True 40s. Hot rod
- Thread starter 71chevy
- Start date
There is this thread on the HAMB. 1940's period correct hot rods - THE H.A.M.B.
Tom Wesenberg
Well-known member
Frame sag, look at the hood bottom gap in the first picture.
hefty lefty
Member
99 percent of these "traditional hot rods" are not traditional at all in terms of what actually was done back then. Most hot rods were very regional, people in a certain area usually did similar things. And the pictures we see in the old hot rod books and magazines and from Hollywood films are always of the cars the magazine publishers and the writers wanted shown, not what was typical.
People used scrounged paint and materials a lot, and workmanship varied wildly. But never was anything made to look beat up, aged, or salvaged from odd places (e.g., bomber seats, riveted panels, aircraft or locomotive gauges) on purpose. People wanted it to look as nice as they could with the time, materials and skills they had.
People built hot rods because they had more time and energy and skills (or wanted to learn the skills on the way) than money. They used what they could afford for mechanicals. There were professional mechanics and machinists and upholsterers that catered to the hot rod trade, but no Chip Fooses or Boyd Coddingtons.
Look at some of the photos of the old dry lakes and early drag race and hot rod meets. No tattoos or tackle. Women, if present not dressed provocatively or in goth attire. Men dressed to work but neat usually.
If you could take photos of the modern "old school rod" gatherings back in time to these people and show them to them they would be baffled and probably a little upset.
People used scrounged paint and materials a lot, and workmanship varied wildly. But never was anything made to look beat up, aged, or salvaged from odd places (e.g., bomber seats, riveted panels, aircraft or locomotive gauges) on purpose. People wanted it to look as nice as they could with the time, materials and skills they had.
People built hot rods because they had more time and energy and skills (or wanted to learn the skills on the way) than money. They used what they could afford for mechanicals. There were professional mechanics and machinists and upholsterers that catered to the hot rod trade, but no Chip Fooses or Boyd Coddingtons.
Look at some of the photos of the old dry lakes and early drag race and hot rod meets. No tattoos or tackle. Women, if present not dressed provocatively or in goth attire. Men dressed to work but neat usually.
If you could take photos of the modern "old school rod" gatherings back in time to these people and show them to them they would be baffled and probably a little upset.
hefty lefty
Member
Not anywhere in the Midwest, that's for sure.
California hot rodding is the best documented because that's where all the media was done. The East Coast had hot rods but the media there were not very interested in them. It was seen as a declasse' activity. It was infra dig.
Still, no Bettie Page, no goth, mostly parts common to the junkyards of the day. The show cars had candies, flakes and pearls but you rarely saw that on the street, and even then it was mostly well into the 1960s.
Rex_A_Lott
Well-known member
1931 flamingo
Well-known member
Nice hood ornament................................
Paul in CT
Paul in CT
53F100Jeffie
Member
Looks like she is mounting the hood.
dumb person
Well-known member
My thoughts too, almost exactly.
