Hot Rods What is a "real" hotrod?

"Pissing contest" is a good analogy. Something else that really frosts my cajones is when some fucker compares my '32 steel Highboy roadster to his fucking '65 Mustang. Those things have their own category to fit in, BUT they are not hotrods/streetrods, and never will be, PERIOD. I just enjoy my roadster and '40 Ford 2-DR, both with SBC power, A/C because Texas is very close to HELL, 700R4's because I am a cheapskate and retired. Since I don't have that many summers of coherence remaining, I am cruising every chance I get.

 

To me, your ride would be a hotrod/streetrod. And, it is very unique. That Desoto mill alone deserves its own sub-class. GOTSTA BE cool.

 

RYAN! ...Ned's using big words again!

 

Here's wiki's definition,
Hot rods are typically old, classic American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. Roadsters were the cars of choice because they were light, were easy to modify, and could be bought for a low price. The term became commonplace 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. A term that was common in the early days to refer to a hot rod was a "gow job". This has fallen into total disuse except with historians.

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

 

So this ain't hot rods?

 

This is getting to be like a broken record. Time to put it to bed.

 

Are we talking hot rod as a noun or verb?

 

I don't agree with you there! [emoji58]

I think this is a very good thread, and people share opinions on hot rods and what we think goes and don't goes! [emoji4]

This will lower some of the hostility against FNG, who isn't all sure about what a hot rod is, what a Traditional hot rod is, and what the HAMB is all about.
I never seen so many different rods in the same thread, and it gives space for those he dream of something different then all deuces. Because some of the rods on here are old, and a part of the scene way back when. [emoji41]
But they ain't all 32 3W, and they never was!! [emoji15]

If you find it boring, I'm so sorry but there would be other threads for you.
I'm trying to write this a positive as a can, and hope you take no offense! [emoji6][emoji4]

 

My understanding of what the true definition of a Hot Rod is simple. A Ford produced vehicle, manufactured between 1923 and 1934 with no fenders, a hopped up engine and drive train. Any other makes are just old cars! Thank you thankyou very much!

 

Street rods and customs are for getting girls, hot rods are for getting rid of them.

 

Glad you have an opinion, glad your car fits in it..

 

Nailed it! Flathead powered of coarse.

 

Easy for you to say Elvis Jr. ! But I kinda like this comment......... But they ain't all 32 3W, and they never was!!
I'll add they all ain't Fords and they all weren't built from 1923-1934 Fords.
I know it ain't true, but back in 19 aut 56 gramma called my 49 Dodge with a 6 and fluid drive a "danged ole hotrod."
It's all in the eye of the beholder. ..... Beer holder?
As another member wrote this has turned into another great thread to discuss our thoughts, right or wrong. If ya don't like what we write don't click the thing that keeps bringin you back. Chances are it will get more controvercial as we go.

 

Here goes the broken record again:

So you don't think this is a Hot Rod:

 

I wouldn't know...my uncle pat told me my car doesn't have enough cylinders to be a hot rod

 

So to some people a 32 fenderless ford with a hot flat head, is the quintessential hot rod.

Does that mean a 33 Chevy with fenders and a 301 SBC is a non hot rod ?

This is a build from on here, and it's no secret I like it a lot!

It belongs to @tb33anda3rd

 

How about these:

I like Chevys too.

 

Rasmus, your point has been made....................if they don't understand by now, they never will!

 

There's a real fine line but my definition has always been an early (whatever that means) car modified for performance, ie function, above all else to include comfort and design, ie form. A street driven '32 Ford with a hot flathead and no fenders is just as much a hot rod as a street driven '55 Chevy that has had all its guts pulled out with a blown OHV thrown in.





Customs are of the same vein, but rather than performance, form and aesthetic are the number one consideration, even though they may have still have pretenses of performance. Smooth out a '34 Ford, like the Wes Collins Roadster, or slap wild paint on a '50 Chevy, like Watson's Grapevine, and you've got a custom.





I hate to make movie references to compare real life, but American Graffiti makes a compelling case. Milner's and Falfa's cars are both Hot Rods, although in different styles, while Steve's '58 is definitely in the custom camp.

 

Then there are the wild-cards. Show and Go. Some cars went both ways, and with a modicum of effort, you could take two pictures of the same car, on the same day, and get two different answers on what category the car should be in. My favorite example of this is the Chuck Manning '39:





Maybe it's just narcissism, but that's where I see my fat-fender'd Ford...

 

I thought a Hot Rod was when you added hot sauce to your....never mind..stupid urban dictonary

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/11-weeks-the-bass-32-roadster-version-1-0.980108/

 

Its like the senators discription of "porn", He said I can't tell you what it is but I know it when I see it!

 

^^^^ Here: an anomaly right from WIKI! The idiots that write the definitions aren't old enough or in touch with word origins, much less their meanings. "souped-up" may be a kitchen term, but it is NOT in context with the 'Hot Rod Age'.
The actual term was "suped-up", as in 'Super-ed Up'. Super is not relative to soup.
When the dictionary is in hand with 'change', the history is lost. (presently an agenda)

My ex wife said she didn't get why I had to drive a car that was 'All Zooped-Up'...and I couldn't explain it to her. Yep. She got the Bum's Rush, I hope she spelled THAT one right...

 

Hot rod=Ford roadster, right? What's all this other stuff??

 

Jim to you a hot rod will always be what it is to you.

Everyone will always have a different idea and to them a hot rod is what it is to them. Clubs and organizations are built around terminology and those people will always have their own parameters.

Perhaps the simplest answer would be a vehicle modified to be made to perform better. But that would be too easy wouldn't it.

 

A hot rod >>>>>> hotted-up roadster
Plus Roadsters where the only cars allowed too run on drag and salt in the beginning

 

LOL and just like us and hot rods he likes it.

 

""A hot rod >>>>>> hotted-up roadster
Plus Roadsters where the only cars allowed too run on drag and salt in the beginning ""

Really? I didn't know that..

 

My 6 y/o's call anything that looks old "hot rods"

But, I stand behind one rule... It's gotta be American!

I'v heard people call VW's hot rods, Jags, and other british garbage.