custom cars of today...

[Joe Handley]

I've read that originally the EV-1 was supposed to be a turbine-electric hybrid, but to work California's EV mandate, GM adapted it to run on only Lead, then later Nickle Metal Hydride batteries. Kinda makes me wonder what they could have been with the original turbine-electric running gear and/or if the Lithium batteries we now have had been around then.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Funny you mentioned catalysts plastic and Bondo. My father grew up fixing cars. One shop he ended up at was owned by one real old-school guy. He didn't allow any fresh Bondo on his property: everything was filled up with body solder. One of my dad's friends got fired for putting Bondo on his own car on his break. With the VW I'm working on, I'm holding myself to the same standard: no Bondo at all.

Good man. I still work lead wen the client wants it (and can pay), but even for my own cars, I'll use plastic (but never more than 1/8" thick)...unless it's something really special like a 356 Porsche straight restoration.

The thickness and composition of the steel in the period VWs you're working on can still be filled with lead. Not so the thin-gauge HSLA steels of late-model cars.

[Ace-Garageguy]

The Tesla GPS plans your route by the quick charge stations, the list of locations is downloaded to the car every night. And it can only get better.

I know, and that's dandy, but for the time being, I'd still kinda like to plan my own route based on where I want to go, and not based on where quick-charge locations are.

I know, I'm a sweaty old Luddite.

Just gimmee a Jag C-X75. It'll run on diesel, kerosene, JP-4, etc. etc. etc...and make about 700 peak HP. And then you can plug it in when you get somewhere civilized.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Joe Handley]

I know, and that's dandy, but for the time being, I'd still kinda like to plan my own route based on where I want to go, and not based on where quick-charge locations are.

I know, I'm a sweaty old Luddite.

As there are more charging stations built, that will change, although I'm still waiting to see that on E85..........

[Tom Geiger]

Had an evil thought... many Tesla stores have a display chassis in their show room. Now I'm not sure if that's a piece pulled right from production or some budget mock up with plastic motors. But think about if that is a real working chassis.... and they wind up surplus... could be a lot of fun in custom cars and street rods!

[Joe Handley]

I think those are for display purpose, the one near me in Oakbrook had one on display for a couple years before the car was available.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Had an evil thought... many Tesla stores have a display chassis in their show room. Now I'm not sure if that's a piece pulled right from production or some budget mock up with plastic motors. But think about if that is a real working chassis.... and they wind up surplus... could be a lot of fun in custom cars and street rods!

...And seein' as how we live in a world where all owners of beautiful cars aren't necessarily competent to drive them, it's inevitable that somewhere along the line, a Tesla or three are going to get totalled, and the drivetrains will remain intact. I'd guess a big Tesla with no useable body panels would auction for around $20k. That may sound like a lot of scratch, but it's about the same as we've got in the LS1 / 4L80E / Ford 9" drivetrain under the '47 Caddy at the moment.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Tom Geiger]

...And seein' as how we live in a world where all owners of beautiful cars aren't necessarily competent to drive them, it's inevitable that somewhere along the line, a Tesla or three are going to get totalled, and the drivetrains will remain intact. I'd guess a big Tesla with no useable body panels would auction for around $20k. That may sound like a lot of scratch, but it's about the same as we've got in the drivetrain under the '47 Caddy at the moment.

You are right Bill. This one didn't get off the lot. I had read an article about this guy a while back. To find it, I went to Google Images and put in "Tesla Wreck" and OMG..... I guess where there are hot cars, idiots are soon to follow! Expect Tesla based rods any day now!

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1268&bih=610&q=tesla+wreck&oq=tesla+wreck&gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30j0i24.1018.3419.0.4078.11.10.0.1.1.0.76.551.9.9.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..1.10.556.jq2FCXLB8VU#imgrc=_

[Jantrix]

It was never particularly "easy" cutting, reshaping and welding steel, filling and sculpting mods with lead, and doing all the peripheral mechanical and electrical modifications that go along with visual customization. It takes a lot of talent, knowledge, and the commitment to turn talent into skills. Swapping bumpers, grilles, lights, chrome trim, etc. from old car to old car may seem easy to the uninitiated, but it takes a lot more effort than just unbolting something from one car and bolting it on another one. Nothing fits AT ALL...except sometimes within same make / similar year body styles...say '55-'56 Fords. It's considerably more complicated than it might look, and it's one reason that even in the '50s, there was a VERY small number of people doing good custom work.

