Thread: Help me identify some hot rods...

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Hey all. I am completely new to hot rods- basically have admired them since I was a kid, but haven't learned much yet about the various models, builds, etc.

I've always been drawn to one specific type/style and was hoping you could help me identify it- whether a specific make/model or a whole family.

Basically, I love the extremely elongated teardrop roadsters, with a very art deco style. I've done some googling and came up with a few along these lines:

1939 Lincoln Zephyrs (custom)
1950 Chevy Coupe (custom)
Delahaye

I realize these are pretty different, as far as the front goes, but it's that stoop to the bottom in the back that I'm talking about.

When I was a kid in LA I remember seeing one similar to this in a really flat black finish and fell in love

So, are there any classics out there that are the "canonical" ones of the type? Or any specific make/model I should know about? Perhaps a scene/website/subgenre that deals in hot rods of this body type?

Thanks so much for your help!
-BB

I think you would like the cars of the late '30s, as this was a time of art deco styling. You might also like the fastback styled Chevy Fleetline, and Buick torpedoback of the very late '40s, very early '50s.

Unless you are well funded, something like a Delahaye would be out of reach, and also very hard to find.

You could explore the kit car market for things like the replica Cord roadster and others from the '30s.

You might Google the term "boat tail speedster", to see if this is the style you like.

Another option would be to find a car similar to what you are visiualizing, and have someone do concept drawings for possible restyling. This type of bodywork will not be cheap, unless you are a skilled metal fabricator, so if the budget is limited, this may not be a choice for you.

Thanks! But bear in mind- I'm not looking to build one quite yet

This is to satisfy my pin-up calendar/folder on the first day of school fantasies

No problem. The most affordable....when the time comes....would be a '49-'52 Chevy fleetline. It would be the least modified, and possibly lowest purchase price....but that is if it fits your fantasy!

Yeah, some of these custom fleetlines are really close!

My favorite of the cars of this type is the '48 Pontiac "Chieftain".

It had the "torpedo-back" rear styling and usually came with that super classy sun visor that was popular in that era.

It could be had with either a flathead six or an equally flat-headed straight eight. Not exactly the top choices of the performance-minded set, but that engine was so smooth-running at idle that a driver sometimes thought his engine had died,so he hit the starter. That produced an impressive noise.

Now, that was embarrassing! I know, because I had a Beautiful '51 Chieftain
Club Coupe and I made that that cool move more than once.

Google one and let me know what you think!

Jim

The 50 Chevy coupe shouldn't be all that difficult to come by, quite a few still around in original condition or mildly customed.

Several years ago, there was a company named Deco Rides, Inc. that was making both hardtop and convertible 39 Zephyrs. I thought they had sold out, but I see that the founder Terry Cook is still in the business. The show car "Scrape" was one and was in nearly every car magazine back in the late 90's. http://decorides.com/scrapezephyr.htm

As for the Delahaye, the same man who founded Deco Rides, is now working on a number of upgrades to old cars of which one is the Delahaye. They say they can build one for you for about $600k. Don't think I am interested, but others may be. http://www.delahayeusa.com/

After seeing a couple of original Delahaye's in the last year - to me they really look dated. A nice Lincoln Zephyr or Continental are to me, much nicer and obtainable with only a bushel basket of money. The Delahaye - a truckload of Ben Franklin's might see you clear The Chebbies, while interesting, can't hold a candle to the Linc's in shape, form and function.....but only my opinion

Interesting stuff. The 1940 Mercury Stardust is very close...

EDIT- did some more searching- I think the 1949/1950 Mercury chopped are THE ones I was thinking of.

Those can be had in fiberglass, or you can take an approach that we might......

I have a relative, who wants to build it his way, looking for an original car, but since these have been highly prized since new, they are pricey...or junk! We have decided to look for a solid four door, and will have a talented local fabricator modify it into a two door.

Okay, not only have I nailed several models (like the Mercuries) with your guys' help, I now have the genre: lead sleds. One search on google yields thousands of these guys. Thanks!

It seems to me you have missed a number of Buick sedans from 1948 on into the 1980s. Some were square brick shapes with portholes (1953) but there were also a number of "fastback" models that were really swoopy. See if you can find a history of Buicks with pictures, I think they had more fastback models than any other brand. I am trying to remember the more recent models but they were really swoopy and WIDE.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

How about the 73 Buick Riviera:

41willys, yes that is the one I was thinking about. I would put it in my personal top ten all time most beautiful cars among the 1940 Mercury Convertible, the 1932 Ford Roadster, 1941 Ford coupe, 1955 Thunderbird, early Corvettes, the 1954 Studebaker, the early coffin-nose Cord, the later Jaguar XKE and a few others which you can fill in but that Riviera is a BIG car and wide but if you can buy the gas for it you can take the whole family in style!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Let's not forget our cultural heritage in rodding. I have to admit the front-point-rear-slope of the '39-'40 Fords and Mercury coupes and convertibles is stuck in my mind as "classic" and represent the taste of poor boys like me; for me that is "swoopy", particularly the '40 Merc painted red or orange! There may even be some sort of aerodynamic reasoning behind the pointed nose and flattened rear of '40s Fords? Also let's not forget the neat look of a chopped '29, the rear of the Ford A and B Model coupes and roadsters have that appealing slope in the back, but maybe I read too many issues of HRM back before my brain was frozen in time?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder