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Health of the hobby in your area?

5K views 58 replies 19 participants last post by  painted jester 
#1 ·
Hi. I just wanted to see if other communities are having the activity level we are.

Tucson is about a million people, and our climate allows for the best activities in the Spring and Fall.

During the Spring and Fall we have about a half dozen large organized shows of a few hundred cars... but almost any day of the year there is 1-6 daily gatherings scattered around the valley.

Of course there are organized shows, but at least half of the events are "cruises" meant for social enjoyment. Those events usually occur in the daytime three quarters of the year... then move to nights during the heat of the Summer.

There is lots of variety too, with some events focused on one make... or a particular era, such a street rods. This community is varied enough to have large contingents in many genres, such as low riders, hot rods, muscle cars, customs, sports cars, etc etc. Throw in a handful of other things, like the local drag strips activities... longer cruises that cover multiple stops within about 50 miles... and fund raisers... promotions for businesses... and you have the makings of a "Motorhead's Paradise"!

I know the trends are always changing, and sometimes it seems the styles and direction change... but that does not seem to lessen the number of people willing to organize events!

What kind of things are happening in your neighborhood that get you excited???
 
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#30 ·
I bought a 38 Plymouth in 1968 a 30 yr. old car at the time and thought it was a realy old and raced at drag strips and on the streets and streetrodded it and went to many shows and rod runs and the cut off to enter a show then was "built before 1948"!!!:D But I just bought an 82 Trans AM for my wife and it doesn't seem old to me at ALL LOL and its 32 yrs. old LOL :D 2 yrs older then my Plymouth was when I bought it :confused: And still at some shows today there is a 1948 cut off!! Now I wonder why the cut off date never changed at some shows, and why do I feel that the Firebird is a newer car today :confused: then the Plymouth was when I bought it 46 yrs ago! Its funny how I feel I feel the same about my 77 Vette to me its not old LOL:nono:

Jester

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#31 ·
Here on the west coast of Florida there are a number of cruse in shows every week and one of them has an average of about 150-170 cars each Thursday evening.

The other shows around here get about 50-70 cars each.

The thing I see changing the most is the age of the cars at the shows.

It seems there are more cars between the years of 1955 and 1980 then anything else right now.

Jim Hill
 
#32 ·
The hobby is BOOMING in my area, all over the bay area, out into the valley, it is BOOMING.

I see no pattern what so ever, ZERO pattern as far as rich dudes, rat rods, middle of the road dudes I see ZERO pattern. They are all flourishing across America as a whole if you ask me.

Brian
 
#33 ·
I see by reading these that a few of our views vary quite a bit LOL I am talking about small lawn shows maybe a hundred driven cars and a few trailer Queens with big pockets, The little guy who built his own car or had it built and it becomes part of him! And doesn't care about a trophy or prize money!! I'm not talking Martini and highballs top end shows or shows restorers with 94 point cars would lift an eyebrow at!!

I see young beginners enter some car shows with a rough car under construction here and get the cold shoulder from some of the other contestants and the beginner builder leaves or is hurt!!! because he will be standing by his car and other car owners will walk by laughing about the bondo in the car or the waves in the quarter panel and the guy or girl or family can hear the COMMENTS :mad: Or a big club gets together in a huddle and all vote for the same cars LOL

LOL Rat rod shows are cool because everyone is friendly and no matter how bad the car is everyone finds something good about it :thumbup:

I am no rat rodder but in my younger years I drove some pretty ratty rods :DLOL

Its really booming here each year it gets bigger and better with new shows or cruises in new towns:thumbup: They just dont know how to promote them:confused: years ago the shows and clubs were all listed on Michigan Hot Rod Association news letters and then on the internet but now you look up MHRA and its like dead:eek: no one registers their shows! I come back to my car and its full of these show FLYERS thrown all over my seats , under my wipers and any where they can stick them I have dreams of waking up and find one stuck in my A S S :pain: LOL:mwink: Or I get called up for a door prize and get a sented CANDLE:eek: or once I got designer LIP STICK :mad::evil: LOL

A little humor:mwink:!!! I love cruises and lawn shows:thumbup: and always have a great time and I know the good people to be friendly with and always introduce myself and my friends to new rodders I see:)

Jester
 
#34 ·
the best way to get a handle on it is to look into sales. there is a large market full of cars for sale. the streetrod market went soft over 10 years ago . the higher end will remain strong because the cars are an investment . early trucks still sell well but the same years in cars struggle to bring 50 cents on the dollar . with the internet the supply is larger now which holds down price. not sure where it will end. i have watched the model t fade away followed by the model a's . with each passing generation so goes the cars they drove .
 
