Sunny Day Driving

India Ink always wondered why she usually saw older guys driving their "old school hot rods" on sunny days. Being older in construction like they are, do folks tend not tend to drive them all over creation? She asked because I say they are safe to drive, but she doesn't see them on highways with out of state plates. Again, awesome car.

India Ink, this is easy, first of all the cars are not older in construction. When some one rebuilds a car, they tend to use all new parts whenever possible. That way the car is in fine running condition and can drive for miles in any kind of weather. But, in most cases it takes beautiful weather for the owners to bring them out to show the rest of the world that he has one and they don't. 

Another reason that you might see many custom cars on the road might have to do with whether or not they have regular or historical plates (at least in Ohio) on their ride. Historical plates only allow that particular car to be driven during certain parts of the year. But, if they have regular plates, then they can drive it for the full 12 months. The best place to find custom cars with out of state plates are during custom car shows, such as the Good-Guys 19th Southeastern National to be held in October 26, 27 & 28, 2012, at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina or at any one the hundreds of car clubs like the Cincy Custom Street Machines out Cheviot, Ohio. There is also the Old Guys Car Club out of Columbus, Ohio.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, this is isn't a hobby. This is a lifestyle. It's something for the whole family to enjoy. The dads do the engine work, the chopping, the dropping and the paint jobs. The kids help with the polish work on the chrome and with the washes; and the moms pack the picnic lunches for the long days at the shows. And if you keep your eyes open you'll see hot rods, street rods and custom built rides anywhere you go.

In fact, I saw three hot rods-- one yellow, one blue with a candy coat and a rebuilt 1954 Mercury lead sled in the past week... just cruising around. Now, that's what I call awesome cars and a good day.

Customization: Style Part 1/4

Over the years, customizers have been determined to design or redesign (in many cases) their rides to resemble cars in stock or factory condition. In fact, many customizers have gone so far as to take both the visual components and the performance characteristics of various modification styles and combining them as they saw fit.

By now, there are five different custom themes, including the following. First there is the rat rods, which imitates (or exaggerates) the “unfinished” or amateurish built appearance of the hot rods from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Next come the street rods, which are American cars with large-displaced, modified engines; for example, the 1962 Chevy Impala with an up-to-date Corvette or Cadillac engine under the hood. These often consist of largely period and/or spec vehicles and their components that imitate and surpass the visual characteristics of hot rods from the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s.

There are some great overlaps between the street and hot rods on the road today. The third style is the modern styles of contemporary cars are also out there. Most often, they are built (or rebuilt) using contemporary parts and by using custom colors and paint finishes on these cars. The fourth and fifth styles come out Southern California and they are the lowrider and lowrod. The lowrider sits inches off the ground. It’s designed for crusin' the streets—top down, slow n low that’s how they roll in southern California. The latest thing in the chopped and dropped world is the lowrod. The lowrod has a bigger, more powerful engine designed for speed, and a stock suspension both are installed without any modifications. The lowrod is a combination of the “low of the lowrider and the engine of a hot rod” all riding on 20 or 22 inch wheels.

So, if you had unlimited resources and money and could buy any car you could possibly want, what would be? What would it look like and why?

Mine, … I'd want a Bugatti... so when I drive it on the Autobahn I could feel my face flatten and feel the gravity pull my body back into the seat. But, my dream car, is a 64 Impala lowrider that has been royal blue with a custom paint job with grey details.

History

Pre-World War II cars were the first hot rods with running boards and simple fenders over the wheels. Modifications to factory cars from 1929 to 1934 were made by removing the running boards and/or removing the fenders entirely or replacing them with very light "cycle fenders” and for the cars that came after, generally installed "fender skirts" on the rear fenders. Numerous rides were "hopped up" with modifications to the engine.

These modifications were as simple as adding additional carburetors, high compression heads, and dual exhausts. "Engine swaps" were competed. The name of that game was to install the most powerful engine into the lightest frame and body combination.

Altering the suspension was one way to modify the ride. “Primarily this involved lowering the rear end as much as possible with the use of "lowering blocks" on the rear springs.” Later cars were given a "rake job," is a hot rod that leans forward either by lowering the front or lowering the back by either adding a "dropped" front axle or heating front coil springs to make the front end of the car much lower than the rear. Subsequently, hot rods and custom cars often swapped the old solid rear axle for an independent rear axle, often from Jaguar. Rarely was the grille of one make of car replaced by another. For example, was the 1937 Buick grille, often used on a Ford was the exception to that rule.

The original hot rods were plainly painted like the Model A Fords from which they had been built up, and only slowly begun to take on colors, and eventually fancy orange-yellow flamed hoods or "candy-like" deep acrylic finishes in the various colors.

With the new changes in automobile design that encased the wheels in the fenders and the extension of the hood to the full width of the car, the previous modification practices were no longer an option. Due to the large amount of advertising and subsequent public interest grew in the new models that were rolling of the assembly line in the 1950s.

Thus, custom cars came into existence, and the creation of a world of swapping headlamp rings, grilles, bumpers, chrome side strips, and taillights, as well as "frenching" and "tunnelling" head- and taillights. The bodies of the cars were altered by cutting through the sheet metal, removing pieces to make the car lower, welding it back together, and adding a lot of lead to make the resulting from smooth (hence the term "lead sled." In the custom car culture, someone who merely changed the appearance without substantially improving the performance was looked down upon.

Welcome to Chopped and Dropped!

It's not a hobby. It's a lifestyle.

Welcome to dropping, chopping and even shaving. I am not talking about dancing, haircuts or close shaves. I am talking about entering the world of custom-built cars. You can join me here or visit my Chopped and Dropped Pinterest Board for examples of this modern art form.

Custom cars were once passenger cars that have altered to enhance the overall performance of the car or by often by altering or modifying and/or replacing the original engine and transmission. Another way to customize a car involves the personal styling of the owner to make his ride unlike any factory delivered original.

This blog will look at the stylistic differences between custom cars, the street rods and the hot rods. Although these cars are comparable, custom cars and street rods are distinguishable from hot rods.

The extent of this difference has been the subject of debate among customizers and rodders for decades.

Ryan Daves' 1950 Ford Tudor Custom