The Motor Underground: A Hot Rod Revolution Ep. 1

The Shifters car club kicked-off a Southern California hot rod revolution in 1992 that changed the world forever. Coker whitewalls, primer paint, early V8 engines, rockabilly music, tattoos and cars all coming out of backyard garages. What started as a grassroots movement found its way onto TV shows, runways and magazine covers all over the world. Today, 30 years later, rat rod is a household word and the Shifters So-Cal are still building traditional hot rods and custom cars that are universally loved.
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#hotrod #vintage #classic #classiccar #hemmings #classiccars #cokertireco
Music Licensing:
All-original score by Tony T And The Flattops
The four-episode series, The Motor Underground: Shifters So-Cal is presented by Coker Tire.

[@HotRodHoarder]

Good stuff guys!

[@danielstoner2843]

Thanks, Tommy! Think Corky would be proud?

[@BuildNStuff86]

This is really really good. As a teen in the early 2000s, reading magazines like DeLuxe, the Shifters were like rock stars to me. I’m glad people are shedding light on this era of hot rodding. While the 40s-60s were undoubtedly the heyday, the 90s-2000s was a tangible moment for a younger guy and I’m glad to have witnessed it at the time. This era has had a huge impact on my life.

[@danielstoner2843]

WELL SAID, BnS!!

[@Jordanrhart]

Same. I graduated in 03. I’m so glad I got to experience Paso back then. Coolest cars and dudes I had ever seen.

[@todddouberly87]

i graduated in 01 southeast ga and was the only kid reading the deluxe magazine, loved the shifters....wished i could have continued my love for hot rods as the years came, but unfortunately life happens. so glad they are doing a back story on these guys.

[@SmittyInVegas]

Back in the mid 90s NY I had been driving my rat rod 54 Corvette for about 8 years. I built a 1939 Harley flathead 80” bobber. I remember parking my bike in a line of those early wide drive choppers. I remember coming out of the bar. And my bike was surrounded by lookers. Nobody cared about those choppers. Those choppers had more money in their paint job than I had in my whole bike. The best laugh was I got the chick with the biggest t!ts at the bar. Good times. Smitty in Vegas.

[@danielstoner2843]

Best story all day, Smitty!!

[@V8Deuce]

No such thing as a Rat Rod Corvette

[@thekillercapricorn6334]

Bad Ass... What a great time.

[@TheforgottenRebel-ko1ur]

Respect guys talked to axle at the grand national roadster show for a couple of hours straight and a couple of the other guys I'm a 20 year old rockabilly cat currently building a 50 ford shoebox custom trying to keep the hot rod revolution alive here on the east coast.

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

I was at Squeek Bell's Kiwi Konnection after the Bakersfield Hot Rod Reunion in 92 (I think) when the Shifters rolled in. There had been an engine blow-up on one of their grenade-rods on the trip up from So-Cal & amongst all the drinking & partying that night another used engine was swapped into it. I think it was an Olds or a Pontiac that Squeek dragged out of a field somewhere local. I called them Grenade-Rods because they were as about as safe as a Hand Grenade with the pin half out! Gray Baskerville from Hot Rod Magazine was there & called them Ratty Rods & I presume this was the birth of the term "Rat Rod"! Billy Gibbons & Dusty Hill of ZZ Top were there too. The whole thing was a bit of a mind blower!!😎🤓

[@danielstoner2843]

AMAZING, SFR!! Do you have pics?

[@nzsaltflatsracer8054]

@@danielstoner2843 This was way before cell phone cameras were in every pocket, we were just hot rodder's doing hot rod shit back then, in fact nothing's changed for me!🤓 Gray lived with a camera in his hand & flipflops on his feet & was shooting everything on rolls of film back then but he is long gone now. I packed his ashes in the high speed chute on the streamliner & Al scattered him across the Bonneville Salt Flats at 400mph in 2002. Someone drove his wife in his roadster alongside the liner while I pushed it from the pits to the startline, that was a hot rodder's moment in history.😢

[@eugenegilleno9344]

Here in the UK, I got into hot rods and great cars from the pages of Mechanics Illustrated, that came to the UK as ballast on ships returning from the US in the 1950’s.

[@erinboatguy]

I met Anthony a few times when I lived by the Orange circle and I was cruising my 1948 Chrysler. Even went to a party at his house once that had a rockabilly band playing in the back yard. He came out to the street to see my car and told me I should chop the roof. I wish I had spent more time there but I got heavy into restoring classic wooden boats instead of cars. I did meet his mom once as she was selling her Chris Craft boat down in Huntington Harbor.....what a small world.

