Thread: Out of "Tradition" Build. What are your thoughts?

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Ryan,
The lipstick comment was out of line , but my point is that building what you want for a car/truck you're building for yourself is one thing, and going for the unique/different is great (within reason....I hope that shopping cart was built on contract to HEB, not as a speculative build). My concern is that you've clearly said that your plan is to build one, sell it to fund another one, and repeat that process. All I'm saying is that if you're building for the collector/hobby car market that's already limited, then going with something unique and somewhat radical you need to be prepared to hold it for a while. Finding that one buyer who actually has the cash and wants something that looks & sounds totally different from the others out there may be tough. Finding the second and third buyer could be even tougher (the unique factor has now dimmed). I think it's a great idea for a one-off personal car. I only question your idea that the world's going to be lining up to buy them from you and I hope I'm wrong. I believe that if you put two identical Deuce coupes side by side priced equally, one with the diesel, and the other with say a SBF or 5.0 Coyote the one with the spark plug motor will sell first. Maybe this just says I'm not a good one for your test market. Don't let me discourage you. I'll follow the build with enthusiasm!

Well let's see if the server works long enough to get this posted this time!

There's a guy here in Vegas that has a rat roddy looking A (if I remember correctly, it's one of those low, low to the ground, emphasize the engine, cartoon car kinda things) sedan with a twin turbo'd diesel. Interesting packaging, sounds wild, and the thing will smoke the tires as black smoke billows out the exhaust. The guy drives like an idiot, but the car causes buzz.

I'm not too into the "be different for the sake of being different". It seems you have two (well three counting the being frustrated with customers) objectives; have a Deuce and power a rod with a diesel. Starting with Dave's comments and the supporting opinions, building for resale changes my opinion. If you throw that out then it's a "spend your time/money however you want". If I were to build on spec I'd go a different way (but then I don't like to waste money.................if I had Severson's money I'd throw mine away). One would be a Diamond T or International pickup build to rod appearance but with the chassis and drive train to make it a great tow rig. That would appeal to a much bigger audience and be very cool. Or, some sort of '30s luxo sedan; big Nash, Packard, Cad, something like that, with a modern direct injection Euro passenger diesel...............go heavy on contemporary luxury.

Bob P.,

Speaking of being different and you wanting to build a tow rig, I think this pic is the coolest 5th wheel I've ever seen. Forgot where the picture came from.

Milner

No_Worries.jpg

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

if I had Severson's money I'd throw mine away)..

Really???? and just what would you do with 2 Folger's coffee cans full of pennies, dimes, and nickels???????

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Well let's see if the server works long enough to get this posted this time!

There's a guy here in Vegas that has a rat roddy looking A (if I remember correctly, it's one of those low, low to the ground, emphasize the engine, cartoon car kinda things) sedan with a twin turbo'd diesel. Interesting packaging, sounds wild, and the thing will smoke the tires as black smoke billows out the exhaust. The guy drives like an idiot, but the car causes buzz.

I'm not too into the "be different for the sake of being different". It seems you have two (well three counting the being frustrated with customers) objectives; have a Deuce and power a rod with a diesel. Starting with Dave's comments and the supporting opinions, building for resale changes my opinion. If you throw that out then it's a "spend your time/money however you want". If I were to build on spec I'd go a different way (but then I don't like to waste money.................if I had Severson's money I'd throw mine away). One would be a Diamond T or International pickup build to rod appearance but with the chassis and drive train to make it a great tow rig. That would appeal to a much bigger audience and be very cool. Or, some sort of '30s luxo sedan; big Nash, Packard, Cad, something like that, with a modern direct injection Euro passenger diesel...............go heavy on contemporary luxury.

You have really good points too. I'd love to do an old Diamond T or even a COE. If I do a coupe to start with, I don't think I'd do a coupe for the next one. I agree it may be hard to sell it, and I don't like to do things twice.

I know of that rat rod you're talking of. The guy who built it goes by welder up or something like that. He built a Diamond T truck as well that is huge and loud. I'm not really in the rat kind of thing. Some of them are cool, but most are death traps. I guess we'll have to see what I find for a body to start with first.

