Discussion
corvette's C2 many restomods I believe say with later underpinnings/rear/suspension and bigger engines.
or making it half a Grand Sport C2
no idea if it counts though :-)
at the time they called it engine swap I guess, while they also uprated the suspension/brakes and all, I guess Restomod is more 'modern term' restored and modded?
or making it half a Grand Sport C2
no idea if it counts though :-)
at the time they called it engine swap I guess, while they also uprated the suspension/brakes and all, I guess Restomod is more 'modern term' restored and modded?
Bobo W said:
Restomodding is all the rage at the moment but what were its origins?
Hot rodding in the USA in the mid 50's when youths and racers started searching junk yards for any new Chevy's, Caddy's, Olds and Chrysler's with the then new OHV V8 engines and pulling their old hopped up flathead sidevalve V8's from their hot rodded Model A's and 32/34 Ford's.....along with newer instruments, interiors, axles, and all sorts of other 'modern' era stuff to update their 1930's cars.That's where it all began.
Modern restomods are just a 21st century take on what hot rodders were doing 70 years ago.
aeropilot said:
Bobo W said:
Restomodding is all the rage at the moment but what were its origins?
Hot rodding in the USA in the mid 50's when youths and racers started searching junk yards for any new Chevy's, Caddy's, Olds and Chrysler's with the then new OHV V8 engines and pulling their old hopped up flathead sidevalve V8's from their hot rodded Model A's and 32/34 Ford's.....along with newer instruments, interiors, axles, and all sorts of other 'modern' era stuff to update their 1930's cars.That's where it all began.
Modern restomods are just a 21st century take on what hot rodders were doing 70 years ago.
Bobo W said:
aeropilot said:
Bobo W said:
Restomodding is all the rage at the moment but what were its origins?
Hot rodding in the USA in the mid 50's when youths and racers started searching junk yards for any new Chevy's, Caddy's, Olds and Chrysler's with the then new OHV V8 engines and pulling their old hopped up flathead sidevalve V8's from their hot rodded Model A's and 32/34 Ford's.....along with newer instruments, interiors, axles, and all sorts of other 'modern' era stuff to update their 1930's cars.That's where it all began.
Modern restomods are just a 21st century take on what hot rodders were doing 70 years ago.
All depends on whether there is a suitable newer engine from the same manufacturer or not. When there is, then yes, it makes sense to keep it the same one, but that's not always the case, especially if restomodding a car from a defunct manufacturer.
If you consider that the restomodding scene really started with American muscle cars which were all:
1. Body on chassis construction
2. Pushrod V8
3. 3 speed automatic
4. Leaf springs
5. stuck in a time warp so styling aside, things from the 1990s would be bolt-in replacements for stuff from the 1960s - e.g. disc brake conversions, fuel injection, etc. and as well as brand new OEM crate engines, replacement parts from the OEMs there was a whole raft of manufacturers offering upgraded parts, you can see where it all comes from.
It came to European eyes through the fact that Porsche were also too lazy to redesign their 911 too radically, and so a whole heap of people such as Magnus Walker or Singer took 964s and backdated them.
And of course the Japanese have been doing the same thing to Minis since Rover made them stylistically a bit too modern for Japanese tastes in the 80's, but didn't bother updating anything else properly.
Conclusion: restomodding originates in manufacturers being too lazy to redesign their models combined with customers wanting the newer better components combined with the older styling.
I may have oversimplified.
1. Body on chassis construction
2. Pushrod V8
3. 3 speed automatic
4. Leaf springs
5. stuck in a time warp so styling aside, things from the 1990s would be bolt-in replacements for stuff from the 1960s - e.g. disc brake conversions, fuel injection, etc. and as well as brand new OEM crate engines, replacement parts from the OEMs there was a whole raft of manufacturers offering upgraded parts, you can see where it all comes from.
It came to European eyes through the fact that Porsche were also too lazy to redesign their 911 too radically, and so a whole heap of people such as Magnus Walker or Singer took 964s and backdated them.
And of course the Japanese have been doing the same thing to Minis since Rover made them stylistically a bit too modern for Japanese tastes in the 80's, but didn't bother updating anything else properly.
Conclusion: restomodding originates in manufacturers being too lazy to redesign their models combined with customers wanting the newer better components combined with the older styling.
I may have oversimplified.
Bobo W said:
I don’t profess to know a great deal about Hot Roding but my understanding was that while they updated older cars it wasn’t marque specific upgrade so their Model A wouldn’t necessarily have a Ford engine, it would be anything they could get their hands on? Restomods tend to be manufacturer specific hence question stands
You are correct, hot rodders have (and still do) use whatever they can get their hands on. However, a restomod is just a modified / tuned / upgraded / souped up / hopped up (use whatever term you wish) car, just with a few self imposed rules on what parts are used.
