So, who are you?

Andy Remnant

And where are you from?

Well, I've lived in West Oxfordshire (that's England, by the way) for the last 30 years or so, since my parents moved here from Norfolk.

Blimey, you're knocking on a bit, then?

A Fifties' boy, just. More like a Fifties' baby.

So what makes you tick?

Machines. Old machines, mainly. Old bikes, old cars, old aeroplanes, old boats, old radios, old cameras, old fr . . .

OK, OK, we get the idea. What about old buildings, or art, or music?

Well, yeah, and that. As long as it's got a sort of 20th century feel - mid-century, that is. You know, buildings with curved, metal-framed windows - deco-style? - the old Hoover building on the way into London. And those little country service stations, although there aren't many left now. Art and music? Well, where do I start? Pretty broad tastes, but the nearer to the middle of the last century its roots, the more I'll probably like it.

Right, but mainly things with engines?

Not necessarily - although there needs to be some engineering involved.
But cars and bikes are what this is all about. Their aesthetics are important, but also their engineering and their detail. Take a look at the engine in a very early motorcycle or car - all exposed pushrods and valvesprings. Different materials. Engine-turned finishes. Beautifully engineered, form following function. Old racers are the same. Obviously for race cars function is more important than form, but most still look good - at least successful ones. OK, so some old cars would take First Prize in an ugly contest, but the old saying, "If it looks right, it probably is right", mostly holds true.
For hot rods, looks are as important as function. In the early days it wasn't necessarily so, but it must have had something to do with it. Why is the '32 Ford roadster the archetypal hot rod? Is it just luck? Take the cheapest, most readily available, V8-powered car from the early Thirties, rip its fenders off, and you get one of the most perfectly proportioned cars ever. Stick a roof and a five-windowed turret on it and you have a perfectly proportioned coupe. Even the sedans look good. There's a reason that early Dodges, Chevies, or Buicks weren't more popular. And although the Flathead Ford V8 was the power-plant of choice, hot rodders could have put them in those makes if they had wanted to, couldn't they?

And new technology is bad, then?

No, not necessarily. It can be useful, like any other tool. Unfortunately, like other tools, there's good technology and bad technology (and unreliable technology). And there's too much 'technology for the sake of it'. Just look at modern cars - most are designed by computer, which is why it is difficult to tell them apart from one another. It's hard to beat tinkering around in the garage, creating something with a few hand tools, after a day at the office cursing a crash-happy PC.