[@Salamancametalcraft]

Orange County, hell yeah. I remember those times and the shifters. Cool dudes, The had my my first band The Atomic Men play a couple of Anthony’s get together. Spent a lot of time at the Doll Hut.

[@danielstoner2843]

The Doll Hut is such a special, dirty hole in the wall--it's the type of bar they try to recreate in Vegas and it never works...

[@ex-engineer6657]

Wait. This is the only episode, so far? I have to wait for the rest? How old fashioned. So appropriate. But seriously, thanks.

[@danielstoner2843]

We're vintage all the way around, Ex!

[@kurtpoblenz2741]

I drive a 1933 dodge coupe with an early 392 hemi/727/8 3/4 combo. Great show 👍🏻

[@icantintyou]

awesomeness

[@joshdanison11]

This is epic and fuels my fire to find a crew of guys in my area to roll up and drop jaws!!!!

[@danielstoner2843]

DO IT! And then send us pics...

[@johnterran9327]

I'm a "boomer". But as a musician- 50's, rockabilly, I didn't roll with the money /hot rod magazine crowd. I was a rebel on ground the ground floor. I admired these guys for doing what I was doing since the seventies.

[@hemmingsmotornews]

Thanks for sharing! 😎

[@TierodMcslush]

So good

[@joshuamccuistion559]

Man this takes me back. Great times.

[@danielstoner2843]

RIGHT?!?! Hard to believe it's been 30 years, but here we are. Hell, I'm still wearing the same shoes I wore when I was 14, so what do I know...

[@joshuamccuistion559]

@@danielstoner2843 Craziest part of all of it is that I remember your face on a lot of it back then. Thanks for keeping those days alive brother.

[@ttgarage71]

Enjoying this ‘new-ish’ hot rod history in Park City (UT). Great stuff, Dan Thomas Ommen

[@danielstoner2843]

Hey, T--we gotta let them kids know who came before them, right?!?

[@CaptDesmo]

as a kid seeing American Graffiti on TV(taping it WSBK TV38 Boston Movie Loft) had such a huge impression on me... the lost drive in!!! (Speedvision) this makes me happy.... as a kid i always wanted a ROD!!!!

[@douganderson771]

Thank you so much for keeping the true Hot Rod's alive. I'm a Detroit/Dearborn guy and started building cars back in the early 60's. We built Model A's mostly but I had a 27 T . I remember one night we needed some kind of seats so we could drive around. Suddenly a brain storm hit's me and two grocery store shopping carts came in the back door. A little cutting a little gas welding and we had seats. No seat covers but we made closing time at the local burger stand. I live in North Carolina now and there is a bit of a rat rod culture. Hope to see more of this kind of film .

[@danielstoner2843]

What a great story, Doug! Funny about the "rat rod" term: most hate it, but it really is what everyone generally knows this scene as. Now, is there some sort of link between the Shifters and a stretched '39 Dodge truck cab on an F250 frame with a laughing skull for a grille and spiderweb radius rods? No. But we're hoping that anyone building a rat rod right now watches this series and learn where it all came from!

[@BuildNStuff86]

@@danielstoner2843 one thing to remember is “rat rod” was not always as dirty a word among the younger generation on hot rodders. 20 yrs ago old school hot rod and rat rod were pretty much interchangeable to everybody but the staunchest of traditional purists. When the Shifters’ Purple People eater was featured on the cover of Rod and Custom, the articles in that issue threw around the term quite liberally if I remember correctly. I’m sure they addressed that some took offense to the term, but they still called just about any primered car on red steelies a rat rod. The term was later ruined by people building grotesque art cars out of similar body styles as the true hot rodders.

[@johnbehneman1546]

THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU MADE MY DAY!!! I LOVE RAT RODS THEN, AND I LOVE THEM NOW.

[@tedecker3792]

In 1963 (I was 15) my buddy had a chopped and channeled 34 ford coupe with a scrapyard Oldsmobile V8. To get it to fit he had to cut away a portion of the frame rail on the right side. At anything over 80 the right front wheel would hover 3-4 inches off the ground. Hacksaws and hammers forever!

[@danielstoner2843]

PLEASE tell me he still has it, Ted!

[@Mr19thcenturyman]

My parents were married in 1955. At that time my dad had a '34 Coupe. He built his best car in the late 70s and 80s. He wanted the car he did not have as a kid growing up in Orange county, California. A 1932 Ford Coupe. That car is still around. It is known as "The Coleman Coupe". I have a 1931 coupe. My brothers have a 1934 coupe, a 1970 Torino and a 1960s sprint car. The sons of Don Coleman.

[@danielstoner2843]

Thank you for your service, Mr19th!

