Features The 308 Roadster

I love this photo!

I also love the conflict the further the frame deepens, There's some pretty high dollar stuff the more you look. Yet this Car is the one that demands the focus. Call it magic, but people gravitate towards honesty and authenticity. Not that the background isn't pretty damn impressive, it is. Great job by the owners of the background for certain. Those cars have their hands up though, this one's like that naturally cool guy who walks into the bar and the Hot Chicks gravitate towards him and the Hounds all fall by the wayside. It just draws you in. Again, honest character wins over Polish.

Bravo you Bastard, now I gotta dig out my long buried '29 on Dooch Rails project. I honestly thought I'd finished after my '34 Pickup. Nope, I feel inspired............

Thank you

- Tim

 

I just looked up the column and saw this. Having nice "finished things" was a quest I too set for myself. Honestly it was an obsession to fit in. Having been an obstinate strongly individualistic soul always makes me want the ability to fit in but possess the ability to merely say Adios when I no longer want to or feel the need to do so. Then go about my merry own way. An odd juxtaposition of demeanor. A personality trait which has mellowed significantly over time. It's just easier to be me on my own terms quietly.

My Roadster was built with the sole mission of getting into LARS for free in a suitable shiny open top Hot Rod. Mission Accomplished. Glad I did it with my Kid all the way there and back twice. But been there done that. My '54 same process only to be in something neat to push FED's with. There's some magazine with us in it somewhere. Again mission accomplished.

As for the Painted stuff, and I am not doling out wisdom here merely my experience. An earned perspective.
We've done the painted dance, I still love a good solid orange peel free shiny deep glossy car. Maybe in another ten years I'll feel the need again. But for now the more road chips my Roadster gets the more comfortable it feels, and the better I like driving it. Almost like every chip, scratch, dead bug, and surf wax smudge is a liberty badge. If you open my Shop Door it's glaringly evident where my heart lies. Covers on the shiny stuff and full tanks on the fun stuff. Having lost the need of worrying about fitting in is a great freedom few find. We all chase it. But I guess at a point we actually fit in with ourselves, and mellow into the greats before us. The Old Guys know. Please don't take that as I think I am great. Nope, anything but. I am however comfortably fallible.

Whether you get back in the '38 or not is no matter. It is still a Bitchin' Coupe. Maybe your kids will pick it up? Or not. If a Roadster gets you squared mentally then get in a Roadster . Besides there's no better Date Night Car than a Roadster, and no better evening drive than the Texas Hill Country..............................

- Tim

 

When it comes to hot rods. Less is more.

This car is a perfect example.

 

Agreed

 

Rad

 

You're not the only one, there's at least two.

 

A very good build thread was started on this rod in January 2021, but it ended abruptly that July unfortunately.
Maybe more on Instagram (?) - don't know, I don't use it.

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have been following along and have enjoyed reading the comments. Thank you all very much for kind words with regards to the roadster. Some of you I have met and some of you that I haven't. Those of you who I haven't met personally, I hope that our paths cross at some point in the future. As @lamaison has indicated, I did start a build thread on the roadster back in 2021. I took so many pictures along the way and think that I just became overwhelmed with trying to keep the thread updated. We actually "finished" the car on Thursday, April 21, 2022 around 6:30 pm. I literally drove it down the road a few miles to put gas in it, drove it home, and loaded it on a trailer to take to Lonestar Round Up. I arrived in Austin on Friday morning, unloaded the car, and drove it into the show. That evening, I had to decide how I was going to get to my hotel; which was about 25 minutes away with Austin traffic. I could leave the roadster at the show, unhook my trailer, and drive my truck. Or, I could just drive the roadster. Again, the car had less than 10 miles on it at the time. I decided to take the roadster, and it was a blast! Since that time, I have been driving it as much as I can. It has been to Old North State Invitational in NC three times, Pinetree Jamboree in ME once, and TROG in NJ twice. While I did trailer it there, I drove it hard once it was unloaded. The trip to Lonestar Round Up this year was the farthest it has been driven at one time. It made it to the BBQ, the Garage Crawl, Austin Speed Shop, Top Notch, and around town for the weekend. Coming home, however, I had a brake failure due to a vibration that developed along the way. Shamefully, it had to come home on a trailer, because I broke down late on a Sunday afternoon in a small town on the way home. But, I am in the process of getting it ready for our car show (Prewar Pileup) at the end of the month in OK.

 

If you still have any pictures from where you left off on the build thread, I'm sure many would love to see them even if it's only a few at a time whenever you have some time without feeling obligated.

 

Well done @Low-Blow an honour to be recognised by the Boss, cool hot rod.

 

Very cool!

 

Right on, a HAMB hot rod bullseye. Kudos!

I've got to tell you, with all due respect, that I am a little amused and perplexed by this comment. I have always considered you way ahead of the Internet curve, I mean you launched this site as a teenager in the mid-'90s, right?
You are a social media pioneer and visionary.
Maybe it is all about number of users, maybe the HAMB's 30,000 active users - or whatever the number is - is such a tiny blip on the world stage that you consider it insignificant, I don't know.

Anyway, props to you Boss, I'll bet most of us here consider you a social media icon. (A website forum is social media, right?)

 

Same. I like to "finish" a car - to the point where it's safe and useable. The last few thou of shiny paint might be a bonus, but I'm not precious. I know it's going to be used and abused and pick up some knocks and scrapes along the way...