Is hot rodding a lifestyle for you?

My dad once told me if it has tits or tires you will have troubles but I told him you have to have balls to fuck with them. hot rodding is not a life style it should not matter what you wear or what you are building if its cool to you than ftw nothing else matters. The term RAT ROD god talk about a dead horse can any one tell me what a rat rod is because a hot rod is a hot rod flat paint stealies white walls sorry guys that sounds like a hot rod to me

 

Who fuckin cares!?!?!?!

Drop It, Chop It, Hammer It, Drive It!!......Ed "Big Daddy" Roth

 

I deal with cars all day and the guys at work look at me funny for driving my 63 and 55 Fords because they drive new G35s and Cadillacs. Me, I think they're the weird ones. I enjoy old cars, the history, the ingenuity, and the passion it took to build them. Do I look the part? Nah, I'm a short little white guy with a suit and tie on. I just don't think Elvis sideburns and a leather jacket with cuffed pants make you a car guy. But hey, I've been wrong before.

 

Good question. If its about messing around with cars, then yes. If its everything else that often gets assocciated with our style of hotrods, then no.

 

I am a old car addict,,a hot rod junkie and my dresser drawer has more than a few hot rod tee shirts,,,

I would have to say hot rods are an obsession for me,,,not a lifestyle,,HRP

My Biography:
I eat,sleep and dream about ol' cars,,,and spend way too much time here!

 

I wear a suit to work everyday, and spend the majority of my day on the phone, in meetings or presenting to someone.

The two things that keep me sane are my family and an old car in the garage.

As HRP said "hot rods are an obsession for me,,,not a lifestyle"

Having said that I have no objections for those that do 'live the lifestyle' in fact i am slightly envious of those that have a full Tiki kitchen and live in an old cigar factory!

Live and let live, it is all about the cars.

P.

 

I was going to say something similar, but you said it better!

 

My life style, is a family man..my hobby's are cars..flying..motorcycles..camping..
my prioraties are rasing my daughter and loving my wife!
after thats done, i like to play with old toys

 

Hot Rods are my drug, my addiction, my obsession and a big, make that HUGE part of my life, but I don't think it's my lifestyle since I don't drive one daily although I wish I could, and I dress normal, I live a normal life but nothing makes me happier than goin to the garage and working on getting my rod going or going to shows or races and hanging out with other car people, actually I don't think I have a single friend that doesn't have a car that is somewhat a hot rod or antique.

 

Not a lifestyle for me, but definitly a significant part of my life.

 

i'm pretty much obsessed with cars (and things of that nature) in general and always have been. i did'nt have any influences to get into cars growing up either, it just happened. from my earliest memories i was doodling and day dreaming about cars.
if you walked into my house there would be no doubt about what i'm into, from the pictures on the walls to the flamed 50s fridge in the living room. most of my shirts are hot rod related T-shirts. my tattoos are mostly hot rod inspired. my mail box has flames, many of my lawn tractors have had flames. hell, i've even been concidering painting flames on the walls of my home office.

sure i have other interests but they all take a back seat to hot rods but most can be tied into the hot rod thing in one way shape or form. such as my love of architecture and art and design in general. i love mechanical and industrial looking things as well as alot of the advertising, art, signs, gas pumps, furniture and other things from the past. so yeah. i'd say hot rodding is a pretty large part of my life. always has been and i can't hardly imagine it ever not being that way. as for it being my lifestyle. i guess that is subjective. i don't have a pompadore or wear cuffed jeans if that is what you mean but i don't have a problem with folks that do either. i've always had my own style thats a little bit punk, a little bit 50s, a little bit rock and roll (more towards the heavy metal side) and a little bit skate boarder. i don't think i fit into any particular "mold" but maybe i fit a little into all of them.

