Whenever I see hot rods on TV, they are usually popular makes like late 60’s Camaros, 57 Chevys, 32 Fords, and so forth. Has anyone taken a car not normally known for hot rodding and turned it into a super cool street machine like, say, a 1976 AMC Pacer? If nothing else, I would think you’d get the prize for Most Unique Car or maybe a What the Hell Were You Thinking Award.
I read about a weird new trend in the art world wherein artists take dead Yugos (have ANY of these survived in working condition?) and made works of art out of them.
I knew a guy in high school that had a Gremlin with a TON of framework done to it to let it accept a big block. I want to say it was a 350 that was wedged in there (firewall cut out, all that good stuff), but I am not sure.
I do know that he had the longest, blackest set of posi’s coming out of his parking space at the school lot of them all.
A friend of mine had a '72 Maverick, complete with rusted quarter panels and faded paint that he had a “built” 302 in. Surprised a lot of folks. When I was a kid here in Houston, there were a couple of guys who ran a VW bug with a 327 up front (obviously, the body was a shell) on the local street racing scene.
I know a guy with a '72 Datsun 240-Z that he managed to squeeze a big block into. This took some serious work - the firewall was moved back about 6 inches, among other things.
Now, those Z-cars aren’t quite Ford Festivas, but this isn’t too commonly done.
Right now, he’s having some problems with it. However, he reports to me that it was a helluva ride when it was working…
There are oddball hot-rods shown in magazines, but they’re usually not any cheaper than a more popular car because if you’re going to all the trouble, you want to start with a near-showroom-condition Pacer, not a rusted-out junkyard heap. -And if you are willing to cut up the unibody and build a tube frame, you can get any car engine into any car.
By the by, there are working Yugos still around: there’s a stock one owned by a fellow in my old neighborhood, bright shiny red, the thing looks brand new almost. - DougC
The usual reason for seeing common body styles is engine bay size and parts compatibility. Obviously, if the vehicle has a large engine bay you can put in a large engine with many goodies and have plenty of working space. Take a look at some of the newer cars out today. There isn’t much room to modify things.
The parts compatibility comes from manufacturers using the same parts on several different cars they produce, creating a cost savings for them. The hot rodder sees this as an easy way to find cheap replacement parts or for a greater chance of higher quality aftermarket parts being available.
One of the guys in the model car club I belong to has a custom Pacer. It gets lots of attention.
I used to own a Hudson pickup street rod. The most common comments from people were, “What year is it?” and “I didn’t know Hudson even made a pickup!” Made a good rod; lots of room under that long hood for a V8.