[@andrel3]

Great video!

[@knutbkristiansen]

Awesome episode

[@paulygood6665]

Love ❤️ this Channel. Keep the “Quality “ content coming 🏁

[@AndyGeesGarage]

It crazy how the revival hit everywhere right around the same time. We formed the Time Bombs CC in 1990 in Toronto Canada, but there was another traditional hot rod club that formed in the area in the mid eighties The Forgotten Rebels centred around Fredy Ky’s shop in Hampton Ontario. I used to ride my motorcycle out to that shop and check out all the cool hot rods when I was 16 in 1987. Cars like Mike’s flatty powered flat black Model A or Fredy’s 32 roadster with nailhead power or his wife’s radical kustom ranchero there was nothing like them anywhere, not at the shows, not at the cruise nights and definitely not in the magazines. The California guys got the press because they were next door to the magazines and Rod and Custom had been brought back.

[@32road]

Yeah, California cars got the bulk of the press out of pure location. Taking nothing away from the cars/clubs/guys, they were having a good time building some cool hot rods, not aiming for magazines. But a guy doing magazine shoots and write-ups could do his work and be home in time for dinner. Enjoyed both videos, remember it all very well.

[@V8Deuce]

The Shifters got the press because they were the first gang of Rockabilly kids that built their own traditional Hot Rods. Their exposure initially happened hundreds of miles from the epicenter of where the Automotive Publications were! Post photo's of guys that looked the way they did, lived the lifestyle, and drove the exact type of cars before them, and I'll show yous beach front property in Wyoming.

[@AndyGeesGarage]

@@V8Deuce Forgoten Rebels in the mid 80s in Southern Ontario Canada. The club 6 of us started in 1990 Time Bombs. It was happening everywhere. KKOA was a big part of it by having hot rod parking at their kustom shows and there were a few traditional cars showing up. I was into kustoms and had a slammed 60 Pontiac in flat black paint, chrome reverse wheels narrow white walls. I never said we were first but the back lash to the jelly bean billet street rods was real and caused the resurgence in traditional style. Plus you’d trip over the old speed equipment at swap meets. If you watch the say they got noticed when they showed up in Paso and shocked everyone with their rowdy old hot rods.

[@V8Deuce]

@@AndyGeesGarage Never mind. You have selective hearing. They also mentioned some Labor Day event, Drag Races, and other venues. What the Hell is your point????

[@AndyGeesGarage]

@@V8Deuce my point is it was happening all over not just California. I have some pics of my friends in 1988 greasers with their hot rods and the shop I mentioned.

[@troublevince2142]

Just bithcin!!!!!

[@chrishill8416]

Lowflyers car club in the UK we’re doing this in the 80’s ! 😎😎

[@danielstoner2843]

Dig the Low Flyers, but they weren't doing THIS!

[@V8Deuce]

So were other people around the world, but none of them were Rockabilly Greasers living the lifestyle !

[@dannychiguina3962]

Awesome 👍 job guys and beautiful Build's 🤙😎

[@deuceswild1304]

I didn’t know anything about the shifters until this. They are my kind of people. I love hot rods. I work on my 32 3 window when ever I have a chance. Can’t wait for the next one.

[@danielstoner2843]

We need to see pics of that 3W!

[@classactkirk]

Outstanding!

[@black88coupe]

Awesome!

[@Atlas.X9X]

Very cool. Looking forward to the next Episode.

[@patlash8392]

Met the Road Zombies around this time. Saw the Shifters at Paso around 94-95’ and immediately knew my direction for car building from that point on!

[@danielstoner2843]

Pat, you built some of the most important cars of our scene and SO glad you went in "our" direction!

[@briantomcollins]

Am i the only one who chuckled at the narrator's last name? I remember the first time i saw that Purple People Eater... just mind blowing.

[@danielstoner2843]

I'm still laughing!

[@Ryan67rs]

This is AWESOME!! Great content. Can't wait for more!

[@cudakatt]

Very cool! I grew up with muscle cars. After I bought my cuda, a shop 2 doors down had these rides they were working on. Made my way there often and learned alot of history. Gained appreciation for them. The simplicity of the builds got my attention. Rodney, a 32 coupe, that car ran like nothing I had been in. Voiced fast rattles of the car, the engine, the rigid feel of the road.. it was impressive. It doesnt get any better than these cars.

[@danielstoner2843]

Look, at the end of the day, a muscle car is still someone else's idea of a good time. I always say, "A hot rod is an additive process." You can start with a bare garage floor and build exactly what you want, according to your own personal style and mood...