My apologies. I didn't mean to suggest it the work didn't require an amazing amount of talent and skill. But it was only metal, rubber and cloth. There's a lot more different materials in use today.

[Crazy Ed]

It's going to be interesting to see if the Insurance Companies are going to handle Electric Cars like they did '60's and '70's Muscle Cars.

[Joe Handley]

It's going to be interesting to see if the Insurance Companies are going to handle Electric Cars like they did '60's and '70's Muscle Cars.

If we get enough brutes like what Tesla has been pumping out, especially with it being all aluminum, it could a problem. I will say this though, my 17 year old Cherokee with 190hp still costs me nearly as much to insure as my 3 year old 200 with 283hp with all the same coverages and such, yet I just don't see why it should.

[LaughingIndian]

I guess where there are hot cars, idiots are soon to follow! Expect Tesla based rods any day now!

... and that's the best part of an unequal economy -- we require stupid rich people to progress. I just hope the rodder doin the Tesla is of a progressive mind and doesn't cover it up with a '41 Willys coupe body with a trunkful of sound effects equipment

... although I'd put the house up for one of those

[iBorg]

I think we have to look at customizing in eras. First there was the coach body cars. These were custom bodies prior to WWII that were one offs applied to very expensive cars. Think of this era as epitomized by Clark Gable's Dusenberg.

After WWII, and the desire for something new, many prewar cars were modified into something new as Detroit hadn't yet ramped up new models. The new Detroit models prior to 1952 quickly were dated and customizing became more common in the mid fifties.. This only lasted a few years. Think the Barris Brothers and Valley Custom.

Detroit's offerings of the late 50's-early 60's looked as if they were already customized when they left the showroom floor. This led to the era of panel painted cars. This era can be characterized by Larry Watson.

When the sixties dawned, customs faded into show cars. Some of these were wonderful, while some leaned to the excessive. Need excessive? Look up the Druid Princess. There are numerous examples far worse like the Outhouse.

The 1970's gave us custom vans and motorcycles. Truly a golden era, if you like that sorta thing. Many vans were customized in driveways while a whole industry sprung up to do conversion vans.

Then there was trucks and mini trucks in the 80's. Remember, at one time the fastest Detroit iron had a pick-up bed on it.

Eventually we had billet and hand fabricated cars inspired by classics of the thirties. Boyd Cunningham created some classics. Many cars of this era transcended cars into art forms. Some called this era excessive.

Of course, hot rodders and customizers are still looking for the next perfect thing. If you can't afford billet, you create anti-billet. The rat rod movement is another take on custom cars. For myself, some of it is really creative while some of it seems to strive to be trashy. The idea of gluing plastic rats to your car to say your anti-establishment puts you into a different establishment. Sorry, its still trashy.

For myself, there's endless canvasses out there. I really like the era of road race specials of the fifties. I wonder about a road race special design powered by electric. Another take on the custom car, might be cool.....whatever, it would be my own.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Story here: http://jalopnik.com/5079498/neil-youngs-lincvolt-an-all-electric-1959-lincoln-continental-mark-iv-convertible

Edited June 6, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

And an electric Continental concept car...

[johnbuzzed]

To me, this has a couple good examples of what not to do.

First the flames look aweful, not that they're poorly applied, but the way they're layed out around the front of the car just looks bad. Then there is the hubcaps, just the "Baby Moons" would have been fine, but those bullets added to it are pointlessly over the top. Now the one that can't easily be fixed........too much chop, the windshield is no taller than the spot lights are round with barely the room to stick an arm out the window, then having the top that low is out of proportion with the rest of the body, which is stock height from coel to rocker panels.

Customizing is an art form. Most art is subjective, left to the beholder's opinion. That's life.

[johnbuzzed]

First of all, you cannot compare the cars of today and the cars from the 50's. They are as different as the Space Shuttle was different than the Spirit of St. Louis. And the same goes for the people that work on them. The days of the shade tree mechanic are loooong gone. I can't even change the serpentine belt on my car. There's just too much involved.

Second. Cars today are so terribly uninteresting and uninspiring that they just don't fire the imagination. No one looks at their Sentra and says, "Wonder how it would look chopped."

