When it comes to hot rods—whether an un-fendered Deuce, shaved ’50s coupe, or whatever—what first comes to mind? Is it fuzzy dice hanging from a rearview mirror? Or, is it a paint job that’s come to define the genre; the classic flowing flames?
Painted flames look awesome on generally anything; witness Alton Brown’s stand mixer, or this place to drop another kind of deuce. The thing of it is, maybe flames are a little too played? What do you think, if not flames, what’s the best—at least until it also gets overused—non-flame hot rod paint scheme?
Image: Pinterest
Hooniverse Asks: What's the Best Paint Treatment for a Hot Rod That Isn't Flames?
By Robert Emslie
Jun 27, 2016
Jeff Glucker 
Black. All black.
Make it flat black chalkboard paint, so you can scribble on whatever design suits you at the moment.
Flat black, encrusted with Bonneville salt.
With red wheels.
Originality. Whatever color the car came in, whatever state you found it in, preserve it and let it be.
Provided the current state isn’t so rusty the car isn’t usable.
Agreed.
If you haven’t seen them, any of ICON’s Derelicts demonstrate this quite well.
http://www.icon4x4.com/derelict/pastprojects
http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/IMG_8819.jpg
Proper pinstripes are pretty cool. A friend’s dad got it done to his ’28 Ford Tudor (obviously not pictured), and ended up having it done on his wife’s Camry at the same time.
Traditional flames are king. Scallops had a decades long run attempting to usurp the throne, but now the flames look classic while the scallops look dated. More recently, realistic flames came in hot, but burned too brightly and flamed out after a few short years. (sorry)
Done right on a period hot rod, traditional flames or scallops could both work. A solid color is still a better, and timeless, choice.
The answer is not fake patina and airbrushed rust.
PMY. Predominantly Milner’s Yellow.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rNj1u0hLaGY/TZaIjY8d9uI/AAAAAAAAEn8/rc2d5IHrWtY/s1600/Coupe%2BIn%2BJapan.jpg
I always wondered what PMY stood for.
Love that license plate nod to Lucas’s (Lucas’? that final “s” always confuses me) previous film.
I have an inappropriate set of feels for the early 90’s Pro Street style paint jobs involving pastels and side graphics. I a musty stack of Car Craft and Hot Rod magazines I acquired right as I hit automotive puberty…
I had a Chevy Monza in college that I had painted a Caddy dark metallic blue around 1990 and then added pink and teal sticker pin stripes to it. I have scans of snapshots somewhere, but can’t find them now.
Found it. The upper right is as I bought it in 1986, the other two are from ~1991 as I’m graduating from college.
That pin stripe set is fantastic!
Watson did some nice work back in the day.
To start with, I considered it really wrong, as this is the #1 reason of death for cars everywhere around me, and has been for countless decades. But the irony is growing on me, so I vote: Rust.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bauNe5mcKfo/maxresdefault.jpg
There something really cool about black and gold..
The car chooses the finish. That said, I am partial to candy, especially candy rootbeer, like in this photo from the H.A.M.B.
All coppery colours look good.
+1. They should be an option on every new car with respect for itself, too.
If it’s candy, candy apple red. Though Tangerine has had it’s fans lately
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/2137/1955_Ford_F150_018.jpg
http://www.pro-touring.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18241&d=1185053252
I always thought scallops were cool.
Clear coat, lots of it and nothing else.
Another thing I didn’t even know existed. This is hot.
That puts the pressure on the quality of your metalwork!
Ford with Buick headlights and ? grill?
Desoto?
Red primer & black steelies.
Pink and white should make a comeback.
Or Salmon
But on what car? The 02-05 T-Bird is the last one I can think of.
I could see that.
I’m partial to the lace paint jobs on customs/lowriders.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/88/0d/b5/880db5eae6e5b38c8a9a92251eaea9bc.jpg
I’ve always found this very cool. Unfortunately up here in eastern Canada we don’t see many low riders.
On a mildly related note a few years ago I did see someone lay down mesh and lightly spray a coat of white over a black hood to recreate the look of carbon weave.
In that same vibe, airbrush fish scales were cool.
I think the “shark mouth” is an obvious second option to flames. Fits in well with the post-war aesthetic.
Strange that many contemporary versions seem to eat tires.(random example I happen to like)
http://www.stanceiseverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/mouths-6.jpg
And considering it’s rear-wheel drive, it’s even eating the wrong tires. Maybe it’s a comment on the bad alignment job?
You can’t go wrong with gold leaf lettering or door numbers.
I don’t know what this is called but this olelongrooffan kinda likes it
I believe it’s called scalloped.
+1 for scalloped:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a175/TheGraves666CC/todds%2051%20plymouth/stolen.jpg
http://image.hotrod.com/f/9288478+w660+h495+cr1/hrdp_0707_01_z%2B1962_ford_falcon_budget_paint_job%2Bafter_front_view.jpg
I REALLY like that Falcon. Very understated and clean.
WHAAT? Nobody said good ol’ racing stripes? Down the center, off-center, down the rockers…always great. I’ve never seen ’em on a true (’48-earlier) “hot rod,” but I would love to see twin stripes on something like a track-T or a Topolino-bodied gasser.
http://car-from-uk.com/ebay/carphotos/full/ebay625062.jpg
http://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-932-524/public/60728006.jpg