Hot Rods What is a "real" hotrod?

Like so many things in life the term Hot Rod has become bastardized. No way you are going to convince someone with a Camaro they don't have a hot rod. Post over on the Garage Journal, someone was calling their brand new Camaro a hot rod ... whatever dude

 

Now you have gone and made me think....................I guess I think of pre 40 vehicles that have been properly modified as hot rods but also feel that you can hot rod later cars to by making similar mods to them as a hot rod would have had. Is that confusing to everyone else too? That is why I refer to my 58 as a resto rod, not as a hotrod.

 

Ain't posers, er, posters great!!!! I'll buy the 64' and back but even the 57' chevy with performance engine options was aimed for the youth market in some articles I've read so that would put them in the same piece of land as the post 65' youth market "muscle" cars..While a car can look the part of a Custom, Street Rod, Street Machine, Muscle Car, Pro Street, Gasser, Resto Rod, etc; past the look it can be pure Hot Rod, as an example there is a running post of the [I think] Jesse Lopez car and its history and rebuild..It looked like a Custom but was really much more..My shoebox started out Gasser but rolled into such a mix for various reasons/preferences that it is, pretty much a Hot Rod..

 

...and let's not forget when HRM went vanning. That marked the 1st time I stopped buying that magazine. I started driving in the early 70's. Back then a Hot Rod was a '57 Chevy, or a V8 Vega. I've learned better since then.

Had a paper back book (still do somewhere) in grade school, think it was put out by HRM. In it a Street Rod was defined as a purpose built vehicle modified primarily for street use. And a Hot Rod was primarily used for racing. Or, something like that. One of these days I need to dig through all my stuff from so many years ago.

Nothing like opinions to liven up a rain soaked Saturday. -Dave

 

I like this simple explanation

It's really an open ended question that will probably never have a generally accepted answer....
That being said, i was told years ago that its basically a car/truck with 4 fenders that can be unbolted and removed.
I know what they were getting at, but again, open to interpretation considering how some cars in the 40's and 50's have bolt on rears...

I cant give a good answer that wont bring up debate.
I think of a hot rod as being mid 30's and older stripped of most thing's to lose weight with an power plant and drive train that has been modified to go fast.
Ahh but again, i've seen some pretty badass 40 Fords with HEMI's etc that too fit the label.
About the only thing i personally feel is there 'aint no real hotrods built using tin newer than the late 40's but thats just me. Of course thats just my take on the hotrod label...and labels suck anyway. Lol
Oh well.....

Tony

 

This is my hot rod. It is pre 49, started life with 80 hp, will have more that 250, almost every part is modified or changed, and it is being built with a "can do" attitude. It probably doesn't fit most peoples definition, but it fits mine.

 

On a more serious note "hot rod" suggests some type of competition preparation, on a street legal vehicle.

 

No offense intended but to me, you are hot rodding it but that does not make it a hotrod. Not in my mind, at least and yes hot rods have to be primarily modified to make them faster not primarily customized

 

To me, the simplest definition of a hot rod is a vehicle that has been altered to go faster than it was originally meant to go. Plain and simple. Similar to Dick Stevens' definition.

 

Some magazines have tried to define it. I've never bought subscriptions.
I find most rags high on advertising, low on substance, with pages too
glossy for good ass wipe.

 

I like the picture thing. This is a hot rod to
Me.
Also, what era ended the gow job, and started the era of the hot rod? Is this little t a gow job or a hot rod?
When does a car become a race car and does this lose its title as a hot rod?

 

Roger that ct.
If it makes the front of my pants feel funny---then it's a hot rod.

 

dont like to deal with opinions but,...I guess by definition my 59 el camino is not a hot rod .But to me it is. its a stress valve, its a sanctuary when i need "me" time. its my fun land. Its very loud, it has 3 pedals, it has going on 350,000 miles by ME alone.when my kids were little, 2 tarps and a water hose and the back was a red-neck swimming pool.Really! its the most fun car i have ever had. because of it i have made friends all over the southeast that i never would have met..I guess HOT ROD is about the ultimate compliment i could give it !! CARRY ON!

 

Okay, This was my interpretation of a hot rod.

Maybe to some it isnt, opinions do vary

Tony

 

Pre 1948 roadster or coupe modified for performance. That seemed to work for everyone, until Hotrod magazine realized they were losing out on the money from the other car geeks. They slowly and methodically told everyone that a hotrod could be ANY modified vehicle. Shit, it didn't even have to be fast.

 

THat, my friend is definitely a hot rod!

 

BOING
We have a winner folks.

 

I'd say a 'hot rod' definitely needs three pedals, should be more-or-less street legal, and performance should be a big part of the 'flavor'. After that, it really becomes a matter of opinion. If you go hard-core 'traditional', then I'd say that restricts you to pre-49 Fords as the flathead was king until the overheads appeared. The appearance of powerful OHV V-8s in low and mid-priced cars in the 50s was the game-changer, just like the appearance of the flathead in '32 was....

 

Hot rod: A pre WWII car or truck modified for performance or to be faster and stripped of comfort items to be lighter to be faster.

Street Rod: Any car or truck purchased, drove for 6 month to 2 years the resold to buy another car or truck.

 

This is unquestionably a hot rod, I believe by anyones interpretation!

 

As stated: You can "hot rod" anything, BUT not everything is a hot rod.

 

Tony, I think the pics of this one (from 1947) would fit your description, it does mine, and it had 3 pedals.

 

Absofreakinlutely!!!
I'm one who under most circumstances prefer fenderless, but the stance of that roadster with them screeeeaaaaams bad attitude!
Love that car!

Tony

 

Have we ever nailed down the date in time when Hot Rod was first seen in print? Nobody used the term before WWII. Bob

 

a HOT ROD is whatever you say it is, I used to have a HOT ROD Datsun pickup. don't agree? I don't care.

 

Marty---
Jack's fender-ed iteration should be the blueprint for how to set the stance of a car.

 

Like one of the Supreme Court justices once said referring to pornography, I can't explain it but I know it when I see it. Hard to say what a hot rod is, but I know one when I see one.

 

When Duntov penned his famous letter to GM management I feel it marked the beginning of the
factory built hot car era. Prior to that you had some factory cars with exceptional performance but
they were usually heavy cars aimed at well off people. If you wanted affordable performance you had to build it yourself, and the easy formula was a light vehicle with a hotter engine, and pre 49 cars tended
to be smaller/lighter. I am not hung up on manual trans, many people have physical restrictions that
make it mandatory to run an auto, and fenders are required by many laws. A 29 highboy is a beautiful
car but is not the only car that is a hot rod.

 

I have always lived by this rule I made up about 50 years ago. "Fenders are for guitar players and if you have to lift a hood to see the motor, you don't have a hot rod".

 

Sounds simple but sometimes does not fit!! https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2d/5a/06/2d5a06a1cc7164d114d9444c7872cabf.jpg Pete