all kidding aside......WTF is up with "Hood rides?"

[Jim Ratto]

%

[louisb]

It is an outgrowth of the rat rod movement. The problem with a lot of them is they are not really safe from what I have seen. Not really my thing either. I don't have a problem with cars that could be called beaters, heck my '67 probably falls into that catagory now. But these folks take it a bit far.

--louis

[JS]

Jim, you should have seen the beetle driving(or sliding) around the camp ground at EBI. Front valance and fenders looooosely atatched to the car...
What a shame!

[Diederick/DVK]

Jim, don't forget the coil just leaning onto cylinder 4 

[.]

Sheep enjoys getting me steamed, emailing me links to these really ridiculous cars for sale on Samba. I cannot believe what some of these morons have done to what might have been some decent Volkswagens! And the prices these cretins are asking for what amounts to no more than a rusted and jimmied-together pile of crap, with many of the basic automotive functions disabled (lights, brakes, etc....), but "engineered" with loads and loads of accessory garbage spilling off every outside surface of the car. Some of the photos I have seen of these "cars" (we have to use the term loosely....as they remind me more of the trash sculptures that used to be displayed along the bayshore freeway in Richmond CA by Golden Gate Fields than actual cars). I just don't get the fascination with wanting a pile of trash for a car, and then thinking it's cool.....and then demanding top dollar for these roaches. My God....rust, twisted wires together, missing parts, tires that rub headlight wires, missing fresh air hoses, chrome taiwan engines, jungle gym roof racks hung everywhere, lowered to the point of lunacy, awful primer paint jobs, these cars are the worst segment of the hobby, I just don't get the thinking (or lack thereof)  ???behind such awful cars. Did I mention how fricking awful these cars make the VW hobby appear? AWFUL!

AMEN !
 

[deano]

And, they expect car features too!

[Cornpanzer]

And, they expect car features too!

pee yook!!!

Does Better Homes and Gardens feature mobile homes??

Well.....it is just the thought process I cannot grasp. If I was fortunate enough to find a nice, tidy, let's say '63 Bug, the LAST thing I would is fuck it up like so many of these cars. And not just because I'm performance minded.....but because I think your car says something about you. Doesn't it? Do these people feel this way? Judging from their ads on the Samba, it seems they do... they boast and brag about the what I find to be such poor decisions they've made. The extremely narrowed beams.....done because of disc brakes and tire clearance? Nope think again.....it was simply monkey see monkey do...all cosmetics. They're not concerned with brakes at all....let alone disc brakes! Their ads on the Samba smack of such smugness and the very essence of the look of these cars just completely turns me off.......take a 1967 or earlier bug, slam it to the point where it shouldn't be driven (weigh the car down with some airbag crap to make things worse), cobble up some homemade RHD "kit" that is a fatality waiting to happen, coax the last few breaths out of some mutant single-port F case "1835" with stock carb, chrome air filter, 009 distributor, chrome tin (covered in grime and greasy paw  prints), some header installed without gaskets, and maybe half the nuts, some haphazard-teenage made wiring harness, just waiting to start a fire, rotten fuel hoses, axle boots that would leak if there was any oil in the transaxle, about 6 degrees of negative camber, worn out (4 different) tires, no fender beading, intermittent electricals, bumpers held on with one or two 5/16" bolts jammed into 8mm threaded holes, no interior, windows that don't roll up, oh....but wait, the roof rack, the bug killer, the cooler scoop, the decklid rack, the the fake whitewalls flapping in the breeze.....these all make these cars worth the $15,000 these idiots demand for this crap!!!

Ok, I have to admit that I have rolled my eyes in the past at some of the Ratto Ramblings, but that Sir was probably the best written piece of prose that I have ever read on the net.  I am still laughing!!!!   

[Fastbrit]

And, they expect car features too!

Sadly. sometimes they get them, too...

[H67bug]

Some people get it; some just aren't able to
































  . Just kidding! I like the "custom controls" in the second advert- a normal hydraulic box with cobwebs drawn on using a felt pen. lol!

[beetletom]

there was a hoodride display at one of the uk shows last year, biggest display of the whole show! 
if you guys from the us think you got it bad, come to a uk show...
i don't mind genuine patina (faded paint, battle scars, as it tells a story) but stuff that i think is stupid is, fake patina, bare metaled cars so they look rusty.
most of them seem to be split busses aswell, which isn't too bad 

[Luftkraft]

IMHO the whole hoodride thing is just a fad that might come to an end in the near future. it's determined to extinct as its "key values" are all about extremes like slamming the car as much as possible and having the biggest amount of rust per square inch of tin. as soon as these two goals are achieved, it ain't fun anymore. then everyone will find his way back to the main subjects: horsepower and stance. and there's nothing wrong with patina, I love it, but it's gotta be real.

