"The New Face Of Musclecars" as Proclaimed by Hot Rod Magazine!

[vintageracer]

I just received my latest issue of Hot Rod Magazine with a Roadster Shop Camaro build and a Timeless Kustoms Mustang build featured on the cover with the pronouncement "The New Face of Musclecars"!



I looked at both cars and read the articles associated with both and came away asking myself IF this IS the "The New Face of Musclecars" maybe it's truly is time to buy a new late model Musclecar!

First let me state that both cars have FANTASTIC craftsmanship and attention to detail. I am sure the builders are proud of their work and they should be.

Having said that my first reaction to looking at the pictures of the Roadster Shop Camaro was "Somebody decided they wanted to make a Late Model Challenger out of a 1969 Camaro"! That's what the RS Camaro looks like to ME! Look at the front-end & lower valence, the rear-end & tailights and the mirrors!

My first reaction to the Timeless Kustoms Mustang was that somebody hung a set of 4WD flares and a snow plow on the front of a 65 Mustang! Well done? Absolutely however that still does not change my opinion of what it looks like.

In each of the articles describing the cars Hot Rod references the Pro-Touring influence. Is this what Pro-Touring and the "Musclecar" hobby has come to? Kinda reminds me of the Pastel color & Tweed interior craze in Street Rods during the 1990's. It was Kool for awhile and then the cars that followed that trend passed being out date and went straight to UGLY!

In the beginning of PT we had the iconic Camaro's designed, engineered and built by Mark Stielow. The combination of late model driving technology in an old American 1969 Camaro. The builds were ALL about the engine, suspension and modern day performance applied to a 1969 Camaro. His cars were NOT catalog cars where you purchased pre-engineered suspension and engine components. His cars engineered and inspired the parts that are NOW only a click away today on the internet. Body Mods? On Mark's cars there are NONE unless you call removing emblems a mod! We also got the "Name Thing" going for a car. Gotta have a name or your car is just a car. Each of Mark's newest builds raised the bar for performance, engineering and handling. All the while the Camaro body on his cars "Remained the Same" and the paint was a solid color.

Next came all the interior mods in the form of fancy dash's, door panels, seats and consoles. All of a sudden you had to have an "Interior" to be noticed. Now it's body modifications. Apparently the wilder the better.

Today with the all performance parts, suspension parts and interior parts just click away all that's left to modify and "Get Noticed" is the body. So let's see how outrageous we can get to be noticed. All you have do is look at the SEMA 2016 cars/trucks to see this is certainly true!

To me one of the finest builds in our hobby was built over 10 years ago by Johnson's Hot Rod Shop for Bob Johnson. Remember the G Force Cuda? Back in the day (2005 I think) while we were on the Hot Rod Power Tour it was late one night in Georgia when Bob, myself and Bill Howell were having a late night dinner at Applebee's when Bob said the only stock body part on the car was the trunk-lid. The car looked FANTASTIC with NOTHING cartoonish or out of place about the car yet Hot Wheels thought enough of the car to make a Hot Wheels version of the car. You knew the G Force Cuda body was modified but HOW? NOW it seems to ME that the more body mods, flares, scoops, nips, tucks you can do to the body WITHOUT regard to good design, style and proportion the better.

If this truly is "The New Face Of Musclecars" as Proclaimed by Hot Rod Magazine I'm out! Hell ya I am old HOWEVER I have always embraced "Change" as "Change" is going to happen with or without me so I might as well be on the front-end and benefit from "Change" rather than be a VICTIM of "Change".

In this situation I will do neither. I will not benefit from the "The New Face Of Musclecars" as Proclaimed by Hot Rod Magazine as I sure as Hell do not want one and therefore I will not be a Victim of "Change" when once again styles and preferences change.

2 Weeks ago I walked through our local "Cars & Coffee". 1000 cars and 1 Airstream trailer were there. I was more interested in the Airstream than any of the cars/trucks that were there. Times Change, Wants Change, Desires Change and Styles Change.

It is my Hope and Desire that this excess of "Reimagined Sheetmetal" as quoted by Hot Rod Magazine will take it's short time in the spotlight and join the Pastel Colored Street Rods of the 1990's as a discussion of "What the Hell were We Thinking When We Thought That Was Kool Way Back Then"!

Just MY Opinion!

What do Ya'll think?

[dontlifttoshift]

Get off my lawn!!


Lol at not cartoonish

[oleyeller]

The good news is that out of the millions of Camaro's built, only a few will be worth $millions. The artistry, the craftsmanship, the labor of high dollar shops that turn out these wonderful pieces of artwork, can only be funded by a few. So there will always be 99% of the cars that are just good ole hot rods. I love to see what talented people can do.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Lol at not cartoonish

That was my first thought. I thought the proportions of this Cuda were overdone.

