I use to be that guy that would say
"anyone can restore a car, replace & polish original parts, it takes a real man to cut one up & modify it"
I feel somewhat different today, I like the classic lines with mods under the skin & hood suspension etc.
there are so many different styles & tastes
some are Purists that prefer 100% OEM
some are into full on customs
some are somewhere in-between
some are tastefully done
& some aren't very tastefully done {not fender flares}
beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
I did allot of mods back in the 70's & 80's,
mostly Pro-Street or Racecar look with big/little tires stuff
{sorry no photos really, I didn't ever take many}
Most all my cars & trucks as soon as I could, day 2 basically
I'd put rims & tires on them, headers & exhaust, a intake, carb air cleaner, camshaft, gauges etc.
But adding hood scoops, nice chrome rims of some kind with fat tires, lowering or raising them,
adding a bumpty bump cam headers & loud exhaust, multiple carbs, blowers or tunnel rams,
more daring mods like, spoilers, circus paint jobs, even those godly fender flares {for my bros. Tim's 73 Camaro} etc.
I had a bunch of friends that were into low-riders,
I had friends that were into Mini trucks,
I had friends that were into lifted 4x4,
I had mostly race/car buddies, that never left anything alone,
we were almost always modifying something, usually tastefully thou...
I was a guy who thought the tires need to stay/fit inside the wheel wells,
I couldn't stand seeing tires sticking outside the wheel wells or that were a poor choice/style...
I also liked lower cars too, before it was popular, but I did go thru the all jacked up stage,
for a year or so, but they just didn't handle or perform well so I quit doing it...
It was all about the cars performance & handling to me, style was secondary...
These cars were just another cheap "used car" back then,
they really weren't worth that much, like in todays value,
nowhere near the Purist you can't touch/alter them "at all" mentality {not in my circles anyway}
Mopar's especially were cheap to get, $$300-$500 cars were commonplace, a $1500 car was a premium car,
$5k was a Hemi or 6bbl car, people literally almost gave them away, they didn't have the devout/purist{GYC}
following or value, you couldn't hardly sell them, when you did it was cheap {usually},
compared to what they go for today, so you might as well do with them what you want & enjoyed...
I wasn't alone either, everyone was doing it, it was "what the thing to do" was back then,
especially among young men 16-25 y/o...
I still kind of live by that mentality,
Build it how you want it, drive it like you stole it & damn the rest, who cares what the other people think...
