A Matter Of Rust

I never knew a 1959 Chevy Impala could set a guy off on a 10-minute diatribe. Obviously, the Impala can't, but it was an interesting scenario to watch when I was doing a photo shoot at a local car show recently. His beef was how this rusty old car could be considered so cool; "Jeez - I'm sick of this "barn find" craze! First rat rods... now this! What ever happened to all those immaculate restorations we use to see?"

The answer is simple - the hot rodding world is ever changing; and that's a good thing. Can you imagine a muscle car show where every single vehicle was restored to 100% factory original? Or how about pro street rigs that still adhered to the bright colors and chrome out the wazoo because the trends from the 1980's were never challenged? Or, I tell you what; toss those particular trends out the window - heck, toss every trend out - and think about what if all muscle cars and street rods were all in excellent condition? No projects in progress, no rat rods, no original survivors. No diversity, no new ideas, no new horizons to challenge. Our car hobby would be butt-ass boring.

Have you seen the GTO that's on the cover of the latest issue of Muscle Car Review? The goat in question is a 1969 Carousel Red GTO Judge... the hood and engine is missing and there's a small tree growing up where those components used to reside. Also in that issue is an unrestored 1970 Plymouth Superbird, complete with ripped vinyl roof and interior, as well as a documented 1969 SCCA Trans-Am Z-28 Camaro that's an absolute basket case. And these are three out of the five feature cars. This particular issue isn't like a one-off publication. I've been seeing the barn find theme in MCR about three times a year. Welcome to embracing another aspect of our hobby.

I know I've touched on this before - I tend to gravitate towards unrestored vehicles and if they've been graced with a good dose of patina, that's just icing on the cake. Call them what you will - rat rods, barn finds, beaters, drivers; go for it. Then I'll mention that those are all different sub-categories in the same genre of cars. I am comfortable in saying that I prefer these rides compared to a totally restored vehicle. I don't even play the "only original once" card anymore. To me, a less-than-prestine vehicle shows a life that has been lived like it was meant to be experienced. The other side of the coin is, that it's your ride - do with it as you will. But as for me, if I purchased that 1959 Impala - I wouldn't change a thing.

The funny thing is, the terms of "unrestored", "original" and "barn find" have been around for about a decade in regards to vintage drag race cars compared to the 3-4 years in the street car arena. The other piece of irony was you never heard anything negative about it and it was embraced with open arms. I could never figure that out. Is it because drag racing machines from the late 50's through the early 70's were more crude to begin with and they always stayed that way? Is it because no one has sunk over $200,000 in a quarter mile machine from that era? Is it because Rad Rides By Troy or the Ring Brothers have never built something crude and full of patina? Were we spoiled or tainted by decades of over-the-top street rod builds and muscle car restorations that, after all these years, we just expect vehicles at car shows or in parades to be mint or flawless? I'm not looking for answers - just throwing things out into cosmic gearhead void. (Photo courtesy Bob Boudreau, 8/70)

You may have noticed there was no weekly post for Saturday 7/31/16. Between car shows, cruise-ins, parades, and this funny thing called a full time job, we just didn't have the time to put something up here. We should be posting here again next week despite the fact that the summer season is still going full tilt. After Labor Day, things should start to wind down a little. Note that key word there... should.

Until next time, peace out.
Dave