Building and driving a street machine
From Mod Mania
Building and driving a street machine
Ownership of a classic car can be an exciting and satisfying lifestyle element. In the following essay I will seek to determine why people bother with vehicles considered by some to be ‘antiques’ and may lack day to day practicality. I will also try not to use the word ‘lifestyle’, as this conjures up images of people with too much money riding around on jet skis and splashing water on each other. The group of people that this essay discusses are often dissatisfied with the excitement level that can be brought about by brand new, everyday vehicles, and so their interest switches toward older vehicles. Unrestored, original classic cars as well as ones that have been restored to original specification can be included in this group. Mildly modified versions of these, often referred to as ‘street machines’, are included, as are ‘customs’, featuring extensive body modifications. The last category that really fits into this overall larger group are hot-rods, which, as raw bodies have become increasingly scarce over the years, are built more and more from reproduction fibreglass shells. It is the relative individuality of these vehicles that make them so desirable to car enthusiasts.
This interest in unique cars stems from the establishment of hot rodding in the 1930’s. Owning a unique car isn’t entirely about a desire to go fast. For some owners, it is not a priority at all; however the links between motorsport and street car modification can be tracked back to the establishment of hot rodding. ‘In America.... the hot rodders would take their cars to the dry lakes in California and race them. Eventually this led to the motor sport known as ‘drag racing’... Hot rodding in Australia also emerged in the 1930’s, but developed in a slightly different way. Australia does not have dry lakes so close to heavily populated areas, so the early hot rodders in this country modified their cars for competition in hill climbs. These cars were often driven to and from events in their stripped down form, ready for racing, so they were easily identified on the street as hot rods.’ Hall and O’Toole (1987, p.7)
Throughout the twentieth century, other categories of unique and modified car ownership emerged and evolved, though they have all stemmed somehow from hot rodding. ‘During the 1950’s and 60’s, speedway racing also used the term ‘hot rod’ for one class of racing and this led to confusion among the general public as to what a hot rod looked like. As a result, the term ‘street hot rod’ was introduced to clear up the confusion. Now these cars are more commonly known as ‘street rods’.’ Hall and O’Toole (1987, p.7). This term applies to the modified version of a car that was produced before 1948. A form of modified car to emerge in the 1950’s was the ‘custom’, where the emphasis was upon aesthetic modification to the body, rather than performance modifications. ‘Cars of any era can be classified as ‘custom’, but usually are based on models from the 1950’s and 1960’s.’ Hall and O’Toole (1987, p.8). ‘Street machines’ are a style of modified vehicle to have come about in the past forty or so years and are usually based upon cars produced between 1949 and the present. ‘Whereas customs have a lot of body modifications, street machines usually retain the original body design, with more attention being paid to high performance engines and the finish of the paintwork..’ Hall and O’Toole (1987, p.8). Keep in mind that the text just referenced was produced twenty years ago, so modified car culture has evolved further since. Despite the threat imposed on these vehicles by continuously rising crude oil prices, the culture has continued to thrive and the monetary values of these now ‘antique’ cars are higher than ever. This particularly affects classic Australian cars (eg: Holdens, Fords and Chrysler Valiants), which is strange in a way, considering that these cars were originally designed and built on tight budgets with little resources relative to the rest of the world, and therefore lack sophistication. ‘The man who bought the last Monaro has just paid a record $680,000 for a 36-year-old Falcon that isn't even registered. Darryl Mattingley outbid a field of rivals to pay $683,650 for a rare 1971 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III at a classic car auction in Melbourne on Sunday. It is the highest price ever paid for an Australian muscle car at auction and is way above what similar cars have fetched before.’ (Performance Ford Magazine, website by J. Freeman, 2008). My next-door neighbour (who is a doctor- if that makes his opinion any more reputable), believes that the current surge in prices of classic Australian (particularly muscle) cars is due to the wealth of many baby boomers and their desire to re-live their youth. Where modifying these vehicles was more popular in the 1970’s, ‘80’s and ‘90’s, there is now a growing trend to restore them to or maintain pristine examples in their original condition.
This suggests that many people are tired of the technical wizardry and often clinical efficiency of current model cars. Sure, they serve as easy and reliable transport for the first few years of their lives, after which the mainstream public trade them in and buy the newest, best models to transport them again from a to b. The problem with these cars is that they cannot transport people to c and d as well. It seems that people who own and live with ‘antique’ cars do so because they seek a challenge, individuality that cancels out the need to be the ‘trendiest’ and a more intimate involvement with their vehicle. By this I mean that using the vehicle becomes a more in depth and skill-demanding experience. As you are able to work on the vehicle yourself and understand how it all works, driving begins to involve mechanical empathy. Instead of sitting back and merely being an active passenger, you are the boss of the car. Frustration at the lack of control people have over current model cars was recently evident in a friend of mine. When his mum’s Mazda3 wouldn’t move out of ‘park’ without the ignition started, he exclaimed “if I wanna leave a car parked in reverse, then I’ll leave it parked in reverse!” Sure, this acts as an effective anti-theft device, but it also stops the owner from moving it around in neutral, with the ignition switched off, in their own driveway.
