Our series of “Ask The Experts” articles recently took on the challenge of defining some of the universal terms thrown around haphazardly in the industry. At the time, no one could give us a clear definition of “Hot Rod,” “Street Rod,” or “Restomod.” Everyone had their own ideas but it seemed as if every definition was different with none of them having any real definitive or firm conclusion.

Our journey began by defining “What Is A Street Rod?” with the National Street Rod Association. Then we went to the experts at the Goodguys’ Rod & Custom Association to define “What Is A Hot Rod?” Our latest attempt at solving vocabulary used in the rod culture centers around the meaning of “Restomod.”

Restomods Are never Wrong.

The past two decades have spawned a new breed of kustom auto builder that have focused on cars from the musclecar era, combining the look and power with modern technology to capture a completely new machine. Mike and Jim Ring are a pair of these new age builders.

Based out of Green Spring, Wisconsin, the Ring Brothers have made a name by capturing timeless designs with modern performance that pushed beyond the boundaries of what a muscle car was. These builds have become the poster model of what Restomods represent with Jim Ring doing all the wiring, brake lines, assembly and much of the mechanical fabricating and Mike Ring doing the dirty prep work, fit and finish of the projects.

According to Mike Ring, the duo started business doing restorations. “When you get into restorations, it’s about what you did wrong,” he said. “Did you have the right date code on the lightbulb in the glovebox? It just about wore us out worrying about what was wrong. We were giving up the freedom and ability to do whatever just came out of us.”

Jim Ring added his thoughts on restomods, “They may not like it, but they can never say it’s wrong. That is where I think a lot of people are having fun in this industry right now.”

Defining the Breed.

The term restomod is an obvious mashup of the words restoration and modification. This insinuates that half of the hybrid is restoration and the other half is modified. Restorations are essentially builders taking a desirable but beat-up classic car and bringing it back to original standards with original factory or authentic parts until it is in factory new condition.

Modified has been used to define the wildest of car builds that leaves very little in the way of factory components. The process usually involves replacing most of the exterior parts, especially the body and trim, and generally involves upgrading the electrical, suspension and brakes. Many times the engine and transmission are swapped out for higher performance alternatives.

Therefore, a restomod would be a blend of these two different car building techniques. “People fell in love with musclecars from 1962 to 1972 because of the body style of those cars,” said Jim. “Let’s face it, a lot of the earlier cars… the early Camaros, Mustangs, Chevelles and all the rest, didn’t drive like these cars do today. Basically people love the body style but they don’t care for how these cars stopped and how they started.”

“People love these musclecars but wish they drove better and started better, echoed Mike. “They thought that they drove ok back in ’69 and ’70, but they’ve been spoiled with all the new cars they have been driving. You take a guy that is in his 60s now, and he gets into a Camaro like he had in high school, and he’s afraid to drive it. Many of these cars were restored and trailer queens for a long time, but people weren’t having fun with them. Today, people want to drive their cars.”

Combining the look of the classic musclecar with the modern technology drives the restomod builders. “The new cars have spoiled pretty much everyone out there. They wouldn’t want their kids to get in one of those old stock musclecars,” Mike pointed out.

“There is no doubt about it,” said Jim, “There are some safety aspects that go along with this. Typically all the cars that we build for people are fuel injected and even if they are not we are putting inertia switches in them. We’re putting a lot of these safety things in these old cars that a lot of these car companies are putting into their modern cars to make them a little safer.”

“Nobody is going to crash test these cars,” Jim pointed out. “If anyone has seen the video of the 59 chevy Bel Air versus the 2009 Chevy Malibu that is online, it really opens your eyes. That is a testament to where these cars today have come from and the safety factor of today. When I first looked at that video and not knowing what the outcome would be, I thought that ’59 would drive right through that car. Boy was I surprised to see what technology really does.”

The Origins

Many believe that restomods began when car builders saw great classics in wrecking yards. These cars were not in condition to be restored and returned to the street as factory cars but the potential to return them to the street in modified form was still there. The cost to lightly modify these vintage musclecars was affordable enough that many car builders started restomodding these junkyard finds.

