Hemmings Daily: The therapeutic benefits of the far-from-perfect, anything-goes rat rod

Your first car may have been like mine. Rust everywhere, peeling paint, torn upholstery, smelly interior, worn out clutch, engine that burned oilyou name it, my 1951 Mercury had it. That was about 60 years ago. You know what I miss today? Besides wishing I still had it, I miss not caring that the car was a mess. Even after treating the Merc to a $19.95 Earl Scheib paint job, which did little to hide bondo-covered rust holes, dents and other imperfections, I didn't worry about making it look nice. Everythi [View in Browser | Subscribe]( [Hemmings Daily] Sunday, March 31, 2019 [The therapeutic benefits of the far-from-perfect, anything-goes rat rod]( [The therapeutic benefits of the far-from-perfect, anything-goes rat rod]( Posted by Jim Van Orden - Your first car may have been like mine. Rust everywhere, peeling paint, torn upholstery, smelly interior, worn out clutch, engine that burned oilyou name it, my 1951 Mercury had it. That was about 60 years ago. You know what I miss today? Besides wishing I still had it, I miss not caring that the car was a mess. Even after treating the Merc to a $19.95 Earl Scheib paint job, which did little to hide bondo-covered rust holes, dents and other imperfections, I didn't worry about making it look nice. Everythi... [Read More]( [Sponsor]( [Hemmings Find of the Day - 1970 Nissan Patrol]( [Hemmings Find of the Day - 1970 Nissan Patrol]( Posted by Daniel Strohl - Restored 1970 Nissan Patrol for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller's description: Not only was the Patrol obviously well-maintained and never abused, but the restoration of aged chassis elements and the new paint job and canvas top is of utmost quality. The engine purrs like a kitten, and has the pleasurable torque expected from the original 4.0L overhead valve inline 6. Ride and drive is better than similarly aged FJ40s by far, largely due to Datsun/Nissan's better build quality of the era coupled with how well...[Read More]( [Four-Links - Watkins Glen, Seal Cove, Akron, preserving historic places]( [Four-Links - Watkins Glen, Seal Cove, Akron, preserving historic places]( Posted by Daniel Strohl - How exactly did Watkins Glen make its way from the tiny upstate village to the massive racing complex outside of town? The International Motor Racing Research Center provided the whole story this week. In its January 1953 session, the New York State Legislature considered two proposed laws to ban racing on public roads. One bill was passed in the Senate but never made it out of committee in the Assembly. Thus, there was never a law enacted to ban racing on public roads in New York State. What the State actually did...[Read More]( [Sponsor]( [Hemmings Find of the Day - 1964 Pontiac Bonneville Safari station wagon]( [Hemmings Find of the Day - 1964 Pontiac Bonneville Safari station wagon]( Posted by Kurt Ernst - From the seller's description: Beautiful 1964 Pontiac Bonneville Safari Wagon. Fabulous Driver quality and fun for a cruise. Original engine 389 and tranx. Pwr windows, A/C (not currently working), fold down rear seat for cargo, roof rack, Saddle "79" interior (in rough, to "so-so" shape). Not shown: I just purchased an original, correct "Pontiac" radio to be installed. Also installed correct side view mirror. Stripped to bare metal and repainted original Singapore Gold "T" paint in 2008, but showing so...[Read More]( LAST WEEK'S MOST READ [After losing court appeal, Onondaga Dragway fights to remain open]( [After losing court appeal, Onondaga Dragway fights to remain open]( Posted by Daniel Strohl - A bittersweet farewell message greeted visitors to Onondaga Dragway's website earlier this month, noting that "we don't know where to go from here" after a six-year-running court battle to keep the eighth-mile Michigan drag strip open. However, operators of the track have vowed they'll continue to fight any attempts to shut down the racing facility, starting with a fundraising effort announced this past weekend. "Nothing is guaranteed, but we are willing to do whatever we can to make this work and we will not giv...[Read More]( LAST WEEK'S BEST DISCUSSION [From testing at Indy to resting in Tupelo - Tucker 48 chassis 1028]( [From testing at Indy to resting in Tupelo - Tucker 48 chassis 1028]( Posted by Kurt Ernst - By September 1948, Preston Tucker had little left to lose. Production at his Chicago plant was all but halted by an SEC investigation, while critics had already tried and convicted him in the media. To demonstrate that his Tucker 48 was a real and legitimate automobile, Tucker brought seven examples to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for endurance testing, and on April 27, one of these Indy-driven 1948 Tucker 48s heads to auction as part of Bonhams Tupelo Automobile Museum Auction in Tupelo, Mississippi. Oddl...[Read More]( [Sponsor]( [This Day in Automotive History] THIS DAY IN AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY 3/31/1932: The first cars equipped with Ford's new low-priced V-8s go on sale. UPCOMING EVENTS [Spring Scamper Car Rallye]( April 7, 2019 - Madison, WI [Int. Porsche Collectors Day 2019]( April 7, 2019 - Heteren, [AACA Illinois Region 43RD Annual Swap Meet]( April 7, 2019 - St Charles, IL [43rd Annual AACA Illinois Region Swap Meet]( April 7, 2019 - St Charles, IL [14th Annual Chicagoland Klassic Bicycle SHOW - SWAP MEET & DRAGS]( April 7, 2019 - Addison,, IL [42nd Annual Indoor Automotive Flea Market]( April 7, 2019 - Rochester, NY [See All Events]( [Sponsor]( FEATURED CLASSIFIEDS [1960 Morris Minor]( [1960 Morris Minor]( [$27,900]( [1950 Ford Ranger]( [1950 Ford Ranger]( [$20,000]( [1936 Diamond T Deluxe]( [1936 Diamond T Deluxe]( [$6,500]( [1966 Dodge W100]( [1966 Dodge W100]( [$39,000]( [1970 Toyota FJ40]( [1970 Toyota FJ40]( [$79,900]( [1985 Chevrolet Blazer]( [1985 Chevrolet Blazer]( [$6,950]( [1989 Ford Bronco]( [1989 Ford Bronco]( [$7,500]( [1973 International Pickup]( [1973 International Pickup]( [$10,500]( [1976 Plymouth Trailduster]( [1976 Plymouth Trailduster]( [$12,500]( [1954 Chevrolet]( [1954 Chevrolet]( [$16,500]( PROMOTED LISTING [1990 Ford F150]( [1990 Ford F150]( [$12,900]( PROMOTED LISTING [2008 Bentley Arnage]( [2008 Bentley Arnage]( [$75,000]( [1969 Caprice HIDE A WAY Grille. 100% complete.]( [1969 Caprice HIDE A WAY Grille. 100% complete.]( [$2,500]( [View All Classifieds]( FEATURED IN THE BLOG [1966 Chevrolet Corvair homecoming - The good news and the bad news]( [1966 Chevrolet Corvair homecoming - The good news and the bad news]( [That time Wolseley buried a Russian count's two-wheeled gyro car because it ran out of storage space]( [That time Wolseley buried a Russian count's two-wheeled gyro car because it ran out of storage space]( [See All Featured Blog Posts]( FOLLOW US: [Get RSS Feeds of Hemmings Blog]( [Follow us on Twitter]( [Join us on Facebook]( [View our Flickr pool]( [View Newsletter Archives]( Hemmings Motor News will not sell or share your e-mail address with other companies. 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