Period Correct?- Randy Curran

Is this period correct?  Does it have to be?

What the hell does period correct mean? Is it hot rodding during that time of the month? That phrase and the term ‘traditional’ get said more than in the hot rod community lately than billet sucks. Which it still does but that‘s for another column. It’s fun to watch the argument about what is traditional. I got into hot rodding because you could do whatever you want. FREEDOM! Now I find that I can’t run radial tires or air bags or certain types of mags! Because that’s not how they did it back in the day is the reply I get most. Well guess what it’s not that ‘day’ anymore!

How’s this for an example. Do you think Don Garlits would have shunned wrinkle wall slicks when he started because those hard slicks were how they always did it? Heck no! When Big Daddy came up with the rear engine dragster he wasn’t concerned about how they did it, he was doing it NOW! Also consider this, I like my cars low. The easiest way to do that and have some adjustability is bags. Just because they weren’t around in the 40’s or 50’s doesn’t really matter. I bet Barris and Winfield would have used them if the technology existed.

I agree some parts just work visually and functionally. Bias ply tires on fenderless vehicles, Halibrand mags, Strombergs, tuck and roll, chrome reverse wheels, floating grills, A bodies on Deuce frames, Caddy hubcaps, flathead’s, hemi’s, Bonneville-style chopped coupes, etc. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any good ideas that haven’t been thought of yet.  The world didn’t stop in ‘55 or ‘60 or ‘65.

The big name builders ‘back in the day’ gave us some of the most magnificent cars of our or anybody’s time. The Hirohata Merc, Ohio George’s ‘33 Willys, the Neikamp roadster, Pure Hell, the Mantraga Merc, the Beatnik Bandit, etc. To me they gave me a lesson on form and function. TO BUILD ON! I’m pretty sure they didn’t want me to stop there. Take it farther than you found it. When Sam Barris chopped the first Merc do you think he said ‘well that’s it for me, I’m done’. No he refined his craft, he kept moving forward. They did a lot of the homework for me. I can go back and pick up an old ‘zine and go oh that’s how you do it. Instead of screwing something up and spending hours and hours on it, I can save myself a lot of time and money. Unless you’ve been living under a rock you may have noticed some car shows are having criteria posted before your car can enter. The Hunnert Car Pileup (RIP) and Billetproof to name a few are the leaders so to speak. The rules are meant to be ‘traditional’ and some examples are: pre-64, no billet, no modern wheels, no IFS on open fender cars, yada yada. If you don’t meet these rules, or at least the spirit of them you don’t get in. It keeps the cars a similar style, era or whathaveyou.

Basically it means if you like whitewalls on a custom and a flathead in your roadster you don’t have wade through a sea of tweed and glass. And it works. But it also pisses people off. You mean my Downs bodied, crate motored ‘37 can’t get in? No. But it also raises the argument of what is traditional or period correct.

I love traditional or period correct cars. Somebody picks an era and sticks to the parts available in those years to build their car. You hear ‘nothing newer than ‘60 on here’. That’s damn neat. But it can also get pricey and take a lot longer to build. Old parts are getting harder and harder to find. So needless to say the prices are going up. I can’t afford that. I’m a magazine guy and a musician so I can’t afford anything (send donations to...). Life is too short and I want to drive! I’m sick of garage art, which my ‘39 has been for way too long. When my sedan is done it may not be period correct but it will have that feel, that soul that I love. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Which is awesome. Not for the cat but for us.

So what is traditional or period correct? I have no idea but I know it when I see it. But who cares, go build it, buy it or however you need to do it. But DO IT!