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I attended a pretty good size car show in Glendale Az. today and there were at least four of these all beautiful paint and blinged out to the max some in gold plate. I'm all for customizing your ride, its your ride do what you want to it, make it your own I get it, But why a hummer H2 ?
Having owned three 4x4 vehicles 1 set up with lift etc.. for moderate to heavy off road use and well used on many of the great Arizona 4x4 trails ( it was a A Jeep Cherokee that I still think in most cases would wheel circles around most H2's) I don't get this, most H2's were set up like Jeep Grand Cherokees with enough interior appointments to keep soccer moms happy but enough off road prowess to get you down the rough muddy road or through the snow. so why would you take a capable 4x4 vehicle put those wheel and tires on it and make it totally useless ? my 56 Olds 88 would probably have as much chance on bad roads as these !!
I guess my former 4 wheeler mentality just doesn't allow me to understand, seems kinda like castrating a stud bull or buying a expensive Benchmade pocket knife and grinding the blade flat.
An H2 is easier to donk out with the giant rims and rubber band tires. You dont have to rework the suspension like you would on a Caprice or Chevelle. Remember, this look isnt about functionality, its about drawing attention to your ride.
I have always thought the large rims with little tires were silly on a 4x4. It is like putting a road tire on an MX bike or racing a drag quad in MX just to look cool.
The ones that really make me bust out laughing are Carolina Squat 4WD pickup trucks. These kids lower the back and raise the front torsion bars high as they can get them, and if that ain't high enough they put a lift kit on front only. It's some ridiculous looking **** for sure and it throws headlight aim waaaaay off. Me state trooper cousin has busted the same truck for improper headlights five times this year and the kid (more likely his dad, the dad's a peacock too) pays the fine and keeps going. J can't cite the kid for altered suspension in VA because the truck's from NC, but he can write a headlight ticket. I hate when one of those squat trucks gets behind me at night.
They think they started a new trend. Guess they never saw the ghetto gassers that were common in the 70s and 80s. Monte Carlos, GPs, even Ford Elites had the front jacked up and the back bumper dragging the pavement.
No Solly, I don't get it either. But I do get a good laugh, especially when one of their peers says that's the stoopidest looking **** they've ever seen. 😸
This is no different that the Pro Fairgrounds, er, I mean Pro STREET cars. I mean, seriously, Rick Dobbertin's J2000 is about as practical. Vehicles like this only impress the uninformed, and certainly never actually spun a tire on a drag strip.
Here's another vehicle that I put in the same class.
On a more serious note, much of the bling bling car culture is black culture, and their culture is different from white culture. Ostentatious displays of wealth is more important in that culture (and I'll not delve into the sociological explanations for it as it is not germane here) but the big rims, lights, loud stereos, etc proclaim that the owner "has arrived" and is well off. So, while one may think it obnoxious, sometimes a guy is just following pressure from society.
On a more serious note, much of the bling bling car culture is black culture, and their culture is different from white culture. Ostentatious displays of wealth is more important in that culture (and I'll not delve into the sociological explanations for it as it is not germane here)
Sorry, but you apparently have not driven through any Nouveau riche suburb such as the ones here in NoVA. This isn't a "black culture" thing. Every McMansion in the subdivision has ostentatious displays of wealth, from overpaying for a poorly-built house with 6,000 sq ft (and no money left over to furnish it) that is fully illuminated at night with landscape lighting, to a blinged-out pair of shiny new leased German SUVs in the driveway that never leave pavement, to a brand new shiny Kubota tractor that no one knows how to use.
Sorry, but you apparently have not driven through any Nouveau riche suburb such as the ones here in NoVA. This isn't a "black culture" thing. Every McMansion in the subdivision has ostentatious displays of wealth, from overpaying for a poorly-built house with 6,000 sq ft (and no money left over to furnish it) that is fully illuminated at night with landscape lighting, to a blinged-out pair of shiny new leased German SUVs in the driveway that never leave pavement, to a brand new shiny Kubota tractor that no one knows how to use.
