stupid.... just plain stupid.

What happened to nice paint, chrome, and well built powerhouse?

I guess i just don't understand why someone would think an old rusty body panel has any cosmetic advantage over a properly painted one.

Why would you remove the protective coating from your steel panel? Is the goal to see who's car can be converted to a pile of rusty scrap metal first?

Whats next? remove the interior to just bare metal? milk crate seats?

I guess i just don't understand.... someone enlighten me as to why anyone would purposely make their auto appear to be patched together from a junk yard.

.... someone enlighten me as to why anyone would purposely make their auto appear to be patched together from a junk yard.

REPLY

Sucker bets. Like a pool shark playing like a duffer until a mark come along. Lose the first game (race) then clean out his wallet.

Stealth. Who suspects an apparently rusty wreck will outrun the cops or the competition. In my day it was common practice as a disguise. And the cops don't hassel you when they go looking for the street racers in the drive-in parking lot.

We used to build 'sleeper' cars back in the 70s when street racing was still acceptable, big Detroit iron cars. Funny thing when imports started racing things changed, but that is for another discussion.

We never did repair on the bodies, no chrome wheels, just raw big block power, and of course dumper pipes. We could leave a Corvette behind like it was not running. Loads of fun.

The little red thing above isn't a sleeper, it is just bad.

A distant relative owns a 'glass fabrication shop. For a numbe r of years one of his lucrative products was ultra thin and thus lite weight hoods and front end body parts for these japanese rice rockets. He used cabon fibre inlays to give strenght. The street racers loved it. Saved 20 - 30 pounds per car. In the raw state these 'glass hoods and fenders were almost semi transparent. You had to paint it to disguise you had lite weight body parts. I can see somebody painting it to look like such a hot engine, that it always boils over and causes rust streaks from the over flowing rad. Just a diferent expression of look how hot my car is. It used to be painted flames, now its boiled over rads. Kids! Time they grew up.

Ricer boys trying to copy the Rat Rod trend, just another attempt to look different in a crowd where everyone is essential the same. Basic rebel without a clue mentality. they do try, and any auto modification is a learning experience and I applaud that, but at least try and be original. I wounder id rusty looking sub-woofers are next?

Now gents, be kind with the clueless

As you have all pointed, it is hard to be different when you are all being the same.

Is this grunge meets tuner?

MadMax meets F1?

Don't ask, just sell 'em *green* stripper

They used to paint flames down the side, an obvious fantasy. But a rusted hood makes it look as if you had a real engine fire.

As elnav points out, it *could* be a "Master and Commander" ploy...

...then again... maybe insurance companies are giving discounts ~ who'd wanna steal such a thing...?!

At least it is not camo. My sleeper was a 3/4 ton Pickup (primer). A car like that I would paint so it looked like I was going so fast the paint was pealing off exposing rusting metal underneath.

If it was the whole front end it could have been radar/lidar absorbent coating disguised as rust.

The hood like that is just a trashin statement. Eye sore not eye candy.

Brad

I had a relative-in-law who used to work in the paint shop of an aircraft manufacturer, they applied the paint to fighter aircraft. He managed to get enough paint to paint his car, seemed to work well, until the engine died...

Had a neighbor get some and not knowing what it was paint his shed. Boy did we give him a hard time.