#36 ·
painted jester; I see young beginners enter some car shows with a rough car under construction here and get the cold shoulder from some of the other contestants and the beginner builder leaves or is hurt!!! because he will be standing by his car and other car owners will walk by laughing about the bondo in the car or the waves in the quarter panel and the guy or girl or family can hear the COMMENTS :mad: Or a big club gets together in a huddle and all vote for the same cars LOL LOL Rat rod shows are cool because everyone is friendly and no matter how bad the car is everyone finds something good about it :thumbup: I am no rat rodder but in my younger years I drove some pretty ratty rods :DLOL Jester[/QUOTE said:
I just LOVE walking right by a painted lady without a second glance and stopping and checking out a rat rod right next to it and watching that stuffed shirt deflate....
When I see a kid with a ratty rod I give him my card and tell him to stop by the shop and I'll give him a few pointers. but I like the car and he has a lot of potential...
I don't know why older guys try to hurt instead of help these kids. Well they probably CANT help, all they are good at is opening that wallet...I'd hate to see one of my customers acting like that.
 
#39 ·
I agree. It's not a contest about which guy spent the most money, it's about cool pinstriping and creative things done to the car. Most are pieces of craps but the atmosphere is a lot better in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I like looking at top notch cars and think they're awesome too.
 
#37 ·
whoa , i think you have it backwards mike . i haven't seen a show where no rats allowed . but i have seen many no billet shows. i can tell you this much , when some kid born in the 90's starts telling someone my age what real hotrodding is they will get shot down . i refuse to even listen to them nor will i allow them anywhere near my shop . any car guy is welcome but the minute you start bashing chrome or billet i show you the door. i never knew a hotrodder who would pass up a piece of chrome .

i would rather talk with a kid with a quick civic than one purposely building junk .
 
#38 ·
I am sure many of you have had similar experiences to me.

One thing I have learned in my 40+ years of helping other builders is that no two people like exactly the same things!!!

Thank God for that, since it is what makes "customizing" happen. Lord help us when they all start looking alike!

If we get to that point, I will stop being involved! That would be TOOOOOO BORING! {:-(
 
#40 ·
I have spent a lifetime trying to build or help build beautiful rods and customs. It was never about the money at all. I also have customers who do a lot of their own work... bust their butt doing it... do not have big egos... and do not bash rats. That seems to more often go the other way. The funny part is that many times I have seen a young guy abandon his "bashing" as soon as he can afford something a little nicer... then he changes his building style.

What I can say about rats in general is that they seem to often include more imagination. I think many older guys are trying to build the cars they have admired for several decades, so new ideas are often never considered.

It never has to be a competition or a jealous rivalry ....until some people make it that way. {:-(
 
#41 ·
I think the rivalry if anything is from the rat rod community. They have all the rules about no shiny paint, no billet, no trailer queens, no OCC chopper style bikes, etc etc. I actually saw a poor boys flyer stating all this. They are really fun car shows though. I can appreciate it all. Car wise it's show cars all the way but for the fun of it all I like the rat rod shows.

What I'd like to see is more blue collar workers with these high dollar cars instead of always seeing a rich retired white guy with them. It would be nice to see more latinos or brothers with them but that's just me.
 
#42 · (Edited)
deadbodyman:welcome:
"I don't know why older guys try to hurt instead of help these kids. Well they probably CANT help, all they are good at is opening that wallet...I'd hate to see one of my customers acting like that."


I think I know why:mwink:
The young guys & gals that come up in the hobby the hard way with little money that struggle to get a car at least runnable and drive for fun while Finishing it as they go, seems as if as they grow older they remember that:mwink:!! And help young struggling car people !! I'm like that :D I see myself in them 50 yrs ago when older rodders and my dad who raced cars gave me help or my friends all came over and chipped in help on my first car! Ive seen through the yrs Guys that grew up with no memory's of that, that pay to have a car built or buy it already done have no sympathy for the young or struggling rodder and have no ability to help if they wanted too because they have always had the money to pay to have everything done for them and cut down cars of lesser quality!!!! I had a beat up 50 ford in high school and had 2 paper routs, and a job 2hrs a night as a bottle boy in a small store and still couldn't afford much and took a ribbing every day from the boys who's parents bought them a newer car (GTOs, 409s,ETC!) I remember my car being put down and my girl being embarrassed parked in "Dog And Suds" and the feeling in the pit of my stomach and the FIGHTS:boxing: I had with these A S S es:boxing:! That's the same thing I see right now at cruises and shows BIG or SMALL:mad:
That's what formed part of my attitude towards people! I try to in-stow my attitude in people towards others!

Its like those high school kids that cut my and others car down got old but never matured and didn't learn a thing and their kids today follow in their foot steps!! Now don't take this wrong there are great guys with money to burn that don't act like that with great cars and guys with no money that act stupid!too :D

I help anyone that needs it!! And give many thing away free to the deserving Rodder! I give my Labor free Too to those with no money and tell them to pay me back by helping someone else!!

