hot rod or street rod

My buddy, Worm built this around 1963 and it has been blue, red, and yellow, but otherwise has remained essentially the same. Today most people call it a Street Rod, but when he built it, it was a Hot Rod and nobody heard the name Street Rod.

What would you call it?

 

Those wheels and tires lean towards "street rod".

 

All this is my own personal view and I don't claim to be the judge in this matter.

Stylewise for me, the wheels/tires don't work. Whether it is a street rod or hot rod (by my own personal standards) requires more information...

What kind of suspension?
Is it air conditioned/
Does it have power steering?
Serpentine belt?
Power disc brakes?

Often the lines are clear to me as to which a category a car belongs. When the lines are blurred, and the styles blended, I also consider an intangible...who does he roll with? What are they driving? This reveals his own opinion of where his car belongs within the various sub-cultures and is a good indicator to me.

 

Sooooooooo.......If its not a rusty pos with parts fallin off its not a true hot rod?????? My full fendered Model A I built in 1980 I thought it was a Hot Rod. Didn't have much money in it and built the car from a worn out body from the swap meet.

 

The wheels are original 1953 Chrysler wires and have been on the car since built!!! The suspension is stock and has drum brakes, no power, no air. The tires are mid'60s style whitewalls and look very much like the bias-plys that were on it back then, but they are now radials. I say Traditional Hot Rod!

 

There can be a fine line dividing street rod and hot rod in my opinion.If a guy builds a traditional type car,beam axle,vintage engine,3 spd stick,but a gl*** body with a fancy interior,is this a street rod? Or take an old vehicle,cut down,vintage engine, on a fabricated tube frame with Mustang 2 type suspension,is it a street rod?
What is traditional? Is a modern front suspension clip grafted on traditional? I suppose if it's built in the traditional way it is.

 

.............................Bait !

 

If I walked up on a bunch of guys having this conversation, I listen for a couple minutes, snort, and walk away shaking my head! Who cares, just build the damn thing and be happy with it. Call it what you want and **** 'em all.

As for the show - the difference between a street rod and a hot rod is whatever the guy at the gate decides it is. Be prepared to be offended.

 

Call it Hotrod?
Call it Streetrod?
Best of all I'd like to call it mine!!

 

JUST MY OPINION?
In the olden days a "HOT ROD" would be a high performance/street racer. A "STREET ROD" would be a streetable type hot rod. Not to be confused with a "CRUISER" or "SLED".
By todays standards a "HOT ROD" would be what we're into (traditional) a "STREET ROD" would be a billetized gold chainers car.
If it looks like dog ****, smells like dog **** and tastes like dog **** it must be dog ****.
THANKS FOR LISTENING

 

exactly!! It is just a word!! Hot rod/Street Rod/Rat Rod whatever...
Man, build the stuff you like. Cut them up anyway you like. All this my car is a "REAL" hot rod and has soul BS is just elitist stuff. The only thing I thought was a definite about this hobby was that there were no rules to what you can do......

 

Actually in the olden days there were two types of cars on the streets, factory & hotrods, peroid!! Anyone who modified their cars were called hotrodders. That's late 40s and early 50s.

 

My guess for the 50's era: A street rod was street legal and only used on the street, and a hot rod hit the track(s). Maybe street rod also meant "daily driver", which I'm also guessing wasn't used back then.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

Your olden days go back a little farther than mine!

 

I hate to burst the bubble of all you kids but if you check out 50 year old Hot Rod magazines you will find the term "Street Rod" So all you "traditional guys" that weren't there, the term "Street Rod" has a long history and commands as much respect as "Hot Rod." As for the remark about Street Rodder coining the term, Tom McMullin never had an original thought in his life. The two terms are interchangeable and I can't figure out how they are going to differentiate between the two. 50 years ago billet meant a chunk of aluminum. Lil John Buterra was the first one to do billet back in the 70's.

 

'Hot Rod' is an ever changing term in my opinion. It's when you take whatever's within your budget and make it go fast. It's not as if 'Hot Rod' only applies to cars that would be styled as they were in the fifties. The term can evolve. If someone wants to call their nitrous supercharged ultra super aero kit '81 Mustang a hot rod, then they can and I won't give a ****. I may not agree with them, but who cares? It's not my car.

 

its funny how people define things. i suppose there is no get around it so here is my .02 cents:

rod=car(any car)
hot rod= car (any car, just ask NHRA)with modified engine/driveline/body to make it FASTER.
street rod= old car, pre1949 usually and by NSRA definition, that has been modified from stock form.

i also think that no matter the build style, if the motor and/or the car is not built to out perform their stock
form they are not hot rods. thats being lienient because when
it comes to hot rods i believe in hot motors. not rust and junk.

i believe that street rods can be built to many different styles, and comfort levels.
some street rods will never be used in compi***ion.
all true hot rods will eventually be raced!

one more thing to stir the pot.
HOT/STREET RODS ARE CUSTOMS: NOT ALL CUSTOMS ARE HOT/STREET RODS

 

If the ***le is in your name and you like it, call it whatever you want! Thanks, Lyman.

 

What he said---personally----I don't go to "shows" that say somebody can't come. Been to L.A. Roadster shows a few times--they are REAL "you can't come in " types--and been to a few "hot rod" shows that told a guy his car was "too shiny" to come in.
i think all that is ********--just drive the ****in' thing!

 

if you transpose the settings (1958/2008) and compare apples to apples (relatively speaking), many of the cars that everyone gets all creamy over were out of the reach of the average guy 50 years ago. they had all the latest and greatest for the time. they were street rods. they were for cruising comfortably (well as much so as possible) or just flat looking cool. many of them were owned by guys that had them BUILT FOR THEM by our hero builders.

do i like street rods?
not particularly.
would i like to own a hot rod with Air conditioning and lumbar support?
you damn right.

i know street rods aren't what this place is about, and i'm not defending or supporting the modern interpretation of a street rod, but lets keep it all in perspective.

talk to enough street rodders and you'll find more than one or two who went around the traditional block once or twice and realized that its much nicer to get of the car at the end of a long drive without feeling like you've been run through the dryer a few times.

 

AMEN--politics and at***ude ****s.
can't say i haven't been to or won't go to a closed show but its supposed to be about fun these days. too often people loose sight of this.

 

That is a myth that should die. Pre-musclecar technology but in tip-top condition, not a rusty, shoddily built death trap. Same debate every month.

 

In my opinion,you have a HotRod,and their idea of a streetrod,is a billet 1-800 built car.And for my car,its a StreetRod acting as a HotRod.

 

Lets put it this way,StreetRods have 4 link and coilovers,HotRods have Hairpins or wishbones,and a buggy spring in the rear.

Also just call your car what ever you want to call it,me I call mine a HotRod,some may call it a StreetRod,I dont really give a ****,its mine,and I love the damn thing.

 

Didn't mean to insult the wheels, I am not real knowledgeable about wires. Other than the easily swapped tires, I really like that car. It is a '33-'34 Plymouth, right?

 

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