How old is your hot rod?

[kb426]

Let me qualify the topic by saying as long as it's a car you built, not original, how long since it was completed?  I just finished watching the build video of my 32. In January it will be 9 years old. In May of 2017 it will be 10 years since parts started arriving and I went to work. How about the rest of you? Please post pics of the vehicle. I know that you guys are probably tired of seeing mine.

[butch27]

Parts gathering started around 1987 and didn't get on the road til 2010. But was still racing and this was a project . Got a lot of help from here.

[chimp koose]

The last car I actually built and finished was a front engine dragster back in 93 . Sold it in '99 and bought an Anglia the same week .. Built the Anglia to the point it needed paint wiring and upholstery .Sold it in bare metal , no rust in 2013 . Never drove it . Started my T the day I sold the Anglia .That will be 4 years in feb. I work on my cars a couple nights a week for about 3 or 4 months out of the year it seems .I have always had at least one extra job , now I have 2 . Raising a family seems to slow the car stuff dramatically . I built the dragster in 9 months before our first child was born . Now that we have no kids at home I may be able to step up the hobby stuff .

[34ford]

I'll play. Started mine August 98.  Took me 10 years to build it in my garage from paint to upholstery. 34 Outlaw body and frame, ford 9", Heidit's Superride front end, ZZ4 crate motor, 700r4 tranny, dakota digital guages. Have a friend who is a professional photographer who did the shoot. Had to resize the pictures so they came out a little fuzzy. Could get the size down but not the kb.

[WZ JUNK]

I traded a vixen file and an old Sioux body grinder for the truck WZ JUNK (was junk) in 1978.  It was built out of left over pieces and parts during the next few years.  I was teaching school and I had very little money to spend on a project.  It has many miles to shows and events all over the Midwest and many trips down the dragstrip.  Now I run it two or three times a year and I will probably quit doing that.  I hauled it on a trailer the first time I went to the races many years ago.  After that first time, I always drove it to the strip and drove it home.  It never left me a foot even though I have been very hard on it.

The 1954 Chevy, I am currently finishing,  I bought in 2002.  It had been flat towed here from southern California a few years before that, and parked about 2 miles from me, in a yard.  It had a license plate from California that said Crusin 54.   It has been an on going project for many years but I have built and owned many other cars and trucks during that time.  I have also helped Hooley build and run the Studebaker land speed car and the Henry J gasser.  I really like driving the 54 and I have put about 1500 miles on it the last couple of months while I change, fix, and generally debug the car.  (I find it amusing that someone will offer a new hot rod for sale with only a 100 or so miles on it. )  

I have enjoyed the rrt many years and I have had the opportunity to meet and know many of the members here and to view their rides in person.  I have had many experiences with them, that were made possible through this site.  I find it very interesting to look at their work and to view their projects and to see how they solve the many problems we encounter while building a hot rod.

John

[416Ford]

I purchased mine around 1993 as an original car with a lot of rust. I had just left the restoration business and I wanted to build something that we could cruise to show in with friends and not have to worry about the correct part being on the car.



Took it on it first day trip in 2013 with no hood and no door glass.



Put a lot of miles on it since then and still work on it for fun every winter. (Not always fun but most of the time)

[Carnut]

Well gee, I'm not a builder.

Got my coupe as an unfinished project back in 1965 and got it running and on the street in Feb 1966.



Worked on it and drove for 38yrs and sold it to my nephew in 2003 and it looked like this.



Then my nephew did this to it.



My second rod was my low mileage 1940 Ford Standard Tudor Sedan I bought already finished having been show a bit back in the day 1977. It had a 265 Chevy v8 adapted to the original 3spd column shift and stock rear end and Buick Wire wheels.





I worked on and drove the car for 39 yrs and sold it to local 40 authority
Roger Linn. Back in 1985 I rebuilt the car with a 350/350 combo and nova rear end and installed indash heat/air. Here's what it looked like when I sold it back in April of this year.



Roger Linn is in the process of 'restoring' McDowell's old 40.



