Kit Cars, Hot Rods and Respect - Page 2

aumoore · #21 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 12:08 PM

If it is any consolation the "Street Rod" KITS are starting to be featured in KIT CAR MAGAZINE. Also many of the Cobra Kit manufacturers are building street rod kits as well. A few examples are Antique & Collectable, Lonestar and now Unique.

To me if the frame and body did not come from the original Factory (Ford, Chevy, Packard, Plymouth, etc.) then it is just a kit car made from welded up steel and buckets of Fiberglass rosin.

The next time a Street Rodder gives you a hard time about your KIT Cobra with a Ford motor ask him What year did Ford use 350 Chevies in their cars???

If I was building sets say a '36 Chevy I would use a Chevy motor but why does every early Ford or Plymouth Street Rod I see have a small block Chevy in it? At least most Cobras have Ford Power and we try to look like an original Cobra instead of chroming everything (OK I do have Chrome Crager SS Wheels and Chrome bumper overriders). I can understand the Chevy motor thing if you are a Chevy fan but I have actually overheard a conversation where a "Street Rodder" was saying a '32 Ford that had a 302 Ford would be better car and worth more if the guy had a 350 Chevy in it. Even Street Rodders cannot stand each other and IMHO they are all jealous of every other car out there.

When I took my Hunter Cobra in for its alignment the shop was hesitant to do it because of all the junk suspension setups he has seen in what he called kit street rods. He actually said my suspension was much better though out than most he had seen..

Gerry A. · #22 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 05:10 PM

Well, here's my dollars worth on the deal.. .02 seems so cheap considering what we're dealing with.. I'm not by any means an expert on either the cars nor shows.. I can say that since I've owned mine, April this year I've been in 2 shows, Summerfest and another one the next wkend. I put my cobra in "special interest" in both shows as that was where I was told at summerfest to put it, "Always" as he put it.. The person that told me this has been doing car shows with his original GT-350 since 1983 so in my opinion he knew what he was talking about, and even if he didn't it worked for me.. First show, summerfest. I placed first in class and the only reason that I didn't get best of show was because they switched the person allowed to pick the car after mine had already been selected,which made me somewhat mad but oh well. who am I to complain too much, my first show ever and I got first. I was so happy I did the "happy dance" all the way home. Second show, sane class "special interest", same results: first place- and trust me we beat out some VERY VERY beautiful cars to get it,, not only did we get first place but we also were selected for the 148th district state representatives award plaque. In my humble opinion I'm putting my cobra in "special interest" in every show I enter, unless of course that class isn't available. Why the pickup trucks were in that class in your show I have no idea. Why they beat you out is a total mystery to me I assure you.. again in my opinion one would be very hard pressed to put together a pick-up truck that could beat out a cobra.. but that's only my personal opinion.

take care everyone.

BT SNAKE · #23 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 09:03 PM

Here's the rub in a nut shell. I get put in the special interest class because my car is a "kit". Now sitting over in the street rod class is a 32 ford roadster made by wescott fiberglass with a TCI frame. Not one componant on the car was made by Ford. But there it sits, in the street rod class and not in the special interest class. Why? if he is allowed to show with real cars then why can't I?
Boyd Cottington now makes beautiful fiberglass replicas of his past creations, the Boydster, Now when the owner of one of these fine replicas shows up at a local I bet you he doesn't get the red headed step child treatment by being put in a special class that shouts "YOU"RE CAR IS A KIT"`or we don't know where else to put you class.
Sometimes I wonder what the guy thinks when he was beaten out by a fiberglass street rod and his was real steel and real nice.
My Cobra is a street rod, just not pre 48....

