Roadtrip!

I will not be posting at all for the next week as I am driving around the southeastern United States. Specifically, I am going to Memphis, TN for the world's best ribs, New Orleans, LA for Mardi Gras, Atlanta, GA to visit some friends, Nashville, TN to go to the Lane Motor Museum, Elizabethtown, KY to go to the Swope's Museum, Lafayette, IN to visit a cousin, and finally back into Chicago, IL. All together, I'll be driving around 2,200 miles over the course of the week and passing through ten states. See you all when I return!

Hot Rods: Foose, Coddington, Barris, and the Birth of the Ultra Rod (Part VII)

The popularity of Beatnik rod's demonstrated a public interest in hot rods that spilled well beyond the shores of the disgruntled teens. Additionally, those teenagers of the 1950's and 1960's were getting older, getting jobs, and getting less rebellious. One of the first generations to really enjoy the virtually unbridled prosperity of the post-WWII era, the Baby Boomers, as they are now known, may have traded their jeans and undershirts for suits, but never lost their wayward spirit. The heady days of their youth, when time was limitless and money was tight had given way to the opposite situation as they entered their 40's and 50's in the 1980's and 1990's. Nostalgic urges and dreams of days gone by prompted many Boomers to want to relive their glory days (both real and imagined), and the automobile was one route that they could take to do this.

It was out of this cauldron that a new type of hot rod was born. Wanting to revisit their past, many guys that had once built or lusted after hot rods as teens could now afford to pay for someone else to build one for them. No longer constrained by the limitations of meager fund or extra help, Boomers of means were willing to pay for the ride of their dreams to be built. These radical new rides were still extreme and individual, but were somewhat tempered with the age of the clientele. No longer willing to deal with the sacrifices of a home built car, these new 'hot rodders' wanted a noticeable ride, with all the attributes of a true hot rod, but built to incredibly high standards. The Ultra Rod was born.

The idea of a very stylish hot rod, built to impeccable standards, and designed to standout was largely the provenance of the Barris Brothers, Sam and George Barris. The two were born in Chicago but later moved to Southern California as children. After Sam's tour of duty in the US Navy, they opened the shop and created the first 'Kustom Cars,' and early prelude to Ultra Rods of today. Together, they created the first truly modern 1952 Hirohata Merc, based on a 1951 Mercury Coupe. Still an icon today, the car started a series of Barris customs that would set the trend for top notch hot rods.

Following the Barris' lead, other young designers began to get into the business of building hot rods. Boyd Coddington, a machinist from Idaho began building hot rods in the late 1970's. His memorable creations helped kickstart the career of other young designers like Chip Foose. Foose, a Southern California design student, worked part-time for Boyd after graduating from the Art Center College of Design and later ended up running Boyd's company. Foose's unique hot rod's represented a decidedly modern look at a classic concept. He based his cars on the designs of everything from old Fords and Chevys to European classics such as Delahayes and even 1960's muscle cars. He now has his own company that not only builds cars, but also merchandises everything from clothes to models, much like his predecessor Ed Roth. These and other designers pushed forward the style of the Ultra Rod.

As with anything, when you hire someone else to do the work, it doesn't come cheap. The high cost of parts and labor meant even the most basic rod could cost a minimum of $50,000 and the most expensive rods could peter out at half a million dollars. The rebellious nature originally associated with hot rods was still strong, and it was cemented by the wide spread appearance of hot rods in the music and videos of rockers such as Sammy Hagar, ZZ Top, and other popular bands. Today, the super-premium hot rod market is thriving and permeates popular culture in TV (through shows like Overhaulin' and American Hot Rod) and movies. A lot of traditionalists scoff at the phenomenon, mostly because it side-steps what many consider to be the most important part of the car, the fact that the owner built it, but no one can deny the convenience of it or the importance of the Ultra Rod to the modern popularity of the hot rod.

Pictures, clockwise from lower left, are of Billy Gibbon's 1949 Cadillac Series 62 Sedanette "CadZZilla," Chip Foose's 1998 Foose Design Shockwave, the buck used to make the aforementioned car, and finally "Grand Master," a 1935 Chevrolet Master 2-Door Sedan based hot rod

Hot Rods: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and the Beatnik Rods (Part VI)

Drifting far away from rat rods, but remaining of the theme of extreme personalization, I'd like to focus on Beatnik Hot Rods. To many, Beatnik rods are considered the ultimate in imaginative design, with shapes and colors that literally look out of this world. To understand these cars though, you have to look at the people who built them--namely: Beatniks.

Beatniks are an outgrowth of the 1950's and early 1960's 'Beat Generation,' who were basically the rebellious youths of their day. Personified in the writings and life of Jack Kerouac, beatniks had all the makings of great hot rodders; they were counter-culture youth longing to express themselves and possessing huge amounts of artistic and creative talent...combined with the free time that comes with being an unemployed or slightly employed disgruntled teen or twenty-something. Beatnik rods were designed to transport the user and viewer to another place, more mentally than physically. Unlike rat rods, which are ruggedly utilitarian, Beatnik rods were alien and unworldly. Even more so, the use of original parts was uncommon, almost every part of the car was fabricated, much of it from an old material fairly new car building-fiberglass.