“I think it started that way because the value of a clean car that was worth something,” said Jim, “but honestly, I think it changed to where now people will buy a good car that was restored, and they find it’s cheaper to tear one apart.”

“Yeah… they’re not going to cut up a Yenko Camaro or a Shelby. You’re not going to see that happen,” Mike added. “I think they are chasing down good cars to build the car of their dreams with.”

“If it’s not a Shelby or Z/28, they don’t even care anymore,” explained Jim. “They just realize how good these cars are with bigger tires, better brakes. At least our customers. The smart ones buy the best car they can find to start with. People were afraid to cut one up but not now.”

It’s kinda funny because I got a call from the President of the Pantera club of America,” said Mike. “I don’t think he was very happy when he found out that we were resto-modding a Pantera. I explained to him that the car was a complete basketcase, and we hand fabricated almost 97 percent of every panel and sheet metal on that car. He made the comment, if I remember right, the highest selling Pantera at that time was $127,000 and that it wasn’t going to be pretty when our car went up for sale. Ironically our car ended up bringing $330,000.”

So, What Is A Restomod Really?

Jim summed up his philosophy on restomods: “My thoughts on a restomod would be to preserve what that car was, and add the technology of the new motors that are available. Update the transmissions, brakes, everything about it to keep the heritage of what the car was,  but to bring it up to date to make the car much more driveable. enjoyable to handle, autocross or whatever.

Mike supported that by saying, “Everything about it is brought up to date but keep the looks physically of what that car was. Now don’t get me wrong, that can be changed based on people’s taste and styling. At the end of the day, most of our customers demand that if we are doing a 65 Mustang or 69 Camaro, that it indeed looks like a 69 Camaro or 65 Mustang.”

What Is Next For Restomods?

When asked what is coming down the road in the restomod community, Jim responded by saying: “I’ve wondered if we only have 10 or 15 years left in this. The people that associate with the ’69 Camaro are either dead or dying. What’s going to happen when all these guys move along? Will the next generation be intersted in that Audi or 2000 Camaro? Will these musclecars from this era be popular in the future?

Mike quickly added, “I think the european market is strong. We took our last car to London,” he began. “Jim got a call yesterday from the car owner saying, ‘I’ve got Lamborghini’s and almost every car made, and there are people running out of houses and buildings to get a look at it and a picture of it.’ It was like a dinosaur in the street. It was something they had never seen before. He said it was actually pretty cool. It was just crazy that people were that excited about that car. It was funny that a 65 Mustang was sitting in London, heavily modified. I didn’t know if they would like it or not.”

“Mike and I have been talking about for a long time,” said Jim. “I can actually see the industry going to the BMW 2002 and some of the old Audis. Some of the cool european cars that need some help.”

“I see it going electric. I see it going all wheel drive,” said Jim. “I think these kids today and the technology outsmart the old guys. The sky is the limit. Hot rodding started because they could make a car cooler, faster, than the automakers. I don’t think that’s the case today. Not right now in the hobby. These kids today, they are going to push that electric envelope. We have some interest in doing it right now. With the horsepower of electric, instant, there’s going to be a lot of things to figure out there but I think you are going to see it and it’s going to be pretty amazing. Where it pushes the automaker again.”

“We try hard to put out something that people haven’t seen yet. You’ve got to push the envelope,” Mike asserted. “Now that we’ve done the 100 percent carbon fiber car – and we spent a lot of time and resources to get that whole body done – weighed 180 pounds. That tied together with maybe an aluminum chassis, and electric components on each wheel… and we’ve been talking about this for a year or so now… we’ve got some real serious guys that you may see an electric car out of the Ring Brothers!”

The final word on restomod seems to be that anything goes. There are no real boundaries and the look and style is up to the person building the car. There are no solid guidelines to build around. You don’t have to worry about having the right date code on the glovebox lightbulb. Restomod is never wrong.