Meanwhile, I think the RS Inferno Camaro is gorgeous. That's one of the cars that once I saw it for the first time, I spent like half an hour going over the details. Hotrodding is about showcasing the latest and greatest tech and fabrication. Just everything about the Camaro was top notch, and I loved it. The Mustang wasn't my cup of tea, but I know many people that loved it, so that's cool, but I don't see that one aging too well... if I had to pick between the two. The Mustang is definitely more race oriented. I don't see it at being any different from the IMSA and IROC cars of the past. I don't really think people complained when those cars were built?

But I'm fine if that's the new direction of the hobby. It's always been about pushing the limits of design. Personally, you can only see so many 69 Camaros where the only mod is shaving emblems before things get repetitive... at least from a large builder such as RS. I for one love seeing the newest trends. That's why I go to SEMA, to see stuff like this. If the only cars that were unveiled were mild cars with shaved emblems, I don't think anyone would care as much as they do now. Besides, there are still PLENTY of project cars to be had. No, they aren't making them anymore, but the truth is that the number of people building these cars is shrinking every year, so yes, there's room for the traditional P-T build, and there's room for wild cars like this. It's definitely not going to push out the more standard, real world cars like I, and most people on here build, those will always be the mainstream rides.

[Build-It-Break-It]

I don't think its the new face of muscle cars but what is "cool" for the moment. Those two cars won't be looked at 10 years from now and still be relevant. The cars have unbelievable craftsmanship but will be out of style a few years from now.

[raustinss]

Mike ,eat a snickers , you're not yourself when you're hungry lol. Seriously though I must also agree ....beautiful well built cars but, I certainly hope thats not where we are headed cause I don't like that style too much

[TheJDMan]

I have to say I totally agree with Mike! All the points he made are exactly what I was thinking as I read my copy of Hot Rod. I made a very specific and deliberate decision to not modify the body of my build in any way including retaining all the factory badging and using a period correct color and nose stripe. If I wanted a modern muscle car I could have taken the money I have in my build and ordered one from the dealer. Like Ahmad said, they are cool now but will be irrelevant in ten years. "The New Face of Muscle Cars"? Only until the next magazine issue is released!

[H2Ogbodies]

I've already grown weary of the ridiculous F22 Raptor air inlet scoops under every damn Camaro nose-its out of hand now. I have nothing against function but if it destroys otherwise smooth body contours in the front then forget it. Those two cover cars look hideous imo....exactly like the goofy fender flare fad that everybody did back in the 70's to fit some "big ole N50 Mickeys!" and 20-30 years later regret cutting/butchering otherwise clean quarters....as my father in law did with his 68 Z28.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Everyone's acting like this is the direction that all cars are going in the hobby. It's not. 95+% of the builds will be the plain, stock bodied builds that most of us still do. These wild and crazy builds are a small part of the hobby, and they center around SEMA. That's what, a whole 20-30 cars a year, maybe? The vast majority of hobbyists don't have the ability to do the substantial body mods like this, nor do they have $500k to have RS, or the Ring Brothers build them a car like these. It's a small faction of the Pro-touring world, regular old muscle cars, and project cars aren't all going to suddenly evaporate into this "new face of muscle cars". There has ALWAYS been over the top show cars that have been built just to showcase build talent and crazy ideas. It's been that way since the 50's, and yes, sometimes they don't age well, or they disappear. That's the way it's always been in the hotrod/custom car world. Absolutely nothing has changed.

[USAZR1]

Yep, some trends I like a lot. Some, not so much.

[shmoov69]

Pro Disco is back man!! Power Tour had a bunch of disco styled cars on it when I was at KC for the kickoff. I think that the "new face" is going to be just like them.
This bad boy was a NEW build that I saw at the NSRA show a few weeks back. The work was amazing and I'm sure the cost was just as "amazing"..... but wow!

[minendrews68]

Pro Disco is back man!! Power Tour had a bunch of disco styled cars on it when I was at KC for the kickoff. I think that the "new face" is going to be just like them.
This bad boy was a NEW build that I saw at the NSRA show a few weeks back. The work was amazing and I'm sure the cost was just as "amazing"..... but wow!

Man, I remember these days. Looks like something I painted back in the '70's.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Im not sure if both of those cars' modifications will age well..

shoot.. im all for modifications(as some know)

But some are over the top and look outta place.. the RS one I dont like the valance and the side mirrors.. other than that I think itll age fair.

The mustang I just hate the fact that they brag about it being 1 Million dollars.. If i remember correctly thats what they said was in it..

and I very much dont like the front valence, mouth, lip.. whatever you call it.

I like the craftmanship of them but oooh wee.. theres some "we went too far here" parts I think.

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

Everyone's acting like this is the direction that all cars are going in the hobby. It's not. 95+% of the builds will be the plain, stock bodied builds that most of us still do. These wild and crazy builds are a small part of the hobby, and they center around SEMA. That's what, a whole 20-30 cars a year, maybe? The vast majority of hobbyists don't have the ability to do the substantial body mods like this, nor do they have $500k to have RS, or the Ring Brothers build them a car like these. It's a small faction of the Pro-touring world, regular old muscle cars, and project cars aren't all going to suddenly evaporate into this "new face of muscle cars". There has ALWAYS been over the top show cars that have been built just to showcase build talent and crazy ideas. It's been that way since the 50's, and yes, sometimes they don't age well, or they disappear. That's the way it's always been in the hotrod/custom car world. Absolutely nothing has changed.