[@cudakatt]

I totally agree with you. Different timelines in my life for these cars and the muscle cars. For me it's alot about the body lines and structure of the cars. I didn't learn about these cars until I was 39..crazy but I think it's because I lost my dad early. Either way, thankyou.

[@timmummert63]

Too cool to see this. I lived the next block over from Anthony and remember all of the burn outs and cars.

[@TresAmenazas]

Great job Dan, looking forward to more of this! Jr.

[@danielstoner2843]

More coming, Jr.! Now you know where I'm coming from, my dood...

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

Fantastic video, really enjoyed!! 👍👍

[@flightis3dollars]

Awesome stuff. Brought back lots of good memories and also very inspirational . Thanks.

[@SimmonsKustoms]

KILLER!!! Great coverage, wonderful stories. THANK YALL!!

[@bbo40]

My dad belonged to a car club in the early 60's called the 'Road Barons'. They had jackets and a club house (close to where my parents eventually got a house). I remember my dad telling me about it and in the mid 2000's I had front license plate made up for me , my brother and my dad with the old club name on them and gave them out for Christmas. My da had it on his truck till he could no longer drive then my nephew put it on his car.....

[@josemejia9349]

BADDASS

[@danielstoner2843]

YOU'RE the badass, Jose! We're all just tryna catch up to you...which will never happen...RJFFRJ

[@stephencox4224]

The Australian Shifters Club started back in the sixties in Southern Sydney and used a logo of a skeleton hand holding an eight ball shifter and till this day they have managed to keep the same supplier of the club Waterslide emblem that you put on your windscreen they never went to the now commonplace sticker so even that aspect remains true to the original Hot Rod Ethos when only waterslide was available there were no such thing as Vinyl based stickers that are so commonplace ever since the early seventies. Some of the cars are more streetrod than Hotrod but there are still hotrods around and in use to this day.

[@davidgriffin257]

Really enjoyed this, the history and the hotrods

[@ceedell]

Very cool vid, I remember seeing mention of them in magazines and thought they were really cool. In the mid 90s we were driving things like my 49 Olds fastback, a buddy's 50 Buick fastback and so forth to shows and gatherings and called ourselves The Rat Pack after the Vegas hip performers Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford before there were any "rat rods". I wear the logo today and everyone thinks it means rat rods. I still have the 49 Olds.

[@danielstoner2843]

That's awesome--good to hear you still have the Olds!

[@KubotaManDan]

This was a really cool video, everything cool starts in the golden state & on the east coast we have Matt & his IronTrap Garage on youtube, the hot rod builds are awesome & plenty of parts & starter projects.

[@danielstoner2843]

We're huge fans of Matt and Iron Trap! Hey, I know how cold a stone barn can be in the middle of winter to work in, so total props to him...and the cars are BITCHIN!

[@Nickolaswright]

Really enjoyed episode 1, can’t wait for 2!

[@danielstoner2843]

This morning at 8amPST/11amEST!

[@rockatanskyrodshop8533]

That hudson hornet is sweet

[@danielstoner2843]

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY CAR (that I don't own and Kevan will never sell to me) ;-)

[@rockatanskyrodshop8533]

@Daniel Stoner I'm currently putting a 51 pacemaker together, out of bits and pieces here and there lol

[@HotRodDave]

C O O L

[@johnvukojevich5722]

great chanel i was raze on hotrods i build mine from the ground up 1931 model A five window but a ture hotrod has to have three peddels i think that you should have a place where pictrues can be shown. but sure enjoy your story my club back in the day was the auto butchers my uncles were the valtures out of east los angeles they all had flats head stoke keep it up vukie

[@FourSpeedFilms]

Aweosme! It was cool to help out on this project, haha

[@danielstoner2843]

BEN! Can't wait for YOUR episode--it's gonna be a game-changer...

[@FourSpeedFilms]

@@danielstoner2843 Can’t wait!

[@Kunt5113]

I'm Australian and much of our car culture is based on American car culture. Ford, chrysler and gm Holden all used American small blocks. Holden did make its own small block after a while and kept it for decades but it was replaced by the ls.

[@brianlucas8946]

Really!. For the record, traditional Hot Rods were being built here in the UK in the late 1970`s early 80s so the Shifters are a decade behind, try looking up the Low-Flyers club UK which was formed in `82, ratty primer, whitewalls and all. Apart from the Low-Flyers club there were also other guys over here in the UK building and driving trad rods at that time!.

[@danielstoner2843]

Appreciate the Low Flyers, brian, but you're missing the point: the Shifters (and the other clubs forming at the same time) were reacting to the American street rod scene that the Baby Boomers had created in their own backyards in California. Completely different set of circumstances, cultural forces and societal influences...