I've always had the impression it came from stuff like corvettes and mid-high value muscle cars where people wanted to keep a mostly stock body, but upgrade with "bolt ins" - brakes/suspension/engines etc which could be reversed if a stock car was desired.
Sebastian Tombs said:
If you consider that the restomodding scene really started with American muscle cars which were all:
1. Body on chassis construction
Pretty much no American 'muscle car' of the generally considered time period (Pontiac GTO onwards) had a body on chassis construction, they were all unitary construction.1. Body on chassis construction
Only the Corvette was a body on frame type during the period.
Many of the typical 'restomods' of such cars though involve cutting the floor out or partially out, and fitting the unitary bodies on top of a new custom separate chassis from the like of Roadster Shop, Art Morrison etc.
I first came across what you might loosely term a restomod in the late 70’s whilst working for an Aston Martin “specialist”. We had a DB2 come in with a Jag engine fitted which I believe was not too uncommon a “mod” back then.
Maybe you could call a Savage Cortina V6 a “restomod” ?? as I remember when I first came across one of those in Southsea all those years ago.
Anglia’s with Mex engines fitted and one particular VERY nice Anglebox with a twin cam in with Mk 1 escort bubble arches, all this stuff in the 70’s when I first started driving.
I do kind of Hanker after a TR7 convertible, works rally car sort of look and suspension set up with an LS7, 6 speed tremec etc, kind of a “poor” man’s cobra but with a decent roof
Maybe you could call a Savage Cortina V6 a “restomod” ?? as I remember when I first came across one of those in Southsea all those years ago.
Anglia’s with Mex engines fitted and one particular VERY nice Anglebox with a twin cam in with Mk 1 escort bubble arches, all this stuff in the 70’s when I first started driving.
I do kind of Hanker after a TR7 convertible, works rally car sort of look and suspension set up with an LS7, 6 speed tremec etc, kind of a “poor” man’s cobra but with a decent roof
aeropilot said:
Pretty much no American 'muscle car' of the generally considered time period (Pontiac GTO onwards) had a body on chassis construction, they were all unitary construction.
Only the Corvette was a body on frame type during the period.
Many of the typical 'restomods' of such cars though involve cutting the floor out or partially out, and fitting the unitary bodies on top of a new custom separate chassis from the like of Roadster Shop, Art Morrison etc.
Here is a GTO body being lifted off its frame.Only the Corvette was a body on frame type during the period.
Many of the typical 'restomods' of such cars though involve cutting the floor out or partially out, and fitting the unitary bodies on top of a new custom separate chassis from the like of Roadster Shop, Art Morrison etc.
https://youtu.be/KSGrsrDkmgQ?si=Luc27kT3ig-xeomo&a...
But yes, Mustangs, Chargers, etc, are all unibody. However I've seen enough episodes of Overhaulin' to know that the front end is basically bolt-on on all of these things, and the tech never really changed (live axles, V8s, etc) which made bolting in later parts a simple operation, rather than a major engineering job.
Edited by Sebastian Tombs on Tuesday 26th September 12:17
Sebastian Tombs said:
aeropilot said:
Pretty much no American 'muscle car' of the generally considered time period (Pontiac GTO onwards) had a body on chassis construction, they were all unitary construction.
Only the Corvette was a body on frame type during the period.
Many of the typical 'restomods' of such cars though involve cutting the floor out or partially out, and fitting the unitary bodies on top of a new custom separate chassis from the like of Roadster Shop, Art Morrison etc.
Here is a GTO body being lifted off its frame.Only the Corvette was a body on frame type during the period.
Many of the typical 'restomods' of such cars though involve cutting the floor out or partially out, and fitting the unitary bodies on top of a new custom separate chassis from the like of Roadster Shop, Art Morrison etc.
https://youtu.be/KSGrsrDkmgQ?si=Luc27kT3ig-xeomo&a...
Bobo W said:
Restomodding is all the rage at the moment but what were its origins?
The idea of modifying cars is nothing new but restomods seem subtly different in concept than say hot rods / customised cars. I recall Vicarage in the 80’s updating Jaguar Mk2’s but are there earlier examples?
Charles Ware set up in Bath in 1976 to modify Morris Minors by sensible updating like disc brakes, 5 speed boxes, maybe an improved cylinder head etc. There was no cosmetic side to it apart from keeping corrosion to a minimum. That operation closed just a few years ago but has spawned many imitators.The idea of modifying cars is nothing new but restomods seem subtly different in concept than say hot rods / customised cars. I recall Vicarage in the 80’s updating Jaguar Mk2’s but are there earlier examples?
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