"We drive hotrods for the attention" Kinda long.

Owning these cars, because of the attention we get is Ego Driven.. Dont fool yourselves.. We all love the attenton.. To me the only guys who dont have any of that is the guy who drives an old car because it's all he can afford..

 

Yep. It might not be the reason, but it's a reason.

 

What I drive is a extention of who I am and what I do. I cant stand to drive anthing that is not cool(in my book) I gotta change um all up to the way I think they need to look. The only thing I don't like is the attention the cars get. I find myself wondering what the hell all the fuss is about. What the hell are they lookin at?
This is everyday stuff to me," Yes thats my car, yes I know its on fire" The crew of dudes I run with all have old stuff and that is the bubble we live in. I have never owned a new car and I never will.. I dont give two shits about a scene or lookin cool, this is just what I do. No fassion show required

 

Yes it does, some of it is ok, I dig the older folks digging it. A lot of the attention I'm over.

I gotta pooh.

 

This statement pretty much nailed it. who needs a $500/hour shrink? Just go for a rip in your car. no matter how bad my day went it all goes away when I blast through the gears in my car. Someone on here has the sig line "Freedom is 7000RPM in 5TH gear". I smile whenever I read that line, it is very true.

I find that as a fairly young guy (just turned 33) I get alot of "YOU built that??? but you're just a kid" from the old guys. but once they figure out that I built not bought then they shoot the breeze with me for a few minutes. Like someone already said, if I was in a late model whatever they would probably ignore me and mumble under their breath.

My daily in the summer is a 90 chev pickup and to me that is a "new" truck. even though it is 20 years old now. It is the newest vehicle I will probably ever own. I like the simplicity of the older stuff, even if it does break down usually mechanic's wire & duct tape can get me home. try that with a newer electronic everything crapbox, you're gonna be waiting for a tow truck.

Like a bunch of others have stated, I was the kind of odd car guy in high school - there were only a couple of others that seemed to "get it" like I did. lo & behold we are the guys that are still playing with cars 20 years later. The rest of the "car guys" from school aren't any more.

This car thing gets in your blood & you can't get it out (why would you want to?), either you get it or you don't. I enjoy the attention I get in the coupe but it would not bother me if everyone else ignored it either. Either way I am enjoying it & that is why I drive the sucker in the first place.

 

As mentioned, great thread!

Fellowship has to be the first reason to keep me interested in the "old car thing". I think of my late uncle, who if he was at York PA Nationals, and was going to meet you at a certain time--would be late, cause he would literally know everyone on the fairgrounds and stop and talk to them all.

Meeting people that share a similar interest, even with pilots its the same thing(love for old planes) and be able to talk about it is what its all about.

I drove my 39 Chevy Coupe in various incarnations until it was "done" and enjoyed it alot. Never was a show car, a nice 10 footer at times. But it ran and drove and was safe. Went alot of places with it. Never felt my car was any better than anyone elses not brought in a box with a crew with matching shirts

My skills and finances have evolved enough that I can build the cars I want to. Moving into the relm of the deuce for example. Proud to show off my skills and level of achievement of how far I have come. Sure to get some comments from fellow car builders like we all are is great. Do I do it to wow you? Thats the end product. Do I do it to piss all over you? Never!

Build what you like, drive what you build. Enjoy the journey.

John Q Public be damned.

The other side of this, as mentioned, is the history of it. It really takes me to the time that my elders lived. Like one of my uncles, his brothers always had cars like this. Then you hear the stories.

Their music, history and experiences are mine to, and cherish them all.

If this car could talk. Where had it been, who was in it, what did they do.

 

my connection to the old cars, is sort of a bridge from our modern day to days gone by. the car is something that can exist in reflection, a portal if you will, to whatever era you relate to. there are hot rods that are stock, some that are 60s race cars, and some that are built in the 90s with digital crap. whoever you do it, the car is a time machine in a way.

For me the connection to the past is something that i enjoy, the working by hand, the collecting, the connection with people your age interested and those older than you.

If the car is a means for that, then any car can be a means for connecting to any group of people, rice rockets do the same, as do vintage european cars, and hybrids.

The attention aspect, is hard to put a finger on because your connecting with people, and they are conencting with your car in the way that you do. I dont think thats bad, i dont think the attention talked about here is the petty, look at my, im Paris Hilton attention, its more a connection between people.

If that makes sense... thats just how i feel about me and my connection to my cars.

 

My daily driver is a ratty old, ugly '62 Suburban. I'm constantly amazed that so many people think it looks cool. But I love driving that old thing just because I love driving it! couldn't care less what other people think or the attention it gets.

My wife's daily driver is a '61 Corvair station wagon, and she absolutely loves it. It's cute as hell, it's somewhat sporty, completely out-of-the-ordinary, and super practical for a mom. It suits her better than any car she's ever owned.
And there are a lot of times when she just wishes people would NOT comment about the car, because it gets old. They're rare, EVERYONE seems to have owned a regular Corvair, it's 50 years old and in great shape, it looks good... it's an attention getter. But that's not why she drives it.

And what's really annoying is that my non-carguy parents, brothers and their wives all think we drive our old stuff just for the attention.

-Brad

 

I just like tinkering with old cars and making them go faster.

 

I,m not a people person but driving and working on my cars makes me happy.

