Is hot rodding a lifestyle for you?

On another thread, a poster talked about hot rodding being a lifestyle. He was referring to clothes, music, etc. I love hot rodding and have been into it for nearly 50 years. However, it doesn't define who I am and it isn't a lifestyle for me. There are many other things that would define me. For one example, my wife and I travel about a third of the year in our RV.

Anyway, I'm curious. Are you so hardcore that you can truly call hot rodding your lifestyle? Does it define you? Do people identify you as a hot rodder above all other labels?

 

I enjoy my rods, building them and driving them. But it is only a hobby and just part of my life. And like all hobbies, it is a deversion from the day-to-day realities of life.

 

Yeah, its a big part of my life. But I aint one of those greaser guys that tries to dress like Fonzy or anything. Thats takin it a little too far. Hardly nobody dressed like that in the 50's anyway.

 

I don't do the "Dress up Thing" but rods and customs are a big part of my life.
Lifestyle?--Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll----But now I like cool cars...OLDBEET

 

yeah all the guys wore cats eye glasses and poodle skirts and the girls wore cuffed jeans and engineer boots.......its big hoax bro....
fonzy was a SHE!!

 

Kulture = gay.

 

old cars, and the aquisition, construction, and use of them, are an ENORMOUS part of my life. One of my few joys...besides sex, music, food, art, and delicious beer...keep your hands busy, keep your mind agile. Yes, it is a lifestyle, but, not a dress code...or a pissing contest...If I want that, I'll go to the track, who the hell cares what Art, Music, or hairstyle I like...It is about CARS!!!

 

Nope.

 

I just do it to attract the swinging dick.

 

I could not have said it any better if i tried myself!!

So i have to fully agree with what he said^^

Tony

 

I like old stuff, I buy old stuff, I drive old stuff, I listen to old stuff, I surf old stuff (when I get out), Sometimes I wear old stuff, I play old stuff through old stuff, I like looking at and photographing old stuff, I read old stuff, I like the way old stuff smells, I like to dig through old stuff...old stuff is my lifestyle.

 

Building is my passion...To turn it into a subculture is goofy

 

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100&#37;" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Even though I don't dress the part, I find that I don't have much interest hanging out with people who aren't into old cars and bikes.
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Lifestyle?
I dunno bout that fancy werd, but I can tell you that old cars are the ONLY reason I breathe in and out.
I do not own a modern car.
My newest is a 1966 and thats only because my parents drove it for 25 years.
I dont drive it often, too new.
I drive my 1939 Ford pickup the most .
16 years now, thru 4 states, often pulling a trailer with another old car loaded on the trailer
My favorite is my 1931 Ford coupe, original engine, been driving it about 11 years, its been on 1000 mile trips with me.
I have 8 Model As, 4 running plus a running chassis, one is a chopped channeled coupe, done in 1954
I really really like 1935, 36 and 37 Ford pickups, have about 6 of them, been driving a 35 for years.
I have 8 or 9 1940 Ford pickups waiting to be built.
I have a 57 chevy, been driving it about 9 years
A 59 Ford, about 9 years
I have a running, legal 1954 Flxible, (that is spelled correctly)
I have a 1947 Mercury with a 392 Hemi, I bought it in 1967
I have many other ol cars, too.
I have a bunch of American made motorcycles, including a 1946 Harley I have been riding for 32 years and a 1942 Harley, had it about 24 years
My garage is 40 X 100 plus a 35 X 35 carport and other buildings.
Yeah, I'm serious about hotrods

 

Rods and customs, and everything that goes into building them, are about a quarter of my life. There are other hobbies that take up another quarter, and the last half is all friends and family.

Lifestyle? (shrugs)

 

I spend a ggod portion of my "life" surrounded by cars, but I wouldn't say I've made a life-style out of it.

 

I would say vintage shit is my lifestyle

 

Hot rodding is definitely my life, second to my son. That being said, I would never let it dictate another part of my life. Such as clothes, music, etc. I'm so sick of that "scene."

 

I've been hooked on gasoline for almost forty years. Building cars is my passion. The challenge to do something I haven't done before, or to do something better than I did it last time, or learn something I didn't know before, that's what drives me. I do it for fun, I do it to make a living, I do it it because I love it. It's my passion, not my lifestyle.

Craig

 

Hmm..Kulture. I'm not really sure what that is. I've seen guys that dress "the part." But how many of those guys really dressed that way back then. Most of the guys I've seen pictures of looked like AG's Toad, or looked like Johnny Unitas.

I always though it was cooler to dig the cars first, and maybe gravitate toward other period styled things, not thinking you need a Hot Rod cause' you think the Stray Cats are cool.

Of course some dudes just like old shit in general.