Sorry, but you apparently have not driven through any Nouveau riche suburb such as the ones here in NoVA. This isn't a "black culture" thing. Every McMansion in the subdivision has ostentatious displays of wealth, from overpaying for a poorly-built house with 6,000 sq ft (and no money left over to furnish it) that is fully illuminated at night with landscape lighting, to a blinged-out pair of shiny new leased German SUVs in the driveway that never leave pavement, to a brand new shiny Kubota tractor that no one knows how to use.
White trash with money is everywhere. Change the German SUV to GM and the Kubota to a John Deere and it's the same here in Southside. Then you have to add the bass boat, the Harley and ATV, the 65" TV and all the other $$$ toys PLUS keeping the wife and kids in the same lifestyle. Mortgaged to the hilt, one paycheck away from losing it all, but they gotta keep up appearances. If the Goodyear plant here ever closes... When they go on strike, the local shopper paper is full of hellacious deals on stuff they can no longer pay for. It usually appears the second week of the strike.
Cousin is a home inspector in Raleigh/Cary area and told me about the McMansions that looked "wealthy" on the outside but had little if any furniture, and what was there was junky stuff. Yeah, I haunt estate sales and Goodwills, but my secondhand truzzure is good quality stuff. I learned years ago you can get well-cared-for Stickley or Henkel Harris furniture at pennies on dollar of original cost, and still come out cheaper than buying new plastic veneer particleboard.
Last edited by rocketraider; Oct 25, 2020 at 08:57 AM.
CI learned years ago you can get well-cared-for Stickley or Henkel Harris furniture at pennies on dollar of original cost, and still come out cheaper than buying new plastic veneer particleboard.
Amen! Same goes for tools. I buy used, US-made Craftsman. My two MIG welders are used Lincolns. My tool boxes are all used US-made C-man. My air tools are all used CP, IR, etc. I will admit, however, that my TIG is a new-purchase AlphaTIG. At the price it was still less expensive than used red or blue, and it actually works exceptionally well.
I find that as I get older, stupid $#!+ no longer impresses me.
I must not be old enough yet. I had a couple local cruising town events lately and I was simply amazed at the stupid stuff that was there. I was actually quite impressed with some of the really young guys that were actually willing to work on their cars enough to make them stupid looking. They may not have made a nice looking car in my opinion but at least they had to have put the cell phone down long enough to pick up a tool.
at least they had to have put the cell phone down long enough to pick up a tool.
Eric, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Not until I actually saw a wrench in their hand and using it.
There are several shops here specializing in converting vehicles to stupid. One especially is oily. He can make these kids sell their birthright to work his "show-winning magic" (his word) on their vehicles. Dreamworx LLC. More like a nightmare...
as I orig said, your vehicle, your money, your time do what you want with it, I get that, I understood a little more when the second poster said that these vehicles required little or no suspension mods to accommodate the big wheels and rubber band tires but it seems there would be other alternatives such as 2 wheel drive pick ups or older full bodied cars with large wheel openings, still seems like castrating a stud bull to me but what ever, on the other hand I also see plenty of lifted 4x4 pick ups and SUVs with dual reservoir shocks, mega suspensions etc... that will never see a day of off road use, I have done a lot of trails here in AZ and never saw any of those pretty mall crawlers on the trail,but they sure look good in the parking lots, I guess I have a practical side that just doesn't allow me to see it.
Joe and Rocket raider, your correct aint nothing wrong with a visit to the Goodwill I have a perfectly good Skil circular saw from Goodwill paid 5 bucks for it
have been using it for the last 3 years with no problem, my Craftsman shop vac also a Good will purchase no problem, there are 3 Goodwills with in about 5 miles of me if i'm in the neighbor hood and I have the time I stop in, you never know what you may find.
While I don't have a lot of use for the "fashion-conscious" "statement" vehicles as described in this thread, we live in a society that allows a man to put on a dress and use the Women's locker room, as long as he claims to "feel pretty"..
These cars are a minor annoyance compared to the alphabet-soup Mental Health issues we have provided with "acceptance", "rights", and "encouragement".
