History Why don’t I see Plymouth/Chevy Hot Rods?

The 31' Chrysler 3 window coupe that I'm building now was a hot rod back in the 60's. Was channeled, had a 392 hemi in it at one time. I left it channeled and also chopped it 3 inches. Love the body style on the Chryslers! One of my buddies is building a 30' Chrysler 3 window coupe, fenders, running boards. Mine had very little wood in it. Very solid car! His was the cheaper model and had a lot of wood in it!

 

When I went to GNRS ‘24 I dare say I got worn out seeing the vast array ‘30-‘34 fords with shiny paint jobs and Chevy 350 crate motors. There were some obvious gems that warranted closer inspection (like the flat black ‘34 ford coupe with a 270 red ram that had my drooling) but I walked by a lot of other cars outside without much more than a glance.
The main reason why I bought my ‘35 Chevy 1/2 ton was mostly because it was available, it was cheap, it was close to home, it was cheap, and it came with a title! And did I mention that it was cheap haha. Now I always hunt for early chebbys at car shows just to see how they handled the wood replacement. And bonus, it’s more fun being unique, I went to a small car show last week, only 60 ish cars maybe, and I was the only pre ‘55 Chevy, the only one with bare metal, and the only hemi. For me, that’s a win.

If all goes well I’ll be making the voyage in my lil Chevy to GNRS 2026.

 

Agree, but have my speedster project, and an OT project needs some attention as well this year. Have learned not to take on "new" projects until other stuff is finished first. lol!

 

We have been in the era of dare to be different for 30 years now I think Rod and custom magazine push that idea back in the early '90s.
Most people are pretty accepting these days of a cool looking car regardless of the make Heck we are even seeing four-door cruisers being built.
I think the big problem is when it comes to the vintage stuff there is very little aftermarket support and for your being honest about it these cars are 80 to 90 years old now unless they were completely restored or stored in some climate control garage somewhere They all need parts.
Let's be real a 1932 Studebaker dictator coupe is way cool just like a five-window coupe is cool from Ford The difference is If you need something like a dash panel you can buy it for a Ford. Myself if anybody has paid attention to me writing over the last two or three years that I've been really active on this site I am into the "orphan" cars I like the idea you don't have to do much to them to have a really cool car that nobody else has but I am realistic at times they are quiet frustrating when they need parts and most of them have so little value you have to be cautious on dumping money into them because you'll never get it back out of them which I guess isn't a problem if you keep a car forever but In my opinion cars are like underwear You should change them regularly.

 

Some early hemis near me. Not cheap considering I got both my Ford C59As’ for $100 and $150 respectively.

 

Or they are like your letterman jacket, a source of pride you share with others, cared for and part of your identity for a lifetime!

 

Me like dodge stuff chevy needs lots of wood love

 

After thinking about the topic title while ago, made me realize that in my +/-35 years and +/-100.000 miles of driving/traveling around western U.S. with my Roadster, I can probably count with one hand the times I’ve encountered/seen vintage (prewar) hot rods of any brand driven on the road without them likely being on their way to or from some car specific event or show.

For example, during our aforementioned, +/-3500 mile, three & half week road trip vacation in September 2022, I recall seeing only one prewar car being driven (heading to opposite direction) in some small town in Northern California. This occurred mid week and the car appeared to have been a mildly “street rodded” ’33-’34 Ford Sedan with some blingy wheels. During that same trip, the second oldest vintage car(s) I recall encountering “on the road” (or technically on a hotel parking lot) was an early MGB “roadster”(?) with a husband & wife team, like us, also on a road trip vacation (from Seattle to San Diego and back) and after a brief conversation, I discovered they too had done multiple long distance road trips with that car.

P.S. If anyone’s interested and knows how to find and/or create a link to it, there’s a thread somewhere in here I started several years ago under a different username.
It recounts some of my/our long distance adventures with the Roadster (& other vintage cars), along with a few stories from other participants

Coming down from Whitney Portal by Mt. Whitney.
In the valley below is Alabama Hills and beyond them Town of Lone Pine on Hwy 395

 

Saw this one last summer- pretty nice example.

 

Well I have my MoPar, or what you may call it. Flathead Plymouth, kind of warmed over. The fastback and I were born on the same year, 1952. Waiting for the 56 Olds with 4spd hydro, currently setting on a wood pallet. I actually purchased it 20 years ago from my then retired High School PE Coach. Sadly now deceased. Thanks Coach ! !

( Hey you, get a haircut ! )

 

I've a 35 Chevy, it's a square peg in a round hole down here. Other marques are around but not in large numbers by comparison to Fords. GM Holden's only built 647 Chevy tubs in 35 so it's rare and not a repop.

 

My 31 Plymouth coupe on it's eleventeenth trip to Bonneville Speedweek last year.
Lots of early non Ford hot rods around here
Ya build what you can find.

 

Looks like Jalopy Jamup.

 

This needs me in the drivers seat! lol!

