Inspiration Sources

[iBorg]

I'm old enough as I assume many of you that you found inspiration in printed media. At one time I bought every new issue of the following car magazines: Rodder's Journal, Hot Rod Deluxe, Rod and Custom plus MCM and that other model car magazine. i'm doing a change of pace build of a hot rod. Without current magazines to be inspired for build style and colors, where do you get your inspiration?

[Shark]

Most everything I build is race cars, mainly Nascar. Been reading some books about some of the independent drivers like Wendell Scott, Jimmy Means and J.D. McDuffie. So I have been inspired to build some of their cars by books and googling them for reference pictures. 

[StevenGuthmiller]

Nothing more than the joy and excitement that I used to feel as a kid, seeing what I saw driving down the street!

Never read any magazines or got into racing, or customs, or hot rods, or foreign exotics, because they weren’t anything that I saw just cruising up and down Main Street in my small upper midwestern town when I was young.

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

I get inspiration everywhere, from real cars we get in the shops to ancient printed matter I've hoarded over the years, builds right here on this very board, and the seemingly limitless supply of stuff I've never seen before on the interwebs.

Edited January 7 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, iBorg said:

I'm old enough as I assume many of you that you found inspiration in printed media. At one time I bought every new issue of the following car magazines: Rodder's Journal, Hot Rod Deluxe, Rod and Custom plus MCM and that other model car magazine. i'm doing a change of pace build of a hot rod. Without current magazines to be inspired for build style and colors, where do you get your inspiration?

I google images of the vehicle I want to build. I will add “custom”, “chopped”, or whatever other qualities I may be looking for in the search bar.

[Falcon Ranchero]

I too typically use google images to find inspiration as it is the most easiest, but I sometimes use magazines; modeled my '69 Torino Cobra after the one on the cover of the Winter 22/23 issue of Muscle Cars Bone Stock and Modified, and using ispo from the August 2022 issue of Collectible Automobile for my upcoming 1957 Chrysler 300 build. 

[Fat Brian]

I watch a lot of car youtube so that gives a lot of inspiration. I also comb through Google images and Pinterest looking for unique vehicles to steal from. Sometimes the kernel of an idea comes from some odd combination of parts I want to use and I work out how they ended up together. Sometimes it's a factory phantom that could have been or should have been, I'm working on a Boss 429 Torino Talladega now.

[Bucky]

I started building in the early 60's. Back then, I built by the box art, or just slapped together unpainted models. As I aged, I started building what I saw on the streets, TV, custom car shows. In the 90's, I started collecting the "other" model magazine. I had every issue from about '95 up to the demise. 1:1 car magazines helped fill up my hobby room, also. Nowadays, I tend to combine all methods, including internet searches, especially if I have a crazy idea that I've never seen in real life. 

[Bills72sj]

I rarely have a problem with inspiration. I have so many builds in my head that is is difficult to prioritize. I do, do some research to learn things like detail colors and finishes. Sometimes that leads me in a course correction. I have quite a number of paints so I can do test shots on spoons and select the shade of color that will go on a build.

My favorites are Day 2 muscle cars and Semi trucks that can haul Day 2 muscle cars. Both subjects give me a lot of creative freedom.

[Bugatti Fan]

For some of the older classics and newer exotics I find looking on auction house sites like Bonhams, Sothebys and Christies a good source. They put up sets of numerous pictures of each vehicle so a very good place to look for model research. They don't keep them up forever though, so if you see a set that you think will be useful, download them.

[stitchdup]

It can come from anywhere, sometimes i'll see a car online or sometimes it'll be a part i found.i find pics from a variety of sources too and flickr can be good, then theres blogs and websites. fuelcurve is great for goodguys coverage andstreet machine Aus has a decent mix of cars only they got. for more modern stuff theres speedhunters who cover worldwide tuning and the tokyo auto salon, the moon website has lots of Japanese rods n customs along with domesic customs. for custom rigs 10-4 is good and for everything google images is a great place to start and the right search terms can send you down the rabbit warren of links for pics and lead to sites we just dont know about. for euro tuning theres also carstyling.com, a hungarian site but they feature everything they think is cool. and theres carnut.com for old usa rod n customs (not updated since 2018 but still good) along with customrodder.forumactif.com for kustoms and rods. theres hundreds more and asking on here always brings up new sites

[Justin Porter]

I kind of work the opposite way around. A kit or a paint or an aftermarket part will inspire me, and then I'll turn around and start digging into references to see if there's a 1/1 example that correlates with what I have in mind. That being said, I follow several automotive content creators on Youtube and on social media and that also leads to sparks here and there. For instance, one of my favorite restoration channels is currently trying to piece together a very rusty Mazda Cosmo. Pairing that with knowing just how nice the Hasegawa kit is matches up well to an itch to build a Mazda Cosmo.

[Mike 1017]

Mecum, Splash Paint, and Hemmings

[Beans]

My inspiration comes from a couple main places and is why most of what I build fits into just a few categories:

1.  Cars I have owned in my life.  

2. Mustangs - I have had a thing for Ford Mustangs for a while.  I mostly build different variants and then Mustangs from movies and TV and so on.

3.  TV - I got into the TV show Supernatural a while back.  It is kinds cheesy and cooky but what I liked was that each character had a specific vehicle that kind of fit their personality and a lot of them were just cool cars.  I started building the cars from the show.  They each require a decent amount of customization so it is never a straight build. 

I kind of like to grab onto a theme and beat that theme to death. 

[catpack68]

My inspiration comes from other builders on this fourm,Instagram,car shows,local cruise ins and local cars&coffee meets. Another source of inspiration comes from cars/trucks that my family or friends have owned or worked on.

[Lunajammer]

Pinterest. Google searches also, but you tend the get the same results under different search prompts. Pinterest is at least user based. See what other enthusiasts are compiling from many sources beyond general internet searches.

Edited January 10 by Lunajammer