have seen a few modified vehicles HAMB era with wrecker booms. They have either been ratrods or highly detailed
show rods. That said I am building my 1950 chevy truck with a flatbed, not something I remember seeing on hot rods
but what I want to build as I have some 100 year old chestnut planks from my sisters old garage. If you want to do it
and especially as you want to make it quick release go for it.

 

I like the idea of a removable wrecker boom. Hot rod with it removed and speciality vehicle with it installed. Then you could post in the Antiquated section and the hot rod section. Win, win.

 

I say do it and stick to the plan you outlined above. And make it quick release like you stated.

 

Back in 64 my dear ol Dad and his welding shop partner took a short WB Chevy 3500 chassis and built a sweet custom wrecker. The rear tub was cut down with a nice rail on top, the big flat rear fenders were shaped exactly like the front fender openings. Johnny Rye couldn't help it, he had to hop up the SBC and make it rumble some too. It was painted a super bright yellow, white wheels and bumper, black and white custom pinstripes all over it. A true hot rod wrecker built in 1964. If I showed up with that truck today and was told it didn't represent I'd demand to see your traditional hot rod cop badge. Stock car and drag racers who used one didn't use something run-of-the-mill, they were kool, spiffy, custom, hot rodded too in many cases. "Bullshit Jocko, how would you know?" Cuz I was there. A little kid to be sure but it stuck. It may not mean someone would have built a Model A hot rod wrecker, but then again maybe some of the midget and sprint drivers did too. Raise a rt hand and swear they didn't, I dare ya. This life is full of creative ideas from the past and generally resurrected with love and respect for those times. Labels suck rotten lemons. I say show us whatcha got and go for it. And in case anyone missed it I just laid a blueprint, so there...

If the mods wish to delete my opinion, well so be it. I used to have a picture handy of that badass Chevy, and it was so kool the wealthiest used car dealer in the area payed HUGE money for it, had to have it, and it wasn't for sale. Kustom and rod wreckers are as appropriate to this life as 40 Ford wheels as long as you get it right, in my often NOT so humble opinion.

 

If you make look like a hot rod and it sounds like a hot rod and you think it's a hot rod...why isn't it?? Gene

 

I say build it if you want to. Is it a hot rod or not who cares you build whatever you like and enjoy the rascal. Remember guys like Sam and George Barris, Roth, Watson, Winfield, and a plethora of others did what they wanted and they are the reason half of us are here.

Billy

 

All I have to say about this post is the title asks for opinions. You will get the whole gambit of them. Some guys are willing to allow anything because it is "a cool old car or truck". I disagree. The HAMB is a traditional hotrod and custom car site. I don't need to see tow trucks, milk trucks, buses, flatbeds, four-wheel drives (unless all tires are slicks and smoking the quarter mile) Ok, I'm done.

 

The mods have spoken..... A wrecker would go in the Antiquated section of the Hamb. End of debate!

 

i don't remember seeing any hot rod wreckers in ryan's examples of traditional hot rods. nobody is stopping you from doing what you want, but a hot rod wrecker does not belong on the hamb.
see, that's just it, when on the hamb, we have to play by the rules. if you want to build anything not welcomed here, that's fine, post it on another website

 

Sounds like a fun project and a nice tribute to your Dad, I'd definitely follow the build thread, especially if you run a flathead.

One thing I've enjoyed about flatheads is they make such good torque, so the one in my avatar and the video below is a 4" crank and Max1 cam, it moves my somewhat heavy '51 F1 pretty well...considering it basically has asthma haha. Love em.

 

Build what you like, damn the labels. Have fun with it. Some will get it, some won’t. Life’s too short to try to live up to everyone else’s standards. Not getting into if it fits here or not.

 

Depends on the overall look and stance…what does a Hot Rod Wrecker look like? If I see one, I’ll know it!

This one, especially if it was painted gloss black, looks good to me,
(definitely make sure the wheels and tires are traditional looking, though).

 

Sounds to me like a hotrod AV8 RPU with a bolt-in removable accessory. In other words, 99% hotrod. So do two threads: one on the main board all about the AV8 RPU, and a complementary thread on the Antiquated board focused solely on the removable wrecker aspect.

