Hello and good morning FABO. I wanted to get some feedback on a particular topic in reviving my dads 65 barracuda.
Feel free to roast here. “Gentle but firm” is allowed as well haha
Keeping this build as close as possible to the condition in which my dad personalized and enjoyed his barracuda as a young man, means that certain “personal touches” may end up with “unfavorable reactions” to the passionate enthusiasts and Mopar Gods…
My dad, again a young man and doing his best as a working man in the respectable years of budget hot rodding, put his touches to the car with painting the engine bay black, had Goodyear Polyglas GT tires in the rear, and traction bars… he had it painted CHEAPLY metal flake blue which quickly peeled and faded away giving it an exposed, what I would call “rat rod” or “barn survivor” patina… and he liked the look of it, so does the family and I, and kept it as is up to the very last day he drove it in 1989…
My question is this: will I or the car be shunned and or dismissed by this community and or local car show/ cruises for example, for having kept my dads personal touches alive and as tribute to HIS car because those touches may be frowned upon or unacceptable?
I personally feel, as is, that it’s the TRUTH. The car tells her story by her appearance and by the history involved in going from a brand new shiny car to the neighbors, to my dads father as a daily driver, to my dads mother after their divorce, then to my father as his coming of age freedom machine and then with me finding and rescuing the car years after being “lost” ….
I know that I don’t have to seek acceptance here or cry for all the answers, but I do respect each and everyone’s experiences and efforts in this community. I’ll get off my soap box now and prepare for a public hanging haha. But I wanted to get real feedback from my brothers and sisters here in FABO regarding the black engine bay, keeping the patina paint, outfitting it again with a tire similar to the Goodyear Polyglas, and keeping the traction bars.
For whatever it’s worth. I’m planning on surprising my dad with a special touch to the car. I’m having either my mom or my daughter do a gold leaf lettering of his moms name “Eileen” (the cars name we hear when near it) on the glovebox as tribute to his time with her in the car.