 

My friend Ben Devoy's 33 (I believe) Plymouth

 

Yup. PS- they are taking a break this year.

 

I went last year and was very disappointed.

 

I remember the thread on your travels. Really love the car! What was your old username?

 

1949 Dodge with 1950 Desoto grille

 

I went and camped, that was a cool experience, I think they were getting tired. I got pretty excited when I was 4 numbers off winning the small block. I guess I won’t be looking quite as hard for a racing mini bike.

 

Steve Centracchio's roadster and coupe

 

With all due respect, but other than hubcaps, I don't see anything else related to Plymouth and other than the engine, same with Chevrolet.
Not that there's anything wrong with them, but the body & chassis/frame sure look like Ford stuff, at least to me.

TTR (I wasn't able to sign in with it, perhaps due to having been banned or just not having the right password ?).

I would stay clear of any Marine (or Industrial) Hemi's, as they could easily become the most expensive engine projects.
Maybe +/- 15 years ago, I was asked and commissoned to re-create a fully functional/useable Chrysler Hemi replacement for a one originally built by Chet Herbert in mid-1950s which had gone missing decades before.
The "original" build (by Chet) was done at the time allegedly(?) using a brand new Marine engine, but due to myriad of potential & real technical (& cost) complications associated with such idea, I managed to convince the client to abandon that "dream" and instead, found him a relatively complete and good subject engine out of car with identical displacement.
I got it done to assembled long block, but the project car and that engine for it were sold before I could finish it.
Fortunately the new owner, seemingly quite experienced DIY builder, has periodically provided me with updates on his (slow, but steady) progress on the rebuild/reconstruction of the entire car, which BTW is a quite unique, literally a one-off sports/racing car originally constructed +/-70 years ago.
In fact, just couple of weeks ago I received some photos of the car & a video showing the engine mounted & running on the chassis.
And before someone asks, I am not at liberty to share any details, photos or videos of it, at least not yet.

 

It doesn’t say you were banned? Maybe hit up one of the mods to get you back into your old account?

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/grand-touring-with-a-vintage-hot-rod.1078948/

 

Both my flatheads were from industrial applications. Was looking at another flathead which was from a boat. Mentioned to the seller it looked like a crack on the oil pan rail. Told me I didn’t know what I was taking about. Asked for more pics. He said sure. Never got them. Still trying to flog it almost a year later.

 

Hello,

One year, my wife and I were at the Oakland Roadster Show. Not LARS, But the old one up at the Oakland Coliseum in the S.F. Bay Area. Since we were there during the setup days and the actual show, we got to meet quite a few hot rod folks. As they were rolling in their displays and car stuff, they were actually friendly enough to talk to us about a possible magazine feature of their hot rod or custom motorcycles. Yes, custom motorcycles were a part, yet a small part, of the whole main floor displays. They were shoved over to the dark outside of the arena floor. A darkened corner if you can see it in your mind…

So, the conversations were about setting up photo shoots after the show at their homes or meeting at photogenic locations along the Bay Area. There were plenty of photo sites from the bay shorelines to the upper mountain roads at the top of the Berkely hilltops. So, we did get contacts set up. One was a Chevy sedan. But, it was not going to be located in the vicinity of the Bay Area.

But, good looking hot rods and custom motorcycles were the center and we had to get stories wherever they pop up. So, this hot rod sedan was located in Davis, CA, up by Sacramento, CA For us to come back after the show, it was going to be a 500-600 mile one way journey for both of us. Wow…

One of the custom motorcycles was also from Northern California. But, coastal region and agreed to meet us somewhere near Capitola around the Santa Cruz City area. Another wow… and almost 400 miles one way. (Luckily, my brother had moved to the same city, Davis and we visited his family, too. So, we did three things on the long road trip photo/vacation.)

Jnaki

But, it was the rarity of the 35 Chevy Sedan and how well it was constructed. It was as good as anything on the floor of the Coliseum and a Chevy to boot. The GM body styles looked similar to the Fords and Chrysler products. But, they were not the most popular hot rod builds and luckily, the editors also though the same thing. A custom 35 Chevy hot rod sedan versus the tons of Ford coupes and sedans. So, it was called a center spread, but actually a two page article.

The center spread of one photo was the goal of hot rod owners and photographers. A color photo spread out always looked great as one opened the magazine. Some even made wall posters of the two page centerspread, even with corrected staple holes.

So, this page was unusual as one photograph was technically spread out over two pages, but the other side held more detail photos and the article.

Note:

I have drawn many Ford hot rods as those are the staple (story pun intended) of the hot rod builds. But anytime a different hot rod pops into my crazy mind, off I go, creating something different. So, here is a custom low slung 41 Chevy Coupe that would be noticed in a car show or doing some low slung cruising down the street…

Compared to a 41 Ford Coupe, the Ford was a little chunky. In the rough drawn art work, it was difficult to make it sleek and a nice custom, hot rod. YRMV

 

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