Hersh

casaleenie · #24 (**permalink**) 07-19-2003, 09:46 PM

Going to a car show in a Cobra is the most fun you can have with your clothes on... Everyone runs past the "hot rods" to get to the Cobras... Everyone tells you that they had a friend that had an "original" and proceeds to tell you all about it. I can't think of another car that attracts that kind of attention... I didn't think that I would like going to the cruise ins but it's a blast. People put their kids in the car and take pictures of them. I haven't seen it done in any other car... I just love it...
Dan S. steals all my thunder at the shows with that great looking Everett Morrison, but this week I'm putting the war paint on the car and coming up with some great racing stories... (all lies but great stories).
Dan, hope to see you Sunday at the QSL.

al

DAVID GAGNARD · #25 (**permalink**) 07-20-2003, 09:35 AM

Brent is dead on about the Cobra's drawing a croud..... When we still had a cruise night down south of Baton Rouge it normally had from 200 to 300 cars depending on the time of the year and weather.... The local Corvette club showed up in numbers with drop-dead,first class,beautifully restored Corvettes from the early 60's on. They were absolutely PERFECT,,,,, but the croud was always around Art Colley's chevy small block powered E-M..... The Vette owners were never happy to see Art drive up, he just stole their thunder and best part is he never tried to do it.....

There would be a handful of people looking over the Vettes and there would be people surrounding Art's car three and four deep all the way around the car,then to top things off,he'd let someone get behind the wheel and crank it up and rev it up a few times,talk about drawing a croud then.....

It was always funny to see the look on the other's faces when this happened....

David

Wayne Maybury · #26 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 07:48 AM

As I have said on several occasions, I don't like the term "kit" and I normally explain to people why. I much prefer to call the car a replica or a component vehicle.

Last week I went to a cruise in at a local burger joint where I go a few times each summer. The Cobra was surrounded most of the night by many admirers. I was off to the side a bit, answering some questions from someone when I noticed 2 or 3 reasonably well dressed men in their 60's come over to look at my car. One said in a very knowledgeable manner "that's one of those kit cars" and then they moved on before I had a chance to talk to them. I was going to ask the know-it-all what kind of car he had, but I didn't get the chance.

For some reason or another, a awful lot of people are asking me what the car is worth, lately. When this used to happen once in a while, I would give an honest answer, especially if the person appeared to be very interested in the car. Now it seems to be the first question out of some people's mouth. I am so fed up with this inappropriate question that I have taken to saying "It's worth between $25,000 and $125,000". Anybody else getting asked this more often lately.

Wayne

Mr.Fixit · #27 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 12:23 PM

A lot of the classification is based on the heritage of the type of vehicle. Long ago (couple decades) all 29-34 fords were 29-34 fords. You might modify the heck or replace everything on it to make your rod, but it did start out as a ford. At the similar time, cobra kit-cars were just that, kit cars. Now cobra replicas' quality has increased dramatically, and the appearance of 32 ford replicas has increased as well. Street rodders are still trying to pretend the kit-car scene and the street rod scene have crossed paths, and now have more in common than they have different. Of course, there still is the whole "Steel is Real" thing amongst their own crowd anyway.

BlueRooster · #28 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 12:53 PM

everyone asks me this Wayne. Usually within 20 sec of them opening their mouth...and it is annoying. I sometimes respond with what I would sell the car to them for...or "at this point I dont know how much I have into it"

DAVID GAGNARD · #29 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 01:33 PM

Wayne;

Even though my car is a 65 Fastback, I get the same question all the time,usually one of two; How much you got in it???? Or,What's it worth????

My standard answer to How much you got in it is "I quit counting a long long time ago",What's it worth??? To me it's worth a lot,really a lot,then I usually tell them I have actually turned down more for the car than the going rate for a similar car,but this car means more to me than the actual value.....

If someone is interested in one like mine to buy or to restore,then I take the time to go into some detail as what they can expect to pay for a similar car or the cost to restore one to this condition,of course providing they could find a suitable car to start with....

But I do find lately more people will walk right up to you and point blank want to know what you paid for it or how much money you have invested..... I would never do that and sometimes it amazes me as to the nerve some people have asking certain questions of total strangers about their cars....

David

petek · #30 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 02:35 PM

The thing is, they aren't "Car Shows" but "Hot Rod Car Shows", of course, the shows aren't billed that way. Whole different group of people hosting the show. Of course the public doesn't know that and becomes attracted to the kit-car Cobras and not the kit-car 34 Fords!

I've seen some pretty darn nice looking VW based kit-cars (Sterlings). Probably don't drive worth a hoot; but they sure look nice. Funny... I've seen some really nice T-buckets; probably don't drive worth a hoot, but sure look nice.