Makes me think of something Hellfish said to me one time.

Me: "Wow, I can't believe you remember me from the Pile-up."

Hellfish: "Of course I remember you. With your long hair, ...you're the only guy here that doesn't have a pompadour..."

I'm a hotrodder at heart, but I don't fit the part.

 

You bring up a good point, I too have been sick of that "scene" for many years now. I dont consider the "scene" to have anything to do with old stuff, its just a whole different thing than what used to be.

So are we talking about a hot rodding lifestyle that is eat, sleep, and dream hot rods or about if you have the "vintage" "rockabilly/psychobilly" hot rod and custom tattoo pomade lifestyle ???

 

I would definately say I live it everyday.

 

Cars have been part of my lifestile for over 40 years but, I do not dress the part or care about shows and cruises etc. To go to one and sit around in a folding chair at your car all day is boring. Going to local shows and competing for a cheep trophy is also boring. The most fun you can have with an old car is to drive it, take your wife out to lunch
go visit friends etc.
I do not schedule my life around cars and car shows, if one comes up and I am free I will go if there is a family event ,that comes first.Years ago when my parents were sick, I ignored cars for years to take care of them and have no regrets.

 

This is interesting. I am a long time lurker and have found most of the hambers that I have met over the years are just what you guys are discribing. Too cool for school attitude. Smart ass and not willing to talk to you unless you have the right clothes ect. Or snub thier nose up at me If I have fuel injection on my shoebox. This is why I typically do not post on this board. Have been treated rudely on here as well as at other functions. Im not saying that is the way all of you guys are but their are some that leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Do I live the lifestyle I would say I do. I have had my own shop now for 7 years. Do i do alot of vintage stuff. Not as much as I would like. Unfortunatly the guys with the money come in the muscle car varity. So that is what I am stuck with most of the time.

I would say the definition of hot rodding is doin what you like and not what other people say is cool. If I have a piece of billet on my car and i like it so what! Thats what I like. I think that is what makes hot rodding interesting. If you all have the same stuff its not interesting anymore. Just go to your local Orileys Autorama and see all the stock muscle cars all in a row. Boring!!

So do what you want. Do what you think is cool. That is my Idea of Hot rodding and the Kulture that should go with it.

 

I don't dress the Kulture your talking about I guess, but I don't own a shirt that dosen't have a logo of some sort (car related).

I go to work just to pay for more parts, I work on them every day, and dream about them every night. If the conversation isn't car related, I bearly have anything to say.... We plan our lives around races and Rod runs. My wife and I get out and cruize every Saturday night - rain, snow or heat. All the friends we have are friends we made through the car world.

So is rodding a lifestyle for me... yes!

 

I think most of the guy's that are into this Kulture thing are completely off from what it was really like in the 50's.I was just a kid then but I don't remember it that way.

 

i've worked on cars since i was 17 (when i got my first car), it was what i could afford ('73 camaro $500) it got me through high school as i got more money i bought older cars. i've listened to big band and swing music since i was a little kid because of my grandparents (but listen to more modern and other stuff too). i cuff my levis because i'm fat and short, i wear work boots because they come in extra wide, i have vintage styled dress shirts for fancy places, i have sideburns because i was jake blues for halloween in '91 or '92 and liked them, i had long hair but cut it for my grandmas birthday (and i'm bald), i really like old things because they have style and last a long time. i do go to antique malls, buy old stuff off ebay and plan my life around car swapmeets. i don't really go to car shows or hamb functions because i'm a shy loner. i do get a kick out of talking to the oldtimers about the way it was (i do believe they are the greatest generation), i also get a kick out of telling others i found a camera from the 30's and sadly i get excited when i find a steel penny from 1943. i don't have a new car (1964 is the newest) but i want a/c because sweating sucks. i worked on 30's-60's cars at night (after the regular work day) for 4 years at a texaco station where i wore a vintage station uniform (with the hat) sometimes. i would consider it more then just a hobby for me because most everything around my house is car related (majority of it vintage car related) and talk about them at work. i also don't have any tattoos and don't plan on getting any, the only body mod i have is my belly.

so what the hell am i.......besides messed up.

 

When I'm relaxing, sipping on a beer, I don't care how much you spent to look like charles manson, or that I should buy this or that, and get this or that punched, or carved-on. I'd rather shoot the shit about anything besides that. Bottom line, Scandinavians don't look good in ink, so it ain't gonna happen on this cruise.

 

Ive always wanted to find one of those pennies ..I usually end up with the late 50's ones

 

i just turned in about $130 worth of pennies at coinstar (1/2 full sparklets jug, 10 year collection) and it won't take the old pennies. so i wound up with about 15 from the 30's-50's and 1 was the steel beauty.