I am pretty sure I had a post on this thread but I don't see it. Maybe I offended somebody and it was deleted. I was just quoting Forrest Gump. Very well.
Over there it prolly did offend somebody!😄 I'd move it over here if'n I'uz you... it might make a li'l more sense in context of this thread!😃
I'm all for everybody having rights- long as they don't expect or demand I give up mine to accommodate theirs. I'll even tolerate people doing stoopid **** to their vehicle, just don't expect me to say it's the greatest thing ever.
At least Goodwills and thrift shops are beginning to reopen. Big swaps, flea markets and auctions where I found my previously loved hand tools not so much. I'm in withdrawal...😭
Eric, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Not until I actually saw a wrench in their hand and using it.
There are several shops here specializing in converting vehicles to stupid. One especially is oily. He can make these kids sell their birthright to work his "show-winning magic" (his word) on their vehicles. Dreamworx LLC. More like a nightmare...
In this small town you have kids with parents with money and kids that have to figure it out on their own. The kids with money don't care at all and drive nicer stuff even if it is a little older. The kids making some weird things around here don't have much money and do what they can with what they have. I hope to see more of these kids out for the cruising events next year. A couple did have some really cool air bag rides. I am not into those either but they were fairly creative. I don't know if those were kids or not, they were not local people, just showed up for the event from somewhere.
It did. I think maybe I went to the end of the page and it went into another thread and there was where I posted. It didn't make a lick of sense on the alignment thread. I went back and deleted it. So here it is in the right spot (I hope).
In the words of Forrest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does sir".
The most painful revelation for these owners has to be the realization of just how little their mods are worth at such time the vehicle goes up for sale.
Here in the Tampa area (much like I've seen in other areas like Miami and LA/San Fran), GM A and full-size cars seem to be a favorite choice amongst the 'donk' crowd for TALL wheels, screaming-color flake-metallic paint jobs and concert-worthy audio system installs.
The ones that come up for sale are typically listed at mid-to-high 5-figure prices, the ad narrative usually espousing countless thousands of dollars 'invested' beyond their sale price, yet they still sit on the local Craigslist forever because as well executed these creations may be (or worse, in many cases they're simply poorly cobbled monstrosities despite all the $$ in them), their practical utility and any potentially mass-level appeal has been eradicated.
But in my opinion, you still have to have at least some level of respect for those who take those plunges, because ultimately they feed the development of a larger aftermarket/custom shop industry base from whom many others ultimately benefit, albeit in many cases to better ends.
My wife's parents rescued this one before it was taken too far. The tail lights were shaved and lights were installed in the fender wells, as well as it obviously was painted fuchsia. The plans were for hydraulic suspension, but luckily they got it before the hacking for that mod was begun. It prolly never would have recovered from that.
If I see evidence of hydraulics or other extreme suspension mods ever having been on a car I walk away without an explanation. Impalas unfortunately really suffer from that abuse.
this 68 Buick Wildcat ragtop is currently in my local Craigslist - even with an alleged 34k original miles, possibly too far gone to re-normalize - advertised at $16k which might have been all the money for an original car - now possibly to be a sizable loss for its current owner even though exterior looks clean in the photo.. Minimal ad narrative basically only stating "Strong motor and transmission, needs minor cosmetic work"
My wife's parents rescued this one before it was taken too far. The tail lights were shaved and lights were installed in the fender wells, as well as it obviously was painted fuchsia. The plans were for hydraulic suspension, but luckily they got it before the hacking for that mod was begun. It prolly never would have recovered from that.
Beauty Lies in the Eye of the Beholder! But these cars do nothing for me. Except this red one. I like red vehicles.
As a young boy in NYC. I saw a huge red ladder fire truck. Make an impossible turn onto our narrow street. I saw the driver of a tiller in the rear-steering position.
No brakes or gas. Just a little windshield and a large steering wheel connected by a wooden pole to the rear wheels. What I wanted to be at 10 years old, a tiller driver for FDNYC
Wish I had one in my driveway. Just saying.
