Restomods vs Restore

[cudabob496]

http://restomodstore.com/restomod-vs-restore/

[70chall440]

Interesting and sure to cause significant debate especially within the Mopar hobby. Restomods are pretty hot in the Chevy world most likely brought on by the LS crate motor and GM's support of the activity. IMO restomods are gaining popularity within the Mopar community but there is still a very die hard core group of people who want to see them original.

[1 Wild R/T]

I'm fine with restomods, I just don't think very highly of many of the poorly designed, poorly executed bolt on mods that are marketed as the hot ticket of the month....

Also realize if your looking for a neutral opinion on the restomod vs stock subject getting it from a company that specializes in restomods probably isn't the most unbiased choice...

[RCCDrew]

I'm fine with restomods, I just don't think very highly of many of the poorly designed, poorly executed bolt on mods that are marketed as the hot ticket of the month.

some of those aftermarket front suspensions are just crap. IMO you shouldn't get too trendy. What's cool now won't be in 10 years. From old pro street cars with funky paint jobs to Viper engined Cudas, the hot new trend moves on. The people that go through all the effort and expense of doing a charger body swap onto a new SRT chassis will be sorry in ten years when that is old tech.

[IMADreamer]

I'm a restomod guy.  I want better than stock.  Better handling, better braking, better reliability if I can have it.  I like the idea of having that classic look with a bunch of new tech under the car.  I'm glad the stock guys are around for preservation sake though.  I love running across an all original car.  The trend is definitely going towards resto mod but I can see a day when it swings back. 

[cudabob496]

when it comes down to it, for me, a nice stock Mopar from the late 60s/early 70s will look like a bad boy,
but most couldn't get below 14 sec in the qtr, so if you don't have a powerful aftermarket drive train,
about half the new cars on the road today will beat you, because they are always challenging you. If my Cuda had
the original 340, I would lose a lot of street contests.

[TonyBolton]

After inheriting my dads 1970 CUDA that was pretty much all stock except for some super stock springs in the rear..... driving it for about 2 or 3 months, it just wasn't my style at all and honestly felt unsafe compared to the cars I drive now.

In order to make the car more enjoyable I just preferred to bolt on some parts that I could easily go back to stock if I ever needed.

I purchased basically the entire Hotchkis set up with a few qa1 parts and I could not be more happy with the way the car rides and now it's great. It even has lower profile tires on it now and you could not even tell.

Part of me wants to put a late model Hemi in it with fuel injection but I just think the old cars with a bunch of chrome and carburetors on top of the motor look pretty cool and just right.

Here lately I've been contemplating just putting some regular stock wheels back on it and enjoying the car that way.

I don't really get into all the crazy cut weld and the fab things that I see out there or all the crazy interiors but I think they look cool.

[TelisSE440]

I think most of us are into restomods, I mean we have changed carburetion, intake we have put disc brakes and generally have done things to improve the speed and safety of our Muscle Cars. Restomod is the ticket, but keeping the car generally the same.

[dodj]

I like to stay true to the factory exterior styling, and if I could afford it, replace everything mechanical with state of the art equipment. 

[RCCDrew]

when it comes down to it, for me, a nice stock Mopar from the late 60s/early 70s will look like a bad boy,
but most couldn't get below 14 sec in the qtr, so if you don't have a powerful aftermarket drive train,
about half the new cars on the road today will beat you, because they are always challenging you. If my Cuda had
the original 340, I would lose a lot of street contests.

So what is a restomod?  IMO your car is not a restomod. Original concept engine, suspension, etc.My opinion of  A resto mod is a car that has an aftermarket suspension, drivetrain, etc.  I would label your car as a hot rod. same as mine.

[moparmaniac59]

I think there are still plenty of purists out there. I would consider myself one in regards to a real hemi car or an AAR or T/A or other rare and/or highly optioned Mopar. I would NEVER consider modifying one of these type cars.  I hate to see someone take a rare car and tub it out or swap out the original engine. I recently saw an original Shelby Mustang that was made into a drag car. It looked nice, but I just scratched my head  and wondered why someone would do that rather than taking a run of the mill Mustang and making it a drag car. Same goes for classic rare Mopars. I have a plain Jane '74 Challenger. It came with a 318 and has nothing rare about it. It was a great car to make into a "hot rod" or "resto-mod' car. I swapped out the 318 for a stroked 440, beefed up the transmission and added a posi into the rear. Next I want to make it handle better. Why not? That's just my  on the whole resto-mod scene. If you enjoy it, drive it and don't mind spending the time/money....go for it!

                                                                                             Matt B.

[RCCDrew]

In relative terms, your car is a rare car. They made more Camaros in any one year than all four years of Challengers put together. 

[1 Wild R/T]

In relative terms, your car is a rare car. They made more Camaros in any one year than all four years of Challengers put together.

What about the fifth year? 

[360 'CUDA]

What about the fifth year? 

Right! Don't forget about 197010





kidding

[360 'CUDA]

It depends how tasteful it is IMO. For some reason I really enjoy the Sicfish project but don't care for King Kong. I like Sledgehammer but not anything Chip Foose has ever done to an Ebod.  I don't know why because I like other cars Chip and his team has built.