The Cal-look Lounge

Seeing some comments recently about Cal-Look trends that some today scratch their heads at (i.e. chromed fuchs, highly detailed Cal-Look cars running stock 25hp or 36hp engines, etc...), got me to thinking about old trends that might be cool if they returned.

For those of you who have been around the scene for a while, is there a trend that you had or saw that you'd like to see come back?  If so, what is it?

If I had one, it might be solid color late model bugs where the headlight rings are painted the same color as the car, the trim is removed and the emblem bump on the front hood is flattened.   8)

What's yours?
 

I liked some of the Formuling France steering wheels and VDO gauges

Porsche 356 hubcaps

5x205 Chromies, no caps on semi-gloss black drums!

More Late Models with Square Bumpers

I agree with Jim, The Porche nipples, and the Formula France steering wheel and those small bullet type side mirrors.

Slightly lower rear suspension. Not ultra low like in the 80ties, of course. It seems to me that the cars from early 90ties had a better stance than those built today. A lot of cars nowadays has an exaggerated rake, with rear end way to high to my taste, partially because of tyres with very high sidewall.
Second thing I would like to see coming back is full wide beams or the ones which are narrowed only us much as it is necessary to prevent tyres from tubbing fenders. Today, in most cases people are having their beams narrowed just because 'the beam should be narrowed', forgetting the original purpose of narrowing. I'm not even talking about stupid 3 cycle cars with 5 or 6 inches cut, but about normal cal-lookers having their wheels way into the fenders, just because.... just because.... it looks 'cool'?
What I wanted to say that it seems to me, that people tend to build cars with slightly more rake the ones build previously, slightly narrower beams etc, which means that with time, cars tend to be more and more exaggerated in their style.
So what that the car is super clean, very nicely finished and has a big engine, when with it's ass way up in the sky and it's front wheels somewhere deep into the fenders, so you can not even see what kind of stupidly narrow tyres the car has, it looks just grotesque.
I think that some cars just went to far. Of course - it's only my personal opinion ;)
 

I hate trends too, but no matter how hard you try, they have some influence on you. You see some things, you get used to them, even it you're not aware of that. I mean - I agree with you, but I've noticed to many things that I didn't like at the begging, but then started to like when I saw them on my friends cars etc, to be able to say that I'm totally immune to trends.

I'm not disliking the 80ies cal look bugs at all, so it would be nice to see some around.  lower in the back, maybe a paintbrush on it: just like nuthing fancy.
and I like the bugs with color stripes on it too.  I wouldn't doing it myself but I like it.   :P  There is a topic here with many of these bugs around.  I will look for it and paste the link here.

for me the 70's cal look  is the simplest way, no chrome (profit of $$$$$) , no mOre goodies on the car just shifter , and gauges etc ....
now it's look like  which to put more $$$ in its car, whereas there is full  way of making a cheapest car ..IMHO..

this one dem  ;) : http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,2447.0.html (http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,2447.0.html)

Now you're talking about my car... ;)

I miss "Trends".  They were just getting it right when they folded. :P Their dyno days rocked.

sunshine would make a great comeback.

And mine! (Although Roland's will be finished waaay before mine...) ;D

I would like to see the flashy colours and graphics of the 80's callookers ;D

Porsche and sports car influence. 

I think I am more interested in the next trend developing. I am bored with the state of Cal-look right now. To rigid and formalistic. Seems we are ripe for a new direction. Resto-mod maybe. Style of the '60s-early 80s but with a modern interpretation. Not really retro or a clone of early cars, but heavily influenced by the history of Cal-look but still pushing the movement forward. Or maybe I just need more coffee this early in the morning.  ;D

--louis

You have a project car, Louis...the future of Cal-look is in your hands!   ;)

that's the one! long time no see....   mmmm, nice! I like it!  ;D

Indeed, the thing that Louis mentioned here is also interesting...  will the next trend be something extravagant or will the 70's lookers remain popular for a few years...?  ???

I realy like them (70s style cal looks) but something more wild would also do the trick for me...  For example: the topic of the japanese lookers...  Fabs, got link?  ;D  ;D

Dem

CHOP TOPS!

There is one fad I would like to see return. Even if I can't fit into one.

--louis

...still don't like chop tops!  ...unless it's a '32 or '34 Ford...

I'd like to see more mega-compression small cc'd engines in a light car, dba Mike Smith era. 1776cc with 12.0, FK89, and a short ring and pinion!