Though some people purchase ‘antique’ cars and never perform any work upon them, themselves, apart from drive them, we won’t talk about them here. The real joy of owning an old and/or modified car comes from knowing that you did it yourself. When rebuilding a car, regardless of how extensive the modifications are; creativity and the image of a finished product that you can call your own unique masterpiece are what I believe motivate people, being in that position myself. Whether other people like it or not doesn’t really matter. Within my limited budget and available resources I am building what I think will be an awesome means of transport. Though I have aimed for the best possible build quality and paid great attention to detail, I have to accept that it will have some flaws as this is the first car that I have built and circumstances such as the nature of space, tools and funding are all compromised. This gives some incentive to improve skills and work harder and plan more comprehensively when doing future automotive work. Referring to a particular classic Holden as a ‘chrome and polish monument’ (Page, 1988, p.7), Ewen Page, editor of Street Machine Magazine in April 1988 describes an owner built street machine as a monument of hard work; ‘countless wage packets…and more elbow grease than the Saudis produce in a year.’ My argument is that anyone can be a mere consumer by purchasing an instant car, even if it does have a powerful engine and shiny paint, but it still won’t match the sense of achievement that can be gained by working on, modifying and/or restoring your own car.
Involvement with street machines is not necessarily fuelled by a desire to go fast. ‘Street machine’ is a broad genre of modified vehicle, within which there are seemingly endless sub-categories. Magazines such as Street Machine provide a forum for people with nothing better to do to debate over ‘what is a street machine?’ Some may argue that if it wears number plates ‘then it must be a street machine’. Some would say that it’s too shiny and never gets driven on the street or that it is illegally modified and therefore cannot be classified as a street machine. Some may even argue that because it was originally designed and built in Japan that it mustn’t be a street machine and that ‘it needs chrome bumperbars!’ The reality is that each person has different values and these translate differently into which car they choose to build and how they choose to build it. Some may be more interested in competing in drag-racing, and therefore build it so that it goes as fast as possible in a straight line, but other areas of the car are overlooked. Some may be more interested in detailing, and so create the neatest paint-job, engine bay, interior and undercarriage possible, without caring for the strongest possible driveline. Though some may suggest that a powerful car is a mere phallic symbol, I would argue that many street machiners have a genuine fascination in the process of improving the performance of a car and not just the experience of driving a fast car. Indeed, again it is not so much about the destination, but more about the journey.
‘Antique’ cars can take people to c and d as well as just a and b. But what exactly are ‘c and d’? Well, in addition to the romantic perspectives of an ‘antique’ car such as ‘the throb of an unmuffled V8’ or ‘the way the sunlight dances across the chrome trim’, old cars ‘that you can actually get your hands dirty working on’ provide a unique social aspect. Joining a car club is a fantastic way to meet people who share a common interest. In online forums such as the gmh-torana website, there is a pool of knowledge and contacts which can help even newcomers to the game of knowing and modifying their cars. Organized events such as car cruises and drag days (legal: at a racetrack) enable people to go out and share the experience of using their cars together. Traveling down a road amongst a group of twenty-odd (mostly modified) Toranas is an exciting experience. The noise, smell and motion can have a greater effect on ones hormones than any drugs are capable of.
Car enthusiasts and street machiners receive some fairly bad publicity in the mainstream media from time to time. The frustrating part of this is that not everyone who modifies or takes a keen interest in cars is a hoon. The anti-hoon laws introduced from state to state throughout Australia are more of a reaction to tabloid headlines than a genuine attempt to improve road safety. And it is debatable how dangerous ‘hooning’ actually is relative to other seemingly innocent driving habits. Steve Westmacott, when interviewed in Street Machine Magazine (July 2004, p.16), commented that ‘politicians take the cheap option of blaming modified car drivers for their own inability to get the roads and driving attitudes fixed – some moron doing ten kays under the speed limit in the right hand lane of the freeway is more dangerous than a kid learning car control by doing a burnout in an empty car park’. An article titled ‘Magic Happens’ in Street Machine Magazine (July 2008, p.24) details a recent car cruise in Sydney, which was organized with the police involved, as well as a charity component. Con Constantinou, who helped organize the cruise, said; ‘After the first cruise, they (the police) could see we weren’t out to cause trouble. They say they’re after the bad drivers, not cars, which sounds good to us… It’s easy for genuine street machiners to get lumped in with street racers and hoons. This way we’re presenting ourselves to the public in a positive way and they can see that we are enthusiasts and that this is a family sport.’ Despite popular opinion, it is clear that enthusiasts of old and/or modified cars are not antisocial characters, aiming to cause trouble.
Involvement with modified, ‘antique’ cars may not interest everyone. I have never found computers particularly stimulating and I can’t imagine that I ever will, so I can understand if cars fail to strike a chord with some people. For those who are interested in cars, working on an ‘antique’ car, whether restoring, completely rebuilding, modifying aesthetically or mechanically, or simply carrying out maintenance or repairs can open up an interesting new world, filled with challenges and adventure. If you are motivated, you will never have time to get bored ever again and the work can be quite character building. You may even broaden your vocabulary in very naughty ways. Speaking from experience, I haven’t yet finished my big project of the past three and a half years, but I’m sure it will be a sensational feeling to finally drive it: There will be no comparison between a built and a bought car.
References:
Colin Hall and Larry O’Toole, 1987, Hot Rods & Custom Cars in Australia, pp.7, 8
J. Freeman, 2008, website for: Performance Ford Magazine
Ewen Page, 1988, Street Machine Magazine (April/May 1988), p.7
Geoff Seddon, 2004, Street Machine Magazine (July 2004), p.16
Geoff Seddon, 2008, Street Machine Magazine (July 2008), pp.25, 26
