The car hobby is a constant learning curve for me—mostly a good learning curve.
I get an education with every interview but it’s not always a tech talk—although that’s a big part of most car guy conversations.
I don’t always agree, but that’s the beauty of the car hobby—it’s free expression at its finest.
Jerry Sutherland
For example, I lean heavily toward factory ride heights. I like the factory height because that’s how I remember the cars when they were new.
But I also never understood why my dad hated hot rods. The punk/hoodlum thing was part of the equation, but what yanked his chain the most was how much the owners cut up classic 20s and 30s cars and lowered them to build a street rod.
He thought those 20s and 30s cars were going away too fast—so he didn’t think a classic deuce Ford deserved to be chopped, channeled and lowered.
I was on the other side of the fence. A young me saw a deuce coupe street rod as the highest-level version of the ’32 Ford—while a stock ’32 Ford sedan was mildly interesting.
That attitude has changed dramatically because I’m still a huge deuce coupe fan, but I’m equally impressed with a stock ’32 Ford in 2025.
Plus, I’m definitely on the stock-version bandwagon with cars like a 60s Ford Country Squire station wagon. Classic long roofs just don’t look right when they hug the ground—and stripping the fake wood grain panels and trim off the side is a felony in my world.
That’s my opinion, but that doesn’t make these modified Country Squire wagons illegal—I like them stock, but the owner likes them riding flat on the ground with no trim. He’s the guy who cut the check for the car, so he has that option—but I sure get why my dad hated hot rods.
Paint is another thing.
The rat rod trend is in its third decade now and in my opinion it’s peaked. The term rat rod now applies to weathered cars and trucks—not just rusty shells. The original rat rods were artistic concepts on 4 wheels—a weather-beaten sedan doesn’t qualify.
I get the patina look—but in my opinion, you should always have higher goals for your old classic. I also get the practical side, because paint jobs can cost insane money and you sweat bullets every time you take it to a parking lot.
Having said that, you can do a homemade paint job for less than a thousand bucks in your garage or backyard if you’re okay with a functional paint job and many hours of dirty, hot work.
So, if you found a smoking deal on a solid—but weathered car—at least consider making it shinier. I get it—history is important, but if the paint looks like a surface map of Mars, think about getting your hands dirty. You’ll learn something and your car will thank you for it.
This isn’t a total rant because I’ve learned many other things that I do agree with—like how a car guy squeezed a V-6 into a Nash Metropolitan, or how leather seats were brought back to life in an old Jaguar.
Like I said, it’s all about free expression in the car hobby—learning is part of the process and opinions are a natural consequence of that process .
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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