And how much did my Cobra cost me? My standard answer is, "Well, if you've got $67k, I'd sell it to you."

Gerry A. · #31 (**permalink**) 07-21-2003, 10:05 PM

I think David summed it up in perfect form.. Everywhere I take the cobra I get whistles and thumbs up, way up, and parents taking pictures of their kids near my car. (I won't let them sit in it,usually not that is>> now I did let miss rolla sit in it for a promo picture, but she was CUTE!!!) anyway.. talk about an ego booster.. I swear my head is 10 times bigger than normal at every show, watching all the people drool and oooooh and ahhhh over it. makes it all worth the sticker and the wait of 35+ years to get one. My next goal is an original. like that will ever happen.. maybe some day.. who knows.
At the shows, there could be 130 to several hundred other really beautiful cars but there's always at least a dozen people standing around mine, and folks just walk on by the others. It really is true in my book, the cobra was and is the icon of muscle and dream cars.

Gerry A. · #32 (**permalink**) 07-22-2003, 02:25 PM

Ok, I lied... so shoot me.. got to say one more thing here LOL.. noticed that several of you have refered to our cars as "kits" and also voiced your disgust at the term stating that every car starts out as a "kit" and so it does.. I have solved that problem when I comes to my car. When I'm asked "it's a kit right?" my answer is no, it's not, it's a scratch built, it's not a kit. In truth I'm not lying. the car and all of them I believe are built from scratch.. are they not? They are all built the exact same way that CS built his and is still building them as a matter of fact.. only difference is mine and many others weren't specifically built by Shelby. However when I say that, the answer I get back is "oh I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend you but there are so many "kits" out there it's hard to tell the difference any more. I don't expand on it and just let the passerby think what they will. I haven't lied or misled them, I didn't say it was an original, and I didn't say Shelby made it but in their heart of hearts the majority believe he did. Anyway that's how I handle the "kit" mystique with my B&B and it works wonders not only for the shows but anywhere I go with it. I also find that I get alot more respect when it comes to the car when I do it that way, cause now they think it's a multi hundred thousand dollar vehicle and not just a 30k "kit". I've had people offer to guard it day and night when we went on trips and stayed over night with it, because it's worth "SO SO much". I feel these cars and us as well should be treated as such, I mean- I don't know about the rest of you but this is my ultimate dream as far as cars go and by golly I treat her as if she was priceless. I don't by any means baby her though, after all she's made to run and run hard and besides it's wayyyyy too much fun to drive not to.

Carroll DeWeese · #33 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 08:49 AM

I like "scratch built." Another term may be "manufactured." They are all manufactured. The parts are bought someplace or produced and put together by someone or some group.

"Kit" has a put down quality to it: "Oh, that is a kit car." Typically the speaker may only have enough automotive knowledge to maybe change their oil, if that.

As for car shows, I go to meet and talk wth people. How the car is classed and if it gets a prize or not is a car show problem, not mine. I have a car that is fully unique and gets lots of attention from lots of people lots of the time. It is in a class by itself. Competition against other cars is an apple to orange comparision anyway. So if they wnat to put me in the "fruit" class and the judge prefers pears instead of apples or oranges, it does not bother me in the least. The car does not need the validation of a judge provided it meets my standards.

Cobras get respect. Most of the time, the "putdowns" are from people being self-defensive or envious.

Joe Pappas · #34 (**permalink**) 07-25-2003, 09:55 AM

I agree that "scratch built" is a great term to throw back when asked if it is a "kit". But hey, every car is a kit. The all start out as individual parts, delivered to a central assembly area, and finally they are meticulously (we hope) put together piece by piece until we drive them off the line.

Just so you know, Ford Motor Company uses the term kit when referring to prototype builds at it's Prototype Build Facility (NMPDC) in Dearborn. Every part of the car is placed in a box and shipped to NMPDC as a KIT. Ford's words, not mine. By the way, I'm working on the 2005 Mustang at NMPDC and you people have a treat in store for you come this time next year when they reach Job #1 and they go on sale. They are really nice...