[@brianlucas8946]

@@danielstoner2843 I`m not missing the point Daniel, I`m fully aware of what the shifters and others clubs of the time were doing!. The reason why they started building that style of car is immaterial! My comment was about the way the Shifters (and a few other clubs) have been trying to lay claim to have invented the nostalgia/traditional movement in the `90s when clubs and individuals in other countries, particularly the U.K.) had already been building that style of hot rod for over a decade, since the late `70s.

[@danielstoner2843]

@@brianlucas8946 You actually proved my point: what the Shifters and those other clubs did in California in the early '90s was the difference between an actual MOVEMENT and just building cars. Hell, Robert Williams was running around in his primered Deuce roadster before the Low Flyers were copying that style of car, but none of it was a groundswell movement that changed everything till the Shifters came along. Call it "right place/right time." Elvis didn't invent rock 'n roll, but he sure was the right guy at the right time and the right place. The Z-Boys weren't the first team riding skateboards, but they were the ones who made skateboarding a lifestyle. Savvy?

[@brianlucas8946]

@@danielstoner2843 I still stand by my point that the Shifters did NOT invent todays trad/nostalgia style as is implied! The trad/nostalgia "Movement" was happening here in the UK well before `92 which is STILL the point of my post!

[@danielstoner2843]

@@brianlucas8946 You are nothing, if not the absolute voice of that stance!

[@jakespeed63]

Superior content Dan. Thanks for all you do The Misfires CC and our Groundhog Gala, have been keeping the traditional Hot Rod vibe going in Florida, for 23 years. JT

[@danielstoner2843]

That is GREAT news, jake--we gotta do something to offset the Carolina Squat trucks down there...

[@Besty34]

Why were British rods used in the film when talking about street rods ? Ironic really seeing as the low flyers ( UK ) kicked off the traditional hot rod club scene in Europe in the mid eighties.

[@V8Deuce]

Can you be more specific? What part of the film (minutes & seconds) shows Brit cars?

[@Besty34]

@@V8Deuce 3:20

[@V8Deuce]

@@Besty34 That's good. All Brit cars suck !

[@Besty34]

@@V8Deuce wanker

[@ljuh722]

Yes this is genuine hack and works as promised in my case. Thank you very much.

[@kylesedgley7530]

Wat

[@kevinbarrett9615]

Very cool series, can’t wait for the rest. I too love the old school rods and am not a fan of the billet and jelly bean paint of the excessive 80’s cars.

[@danielstoner2843]

One of the big questions we always ask: What happened to all those wheezy small-blocked, moon-roofed, heartbeat-striped, Budnik-wheeled, tweed-interiored, Dolphin-gauged, steamroller-tubbed cornball pro-parking lot street rods? Are they ever gonna have their "comeback?"

[@Leadfootkurtis]

That was bad a$$ brother.

[@larrydavis1648]

This is such a Bitchin series,I hope you keep these going!

[@LastBastian]

You know you can enjoy and celebrate your preferred style of car, without putting others down. I love the hot rods, but the hate and negativity is gross.

[@danielstoner2843]

Agreed. We hate it when people bag on others' cars. Unless they're running chain-link fencing for window glass...

[@V8Deuce]

Oh SHITTT ! The rumors about this film are true. I thought this was going to be featured on Netflix? Either way, its a great start to an in-depth look in to the car club that started the traditional Hot Rod revival. Glad that the Shifters are still around, and I'm looking forward to Part 2.

[@danielstoner2843]

We originally made this as an hour-and-a-half documentary film, but we had to break it up into 4 parts for KZbin. BUT, hold tight and watch all four episodes here...and then watch for a director's cut full-length feature film later this year!

[@V8Deuce]

@@danielstoner2843 We can't wait. I bet this took an incredible amount of work.

[@danielstoner2843]

@@V8Deuce It took most of last year to put it together--mind you, it was originally just supposed to be "a little video," but we had to turn it into an epic, feature-length film. Because OF COURSE we had to.

[@kylesedgley7530]

There were rumors about this film? I’m always amazed at when something we do makes the hush hush circuits in the circles we’re trying to reach. That extended feature film will be making its rounds this year with added interviews, soundtrack and so much more cool hot rod stuff! Stay tuned!

[@V8Deuce]

@@kylesedgley7530 Awesome !

[@Insomniamodelcars]

New subscriber. Love the content ❤

[@hemmingsmotornews]

Welcome to the channel! Thanks for the support 😎

[@johnbehneman1546]

SUGGESTION: RAT ROD MAGAZINE.