[Fritter]

I agree Jim!  The patina thing has been carried to the extreme.  A car that is found in a barn, an old hot rod from the 50's that is discovered, etc., has "real" patina and is cool.   But most of these VW hoodrides are actually "fake" aged with sandpaper, acid, etc. to make them look old.  And then to top it off, they are lowered to the point of stupidity and usually have unsafe brakes and engines. 

This one is in my area, real nice guy, but the car is a train wreck.  He always wins a trophy though for some reason.  The cool thing is that it's a '60 Euro car with sems.  And Chuck Fryer sold him the wheels!

[JS]

I think that´s a swedish 59 model. Unless the doors and rear fenders have been changed.

[Jordy/DVK]

 Well... I'm planning to get my '51 split through inspection and drive it "as is"... 
 Just plain original, not slammed etc... no changes... looking the same as it did back in the 70ies when they put it in the barn... 
  (I will remove the dead mice from the headliner though...    )

 

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

I think that´s a swedish 59 model. Unless the doors and rear fenders have been changed.

it has later doors 59's have pull door handles which this car has but you can see the hole in front of the handle for the later verison

[Shubee2 (DSK)]

 Well... I'm planning to get my '51 split through inspection and drive it "as is"... 
 Just plain original, not slammed etc... no changes... looking the same as it did back in the 70ies when they put it in the barn... 
  (I will remove the dead mice from the headliner though...    )

 

LOL leave them in they give it a cheese kind of smell LOL

[Rasser]

Rat, Hood whatever.....  they do come in super detailed form as well!

check TeamAngoraRacing´s projects out:   http://teamangoraracing.dk/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=175&page=1#Item_26

While your at their webpage, please spend some time and look around at their other projects - these guys don´t cut corners, and most of their ratrides are more detailed than most of our/yours lookers are.

So what I mean to say is, not every rat/hoodride is a trainwreck!

[Bill Schwimmer]

"Gil Gonzalez? Sure we know Gil. We killed him last night. Tied him to the car and dragged him."

no more American Graffiti for you Mr Ratto

[Bill Schwimmer]

Hey! I figured out how to make the quote thing work.. Maybe I am not so lame after all

[Sarge]

Hey! I figured out how to make the quote thing work.. Maybe I am not so lame after all

Don't get carried away now 

[Bill Schwimmer]

OK  Mr. "I still have points but I finally figured out how to use a digital camera & a computer"  no more technology for you.. go back & set your dwell young man.

[Lee.C]

"Gil Gonzalez? Sure we know Gil. We killed him last night. Tied him to the car and dragged him."

no more American Graffiti for you Mr Ratto

  , , , , ,

[Sarge]

OK  Mr. "I still have points but I finally figured out how to use a digital camera & a computer"  no more technology for you.. go back & set your dwell young man.

OUCH!!  I would, but I need somebody to show me how to install a new battery in the dwell meter.

[Bill Schwimmer]

Maybe she will make you watch some sort of Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks tragedy instead.  You will be so emasculated after that you will have to sit down to pee.

[sheep]

I think Jim will have to keep watching that movie about the transvestite volley ball team, he tried to make me watch when I was down visiting. He knew every word to that movie it was real creepy

[sheep]

It was better than that movie you starred in called Dawsons Crack.

[sheep]

Maybe she will make you watch some sort of Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks tragedy instead.  You will be so emasculated after that you will have to sit down to pee.

JIm already sits down when he pees

[stealth67vw]

I think Jim will have to keep watching that movie about the transvestite volley ball team, he tried to make me watch when I was down visiting. He knew every word to that movie it was real creepy

what was the movie you insisted we watched every time I came to your mansion, Sheep? Hot And Saucy Pizza Girls? Didn't it win an Oscar?

Did he have to check that out of Catfish Don's Library? LOL

[sheep]

I think Jim will have to keep watching that movie about the transvestite volley ball team, he tried to make me watch when I was down visiting. He knew every word to that movie it was real creepy

Jim just in case some lounge members are interested in veiwing the tranny volleyball movie, could you please give us the name of it.

[sheep]

Hey stealth67 I like your avatar. Where did you get it???