That's it except for the 1967 Dodge Charger that I bought new in 67 and still have as well as my 1961 Chrysler Windsor 2dr Hardtop that I bought in 1993 and still have. Both of which I have modified a bit over the years. Current pics in my sig.

Then I might mention my 1977 Chevy Silverado SWB Pickup that I bought new in 1977 and still have that I feel I have 'hot rodded' quite a bit over the years even though I still haul the occasional load of firewood in it.

[moose]

My beater Sedan first drive was 1991. The little girl in the photo is now a 22 year old college grad!

[Pete]

I acquired the original car in 1949.
It was a running 32  5 window with a 37 engine. I drove it till I went in the AF.
Collected parts on Uncle Sam's time and when I got out I built a 315 ci flathead and ran at Bonneville in 1953.
The car has gone through so many changes of bodies, frames, engines and running gear since then, it s hard to remember. It won the street roadster class at Bonneville in 1956 at 163.93. That was probably the big highlight so far although I stood on the podium many times while circle racing with it.
It has drag raced and held several records there in the 60's, done Bonneville maybe 10 times over the years, ran as a vintage circle track roadster with several different engines including 4 bangers, ran in the C modified class in SCCA and won over some of the best including Pete Lovely.
All this time retaining enough of the original parts to still call it a 32 although it currently has a roadster body.
The next outing will be Bonneville 2017 if there is any salt left by then.

[rumrumm]

I purchased the Outlaw body on a rolling chassis from Yogi in late 2000 and was test driving it in late 2002 and it was painted and upholstered in early 2004. I still haven't added up all the receipts.

[phat46]

Towed my '46 Chevy coupe home on a dolly in '91, was driving it in '93, still looks the same.

[idrivejunk]

Not a hot rod per se, but my version of an improved vehicle within my means and range of interest. All told- engine swap, susp refresh, wheels, tint, stereo and a paint job with new weatherstrips. I've had the car 17 years now, and while the paint in the pic is only a couple years old it still looks like the pic except where hail has knocked filler loose and rust bubbles, etc. Shot it 15 years ago with my custom paint mix in Sikkens. Everyone is probably tired of seeing the purple car by now too, KB    



I've done that treatment to other rigs in the past, of my own. This is just the one I've managed to keep.  Not sure why but it sure fits me and I love it dearly.

[UGLY OLDS]

We brought this one home in June of '85...  It was an 8th grade graduation present to my kid ... We rolled it off the trailer, the R/Rear fender fell off & I flipped him the keys.....Congrats kid, you have a car.......

 I wish I could find the stone tablet that shows the "before" photos ....He still has it ...It's been to the West Coast twice during moves...It's been down South, up North, ( he usta move around a lot )...It's been "fixed" here & there, but still going & pushing 95K miles ....   He has a LOT more faith in it than I ever did ...

He learned a lot during it's build ... I still cant understand how the warranty on it never seems to expire :?:  :?:      

Bob..

[UGLY OLDS]

Finally, this one came home in April of '93..I was lookin' for a '40 Chevy to do a "quickie" on to put something on the street quick... A buddy of mine called to advise that he found what he thought was a '40 chevy, but it had a "Really Ugly " front end ... :?

 I decided that anything that ugly deserved to be saved .....Besides , everybody's Uncle / Aunt / Father / Brother / Neighbor had a Hudson/Packard/Studebaker/Pontiac/Chrysler/Plymouth/Buick just like it back then.... :?:

It's full claim to fame is in a Rod & Custom article, September 1996 when we put a Mustang II front end in it, proving at the time that a Mustang II front end could be put in ANYTHING if you tried hard enough ...
It actually is a pretty neat car, nothing fancy, ( altho Enjenjo Joe complemented me on it once    ), it just kinda beats its way down the road & clunks it's way back home .....  :oops:  :oops:  

Bob..

[kb426]

Bob, that's the first pic I've seen of the Olds. You needn't be ashamed and hide it so much.
I like the fact that many of you have had your stuff for a long time. Building a spec car for sale has not appealed to me.