 

Cars are my excape from the joys of running my furniture making business. I use to Road Race but that was not fun any more ( politics- ect ) .
Three of use started a Street rod club in the area 10 years ago and I droped out of that ( bigger politics )
From there I just hung out until I found the HAMB and the Pair A Dice cruisers car club. The politics aren't bad and I have been having fun. Yes the people in The Pair A Dice cruisers club rib me a little for building two FORDS ( they all drive GM ) but in the last 4 years two other Ford owners have joined to spread out the ribbing.
As for the HAMB the four events I have attended have been great even though the 54 is not runnable every one was cool. In fact the HAMB drags last year was the best time I have ever had at a car event.

Now back to the woodshop to make money to buy car parts????

Jim H

 

I find I get consumed by different hobbies and interests at different times. I like to get to the point of being extremely knowledgeable and skilled in everything I undertake.

A funny thing I've found is that people are usually car people or they play sports on a regular basis, but not both. Being interested in both is actually difficult timewise. It's not easy going for an hour run and then come back and try to plan how to fabricate cab mounts for my truck, it's two totally different trains of thought.

Right now, it's a mix between airplanes (old and new) and old cars. Old cars are cheap compared to airplane stuff, which makes buying car parts all the more easier.

 

Build cars for customers during the day.Build for myself at night,I'll have time for sleep when I'm dead and even then they'll have to pry my dead cold fingers from my hot rod steering wheel.Still not sure if it is a lifestyle but sure is a great way to live.

 

Not sure if the original post is about looking the part, or living it. If it's about living it, then we should be wearing heavy-tint glass when we fire up that arc welder. No TIG since that was after 1963, right? Once we're done in the garage, we can't watch cable, use a computer or a cordless phone. Which I have no issue with.

I can't be that hardcore, or I wouldn't be posting this reply right now. In fact, I wouldn't be working at an international company communicating overseas either.

I appreciate the older styles of clothes, a slower-paced, possibly a simpler time, and that's what attracts me to traditional cars, and vintage stuff in general. Old books, old tools, old cars and motorcycles.

What I think is hilarious is any collection of people that dress the part to be "unique" and end up looking the same. Let me give you the hot rodder dress kit:

Long-ish hair greased back with Royal Crown or Murray's. Both arms sleeved with tats. Can be any content from harley davidson to HAMB. Probably not gonna find a butterfly or unicorn, though. Stiff, original issue Levis or Wrangler dark blue jeans, cuffed at least 4 inches over black engineer boots. Tucked white or black t-shirt emblazoned with car-related graphic on either front or back. Chain wallet with clasp attached to front beltloop. Standard buckle belt, possibly an oversized rodeo-style works too. Cowboy hat optional, but will interfere with the Pompadour.

Cigarette choices: Pall mall, Marlboro red, or Lucky, because that's what they smoked "back then". PBR, Lucky, Lone Star, in a can held in hand not being used to smoke.

Brooks model 7-11 motorcycle leather optional.
Usually seen in groups of at least three. can be confusing to distinguish between any two.

 

I'm growing a chiselhawk as we speak.

 

Not a lifestyle, just something I do.
Being a husband and a father, now thats a lifestyle!

 

fucking CLASSIC. love it.

as for the lifestyle, I have always seen a "lifestyle" as being where your absolute last chance at living goes, where that last penny goes, what you would do ANYTHING for.

Kids, parents, friends, loved ones, that's a lifestyle. Your "orientation" in my opinion does not tell who you are, it's just an attribute, so that isn't even a lifestyle. I think we all live the same lifestyle, and thats one of our family and friends. Period. If you don't........your more or less an asshole beyond belief.

Minitruckers have been asking this same question lately and it seems that the "hardcore" guys say they live a minitruckin lifestyle, screaming "drag on" or "if it don't lay, you didnt build it right". Narrow minded numbfucks.

Sure, I typically wear red and black, hat with the bill curved up. Why? Because I was doing it before I knew it was a "west coast thing". I'm not throwin a pound of gel, chuck taylors, tube socks, and bowling shirts on haha, thats rediculous.