 

Back in the "traditional" days, not many backyard, under-the-pine-tree, builders had a wrecker. But there were plenty of body shops, speed shops, et al, that had tow trucks. It wasn't unusual for shops to work on them during slow times and add custom touches. I wouldn't argue with those that say they're not "hot rods" but wreckers certainly are part of the hot rod culture, along with vintage gas pumps, vintage signs, and the rest of the memorabilia. Wreckers add an important, major degree of context to the hot rod/custom lifestyle. They might not "be"........ but they do "belong".

 

the question is, do they belong on the hamb?

 

You got that right...

 

..????

 

J M O: To be a tow truck you won't be happy with a banjo rear.
So with appropriate rear axle it can'r be a hot rod.
You could say HR'd Tow Truck, but the best torque cams, for a flathead are the factory grinds.
Pulling double or more weight ain't fun without torque.
Multi carbs are not producers of bottom end power or torque.
So as Mark said, it could fit in the Antique section.
As Hitchhiker said done nicely it will be appreciated.
As RUDESTUDE just said, " A Hot Rod or custom mind is a terrible thing to waste "

 

If'n you plan on calling it a hot rod.........it better have a "MOTOR" in it!
And I don't mean a crate motor either.

 

I really like this approach.

 

Well if its got a flatty and red wheels it will definitely be a trad hot rod.

You could definitely build a traditional wrecker and that would certainly be considered a part of our history. I have seen in my time a few "hot rod" wreckers at car shows (think the old indoor shows). I am not sure how much they got driven or even used as a wrecker, but that were show cars in and they happened in the later '50s and earlier '60s.

I am not sure that it falls into hot rod territory in the strictest sense. Wreckers are basically utility vehicles. More utility that say a pickup truck. Once it becomes an actual hot rod it looses is usefulness as a utility vehicle. I guess it would not be much different than a hot rod push truck.

All that said I believe it is a cool idea. I could certainly appreciate it.

Now a totally unrelated story. Back in the early days of the HAMB Drags there was a guy from New York that showed up with a Ford Coupe drag car. He called it Tetanus. I want to say it was a 33/34 Ford but I could be mistaken. He towed it all the way from New York with a vintage tow truck. It was a pre 64 F-150. I was impressed and I am pretty jaded.

 

This has been a very interesting thread to say the least.

I totally get what @Mike802 is trying to do, create a tribute to his dad.

I think @Moriarity was correct about the suggestion of building it as a shop truck, with the TEXACO logo on the door with vintage telephone number and side stakes with other wording as well, that would look great.

If built as a wrecker with a boom, then I would have to agree, it would be posted in the antiquated section, as indicated by the H.A.M.B. rules for such rigs.

These next few words and pictures, are purely for entertainment and information only, and not meant to drift off topic.

My dad owned a wrecking yard and we had a cool, older 59 Ford tow truck with a Holmes 550 bed and double boom set up. It wasn't fancy, it was a work horse, and it was fast. Was it a hot rod, NO, but every time I went on a tow call with my dad, it sure as hell was a hot rod to me.

The aerial shot shows it out in front of the shop, don't let the black arrow distract you, that was my 56 IHC, retired bell telephone truck.




Now when it comes to the element of a cool, rare, hard to find tow truck, that if done correctly, well then the 1948 NASH "HAUL THRIFT" tow truck/wrecker, is the one machine, that just from looks alone, in my opinion, visually is a cool "wannabe" hot rod.

This particular one is owned by the Gieseler family out in Murdo South Dakota at the Pioneer Auto Museum. Me and a lot of other people over the years, have tried to buy it from them, but they know what they have, and its still there.




These rigs were manufactured from 47 to 54, and they were sold only to NASH dealers, they made just under 5000 of them, and on the NASH car owners registry, there are 30 listed. Even the way the boom was made, was unique to this truck, and especially the use of chains as the way to change the angle of the boom. You just don't see that element on tow trucks, or wreckers.

Now if ever there was a wrecker that was begging to be hot rodded, then surely it would be this cool, kick ass, 48 NASH. But it would never be considered, to be a "traditional hot rod" It's just a cool older rig, with some very classy lines to it !

Thanks to all, that have contributed their opinions to this thread.

Go for it Mike, build as you see fit.
Thanks from Dennis.

 

If you put wide whitewalls on it, and fender skirts and lower it down about a inch off the ground, oughta fit right in.

 

What? Like a Tesla?

 

Now that we're off topic, that chain setup for the boom looks like it came right off of an Oklahoma/Texas/New Mexico oil field boom truck or a Chicago Bridge and Iron jobsite pole truck. That setup with a Braden winch and you can move anything. Look familiar, @Boneyard51 ?