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Posted by a young man (17 years old) on the Hotrod.com bulletin board:

The simplicity of rodding?
There was a time when rodding wasn't an industry, when rodding wasn't marketing based on multi-million dollar enterprising.
There was a time when rodding was a hobby, picked up by a few young men eager to go faster. In that time, rodding was simple and affordable, and ingenuitive. There weren't a lot of off the shelf products available. People used what they had to make what they didn't have.
As years went off the hobby really took off. Race inspired common people started building better and faster and cooler rods out of their home garages. It wasn't to go fast anymore, but also to look good and have a unique ride. It wasn't a low buck hobby like stamp collecting, but it wasn't a high buck hobby like flying either.
Over the years, the rodding industry grew, until it bloomed into what we have today. Tons of magazines, tons of aftermarket retailers, tons of repro parts producers etc.
The simplicity of rodding faded away over the years.
From souped up model A bangers and supercharged flatties to fully EFI Corvette motors and crate engines. Rolling chassis' available for a mere 9 grand and fibreglass repops for a cool 7 grand is considered cheap.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against aftermarket frames and fibreglass bodies?if you have the money and that's your thing than good for you, enjoy in your high dollar luxury billetmobile. If I had the money, I'd do the same thing and drive it with a smile.
But I don't.
Reading an older issue of Steet Rod Builder there was an article on how to build a rod for under $40k. I was amazed at how they portrayed it to be cheap. The used aftermarket frame, body, crate engine, outsourced paint and interior, billet wheels and brand new rear end and front end IRS.
I put the mag down feeling pretty darn depressed. How's a young buck like me suposed to afford that, right?
Point is, I don't need 40 grand, nor does anyone else. But the mags don't tell you that. You never see a car that was built for 10 grand, with the stock frame and suspension just updated and boxed, with a home paint job and a rebuilt engine from a junkyard. It seems like most people don't wanna put in the sweat and work anymore. Why build a rod if you can glue it together with off the shelf parts? Do the big rodding companies care about keeping the hobby alive? Or about you? Or do they only care about how much monoey they can drain out of you with all the new fancy accessories.
And now the car trailer companies are in it too; how many trailers do you see at the Nats?
Weren't rods supposed to be drivers? I don't see how show cars can be considered rods if they've never seen the open road, if they haven't endured long mile trips and have never felt the rain against their color sanded buffed out candy apple red paint job?
If a guy like me wants to build a rod for reasonably cheap, its tough;why? Because the high price that restorers have put on parts, and the high price Chassis Engineering can charge to their retired rich customers , and the high price Heidts can charge for their shiny MustangII IFS to people willing to pay that much to slap on their super-rods, that's why.
All the hope that's left for us is swap meets, and classifieds. And theres plenty of people building way cool rods but way less amount of money. They use homemade tools, make their own replacement panels out of scrap sheet metal, pull their MustangII out of an actual mustang, yank out a 454 out of a rusty chevy truck in the junkyard and rebuild it in their own garage, get the crud off that old Ford 9-inch in the salvaged truck and drag it home etc.
But nobody ever sees those rods. They never make it into a magazine, or get any publicity, or win any awards, or get the good parking spots at a car show?, and that's because they don't need that.
That's not the purpose behind rodding, to be in a mag or win an award.
Rodding is a hobby. Build what you like, and drive the wheels off of it.
Hats off to you who built a rod on a budget, no matter how long it took, or who weren't afraid to be different and not go mainstream, and build what you had envisioned, and to those of you who dream about building a rod. Your time will come. And you don't need tons of money, as long as you're creative.
Rodding was never meant to be an industry, and to draw in millions of dollars.
Rodding was a past time activity, a dream to go faster, and to have a cool ride.
There's plenty of junkyard out there with good drivetrains, go get them.
Theres plenty of old tin left in the fields and barns, go find it.
And don't rush it. Cheap doesn't mean easy, doesn't mean fast. Don't be discouraged by watching Barret Jackson, or reading Street Rod Builder.
And to those of you who drive high dollar rods, enjoy them, appreciate the good fortune you have and drive them. There's plenty of people who wish they had half of what you have.
Teach them and share your knowledge.
I don't have anything against high dollar rods, nothing what so ever. I just can't afford one.
Just don't forget that is not about how much your rod is worth, its how much fun you have with it

Great to know there are young people coming up behind us who will keep the "essence" of our hobby alive