Hot rod

For other uses, see Hot rod (disambiguation).

Three window coupé hot rod with chopped top. A T-bucket (or Bucket T) is a specific style of Hot rod car, based on a Ford Model T but extensively modified or alternatively built

Fiat Topolino hot rod. History The Topolino was the name given to an Automobile model manufactured by Fiat from 1936 to 1955

Rat Rod. A rat rod is a style of Hot rod or Custom car that in most cases imitates (or exaggerates the early hot rods of the 40s 50s and 60s

Volksrod based on a Volkswagen Type 1. Volksrods are modified Volkswagen beetles. They are used as an alternative to traditional Hot rods and are quickly growing in popularity

Hot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. Nobody knows for sure the origin of the term "hot rod. " One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Open roadsters were the cars of choice to modify because they were light. Hot Rod may also refer to the connecting rods, cam, or pushrods inside the engine or to the exposed frame rails of such an automobile. It has also been noted that burning out the connecting rod bearings was a very common failure mode for souped up four-cylinder Fords, particularly the Model T, and "hot rod" could refer to that phenomenon. It was adopted in the 1930s or 1940s as the name of a car that had been "hopped up" by modifying the engine in various ways to achieve higher performance.

The term can also apply to other items that are "souped up" for a particular purpose, such as "hot-rodded amplifier".

1 History
2 In modern culture
3 See also
4 External links

History

Late 1930s-1950s early days

The term seems first to have appeared in the late 1930s, when kids from southern California would race their modified cars on the vast, empty dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The activity increased in popularity after World War II, particularly in California, due to returning soldiers, many of whom had been given technical training in the service. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The original hot rods were old cars (most often Fords, typically Model Ts, Model As 1928-31, 1932-34 Model Bs, or V-8s) that had been modified by to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and also the Flivver) was an Automobile produced by Henry Ford 's Ford See also Ford Model B (1904 Ford V8 redirects here For a list of Ford V8 engines see List of Ford engines#8 Cylinder. Typical modifications were removal of convertible tops, hood, bumpers, windshields, and/or fenders); lowering the chassis; and modifying the engine by tuning and/or replacing with a more powerful type. The windshield or windscreen of an Aircraft, Automobile, Bus, Motorcycle, or Tram is the front Window An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input Engine tuning is the adjustment modification or design of Internal combustion engines to yield optimal performance either in terms of power output or economy Wheels and tires were changed for improved traction and handling. A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load ( Mass) or performing labour in machines This article is about tires used on road Vehicles including pneumatic tires and solid tires. "Hot Rod" was sometimes a term used in the 1950s as a derogatory term for any car that did not fit into the mainstream. Mainstream is generally the common current of Thought of the Majority. Hot rodder's modifications were considered to improve the appearance as well, leading to show cars in the 1960s replicating these same modifications along with a distinctive paint job.

Post WWII origins of organized rodding

After World War II there were many small military airports throughout the country that were either abandoned or vary rarely used that allowed Hot Rodders across the country to race on marked courses. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Originally Drag Racing had tracks that may have been as long as one mile or more, and included up to four lanes of racing at the same time. Drag racing is a competition in which objects compete to be the first to cross a set finish mark usually from a dead stop and in a straight line As hot rodding became more popular in the 1950s, magazines and associations catering to Hot Rodders were started. As Hot Rodders began to race on the street in addition to drag strips, a need arose for an organization to promote the images of Hot Rodders. Hot rodders including Wally Parks created the National Hot Rod Association NHRA to bring racing off the streets and onto the tracks. Wallace Gordon ("Wally" Parks ( January 23, 1913 &ndash September 28, 2007) was instrumental in establishing drag racing as "NHRA" redirects here For other uses see NHRA (disambiguation. They created rules based on safety an entertainment, and allowed Hot Rodders of any caliber the ability to race. The annual California Hot Rod Reunion and National Hot Rod Reunion are held to honor pioneers in the sport. California Hot Rod Reunion is a gathering of drag racers hot rod enthusiasts and street rodders held in Bakersfield California. The National Hot Rod Reunion is a gathering of nostalgia drag racers street rodders and automotive enthusiasts based on the California Hot Rod Reunion. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum houses the roots of hot rodding. The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, is located at 1101 W