 

Makes perfect sense. Well put.

My favorite "attention" story about my Riv is the time I pulled up to a traffic light next to some wrinkled blue-haired little old lady, one of those old women who probably shouldn't be driving and could barely see over her steering wheel, she was in some mid-80s full-size beater and as we're sitting there at the light I look over and see her looking at me, she smiled, and gave me a shaking wrinkled thumbs up.

That one sticks with me. I've always wondered what sort of Riviera story she had from her youth.

 

I usually sell a car once its done and then get another beater to mess around with...so there is not much time to show off,or feel cool about the ride or myself. I go to a lot of shows, but never enter my car in the show... I park somewhere in the shade and walk in. That`s because there are always jerks that remind you of all the things you did that are wrong or ugly or stupid or dangerous or (my favorite) "Not Period Correct" !

 

Fo' Sho'!

 

I dont drive them for attention, I dont do it for the people, I dont drive them cause I think it makes me "a cooler person" or some shit like that....I SIMPLY LOVE HOT RODS...dont give a shit if anyone ever see's me in it or talks to me about it....used to tell people I have one, now I dont even do that cause i really dont care.

 

Thanks for taking up an hour of my life! I got hooked and read every post... I don't regret it... I was going to write about how I hated the attention driving my 54' everyday and getting gas, etc. but others have already said it... then I realized that we all have a need to talk about, admire, validate, and brag about our rides/lifestyles otherwise there wouldn't be so many posts on this thread and I would have stopped reading long ago. I love nothing more then laying on my garage floor under my truck by myself covered in crud with the radio playin my favorite tunes.... or crusin a dark winding lonely road in the dead of the night... a cool breeze passing through the vent windows, the glow of the instrument lights, and the smooth hum of the exhaust... I also really like knowing that there are others that do too. thanks guys

 

Lots of folks on this thread drawing attention to the fact that they don't care about the attention.

I'm not going to the cruise-in tonight, someone might pay attention to my car.

 

Absolutely, huge difference. I don't mind talking to someone about my car when they have a little respect and courtesy, maybe even know a little about them. But the idiot that tells "I had a Chevy just like that", sorry man it's a Buick. Or the implication that I didn't build it, or I don't drive it everyday. I'd rather enjoy it for what it is and not have the attention. As for the cruise in stuff. There is a huge difference in going somewhere to hang out with other entusiasts and the attention you get from Joe plumber.

 

That's me in the driveway. Fat fenders and 4 wide whites. The louvered hood is because I'm getting older. I appreciate the post.

 

Ahh, well then I was using attention and appreciation interchangeably.

Fair enough. I'll agree the girl who asked me at the last cruise in if my Riviera was a 70s model annoyed me a bit.

 

haha, Zman, thank you for making what I wanted to say, sound better

 

i think you nailed my sentiments exactly. it's more about a connection than attention. we here are in a niche: traditional styled rods. they don't appeal to everybody (although i don't know why ), so in a lot of aspects, traditional rods are very subdued. no screaming paint, blinged out rims, no electronic doo-dads, just a machine. pure, clean and simple. for every person that digs your car, you can bet there's the same number that don't. "why would you do that" or "when are you going to finish it" is something i hear thrown around by the folks who don't "get it". so in that regards, driving a hotrod for attention makes no sense. i mean i'd rather hang with guys who think my car's a piece of garbage but like the person i am than an asshole who likes my car. ya know?
it's not about attention. attention is a byproduct. sometimes to be enjoyed, sometimes not.

 

whether you agree with me or not, thanks for the great conversation fellas. keep it going.

 

x2 on that! especially the connection bit!
As far as electronics, and cars...I hate the mixture.
I dislike the newer ladies so much.
Not to mention the fiber glass bit/wrap your ass in fiber glass, lol!
Someone backs into my truck, and I fell sorry for them...its not gonna hurt my steel body. ...still, noone run into it please

 

Haha thanks. My car may have been old, but it wasn't a '32 3W or anything like that. It was a '63 Buick Electra 225, 4-door. I probably would have kept it if it had been a 2-door. I sold it and ended up buying a modified '90 Honda Civic... so I'm no hot rod saint, but if it makes you feel better I sold the Honda not long after.

Now I don't have a HAMB-friendly car that drives. I miss it.

And just to play devil's advocate: the Fonz loves attention.

 

people come up with some wierd ideas sometimes. other people don't even enter into the picture for me. I own and drive old cars because I like it.

if it is about attention why are the best drives on back country roads with no one else in sight? as for shows... I go to shows to look at everyone elses cars, not so others can see what I have.

 

Well said

 

Ill third that!

 

C'mon dude, don't bullshit the rest of us bullshitters!! So you go to shows? You park a kickass car in the regular parking lot with all the soccermom minivans, right? HAH!! Not one person who cared enough to read this can truely deeply say they HATE the attention. In a reply above someone remarked personal attn vs car attn, well exactly. Everybody here loves the confirmation that they too have something special, something worth looking at, something desireable. If it's personal attn you get all tatted up and wear a pink mohawk. Car attn, you build your best and go out and share it with your peers or a like-minded public. Otherwise you're a miserable hermit and wouldn't be on the HAMB in the 1st place.

Enjoy it bros n gals. We got kool stuff. Lots of people think so. Those that don't, who cares.