[@danielstoner2843]

DON'T START TROUBLE

[@sinister_purpose7053]

Takes me back to the time this hit Europe as well.. unfortunatly regulations and the internet market is slowly killing it

[@charlesrives9092]

This is a good series- I have watched the entire thing already. However, I guess the street rodders in SoCal must be different than the one in the southeast. I hung out with street rodders in the southeast thru out the 80's and early 90's- none of them were high dollar. And almost everyone of them would love the Shifter's cars. These guys were bucks down and traded work with each other to have a car. None of them had a hemi and a couple of them had a flat head as both of those were rare even in the early 80's. The only reason anyone would have disliked these guys is the large amount of drinking. But to be a bad guy in a story, you have to have an enemy I guess.

[@graverunnerofficial6235]

Tell Von Franco Krazy Keith is looking for him!

[@danielstoner2843]

Episode 2 (of 4) is up! The story continues... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqPXdKOJebyNh9U

[@Kyle-if4yj]

You guys are cool because I looked up and hung out with you Gen. Gen x. Your gen my gen. The code sounds similar to our Vespa club in the 80s. I guess get around rite? The very cool in our gang club was you age mid to early 60 I was 1971. A pops from the 50s. Silent type. Actions louder than words. Oh yeah in 83 looking very rock a billy and confused 12 13 seen some mods sounds like a project. Too this I favor cats

[@danielstoner2843]

This is the best AI comment EVER.

[@Brian-ff7tw]

I mean billy gibbons is a boomer, and has way over the top street rods built for him...

[@kylesedgley7530]

We know. Unfortunately Brian Setzer wouldn’t return our calls, believe me we tried.

[@danielstoner2843]

Kyle's right--at the same time, Billy knows more about how hot rods and rock-n-roll work together than most. And Setzer musta missed our calls...

[@kylesedgley7530]

@@danielstoner2843 we’ll get him on the next one, I’m sure 🙏

[@justinreedflynn]

I'd watch this, but I get too upset knowing what the prices are, and the likelihood of me ever owning or building one.

[@skootr924]

Can you dig it? I knew you could 👍

[@gerrywood3584]

Stoner meToo😊

[@Mistabushi]

Back in the day it was a cheap hobby, folks doing thing in their garages or driveways nowadays even buying a rotten frame you need some serious $$$.

[@danielstoner2843]

It's that inevitable cycle, ain't it? Boomers were giving that stuff away to make room for their pro-shop street rods in the garage, but try to find an original Stromberg 97 for under $100 that still needs a complete rebuild today. On the other hand, you can still put together a bitchin' little T-bucket at home for cheap...

[@bsagreg]

Just some guys spending 50k to get the look of the cars built on a high school kids budget in the 50's. We are doing it with the actual budget of a kid in the 60's here in the Dirty South.

[@danielstoner2843]

That's the dark side of this scene--shops advertising that they'll build you a "rat rod" for $50K. At the same time, the fact that this hot rod revival has lasted 30 years is proof of how good style can always outlast every shitty version of it! Think about it: hot rods really became a thing in the late 40s--thirty years after that was the late 70s. That's an incredible amount of change that happened to hot rods turning into street rods, boogie vans, dune buggies and show rods. From the early 90s till now, hot rods like the Shifters built are still cool. And still being built....

[@bsagreg]

@@danielstoner2843 Agreed There's no denying the long lasting popularity of the 50's styling . The style that started hot rodding is still going strong as you said. I'm just not into how many of guys are acting like their so called rat rods are pieced together junk yard builds with 3k patina paint jobs.

[@jasoncardoza6375]

Traditional hot rods are awesome, but to bash on the 80s and 90s culture is ridiculous. Like everything else things evolved and continue to do so. I have a soft spot for traditional as well as for today’s custom culture. Soon enough people are going to be on the lookout for the 80s and 90s customs because that in itself will be a trend. Mind you guys like Boyd and foose took cars that were absolute death traps and brought safety equipment to them in their designs. The whole “ they don’t make cars like they used to “ statement is true on many levels. But 20s 30s cars are dangerous 80% of the time. They folded like tacos in a 30mph crash with a high rate of injuries. There’s so many dangerous hackers that build them with subpar brakes all in the name of “ traditional “. I have a 35 Ford, and it’s traditional appearance but safe frame and cage even with a measly 345hp. These guys are putting in 300hp on fatigued suspension parts and frames from 70 years ago.

[@danielstoner2843]

Look, we couldn't have the Shifters and the hot rod and custom culture movement without the street rod scene of the 80s and 90s--in that way, we have the billet scene to thank for being the thing we could stage our revolt against!