1970s rise of the street rod

As automobiles offered from the major automakers began increasing performance, the lure of Hot Rods began to wane. It was no longer necessary to put a Cadillac engine in a Ford roadster to be fast. Cadillac is a Brand of Luxury vehicles owned by General Motors. Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following It was now possible to buy a Pontiac GTO that out performed any Hot Rod, and still have enough room to fit the wife and kids. Pontiac is a Brand of Automobiles produced by General Motors that has been sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico After the 1973 Oil Crisis the public called on automakers to offer safety and fuel efficiency over performance. The 1973 oil crisis began on October 17 1973 when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC consisting of the Arab members of This led to a resurgence of Hot Rodding, although the focus was on driving Hot Rods over racing so the term 'Street Rod' was coined to denote a vehicle manufactured prior to 1949, often with a late model drivetrain for reliability. Street Rodding as it was now known was a different phenomenon that Hot Rodding, as Street Rodding was mainly family oriented. National events were hosted by the National Street Rod Association (NSRA), which also stressed safety as the NHRA did 20 years before, but this was safety for the street as opposed to on the race track. Each NSRA event has a 'Safety Inspection Team' that performs a 23 points inspection process that goes beyond what normal State Safety Inspections Require.

Modern rodding

There is still a vibrant Hot Rod culture worldwide, especially in the United States and Sweden. The hot rod community has now been subdivided into two main groups: hot rodders and street rodders. Hot rodders build their cars using a lot of original, old parts, and follow the styles that were popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. Street rodders build cars (or have them built for them) using primarily new parts.

Nowadays one thing in common is the wish by their owners for hot rods is to make them noticeable. There are many different sects of Hot Rodding now, there are (amongst others):-

Billet Rods (noted by many items being machined from Billet aluminum),
Traditional Rods (those that built according to a particular point in time and stick to those build techniques and materials),
Rat Rods (those that are pieced together to look like old time jalopies, although some times they require more work than a show rod), and
Show Rods (Hot Rods created to compete in National Car Shows such as AMBR (America's Most Beautiful Roadster), and the Detroit Autorama). A rat rod is a style of Hot rod or Custom car that in most cases imitates (or exaggerates the early hot rods of the 40s 50s and 60s

The Street Rod Nationals serves as a showplace for the majority of the hot-rodding and street-rodding world to display their cars and to find nearly any part needed to complete them. The Street Rod Nationals is the world's largest Street Rod gathering Collectively they are all referred to as Hot Rods.

Debates within the car community

Hot rods are part of American culture, although there is growing controversy within the automotive hobby over an increasing trend towards the acquisition and irreversible modification of surviving historic - some even very rare - vehicles rather than the traditional hot rodding concept of the salvage and remanufacture of reusable junked parts. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

New "retro Inspired" steel bodies

As the supply of original steel bodies dwindles to nothing, those who reject fiberglass replicas can buy new reproduction bodies. They are not actual antiques, but often are superior in some aspects such as build quality to original hot rod bodies. The best bodies can command a price of US $10,000 or more.

In modern culture

Lifestyle

There is a contemporary movement of traditional hot rod builders, car clubs and artists who have returned to the roots of hot rodding as a lifestyle. This current traditional hot rod culture is exemplified in a whole new breed of traditional hot rod builders, artists and styles, as well as classic style car clubs like the Deacons, the Shifters, and the Dragoons. Events like Viva Las Vegas, and GreaseOrama showcase this return to traditional hot rods and the greaser lifestyle. Also see theme song Viva Las Vegas (song. Viva Las Vegas ( 1964) is an American romantic musical Underground magazines like Garage, Rolls & Pleats, and BurnOut showcase this return to traditional hot rods by covering events and people around the world. There are number of independently released DVDs featuring this traditional hot rod revival with names such as Mad Fabricators, Hot Rod Surf ‘All Steel All Real’, and Hot Rod Havoc.