    The one thing I would like to see is for someone or a club to organize a caravan from Los Angeles to Bug 0 Rama in Sacramento and back the same for other shows going on. I think that major cruises are way kool if you can get everyone to participate and you get to meet a lot of people with the same interest. Other than that I am much for the old look anyways Porsche alloys / Empi 8 spokes and 5 spokes with T bars Herculon interior Lucas front turn signals with or with out chrome is ok too. A lot of the DKP car are still in that look.


    Thanks
     Frenchy

I agree on all points. I don't care for the "tiptoe" look of rear end way up in the air. And I hate narrowed beam look. Tires should fill fender wells, not hide inside like scared turtles.
I think the narrowed beam is fine so tires don't rub ANYWHERE, if using discs or dropped spindles.
I think guys are trying to mimic some Pro Mod drag car look and it doesn't work.

you'd never see a nice hot rod 356 or 911 done up with such a stupid fucking mod as a 5" narrowed beam. Guys doing this shit are breaking up the family relationship, the bloodline.... good Hot Rod VW's are definitely the little brothers to proper hot rod vintage Porsches (not water cooled 996 crap). The day I see a 356 done up with a narrowed beam I will probably keel over in shock and disgust.

Actually, the "Cal Look" cars (I rather say "Hot Rod" cars) are probably the perfect evolution of where the scene has gone to. Leave them as they are.

form follows function..... always.

BTW yes I know 911's don't have "beams", they have longitudal trosion bars and struts. I am just trying to make a point.

You need to add airbags to your rant.

--louis

no kidding.

I am a bitchy purist.... what can I say? If it doesn't have any function except to convince the said owner that chicks dig him, then it is frickin trash.

Ok I will stop now.  ;D

Don't stop, this was just getting interesting. The boards have been too quiet lately anyway. How about beams with no shocks or shock towers? Maybe we should start a thread on trends we would like to see disappear.  ;D

For me it would be cars with big n littles but a stock 32 hp engine.  >:( posers

--louis

alright, I just know, from experience from working at a VW parts/repair shop for many years, that the poor little VW has been a target for some really awful and brainless stupid mods. I don't completely know why, maybe because they "used" to be a cheap car to mess with. I think, any time I would hear some dumbass making excuses why he couldn't drive his car as anybody else would drive their "normal car" (To#¤ta Camry, Dodge van, whatever....) because it was too low or the guy refused to actually bolt down his dual carbs or he left off 85% of the engine tin (but spent his $ on a chrome shroud) or had no brakes or the engine went through a case of oil to go 25 miles....whatever the "excuse" was I would get disgusted, especially as they were buying bagfulls of stupid crap that was fixing NOTHING on their cars. So if it makes the car a "limited use" pile of crap, (and you're not pouring race fuel in the tank or running wall-climber gears) then I ask "WHY?"
But this is getting off topic. The Lounge is a happy place....I don't want to make it a bitching forum.

My favorite (and I know you've seen this one) is the guy that drives up in a so so car with a $2000 stereo and puking oil everywhere!

This is what I call misplaced priorities...

I love that to!
And I hope to see more custom interiors in the future. And more cars that breaks the molds in general... but still keeps with the "form and function" theme..

A couple of more....

Original lucas turn signals mounted in the lower fenders with aluminum t-bars.

Solid dashes packed full of gauges.  I remember a guy that actually found and installed a VDO trans oil temp gauge that matched all of his oil, volt, temp and speedo gauges! ;D

Dual "talbot" mirrors.

And finally....
A 3 3/8" tachometer; either the 270 sweep or old style 1300-9600 sweep faces.   8)

What a great post thread!

A few rambling comments based on some of the other posts.....

1) "Cal-Look" is not going to evolve.  The style is set in history.  Just like the traditional black 32 roadster with a Halibrand quickie, ET3 wheels, dirt track tires and a hood full of louvers.  Yes, its narrow minded....perhaps even a bit stale.  But Cal-Look is Cal-Look.

2) Fred said something about narrowed beams being only for looks.  I know where you were going with that bro, but the look is as goofy as the engineering.  It looks bad, handles bad, is bad!

3) The small tach!  Amen David!  I am looking for a "Berg Style" Autometer to replace the oh so 90's monster tach in my windsheild.  Anyone got one?

4) Big 2-liter engines in a car decambered two notches with a stock shifter is just dumb.  Please stop.  And take that silly roof rack off your supposed Cal-Look car!