The true pioneer, icon, and greatest champion of Beatnik rods was hot rod builder and artist Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth. Roth, a Southern California child of the Beat Generation started his career painting pin stripes and flames. It was during this time in the late 1950's that he developed an icon that still lives on to this day: Rat Fink. The unofficial mascot of the Beatnik rod (and most every other hot rod, save for the ultra modern, high tech, and expensive rods I'll talk about tomorrow), Rat Fink was a crazed, hideous rat-like creature with a penchant for burn-outs. Also in the late 50's and early 60's, Roth created a bunch of vehicles that fit the Rat Finks wild persona.

Unlike anything that had ever been seen before, Roth's hot rods were based on the usual bits, mostly 1920's and 30's Fords, but were bodied with strange and wild fiberglass bodies topped off with eccentric pearlescent paint jobs. Roth also was one of the first designers to put a bubble top on a hot rod, something that had become increasingly popular among jet-age automobile designers. With exotic names like 'Beatnik Bandit' and 'Mysterion' and looks that were wild enough to stand above the rest by attractive enough to be adored by the masses, Roth capitalized on the phenomenon with a series of t-shirts, models, and posters that are still popular today.

The style the Roth pioneered and championed still lives on now with some hot rodders. Recently, a freshly completed 1955 Ford Custom called the 'Beatnik Bubbletop' sold at auction for a touch under $400,000 (see lot 141). Roth's cars are currently on display at the Petersen Museum in LA call Ed "Big Daddy" Roth: The Original Rat Fink. It is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area. Also, for a comprehensive list of Roth's show cars, check out MrGasser.com.

Tomorrow I'll look at Kustom Kars and the growth of the modern 'ultra-rod.'

Pictures, clockwise from lower left, are of the 1960 Beatnik Bandit, the many faces of Rat Fink, the 1959 Outlaw, the 1963 Mysterion, Carl Casper's Hemi-powered 'Ultra-Rod,' and a a 1933 Ford Hot Rod by Ron Price and painted by Ed Roth.

Hot Rods: Rat Rods- The Counter Counter Culture (Part V)

Arguably one of the most eclectic and interesting elements of the hot rod and hot rodding community are Rat Rods and the people who make them. A Rat Rod is basically a modified vintage American car, built using entirely vintage parts, and designed to look rough or unfinished. A certain emphasis it put on maintaining a level of incomplete authenticity with exposed welds, the use of surface rust as an exterior color, the absence of paint or the use of matte paint, and a strong level of general 'badassitude.' These cars are not for the weak of heart, the conformists, or the folks who want to have a car that clearly states 'I am very concerned about how people perceive me.' Rat rods are built by and for people who are intentionally bucking against convention and living up to the standards and practices enforced by their earliest hot rodders. When you get right down to it, a rat rod is really just an early hot rod built by your Average Joe. It is rough, crude, cheap, and so personalized and individual that it more of an attachment of its builder than a piece of property that he or she owns.

Modern rat rod culture is engrossed in the romance of rebellious teens in the 1940's and 1950's. James Dean is a hero and rockabilly music is still outlandish and full of counter culture angst. Think slicked back hair, a healthy number of tattoos, jeans with the cuffs (neatly) folded up, chain wallets, and flames painted onto their leather boots. This unique version of rebellion is alive and well among select thrive groups, and it is among these individuals that rat rods have grown in popularity. A common starting point is any pre-WWII Ford, preferably a Model A of later, but other models are popular to such as early 40's Plymouths and Chevrolets. While chrome is non-existent, you will hardly miss it looking at a rat rod. A common theme is slamming the car as close to the ground as possible, sometimes so low that the axle is mounted directly to the frame. Wheels are usually left exposed, and the interior is left handsomely bare, with the seats usually consisting of a minimally cushioned bench with a Mexican rug draped across it. The engine is often exposed, a tribute to the old-school machinery powering it and a perfect homage to the rugged utilitarian nature of the motor that is not decorated with chrome and plastic.

To be perfectly frank, I find rat rods and rat rod culture to be one of my favorite brands of car culture. More so than any other group, rat rodder capture a part of history and proudly display it as if time had stopped. Being a history nut and a traditionalist, I admire the people and their creations with a great amount of respect. Be sure to stop by The Jalopy Journal or Killbillet.com to get a taste of this fantastic, and often overlooked (intentionally and unintentionally) part of car culture.

Ironically, rat rods have gained such momentum that some major automakers have even made them, most notably Toyota, which displayed a rat rodded 1967 Toyota FJ40 at SEMA.

Tomorrow I'll explore another unique brand of hot rodders: beatnik builders.

Pictures, clockwise from lower left, are of 1936 Ford V8 Coupe, Voodoo Diablo (based a 1928 Dodge sedan) side, interior, and the builder, 1929 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan, a 1940 Plymouth Coupe, the Sloppy Jalopy (a 1934 Ford Pickup) side and rear.

Hello SC.net folks

Hi all, and thanks for coming to my site. I know I have not updated it since last week, but I have a few new posts coming tonight and tomorrow so please stop by again. For those of you who frequent the Supercars.net forums, I am the member known as Duesey. I hope you all enjoy your visit and come back and visit again.

If you want to see anything featured, please feel free to comment below or email me.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks again to Rich for linking to my site.