[@jasoncardoza6375]

@@danielstoner2843 i don’t understand the revolting thing personally. It would’ve (50s era) came back around eventually. The shifters had huge influence in Cali but there’s a guy named Tony farnetti that lived up here in sand hollow and surrounding area in Idaho who a group of guys built traditionals throughout the 80s and 90s. Idaho death traps was their group . He helped me with two trucks. 35 Ford and 37 Chevy. He passed away but he’s pretty well known in a few of those magazines. So when I hear these guys say nobody was doing the traditional anymore I just rolled my eyes. There’s a huge, actually massive group of us up north. We just don’t go down to California to show our styles of traditional hot rods. Billet was out of the question to expensive for us but traditional never died here. California is always shifting to the “ what’s hot” what’s new scene. But to say these guys are responsible for bringing it back is ridiculous.. maybe to their area yeah . Californians don’t realize there’s a giant world around them 😂. These guys date back pre internet and it’s starting to become evident that not everything starts in California. Here’s a hint, up here guys are starting to drift back to 80s hot rods and trust me they’re so cool. Lt1 ZZ Top style 34s are being built in my friends shop that has 100% 80s technology. . And he’s a traditionalist but having more fun then he even expected.

[@danielstoner2843]

@@jasoncardoza6375 I'll say the same thing I said to a commenter from the UK who believes that a car club in England was doing the traditional hot rod thing before the Shifters: it's the difference between building cars and building a movement. Robert Williams was running around in his primered Deuce roadster in the '70s and I don't dismiss what you guys (and the Brits) were doing in the '80s. BUT, the difference is that what the Shifters and those clubs did 30 years ago started the cultural movement that we're still living in today. No other club(s) did that.

[@V8Deuce]

@@jasoncardoza6375 Tony farnetti was a friend of the Shifters, frequented VLV, but was also twice their age. Its apples and oranges. What made the whole Shifters package was their age at the time, their style, musical tastes, as well as the Rods they built.

[@LivingOnCash]

I remember when this whole thing started. These guys are a little full of themselves. I was 34 years old in 1990 and had been a hot rodder since I was 16 (1972). While there certainly were plenty of big dollar shop built cars in the '80s, for every one of those cars there were ten "regular Joe" cars. Cars that guys built in their garages using bone yard scrounged up parts. Not everyone had pastel, billet, smoothy, tweed interior "street rods". I had a plain jane '38 Chevy with a SBC, T350 and a 12 bolt. It was nothing special and not much different than what all my buddies were running back then. These guys are looking at the hot rod world from the Southern California point of view. The land of high dollar pro shops. Their perspective is skewed by this. If they had traveled out of the land of fruits and nuts, they would have seen thousands of cars that didn't get in the magazines or were well known. There are still to this day, plenty of home built cars out there that remain anonymous and are only known to locals. They are low buck rods that don't get looked at or ogled by the masses. Just good old hot rodders having fun with cars. The ironic thing is, the Shifters have now become the same big dollar, high roller guys that they rebelled against. They are just as snobby as the gold chain, billet crowd from the '80s and '90s. I also gotta laugh at their desire to be greasers but rock chain drive wallets and are covered with tattoos, things that were never done in the '50s (especially the women) by real greasers. I understand all young guys want to have their own thing. I do applaud them for building their own cars in the style they like and they do have some nice cars. But for them to bash Boomers and the billet crowd is pretty disrespectful. A lot of those billet guys started out as the very hot rodders that they are imitating.

[@danielstoner2843]

Mystery, there will always be folks who miss the point of a documentary series like this and that's totally OK. If you truly believe, after seeing this series, that the Shifters are "big dollar high roller guys," you absolutely misunderstand this club and why what they did is so important...

[@LivingOnCash]

@@danielstoner2843 Oh, I understand them quite well. They were young guys that wanted to rebel against the hot rod establishment. Not unlike younger generations before them. And much like the punk rockers of the late '70s, they adopted the rockabilly music and the greaser look just to stand out and be different. A lot of young people want to be different, just like everybody else. 😁 Don't get me wrong, I really like the cars they have built and how dedicated to the hobby they are. I just have a bit if a problem with their snobbish attitude. Or at least how they come across in this video. As far as the big dollar thing, I think you have a California outlook of them. While they may not be big dollar guys (like the LA Roadsters for example) in CA, compared to the average hot rodder from Iowa, Oklahoma, Ohio, or hundreds of other places in the country, they are big dollar guys. They may not have started out that way but all these years later, they have become sp. Have you checked prices on steel Deuce coupes lately? I do want to thank you for replying to me post however. I'd also like to say, I binge watched your videos on your T coupe and really like what you are doing with it. My hot rod influences are from the late '60s to early '70s and always like the cartoonish style cars like the Uncertain T. Drag racing from that period also influenced my tastes. I am currently building a '34 3 window in a style similar to your T but not quite as radical. I have a '57 New Yorker 392 which will get a 6-71, T-10 4 speed and will be channeling the body with a steep rake. Looking forward to see how yours come out.