In the media

Author Tom Wolfe was one of the first to recognize the importance of hot rodding in popular culture and brought it to mainstream attention in his book The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby. Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr (born March 2, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia) known as Tom Wolfe, is a Best-selling Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (ISBN 0-553-38058-3 is the title of Tom Wolfe 's first collected book of Essays published in 1965

There are many magazines that feature real hot rods, including The Rodders Journal, Hot Rod Magazine, Rod and Custom Magazine, Street Rodder, and Popular Hot Rodding. Hot Rod magazine is a popular American monthly Magazine devoted the hobby of hot Popular Hot Rodding is an American automotive magazine dedicated to high performance automobiles from Primedia There are also television shows such as My Classic Car, and Horsepower TV. My Classic Car is a Television show originally broadcast on TNN and now airing on SPEED Channel about classic automobiles, hosted

Street rod builder Boyd Coddington starred in American Hot Rod, a documentary series on Discovery channel until his death in 2008. Boyd Leon Coddington ( August 28, 1944 – February 27, 2008) was the owner of the Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop and star of American American Hot Rod was a reality TV Series on The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and

The Discovery Channel airs several shows dealing with modern interpretations of kustom kulture such as Monster Garage, American Hot Rod, and Overhaulin'. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and "Kustom Kulture" is a American Neologism used to describe the Artwork the Vehicles the Hairstyles and the Monster Garage was a popular television show for the Discovery Channel hosted by Jesse G American Hot Rod was a reality TV Series on The Learning Channel and Discovery Channel. Overhaulin was an Automotive Reality TV show produced for the TLC Network.

Juxtapoz Magazine, founded by the artist Robert Williams, has thrived as a recent extrapolation of kustom kulture art. Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine is a Magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and collectors including Robert Williams, C Robert Williams is a well-known controversial painter and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine. It has also begun to garner respect as an exhibitor of contemporary artistic talent that transcends kustom kulture's bounds.

In Sweden

The culture is vibrant in Sweden where there are many automobile enthusiasts. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Meetings like Power Big Meet and clubs such as Wheels and Wings in Varberg, Sweden have established themselves in Swedish Hot Rod culture. Power Big Meet is the world's largest classical Car show and is held in Västerås, Sweden for American cars (especially those from Varberg is a city in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast situated at. Since there is very little "vintage tin" the hot rods in Sweden are generally made with a home made chassis (usually a Ford model T or A replica), with a Jaguar (or Volvo 240) rear axle, a small block V8, and fiberglass tub, but some have been built using for instance a Volvo Duett chassis. The Volvo 200 series was a range of Mid-size cars produced by Volvo from 1974 to 1993 with more than 2 Ladder frame design The design is based on the Volvo PV sedan and shares its engine and front suspension with that model Because the Swedish regulations required a crash test even for custom-built passenger cars between 1969 and 1982 the Duett option was often used since it was considered a rebodied Duett rather than a new vehicle. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Some 1950s and 1960s cars are also hot rodded, like Morris Minor, Ford Anglia, Volvo Amazon, Ford Cortina, '57 Chevy, to name but a few. The revolutionary Morris Minor was launched at the Earls Court Motor Show on 20 September, 1948. The Ford Anglia was a British car from Ford in the UK. It was related to the Ford Prefect and the later Ford Popular. The Volvo Amazon was a mid-size car introduced in 1956 by Volvo Cars to complement their Volvo PV model offered since 1947 The Ford Cortina is a mid sized family car built by Ford of Britain in various guises from 1962 to 1982 ' 57 Chevy is a Nickname of the 1957 Chevrolet made in America from late 1956 through much of 1957 by General Motors.

External links

A T-bucket (or Bucket T) is a specific style of Hot rod car, based on a Ford Model T but extensively modified or alternatively built The Ford Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and also the Flivver) was an Automobile produced by Henry Ford 's Ford The three window coupe is a style of Hot rod, based on the 1932 to 1936 Ford three window coupe (one window in each door plus The Volvo T6 was a Concept car from Volvo presented in 2005 at SEMA. Volvo Cars, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish premium Automobile maker founded in 1927 in the city of Gothenburg in Sweden Volksrods are modified Volkswagen beetles. They are used as an alternative to traditional Hot rods and are quickly growing in popularity

Dictionary

-noun

A car modified to run faster, especially one based on a pre-1960s model.

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