Yes, you can compare today's cars with cars of any other vintage; one can even compare apples to oranges. One of them is usually more round, mostly orange in color and has a textured surface. The other is usually lobed and not round, can be red, green or yellow and generally has a smoother surface, with a protruding stem.

Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made.

[Jantrix]

Yes, you can compare today's cars with cars of any other vintage; one can even compare apples to oranges. One of them is usually more round, mostly orange in color and has a textured surface. The other is usually lobed and not round, can be red, green or yellow and generally has a smoother surface, with a protruding stem.

Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made.

John, are you also the sort of person that likes to correct people's spelling and grammar for no particular reason?

Edited June 8, 2015 by Jantrix

[johnbuzzed]

You are right Bill. This one didn't get off the lot. I had read an article about this guy a while back. To find it, I went to Google Images and put in "Tesla Wreck" and OMG..... I guess where there are hot cars, idiots are soon to follow! Expect Tesla based rods any day now!

https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1268&bih=610&q=tesla+wreck&oq=tesla+wreck&gs_l=img.3..0j0i8i30j0i24.1018.3419.0.4078.11.10.0.1.1.0.76.551.9.9.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..1.10.556.jq2FCXLB8VU#imgrc=_

Maybe the gas pedal stuck?

[johnbuzzed]

John, are you also the sort of person that likes to correct people's spelling and grammar for no particular reason?

Umm, yeah, I have been known to do that. Why? Because I stated a fact?

"Criticisms, comments and sarcastic remarks are kindly welcome. I'm a big boy, I can take it."

[Austin T]

Yes, you can compare today's cars with cars of any other vintage; one can even compare apples to oranges. One of them is usually more round, mostly orange in color and has a textured surface. The other is usually lobed and not round, can be red, green or yellow and generally has a smoother surface, with a protruding stem.

Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made.

You can compare the two all day long but at the end of the day your still just some crazy guy at the supermarket who's been staring at oranges and apples for hours on end. As for "Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made. " this is very true but is often an unbalanced way to look at things,for example let's compare a stock 70's Chevy pickup to a stock Ferrari Laferrari. Do a track test,dyno test, and then compare the comfort of driving each vehicle. The Chevy doesn't stand a chance as it was never made to be compared to anything more that 60's-70's Ford,Dodge, or a few other period trucks. You can compare whatever you want but that doesn't make it logical.

[Jantrix]

Umm, yeah, I have been known to do that. Why? Because I stated a fact?

"Criticisms, comments and sarcastic remarks are kindly welcome. I'm a big boy, I can take it."

No reason. I just wanted to know so that I can ignore your posts in the future.

[johnbuzzed]

No problem. But, I will hunt down and find any of your spelling errors... you can run, but you can't hide...

[Joe Handley]

You can compare the two all day long but at the end of the day your still just some crazy guy at the supermarket who's been staring at oranges and apples for hours on end. As for "Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made. " this is very true but is often an unbalanced way to look at things,for example let's compare a stock 70's Chevy pickup to a stock Ferrari Laferrari. Do a track test,dyno test, and then compare the comfort of driving each vehicle. The Chevy doesn't stand a chance as it was never made to be compared to anything more that 60's-70's Ford,Dodge, or a few other period trucks. You can compare whatever you want but that doesn't make it logical.

I guess you could say the same about asking the LaFerrari to do farm work, rail road work, construction work.........then realize the 30 year old Aries wagon owned by the old woman next door was far more capable at any of those jobs than that Ferrari

[johnbuzzed]

I guess you could say the same about asking the LaFerrari to do farm work, rail road work, construction work.........then realize the 30 year old Aries wagon owned by the old woman next door was far more capable at any of those jobs than that Ferrari

You can compare the two all day long but at the end of the day your still just some crazy guy at the supermarket who's been staring at oranges and apples for hours on end. As for "Things do not need to be alike for a comparison to be made. " this is very true but is often an unbalanced way to look at things,for example let's compare a stock 70's Chevy pickup to a stock Ferrari Laferrari. Do a track test,dyno test, and then compare the comfort of driving each vehicle. The Chevy doesn't stand a chance as it was never made to be compared to anything more that 60's-70's Ford,Dodge, or a few other period trucks. You can compare whatever you want but that doesn't make it logical.

So, you are both using comparisons. How 'bout that? Why would you compare two totally different vehicular designs, if you think it wrong? The world is not a totally logical place. Science has been proving that for years.