Yeah but articles and spotlights like this steer the hobby in that direction and make people feel the need to fit in by doing those modifications or their cars arent acceptable.. They play on peoples insecurities like tabloid, fashion, gossip magazines steer your wives and daughters.

They have beautiful faces.. but when they see the new Kim K trend to have eyebrows like a 48 year old Lithuanian truck driver and lips with fresh irritation from nut allergies..


They vast majority have the classic camaro and love how it looks but there will be more pressure to feel like they need to graft a steel empty McDonalds french fry box to the front valence of their 69 Camaro

[shmoov69]

They have beautiful faces.. but when they see the new Kim K trend to have eyebrows like a 48 year old Lithuanian truck driver and lips with fresh irritation from nut allergies..

LmAo!! Awesome analogy!!

[mikedc]

Build that brown retro-Camaro with a 3rd-gen body and cheaper parts & finish . . . and it's not retro-cool anymore, it's just uncool.


Only here's the thing: I am not saying this to criticize the build. I am saying it to criticize the audience.

The muscle/hot-rod world requires expensive bodystyles and top notch (read: expensive & experienced) execution as the "entry fee" before a project becomes eligible for genuine style consideration. That stifles a lot of the creativity.

People stop taking risks when a project is very expensive and must recoup a large portion of that cost on resale.

[gator68428]

Everyone's acting like this is the direction that all cars are going in the hobby. It's not. 95+% of the builds will be the plain, stock bodied builds that most of us still do. These wild and crazy builds are a small part of the hobby, and they center around SEMA. That's what, a whole 20-30 cars a year, maybe? The vast majority of hobbyists don't have the ability to do the substantial body mods like this, nor do they have $500k to have RS, or the Ring Brothers build them a car like these. It's a small faction of the Pro-touring world, regular old muscle cars, and project cars aren't all going to suddenly evaporate into this "new face of muscle cars". There has ALWAYS been over the top show cars that have been built just to showcase build talent and crazy ideas. It's been that way since the 50's, and yes, sometimes they don't age well, or they disappear. That's the way it's always been in the hotrod/custom car world. Absolutely nothing has changed.

True. And on top of that, it's just a magazine with a catchy headline. Editors gotta edit, and get magazines sold. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I totally agree the Camaro does look a little bit like a challenger and kinda turns me off. The Mustang looks pretty mean, and functional, like it would be fun ride on the track--but I don't like Mustangs... Kudos to them for investing the effort. Maybe the next ones will be even better. I say go for whatever you're passionate about.

[Alan66ss]

There is a real cool story behind that camaro. The owner is a real nice guy and the builder did an awesome job. He wanted to be different and build something he wanted not what everyone else builds.

[groho]

I bet you a $1 these cars will be up for sale/auction in less than 2 years at a fraction of their build cost. I think Oleyeller got it right, there's only a few who can afford these $100K builds. The vast majority of us have hot rods we can afford, drive, and enjoy. Personally, I like the thought provoking ideas they generate. Those ideas are what allows us amoebas to incorporate in our personal builds. Its what keeps the gears turning in hot rodding.

[Ben@SpeedTech]

Yeah but articles and spotlights like this steer the hobby in that direction and make people feel the need to fit in by doing those modifications or their cars arent acceptable.. They play on peoples insecurities like tabloid, fashion, gossip magazines steer your wives and daughters.

Well said Mr. V, and welcome to the world of marketing, right? Maybe it's true or maybe I was never as aware as a youngster but it seems more and more as though people are less sure of themselves and need to seek other's approvals or feel they have to follow the latest trend to be cool. Screw that. Build what you wanna and be ok that it may not follow "trends". And boo on anyone trying to dictate what is cool and what isn't. We're all hot rodders no matter what genre our cars fit in and if they make us happy we've nailed the whole purpose of hot rodding.

My first real build was a Nova I bought in the late 80s, a '73 Nova, right when the popular magazines said they ('73-74 Novas) were the "ugly Novas". Well there's plenty of them getting built now and I guess they magically aren't ugly any more. What's more was mine was an 11 sec 1/4 daily driver, and a 4 door. I got crap all the time for that one but didn't care. My biggest smile came one night doing dry hops and lifting the left front tire 3" in the parking lot at cruise night. I later found out someone said, "why did he do it that to a 4 door?" A friend of mine standing nearby said, "Because he likes it that way." 'Nuff said right?



We build lots of cars at Speedtech, and as the guy here that gets to aid in their design and work out the initial renderings, it's refreshing that each car has it's own often subtle visual changes that make it a great looking car that really appeals to it's owner. They usually appeal to everyone else too. If you nail that, the car will never get boring or "go out of style".