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Really???? and just what would you do with 2 Folger's coffee cans full of pennies, dimes, and nickels???????

That's hilarious!

Originally Posted by rspears

Ryan,
The lipstick comment was out of line , but my point is that building what you want for a car/truck you're building for yourself is one thing, and going for the unique/different is great (within reason....I hope that shopping cart was built on contract to HEB, not as a speculative build). My concern is that you've clearly said that your plan is to build one, sell it to fund another one, and repeat that process. All I'm saying is that if you're building for the collector/hobby car market that's already limited, then going with something unique and somewhat radical you need to be prepared to hold it for a while. Finding that one buyer who actually has the cash and wants something that looks & sounds totally different from the others out there may be tough. Finding the second and third buyer could be even tougher (the unique factor has now dimmed). I think it's a great idea for a one-off personal car. I only question your idea that the world's going to be lining up to buy them from you and I hope I'm wrong. I believe that if you put two identical Deuce coupes side by side priced equally, one with the diesel, and the other with say a SBF or 5.0 Coyote the one with the spark plug motor will sell first. Maybe this just says I'm not a good one for your test market. Don't let me discourage you. I'll follow the build with enthusiasm!

It wasn't out of line. I was expecting stuff like that anyhow. I'm sure a spark plug engine deuce would sell first too. The hard part may be me actually selling it when I got it done. Haha Wouldn't you be mad when I did a burn out past you in it?

Originally Posted by Milner

Bob P.,

Speaking of being different and you wanting to build a tow rig, I think this pic is the coolest 5th wheel I've ever seen. Forgot where the picture came from.

Milner

Attachment 57842

Wow, either the guy parks the car there to make an impression, or he did a lot of structural work to keep from ripping that car in half.

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

Really???? and just what would you do with 2 Folger's coffee cans full of pennies, dimes, and nickels???????

Beats heck out of my 5 hour Energy can full of dimes.........................

Innovation is a great thing; the hobby is going to continue to grow and develop as we move forward. As far as making money on it; maybe some guy with a fat wallet will like to own a "one of a kind" build. Jay Leno sure has his share of bizzare stuff. But it's an uncertainty; I though for sure a big block Olds powered right hand drive FJ-8 mail truck would bring big bucks because of its weirdness. It was still fun to build even though I took a hit on it in the end.

Here is a pic of a 32 roadster built by a Boeing engineer in the early 60s with a jet engine (turbine). It is now in the LeMay collection near Tacoma, Wa.

Jack.

Unc,

It's down to that now, a can of five hour energy to keep the juices flowing? Tell me, does it work, I've been thinking of giving it a try.

Jack.

It seems you have the right idea. Since I suppose I fall into the "Hardcore" Traditionalist category my input is this: It's your deal, have fun with it. It will come out exactly how you want it to, that's the beauty of these things! The only problem the tradition guys have is when folks build some wacky modern thing with no hint of period correctness and then try to shove it down our throat and make us like it. They argue that that's what they WOULD have done back in the day if they had it or that they used what they had, which again they WOULD have done back in the day. It's like paying tennis with a wall. They're relentless. And there's more of them than us. So the definition changes as time goes by. I'm rambling. The point is, build your deal. Have fun. If at some point you hate it, change it! Once again, hot rods are awesome cause we can do that sort of thing.

OK I'll jump in this conversation..Diesels don't turn me on like a BBC. BUT they are cool and more dependable than gas engines. We used to have them for fire pumps where I worked..We were always futzing with them because they HAD to run. I lived in Chicago for my first 50 years and hardly ever seen a diesel in anything but a semi. Now having moved to a more rural setting (farm area) 99% of the trucks are dieseland all the tractors. So I would think that it depends on where your at how well it would sell and for how much. The guys around here would probably eat it up I know some farmers that would go for it. Me I'd like to see it but doubt I'd buy one....Good luck with your venture, Just remember to post pictures

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