Patrick and I were talking yesterday, and it turned out we both had a folder with Chezoom on it in the 90's. Got me to thinking, and I dug out one of my albums from the many car shows I hit back then. Had to get the scanner going, and share a few. I've got enough I'll have to do a massive instagram dump in the coming days.
Chezoom, with no ropes keeping people away from it:
I miss the bright colors and general excess. I know this spurred the backlash towards traditional hotrods and rat rods, but there's something fun about these things.
More from the same show:
NSRA Nats East, 1990:
ok, so only 1 chopped top and only 1 loud color, but they both have billet wheels and the Ford definitely has period graphics
15" Boyds and Centerlines for the win. 3 spokes for total domination.
Some bold styling choices, even for the 90's
3rd gen Camaro wheels with knock-off style center caps on a Buick:
Rectangular headlights on a Jeepster:
I remember everything being monochrome, bumpers and grilles painted body color, and a lot of billet parts. I also remember all the cars at shows being tubbed out with huge meats in the back.
In reply to rustyvw :
I wonder if the monochrome color trend was related to the cost of getting all those parts rechromed? I was too young to know the whys of a lot of what was going on then, I was just along for the ride at that point.
I think the excessive billet (except for wheels) was just getting started in the early 90's, and kind of reached it's peak in the later part of the decade. The pics I've shared so far are from 1993.
I'm a bit older (48) but I never loved that craze like so many did. I think it's because I was already kinda waist-deep in hot rods and rat rods. I used to get Hot Rod and Car Craft magazines and switched to Popular HotRodding about that time because HR and CC covers became offensive to me. Oh, look, another yellow Camaro with billet everything and checkered flag upholstery. How unique. :)
Some of them were great and really showcased design talent, but it wasn't my flavor of kool aid
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
You really wouldn't like some of the pictures I took at the Street Machine Nationals later that same year, then 
In reply to eastsideTim :
I actually wouldn't mind. It's kind of like facebook stalking your high school girlfriend to see how she hasn't aged well.
Starting to put some more pictures on my instagram account. Here's a post with just chopped tops. Will probably keep posting for several days. Got a lot to go through and filter.
eastsideTim said:
In reply to rustyvw :
I wonder if the monochrome color trend was related to the cost of getting all those parts rechromed?
In my personal case it was because black paint was way cheaper than chrome and who did anodizing anyway?
For people who had money for bodywork and billet wheels it was more about rejecting the chrome-everything esthetic that had ruled over show cars, and a reflection of design trends in new cars
I think it all is cyclical. The rat rod thing has gotten pretty over the top now too and people are starting to shift back to more refined cars. I think a problem today is the cost of good paint. When these cars were made you could still paint a car for under $1,000 with good materials. It seems like paint is just obscene now and the prep time is so high paint jobs are 5 figure deals now. Makes keeping patina (or making new "patina") pretty appealing.
67LS1
Reader
12/19/21 4:05 p.m.
NY Nick said:
I think it all is cyclical. The rat rod thing has gotten pretty over the top now too and people are starting to shift back to more refined cars. I think a problem today is the cost of good paint. When these cars were made you could still paint a car for under $1,000 with good materials. It seems like paint is just obscene now and the prep time is so high paint jobs are 5 figure deals now. Makes keeping patina (or making new "patina") pretty appealing.
I 100% agree about the cost of paint jobs. It's crazy. And I'm not knocking guys who spend all the time/expertise to make them perfect. It's a skill I lack and therefore have to pay for. But it's also the reason I'm babying my current 10' paint job because I drive my car everyday. I can't justify a 5 figure paint job for something I leave in parking lots, etc.
I think the monochrome trend stemmed from most new cars in the 80s and 90s eschewing chrome, and hotroders picked up on it.
Found this one for an extreme case of painting over chrome.
Can't imagine someone doing that to a C1 nowadays.
I got awful tired of aqua and peach colored street rods during that time period. And Camaros with 'Hearbeat of America' graphics.
eastsideTim said:
Found this one for an extreme case of painting over chrome.
Can't imagine someone doing that to a C1 nowadays.
I actually quite like that one!
In reply to Indy - Guy :
I do, too. Just considering what they are worth nowadays, it's amazing seeing one with the chrome all blacked out.
ShawnG
UltimaDork
12/19/21 11:34 p.m.
Having worked on a Huppmobile Skylark, I applaud whoever managed to cram all that in there. They're almost as small as a Henry J.
You guys are making me want to go MiniTruckin' again...
Tk8398
HalfDork
12/20/21 11:56 a.m.
ShawnG said:
Hard to beat Cadzzilla
I saw that one and the Alumacoupe in person earlier this year, they still look like they could have been built today other than the wheels being clearly not the current style. Cadzilla is surprisingly small too.
NickD
MegaDork
12/20/21 12:12 p.m.
rustyvw said:
I remember everything being monochrome, bumpers and grilles painted body color, and a lot of billet parts. I also remember all the cars at shows being tubbed out with huge meats in the back.
I remember Hot Rod Mag lamenting how they started the Dare To Be Different trend there as a breath of fresh air, only for it to immediately morph into "Dare to be the first to Pro Street a weird car". If you wanted any sort of ink, you just had to grab some car that nobody else had tubbed yet, paint it all one color, put some ugly graphics on and cram huge Mickey Thompsons under the back, and you were likely to get on the cover.