Ive built High end concourse cars, Customs, hotrods, ratrods, worked on riddler award cars and tons of choppers and bobbers and made big MONEY and ground pounding DRAG cars and got the bucks at top end shops and enjoyed all of it If I didn't it wouldn't be my chosen TRADE:thumbup: I was lucky in my life and good enough to open my own Custom and hotrod shop for 30 yrs till I retired! But the best I ever feel is donating my time and knowledge to young or old rodder who needs it and appreciates it and they can see most of us in the hobby are not A S S es:thumbup:

I guess that is why most of us are on here donating our time and Knowledge NOW:thumbup: To help other!!!:mwink: Because I have other things I could be doing LIKE SAND BLASTING MY DIFFERENTIAL LOL



Jester
 
#43 ·
I've seen the flyers that seem to segregate themselves from the street rods and nicer cars, but I've never personally met one of those guys that didn't appreciate a nice car. Paint, chrome, billet or otherwise. I would personally never put any of the "billet" stuff on my car because I don't care for the look, but it's not because I hate shiny stuff, I love good looking chrome, I just don't like the design of the billet stuff. Only reason I've never had a car with nice paint is because I work a blue collar job and have a family to support. Just having something to wrench on is enough right now. I would love to lay some paint eventually though.

I do have to say though that some of those "rat rod" hang-around types get a little too wrapped up in the niche and the aesthetics of themselves almost more so than the car, but I guess that's just typical of my age bracket. Not my scene.
 
#44 ·
I've seen the flyers that seem to segregate themselves from the street rods and nicer cars, but I've never personally met one of those guys that didn't appreciate a nice car. Paint, chrome, billet or otherwise. I would personally never put any of the "billet" stuff on my car because I don't care for the look, but it's not because I hate shiny stuff, I love good looking chrome, I just don't like the design of the billet stuff. Only reason I've never had a car with nice paint is because I work a blue collar job and have a family to support. Just having something to wrench on is enough right now. I would love to lay some paint eventually though.

I do have to say though that some of those "rat rod" hang-around types get a little too wrapped up in the niche and the aesthetics of themselves almost more so than the car, but I guess that's just typical of my age bracket. Not my scene.
I have been to Billit Proof before and honestly, it was kinda like a Star Trek convention, or a Renaissance fair.



It really was, kinda cartoonish. I dug a lot of the cars, but I think it was more about the "scene" than the cars for them.

Brian JMO
 
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#47 · (Edited)
Rat rodders: its not the car for most of them its a Life style!!! Influenced by Todays "Teddyboy" Greaser culture from Europe and mixed with our Rockabilly greaser Music style, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Eddy Cochren, ETC And hot rod cars like my fathers of years long gone They used to frequent my shop regularly and scare the PANTS off the old ladies in my neighborhood because of their look:eek: ( OLD SKOOL GREASER, ROCK AND ROLE)LOL! Many are best friends! Its comparable to the influence old Biker Movies Had on the BIKER life style leading all the way to today's Bikers!! I'm OLD SKOOL Greaser And like building my cars OLD SKOOL! But Im not a RATrodder LOL. But they are a GREAT bunch!! And the movement is growing! I posted 2 examples from u tube TEDDYBOYS AND RATRODDERS they remind me of the 50s and early 60s in the USA ( MY YOUTH in JR HIGH AND HIGH SCHOOL:thumbup::mwink:) I loved those years of my life you young guys really missed some by gone great years!!!:( The car shows and cruises we have now are the legacy (left to us by guys like my father) of cruises and shows of the 50s & 60s:thumbup:

Jester:D





 
#54 ·
The red head girl dresses pretty gooood in my book :thumbup: just like the 50s & 60s unless I'm getting so old I don't know HOTTTT:eek: When I see or touch it:evil: Any of you guys watch "Rat rod TV" Its pretty good We only get a couple at the shows up here:confused: and there are no ratrod shows in my area but we still get a lot ratbikes at the shows!

Jester

 
#55 ·
Hey Jay.. We talked at Little Anthony's show yesterday..I had the Jaguar. Need to work on Stude mill..

I agree..but then I really do not see much rat rod "Kulture" or many real rat rods here. Mostly young guys building as they can afford..
If it's a safe built car..I have no problem with it. I do not like the comic book rats..but people grow up..maybe that's all it is..

The Health of the Hobby here seems great and growing..

The
 
#56 ·
Once the weather is decent here, there is someplace to go cruise every night of the week. I see a little bit of everything from new to junkers. I haven't recently run across any of the snobs who put down cars. It got bad here a number of years ago and actually kept me from going to shows. I have truly hand built 98% of my car and worked on a number of others. I don't put down anything anybodies builds. I may not like their style but I can appreciate the hard work and admiration you get for building it with your own two hands. My car is no gem but it looks fine from behind the steering wheel for me ! My son and and a number of his friends like old cars. My son drives a rusty 74 Chevy Vega Notchback to school and he gets a bunch of crap for it as in our town we have a well to do bunch of kids whos parents buy them newer cars than I would by for myself. My son is looking for something older. He actually wants a 58 Chevy. Our family is all about the hot rod. My brother has a LS powered 75 Nova and my dad has a 69 Vette and a 2001 Z28. It's all his fault ! He is an original hot rodder with a wealth of backyard know how. It was cool to see him and my son wrenching on the 265 my dad pulled out of his 55 Chevy in 1960 which I now have on my engine stand !
 
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