Ok, I am done.  This rant and the various mispellings brought to you by Makers Mark bourbon.  Wanna make enemies, drink more Makers.  ;D

Back on topic.....

I would like to see more buggy bumpers.  I also would like to see the dash fulla gauges. 

Bring back pinstriped windsheilds!  (just kidding)  ;)

That's like Bill Schwimmer's oval with the revver motor.  A 4.86 R&P with tight gears is just fine on the freeway when the engine is capable of turning over 9k!

I'd like to see more late models.
I'd like to see more dual quiet packs on merged headers.
I'd like to see more period gauges instead of Autometers.
I'd like to see wilder interior trim on stock seats (Frenchy mentioned Herculon - Ooh yeah! Want that for the '51!).
I'd like to see more thought and imagination going into building cars, not just a stock car with motor, gearbox, beam and wheels the same as the next one.
I'd like to see less chrome.
I'd like to see colours other than stock VW.

Thats about it for now! ;)

To quote someone who ran a quick car or two many miles on both the street and the strip "it looks like a frikkin' dorkmobile".

Bearing in mind I know people who have narrowed beams (!) they're not my thing, I prefer a 'natural' stance, and in my view excessive tucked in rake makes for a caricature of the style.    :)

Late models? I can't see that catching on...  :o

Skateboard Wheel Roller Pedals ;D

working on that as we post! what a great feature is that. i have a JSC roller pedal and i am tryingf to find my pink street bones from Powell Peralta.

I'm surprised we've nearly finished 2 pages and no-ones mentioned bikini girls yet! ;D

oops sorry

bikini girls spread all over my car.

Are bikini girls traditional cal-look, or 80s cal-look?

Seems to work too.

Custom interiors. All the refurb interiors you see now are boring.

--louis

I disagree. The very fact that we have this thread shows that Cal-look has evolved over the decades. There is a significant difference between your black car and the cars that were being built in the 60's, 70's or 80's but they are all Cal-look cars. The 'look' is only stagnant if we let it become static and formalistic. And it is my belief that if the look does go that way, it will die out within a generation. Muscle cars reached that point in the late '80s and early 90's then you had resto-mod hit the scene. Sure the underlying theme of subtle cars with performance engines will not change, (at least I hope not) but all it takes is for the right idea to come along and take us in a new direction. I think a good example of this will e Deano's car with it's race inspired aluminum work and traditional dechroming job.



--louis

Simple Cal Look cars that are driven daily.

Ohh I haven't seen that... where can I get one??  ;)

love to see pictures of that... love it.  skateboarding rules.

I should be more specific.  You cant reinvent Cal-look.
A perfect example is the "British Cal-look" of the 90's.  Of course I am painting with a wide brush, but those cars were no more Cal-look than a Baja is.  They were lowered, and that is about the only thing they had in common with Cal-look.  (Stumbling off my soapbox now)  ;D

i thought the idea around narrowing was to stop the front wheels fouling the fenders.the choice of how much to narrow depends on the offset of the wheels being used.genuine porsche fuchs in the 4.5 wide and an offset of vw standard 43et would fit very nearly on a standard width beam.obviously if drop spindles are used then narrowing is needed but no more than 2 inches.some wheels like wide 5 ARE mags have crap offset and need narrower beams.people def. dont need 5 or 6 inches chopped out its plain wrong  ???

Exactly what he said!

Ah, I missed that one on my two lists!   :D  Yes, this is something I'd like to see come back for sure. 

I want mine made in the USA.   ;D  And I'd like mine in larger tubing and high flow mufflers.  On second thought, I think I may have to make mine.... 8)

They're out there Dave, I've seen them.  eBay Motors has them every now and then, and old car swap meets. 

I recently picked up a 3 3/8" tach for the Single and I'm going to get a new one for the Ghia.  I think I'm "monstered" out. :P

I agree with Louis (but thought comes only from browsing magazines not being part of the scene). Just like Street Rods evolved and changed over the 60+ years they have been built. The 20+ years separating the two flamed Hot Rod roasters make quite difference in style. The car below isn't the worst example of the easter egg coloured billed monsters that started to fill the magazines from late 80's..

(http://images.streetrodderweb.com/events/0404_01z+1932_Ford+Passenger_Side_View.jpg)

(http://www.mathewscollection.com/images/hot_rods/32_boyd_450.jpg)