The cars are our VISION, PASSION, HOBBY. Not our lifestyle, culture, or being. It's all about the cars, friends, long nights, bloody knuckles, and stories. I once saw a saying that said something like "When the reaper comes to take my last breath he's gunna have to take a seat for a few because I am going to have so many fuckin stories to tell. He may even get so pissed he leaves." That's what it's all about in my book. Memories.

 

I think its hard to define the term "lifestyle". You can always tell the people that put on the "act". In my opinion, people that are totally into a hobby are in it because they like it. Not because its a fad they read about in a magazine or saw on the idiot box. My "lifestyle" is family first, and in no order, cars, motorcycles, food, beer, painting, etc. Ive never felt I had to dress or act a certain way to prove that.

I ride a Harley. I ride it because I want to. It was my only transportation for some time. I think its sad when Im getting gas and a guy on a bike, other than a Harley feels the need to justify why he is riding the type of bike that he is. In my book, if your riding because you like to ride, it doesnt matter what kind of bike it is. You know the whole "If I have to explain it, you wouldnt understand" bit.

I dont have an old car yet. Still waiting to find exactly what I want. Im not going to rush out and buy the first beat up old car to try and fit in and the local sit and polish car show.

I listen to old timers about the way it was. I respect the hardships that they faced. I use their experiences to make my life better.

 

It doesnt dictate what I wear or who I hang with. Its just a hobby. One that I am obsessed with and probably need therapy for.

 

Lifestyle yes, if thinking about cars all of the time or thinking about how I am going to do this, or that, or fab this up for my car is a lifstyle. I do not dress the part but every shirt I wear besides to work has a car, or related logo on them.

 

The day I cut the exhaust off my Cadillac Seville that was only a couple years old at the time and welded up my own catback in the driveway so I could hear the 32 valve Northstar V8 at 6k was the day I realized I had a problem. I have since concentrated my efforts on my 26 T Modified I decided to build.

 

I like old stuff. I drive, ride, collect old stuff. Cars and bikes are on my mind more than sex. I think old things have so much class and soul and tangibility.

Other than that, I'm not into that "scene." The hair, clothes, certain tattoos, way of customizing the cars... the whole thing seems like a clique, fashion statement. Or, as I say, a punk rock retirement plan. I guess it's what's cool at the moment.

I just like the cars, not a lifestyle.

 

Nearly the same for me! I build racecars day and night, hot rodz when I can, sometimes when I can't. Lifestyle maybe.

I got a few dressup clothes for the show, but my normal clothes are like every other rodder, passenger side pants pocket chewed up from a tape measure, shirts full of holes from snagging sumthin or from being on fire.

Every one asks what happened to your shirt? How about asking what happened to me, I was in this shirt when the holes were made!

 

"old rap" ?????? are you more than 20 years old?

 

I eat, sleep and dream about hot rods and race cars... so, yea... it is.

But no, I don't dress the part.

Sam.

 

I guess that really depends on what you define "lifestyle" as.
I like old cars.
I like working on old cars.
I like driving old cars (though I don't do that enough).
I like to try and understand how old cars work.
I like to make parts for old cars. That means dragging old machines into teh garage and refurbing them so I can make parts for my old cars. And sometimes means making the machines to make the parts I need.

"Looking the part" never made my radar because for me it's NOT about what YOU think (how you "see" me) - it's about what I think and I'm just too damn busy to care what I look like to everyone else. Some will hold that against me and that's ok. Personally I'd rather focus on forming sheetmetal than cuffing my jeans.

But hey - more power to those that wanna enjoy the "sport" how they see fit. I don't think "my way" is right for anyone other than me!

 

Most of the guys that try to "look" the part drive primered 4 doors anyway. They dont really build their cars, they just primer them, paint the wheels red, and torch the coils. Big fricking deal. Most of the really tallented builders I have met live the part by expressing themselves in their cars, not their wardrobe.

 

It's a lifestyle, end of story.