Re: Rodder's Dilemma-- everyone's dilemma

Posted by Brian Burkert on February 04, 1998 at 21:39:34

In Reply to: Re: Rodder's Dilemma-- everyone's dilemma
posted by scott on February 03, 1998 at 23:35:55

Scott,
I appreciate your desire to have cars with syle and character, but I still can't accept the loss of an honest-to-goodness Model "A".I know people like you who go "both ways."When looking at their projects it just doesn't seem right to me.
Everyone should enjoy the Model "A" for what it is and always has been, a great car.
The real fun comes when you share your history with other people.My favorite part of the hobby is driving the car and seeing the waves and smiles along the road.Only original Model "A's" have that special Model "A" integrity and CHARACTER---that wonderful sound, that rich wool/leather upholstery, the deep gloss laquer, and the funny horn.
In my opinion, a Model "A" with a small-block Chevy, metallic paint, and bucket seats was just not meant to be.You wouldn't paint the Sistine Chapel metallic blue, would you?
This is just my opinion.By the way-- nice photo.
Brian Burkert
The Model "A" Kid
Fleetwood, PA
bburkert@yahoo.com

: Rodders don't want new cars, they want cars with style and charachter that they can drive like new cars. I'd say we'd all be better off at the pace of a Model A, but the world just dosen't quite move like that these days. This summer I drove my street rod 6,000 miles over the course of two week-long trips...I could not have done these trips in the same time and safety in our stock A...and I would like to do some long distance touring in it, and if I needed to I wouldn't hesitate to jump in the A and head cross-country... but either one requres an entirely different approach.
: Why does one restore a car?...usually money or enjoyment, for me and most of the people here the answer is enjoyment...that is where I run into problems with this duty bound feeling of "preserving history"...would you be trying so hard just to presrve history if there was no enjoyment in it for you?...That enjoyment of it all is the same thing that motivates a streetrodder. Preserving history the best we can is a nice side benefit of restoring an A but I don't think it is typicaly the main motivation.
: Most rodders are working on the same small budgets most restorers are...it is simply usually much more cost effective to buy a fair original than a reproduction...with a new steel body in the $6,000 range and then all the other stuff, too...that is more than I have in my rod now, I couldn't even begin to dream of building one from a pile of repop parts. Every now and then I have a twinge of remorse about making it a rod...but that passes very quickly.
: By the way, I'm 25, and have restored a few cars, and rodded but one (and helped on plenty of others both ways)...the street rod has been by far the most fun.

Follow Ups:
Re: Rodder's Dilemma-- everyone's dilemma Scott February 05, 1998 at 12:55:38(0)

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