Technical Can paint jobs be too beautiful ?

Yes, anyone can make that decision no matter how good the paint job and bodywork is..........but the point is that someone who has dreamed all their life of having a certain car and making it beautiful .........might want to think about whether they will or will not want to drive it. Like I mentioned earlier, I met a guy from Canada who drove his 32 Ford 800 miles to attend the Street Rod Nationals. I really liked his car. He told me he had built a car with a high dollar paint job and then realized he was scared to drive it . Every time he drove it he constantly worried about damaging the paint..........so he sold it. Then he built this one that he now drives everywhere and is enjoying it. I'm just saying that people need to consider that when/if they build the car of their dreams.

Anybody out there that wouldn't enjoy driving this?

 

I like nice paint KK

 

I enjoy the posts, however I think this discussion has gone on to long. If you are a true traditional hot rodder, or simply drive your car , and I mean really drive it, chips, bumps and what not are all part of the experience. Well I suppose you can avoid that and just have perfect garage art........ Rant over!

 

Hello,

Nice El Camino. College and El Camino was right up our alley. When is sold my 40 Ford Sedan Delivery and 1958 Black Impala to fund going away to college, I was leery about having to park in the lots, too. College kids are not the “most aware of the surroundings” folks. Aware of the part of society and future of what is required? Yes… aware of what really lies ahead? Well, not really… so, yes, there was a scare from those parking lots.

I had bought a new El Camino in 1965. I had a heck of a time ordering what I wanted from several dealers. The factory had what I wanted, but did not make it available for El Camino buyers, that year and the year before, when it was the newest Chevrolet on the factory books.

But, when I saw the red El Camino in the dealer’s pick up driveway, I knew despite all of the h***les, it was the car/truck for me. Of course, being brand new, I was instantly leery of parking it anywhere there might be any damaging idiots around. So, that left out 90% of the parking lots in So Cal and especially vast college parking lots.

I was lucky in Northern California. I was one of the only cars in a covered parking garage attached to my apartment. There were about 10 apartments and enough spaces for a car or two for each apartment. Being so close to the campus and poor college students, there were students, but plenty of parking spaces in the apartment garage.

But, in two years, I was now back in So Cal and our old stomping grounds. The local campus was high on a hill top overlooking all of So Cal from the beaches to the mountains on a clear day. Plus it was about 8 miles away from our Westside of Long Beach house. But, as anyone can see or remember, those campus parking lots were large, usually full of traditionally “in a hurry” students and usually full the closer to the cl*** starting times on the hour(s).

Jnaki

Long Beach State College 1966

As rare as been mentioned about the amount of woody station wagons during our time as teenage surfers, here is a great example of one in a thousand cars in a Long Beach State College campus. (even when the majority of students were from the local coastal cities and the surf beaches were a few miles down the PCH highway) But, as rare as the woody wagon is/was, so were black 58 Impalas in the same parking lot and/or 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery hot rods. Only one 58 Impala and it looks as if it is a convertible, also one El Camino and it is a 59 version.

There were plenty of station wagons in the lot and all around the locale. Of the nine wagons in the crowded lot, there were two Plymouth wagons. But, the obvious, front and center, a two door sedan with surf racks. It was a common site in most large parking lots everywhere along the coastal areas.


By the time we (my wife was there since 1963) got to the same college campus several years later 1966, the amount of woodies to sedans to station wagons was about the same. Now a red 65 El Camino was prevalent in the lower campus huge parking lot, along with a funky blue 62 Corvair. But, in the last year, my 65 El Camino without the surfboard was in this exact upper campus parking lot, daily…

Why daily and not in the lower campus lot? Well, I got injured playing Rugby, had surgery and was a hobbling mess for several months. So, I was able to get a medical permit to park anywhere I wanted to park. In the photo above, the medical exemptions area was in the first row, closest to the main cl*** lecture buildings.

Yes, I had the medical exemption p*** for the last two years. Most saw me on crutches getting out of the El Camino, so, that justified the close-in parking space. But, later on, when my wife and I got out of the El Camino and walked to our cl***es, some su****ion was evident. Why can they park there, when there is no medical emergency evident?

Note:

I had a secure wrap on my left knee under my Levis. That was not evident to most students and the walk to the stairs and/or elevators was a modified limping activity. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was just along for the ride. She has been along for the companionship, long ride ever since… 1966 to today! Yikes…

Yes, the knee still hurts and gives me wobbly situations when least expected, especially going downhill on sidewalks or stairs. Old rugby injury, re-injured with a sailing injury… But, boy was it and has it been some great times in and out of the water in So Cal... YRMV

 

I’m with you on this. The paint can actually hide the features of the body lines and other points of interest