Since the birth of the automobile, consumers and enthusiasts alike have taken to personalizing their vehicles in ways that defines who they are as individuals and helps categorize their lifestyles. Customization has even led to The Big Three creating production models based off of the same hot rods you would see at your local cruise night (think the SSR, HHR, the Prowler and even the PT Cruiser).

Looking back, you have the first generation of the hot rodder who’s been chopping, channeling, and swapping engines on his Model-T or Model-A Ford since the ‘30s. The ’50s-era street rodders did much of the same, which also included swapping grilles, fenders, and fins from different models onto their own, and later we had muscle car enthusiasts doing what they do best; beefing up the suspension on their rides for better traction after some much induced oomph had been injected into their big blocks.

Up to that point, everything seemed A-OK other than the fact the latter had taken flak from some of the owners of older automobiles for having bought 13- and 14-second machines right off of the showroom floor without ever having to turn a wrench, hence the term “bought not built.” Many late model muscle car owners still hear that term today… mostly by people who own older muscle cars. Is that purely coincidental or sheer irony? Who knows? But between the first muscle car era, and the one we are currently experiencing today, there have been quite a few different automotive trends that have come and gone over the years.

This is how it started. Image: Flickr/Yahoo

The most obvious is the import craze of the last decade that still manages to linger around these days, but on a much smaller scale. What started out as an underground culture consisting of mostly Asian and Hispanic-Americans modifying their parent’s hand-me-down Hondas and Toyotas, it was later turned into the hyped-up fad led by Hollywood and MTV.

The enthusiasm for the “import scene” as it was called reached an all-time high during the years of ’01-’04, with events and gatherings sprouting up faster than a fatal outbreak epidemic. Import-themed drag racing, car shows, auto-crossing, and later, drifting events had all contributed to the Fast and the Furious lifestyle. Summit Racing even bought and built a Civic to showcase their import line of products. It was insanity.

But like any trendy fad, wannabees eventually joined in with second-hand GM J-bodies, Saturns, Neons, Focuses (Foci?), and every available bottom-feeder Asian car imaginable.

This eventually led to two things; American car companies building tuner cars (Cobalt SS, SRT-4, Focus SVT), and the untimely death of the “sport compact” movement.

I was happy to see both, strangely. Although you don’t see many winged, 19-second Hondas driving through the waterbox at the track these days, the import guys are still holding their own with cars like Subaru STi’s and Mitsubishi EVO’s waving the tuner flag. To each his own.

Looking back a couple of decades and we were faced with the era of the mini-truck, which I literally avoided like the plague. I think part of its intrigue was due to the truck/SUV popularity of the time, and this was little more than an attempt of personalization from the sea of look-a-likes in the mall parking lot.

I never went to a show, or so much as even sat in one of these customized, useless contraptions. I couldn’t have cared less. I never saw the appeal of taking something that was originally intended to be a farm implement and making it into a multi-colored, over-customized vehicle (?) that you could barely even drive down the street.

Not my cup of tea. Image: Mini-TruckinWeb.com

Now don’t take me for a hater, I love trucks! But a 2WD ‘90s Toyota Tacoma with hydraulics, a 5000 watt stereo, and a $15k paint job is not my style, sorry. Give me a ’91 GMC Syclone or a clean, early ‘70s Chevy Cheyenne with a potent ‘plant and factory two-tone paint please, thanks. I’d even succumb to owning a Ford [Lightning] before you would ever catch me behind the wheel of one of those over-elaboratehack jobs. But I digress.

As a result, we did see the birth of the Chevy S-10 Xtreme, Ford/SLP Ranger Thunderbolt, and the Dodge Dakota R/T, the latter being the closest thing to a performance vehicle of the three. You can try arguing the same case for the Syclone, but its existence was more about GM being mournful of the Buick GN’s passing rather than jumping aboard the latest fad at the time.

Eventually the mini-truck idea fizzled out around the time Paul Walker drove his green Eclipse across the silver screen, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. No one really knows how or why they came to be, but some speculate it might’ve been an offspring, or more appropriately, a spin-off of the custom van fiasco of the ‘70s.

I never understood the appeal of vans, either. Other than offering stoners and advocates of “free love” somewhere to go to avoid “the man” without having to shell out money for an apartment or hotel room, I never could figure out why any self-respecting hot-rodder could look at a van and think, “Hmm…” They were slow, ugly, and heavy, couldn’t stop or handle, and drank fuel just as quickly as most of the popular big-block muscle cars that young men had replaced them with.

It seemed to be more about show than go with the van-o-philes. Hand-painted murals and bubble windows replaced racing stripes and cowl-induction hoods, while shag carpeting and couches picked up where Hurst shifters and Sun tachometers had left off. Just thinking about it while I’m typing this makes me want to cringe.

Love it! Image: Jalopy Journal

Weirdly, chrome side-pipes and Cragar S/S wheels managed to make an appearance on many custom vans of the era, most likely as a result of their owners being reminiscent of a better time. They had become so popular, that it was commonplace to see them pop up on the covers of Popular Hot Rodding and Hot Rod magazine back then. Tragic stuff, indeed.

The idea of van personalization finally died out in the early ‘80s, which is about the same time the auto manufacturer’s conversion vans had become the vehicle of choice for families who liked to travel. They were no longer seen as “cool” because of this. Now after we thought we’ve seen the last of the custom van, there seems to be a resurgence of interest as evidence of a recent trip to Southern California that I’ve made in July of this year. So that brings me to another point; if people start building these things again, should we cover them? If it was solely up to me, the answer would be a firm and simple no.

More of this, please.

Currently, the latest trends are rat rods and pro-touring muscle cars of the ’60s and ‘70s. But as prices of the classic muscle cars are still holding strong, many gearheads are looking towards the later ‘70s and even ‘80s stuff as potential candidates for their builds.

I’ve been thinking a set of 18’s and a full suspension package upgrade for my Grand National for quite some time. But will rat rods and pro-touring cars inspire the Big Three to build something of their own? In the case of the rat rod, probably not.

But the popularity of classic muscle has already inspired them to give us the current Camaro, Mustang, and Challenger.

With rumors of retro-styling on its way out, we look forward to the future with great anticipation of what will come next –both from the manufacturers, and from you, our readers. What do you guys think the next craze will be?

Keep On Rollin’
-Rick