This past saturday my son and I went to the World of Wheels show at the Qwest Center in Omaha. Much to my surprise we did not see one custom HHR in the show But over all had a good time, and got to meet Jimmy Shine , wanted to meet Chip Foose, but the line got a bit to long by the time we got to his area.

 

Any PT Cruisers either? I think both cars are going to have to get past the whole stick-on chrome and stickers phase before they get any respect in the hot rod community. It took a long time for the original VW Beetle to get street cred that the New Beetle still hasn't achieved after 10 years on the market, so I think we have a long way to go.

 

I Counld Not Agree More!!! Its Hard To Respect A Car That Has A Million Pieces Of 3M Backed Plastic Chrome Or Billter - I Think Once People Really Start To Work With These Cars They Will Get Some Respect!!

 

beetle? street credibility? what?

 

My guideline has always been "keep it simple". The stick on items are an issue. Just because they make something doesn't mean you need to stick one on your car. Some of the things they call mods are laughable, especially to the true car guy's. I'm not knocking the "newer" car guy's, we all started somewhere. Just think before you stick and do your research too.

For one thing, what will the life span be for the item? If you plan on keeping your car for a long time, will you have to keep replacing the add ons when they start deteriorating? If you decide to remove them what will be underneath when you peel it off? How will it react to wear and tear? It is your car and you can do what you want, but I tend to think long term.

Definition: Car Guy's (Male or Female with a jones for automobiles in general)

 

Could not agree more. Port holes are getting rediculas. I saw an Esky the other day that had to have 12 on each side. Don't people know they are supposed to represent the number of cylinders...... On a Buick?

 

The thing that I don't understand is when people try putting together different eras on one car. '30s hood ornaments and '50s script lettering on a modern car that was inspired by a '40s truck just seems odd to me. Or sticking a million badges on the car to remind everyone that it's a Chevrolet or an HHR.

I'm a huge fan of TkHHR's ride because it is the essence of the hot rod. Nothing unnecessary or items that look out of place. Clean work. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the HHR that Jimmy Shine built by virtue of its simplicity.

 

First off stop dissin' the beetle! It just so happens to be my favorite ride (talk about keeping something simple, it don't get no simpler than the beetle)
Now for the hot rodding the HHR thing. I love hot rods (mostly VW's and cars from the 60's) but things are changing. Hot rodding started as a "My car is faster than your car" thing back in the 50's. It was all done by kids with little or no money and they had to improvise and make just about everything! Then those kids grew up and got good jobs and money and then it turned into a "My car is not only faster than yours but it looks cooler too!" thing. It's all about making cars cooler looking now. The "modern day" hot rodders seem to be these "tuner" kids. Unfortunately cars are so complicated now days that you just can't bust out the old gas torch and start cutting stuff away and cutting headers down and such. You will surely ruin your car by making it unsafe, too loud or whatever old folks feel like complaining about (I'm kind of an old folk BTW). The other problem is that things are just too darn expensive, for that you can blame the aftermarket! So the "stick-on" generation can only afford the look, and not the real deal. I myself suffer from this as I added vinyl rally stripes to mine because I can't afford some painter to do it. I agree, that some of most of this stick-on garbage is exactly that.......GARBAGE! But give these kids some credit, they are trying to "hot rod" thier car the best way they can. My dad and uncle show me pictures of the crap they did to thier cars back in the day and if they wheeled that POS out to some hotrod show today they would get laughed at but you know what, the hunk of crap went faster and got them street cred back then! lol Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If some people like port holes on the side of thier hood just because there is room then so be it. He/she like it so that's all that matters. Sure I sit back and say to myself "Man, I wouldn't be caught dead with that on my ride" but maybe the port hole dude thinks my rally stripes look stupid. I would defend my rally stripes againg his port holes any day pf the week because "I like them"! See my point? So give these kids a chance and help them out if you can. I know the loud mufflers and stuff are annoying but they are no louder than the "stinger" I had on my bug back in my day