[@V8Deuce]

@@LivingOnCash Looks like you have everything figured out. Have all the answers. "Full of themselves" .... or simply being honest? and how do you know they didn't/haven't traveled? Also, what specifically makes you state that they have "become the same big dollar, high roller guys that they rebelled against"? I have met these guys on a few occasions , most own the same exact Rods they built 30 years ago, dress the same way, listen to the same music, and have the same personalities they had before. I can state that the only thing I personally see different is that most have saved money and bought homes. Good for them. Lastly, you obviously don't understand the Rockabilly resurgence that occurred in the early 1980s. Its roots were based from the 1950s, but had a modern 1980s twist to it. No one ever said that the movement was 100% authentic. Their cars might of been, but THEY weren't. After re-reading your comments, I get the gut feeling that you're a bit jealous. Nothing wrong with that - we're all Human.

[@ramblerdave1339]

WTF! Why do we have to watch Jagger's sweaty face while Taylor is soloing all over the place. Another camera operator fixating on only the singer, and ignoring the band. Typical of the sixties.

[@hemmingsmotornews]

Thank you for the input, we do check the comments and we use them to try and get better with each video.

[@DavidHorsnall]

Very cool new episode but it starts with Billy and Chip. Two guys who built crap looking cars.

[@danielstoner2843]

Hey, if you think Cadzilla and the Sniper weren't bitchin' cars, there's not much I can do for you ;-) BUT, opinions are exactly that and there's no denying they know of what they speak...

[@DavidHorsnall]

@@danielstoner2843 hey man plastic filler, pastel paint, big flashy chrome ain’t my style. If you like that 80’s stuff then that’s your downfall. ✌🏼

[@danielstoner2843]

@@DavidHorsnall You're right--we shoulda put more pastel paint and big flashy chrome in this thing...

[@DavidHorsnall]

@@danielstoner2843 hahahahaha🤣

[@V8Deuce]

@David Horsnall - You obviously have no clue as to what are in Gibbons & Fooses garages. If you did, you wouldn't of opened up your mouth. If you care to be enlightened let me know......

[@carlyleporter5388]

Weak.

[@peteespinosa2530]

RAD. DAD. RAD !!!!!!!!!

[@Bluedragon7777]

My uncle stole so many motorcycles Kawasaki racing team offered him a job book has nobody could catch him and he drove my mom's car! Which was a roadrunner the beat everybody down here at the locals track so many times has he was racing for fun but they collected a big stack of money for it him ha ha 🤣🫶 everybody is calling a hot rod rat rod and it's a one of 1 of 1 1972 71 Dodge Challenger ghost 👻 clone and I got airplane parts on it😊 it's mostly 71 it's a 50-state car is junk yards built and it's been over seas on a boat 🚢 and back rat rod

[@hemmingsmotornews]

Thank you for sharing! What does your uncle do now?! Is he still involved?

[@Bluedragon7777]

He's dead he started shooting heroin at 14 and was a life long drug addict and his son went to college on full scholarship to grow marijuana for the government his time was up after 52 years. I don't know anyone else who is still in business or into doing anything with cars. But I did such a good job working on my own car at my cousin's shop my cousin's name is Sam he told me he was the guy The guy who was picked to build the Hummer! Retired and mostly The bionic Man now because he never did drugs and had medical care. I got no help an in fact I'm told basically that I can't do anything and if I start to fix my car I get me first me first I'll help you but me and my car first! Ten years later wtf you don't do anything. Oh okay he's forced to do something and still he's refusing to and asking anyone and everyone that will listen to him to do that work for him for free. Almost. To which I know the response was that thousands of dollars worth of work I'm not doing that so he waited and asked again. So I get to feelin like his real goal is to make sure that I have to sell it for $500 to junkyard I would have I could have I should have but I didn't help you because you're you which is my brother which is why I could call you a piece of f****** s*** everybody that will listen to me. An he didn't like my uncle because he couldn't talk to him like he was a piece of s*** without my uncle grabbing him by the arm and tell him who The f*** You think You are. Although I don't think Sam and Jim would have been friends either. LoL but we did score another Allstate commercial with overly competitive brother and I better have the right insurance for that s*** ha 🤣 ha which is better than the last one which was daring us to drive on two wheels and telling everybody else was there ain't nothing that you can do about that.

[@losthubcap]

Great video !