I think we should be very careful where we go with this one. If there's one thing wrong with our society today, IMO, it's the fact that there are too many Ralph Nader types and too many Ralph Nader wannabes among the general population. For example, right now in Canada, and maybe it's the same in the USA, there are several cities that have banned tobogganing due to safety concerns. A simple outdoor activity that we all used to do is now banned in our stupid modern society, at the same time that they are complaining about obese kids sitting in front of TVs, computers and video game consoles! To say that any enthusiasts car that uses homemade or custom made parts is unsafe just plays into the hands of people who would love to put an end to hot rodding and the entire vintage car hobby. I can see the point about using wrenches welded together to make a steering column but, where do we draw the line? What about cars and trucks where the front suspension from a different vehicle has been installed, for example, the common Mustang II and increasingly popular Crown Vic front suspension/steering swaps?. I've also seen a couple of Volare front ends swapped in too. Then there are the roof chops, narrowed rear axles, lowered, bagged and countless other modifications that I'm sure some self appointed Ralph Nader type could argue are unsafe. So then only factory original restored cars are safe? Well, some would say otherwise. If you take any cars like ours, depending on what year they were manufactured, they may not have a dual master cylinder, disc brakes, a collapsible steering column, padded dash, head rests, side marker lights and so on and would be, as mentioned, probably running around on bias ply tires. So, by that argument, original is unsafe too. But wait, it gets better. My daily driver is a 2005. It was built (manufactured) without ABS Brakes, it also was manufactured without Traction Control, it doesn't have collision avoidance technology or a camera for backing up either, so, I guess you could argue that it is unsafe. As a matter of fact, any car that was built last year will be unsafe in couple of years because it won't have the newest safety feature, like the ability to park and drive itself, to brake itself if following too close, for example. So, where does it end? This is a very slippery slope and this mentality already exists among some government officials and a percentage of the general public.
It's probably safe to say that almost every custom or aftermarket part available today was originally invented by some hot rodder in his home garage, or at least, by a shop that was building hot rods. These parts were then put into production by automotive specialty manufacturers. None of these parts would be available today if somebody somewhere hadn't made or modified a part.
I have no problem if somebody wants to build a Rat Rod. He's not putting a gun to my head and forcing me to drive it or ride in it. Most of the cars pictured look like cars that only get driven on cruise nights and probably don't get driven very far. They wouldn't be very comfortable on a long trip. How many people are actually killed or injured by Rat Rods every year compared to the number of people injured and killed in/by regular cars? While I'm on the subject, assuming that the driver is the only person in the car, how does not having a back seat or only having a driver's seat make the car unsafe?
I certainly hope that we haven't reached a point in our hobby (hot rodding, vintage cars, classic cars) where people in the hobby will be deciding whether or not someone else's car is "good enough" to be in our hobby. IMO, this will be the fastest, quickest way to end the hobby.
My two cents
