What's the difference between a Street Rod and a HotRod?

High Tech = Tig Welded
Street Rod = Mig Welded
Hot Rod = Gas Welded

 

Street Rod...designed by "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", and a hot rod is owned by someone who never misses an episode.

 

Damn Killer, this one excited you.
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My thoughts have always been these titles are coined in Board rooms (or Bars and coffee shops) by the magazine editors. Tom McMullin had to come up with Street Rodder because Hot Rod was all ready taken. And all the debates have been Magazine guide lines to separate all the mags that are produced by the same publisher.
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Call it whatever you want, if it's been modified after leaving the factory, It's a Hot Rod.
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you won't catch me saying it, cause I'm an old fuck! but these ricers are no different than a 32 ford with a souped up 48 Merc.
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I hate the "back in the day" shit as much as the next guy, BUT back in the day we were never happy with what we had, not many bolt on parts were available. the easiest way to double your horse power was to take a new car motor and put it in your older (lighter) car.
Cubic inches ruled a 296 cube flathead could compete heads up with a 283 chev, 303 olds, 331 cad and chrysler, till those overheads were modified. but when the factory started upping the inches the flathead was all but dead.
Flatheads won't make it a Hot Rod, faster makes it a Hot Rod
Just one man's opinion!

 

Right on 48 HEMI. what you said

 

Hell if I know...I call my car by just about EVERY designation, usually depending on who I'm talking to at the time!

When I'm talking to HAMBers it's just the 49, my Heap, Rustbucket, Fleetline, or Chevy.

When I'm telling some parts guy that I need a part for a 1982 Citation, or that I want to adapt something from a different engine to a 2.8, and I'm fielding strange looks, I just say "It's for a street rod project". That usually satisfies 'em and makes it 'okay'!

At car shows, swap meets or cruise nights, when talking to an old guy with a bone stock 49-54 Chev, I tell 'em mine is a hot rod, with a newer engine, trans, 12v wiring, etc.

See...same car, accepted by different names in different circles. Hard core hot rod guys will never accept it as a true hot rod with a measley V6 in it. Street rodders won't buy it as one of their group being later than 48 and so crudely built. Stock resto dudes will frown on the mods I've made, and the general non-car public at large will just see it as a rusty old car.

Maybe it's a RAT ROD????

 

honestly though,

what does it really mean to me?

one's hard bound and one's soft bound.

 

The labeling issue seems to be a popular one. I think the name hot rod has been changing in definition since it's birth. And then before the name hotrod it was go-jobs, jalopys ect. We would all like to find some freeze frame in time to stick the labels to but the names have changed in an effort to keep up with trends. In general I think street rod is a little broader term and takes in newer cars than hotrod. I think hotrod is more an earlier verbage and therefore applies more to the style of car built in the 40s 50s and into the early 60s before the fad Ts and other showcar influence.
I imagine the lines have been blurred since customs and leadsleds branched off from the original hotrods when the boys came home from WW2.
This debate will always be with us with no clear answer, just more confusion as the next name for some particular type of modified car comes along and muddies the waters even more. Who knows maybe the macbre influence will go off in it's own direction and we will have deathrods or someone will start putting flattys into Toyota Supras and we will have ricerods, or the racing influence will crop back up and everyone will paint their car like a winston cup, er ah Nextel cup car and we will have roundyroundrods. It will never end.

 

Hi Guys, This discusion has been great, But the bottom line is, whether your car is a street rod , hot rod, rat rod or custom or etc, it has to please you . No matter how you define your car,every time you go into your garage and look at your car, you get this hormonal release that makes you all warm and fuzzy inside and causes this shiteaten grin to appear on your face is all that matters. At the end of the day, if someone else likes you car too ,then that makes it all the better.
Just my two cents. Bill

 

Ialways tell people that a hotrod has a open engine, multi carbs & no fenders!!
Street rods are anything else!!lol
jimV

 

Hey Killer, I forgot I wrote that... how long ago was it?

I think there's neat shit about both street rods and hot rods... it's the self proclamation ya' gotta watch out for...
Sam.

 

Hotrod=Cool, Streetrod=70's hippie crap

 

Hot rod comes from hot roadster. Street Rod comes from a magazine title.

What's Traditional? A '52 Buick fastback painted Lime Green with Pepto Bismal Pink and Purple Peterbilt style graphics, with 30' wide tires in the back in wheel tubs. Grey tweed interior. Single 4 bbl BBC with sheet metal shit covering the engine, Bumpers and chrome left intact, but painted body color. That's Traditional. late '80''s/Early '90's style. I think in some way flattened paint, wide whites, pin striping on primered cars (something I never saw in the '50's & '60's) and straight pipes are the Traditional 21st century style. That and hidden upgrades on "Traditional" cars. I describe my '56 Olds as Late '50's style. My '49 Holiday will be more West Coast early '50's Valley Custom style. I refer to my cars as Era Specific. Traditional doesn't mean anything, IMO.

Your mileage may vary.

 

Hatch reminded mine of what I said once when we were haveing this discussion..... a street rod is a castrated hot rod. All the good stuff is missing

 

this is a good old post ........

 

A crusty old Federal judge once said this about porn. " I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it". Same goes for Hot Rods. (PS I have to wash my hands both before and after I pee. What does that mean?)

pigpen

 

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I TELL MY GIRLFREIND TO WASH HER HANDS AFTER I PEE.

I THINK IT JUST GOOD 'ETIQUETTE'

 

Well I will toss in my 2 cents....and yep I am a semi-old guy that grew up in the 50's and has been into cars as long as I can remember."back in the day" if we did any mods to our cars we were called Hot Rodders and for the most part it wasn't ment in a good way.If we wern't lucky enough to have our own ride,we had to borrow mom and pops ride...then add sand bags to get it out of the clouds,take off the air cleaner for a better sound,pop off the hub caps and out we would go....
I think Street rod is just a 80's or 90's term for Hot Rod...My current ride,39 chev has the good paint,leather interior,all the toys,some of which I will not do again...I also like the looks of primered cars,but some of the so called rat rods are a little too old school and look unsafe to my old eyes....I had lots of cars like those when I was young and I don't ever remember me or any of my car buds driving something that looked like it was ready for the wrecking yard,just my opinion of course..we wanted a ride that was cool looking,fast,loud but safe to drive.
Some of todays rides are works of art and look like they belong in a art museum not the highway,but different strokes I guess.
Well enough of this stuff...
As far as I am concerened any one that takes his car and does any mods to it is ,at least in my way of thinking,a Hot Rodder... so call them Street,Hot,Tuner,low rider or rat rod the bottom line is it's all about the CARS and the guys and gals who love them...

Thats my take

Mench

 

As I recall,,,in the late 1950's the young guys of that period built T's,A's 30's,40's and 50's cars w/t hot flatty's ,Olds,Buicks and Caddys,,,4's ,6's and 8's and every one knew they were HOT RODS!

The 1955 chevy from the factory was already a hot rod,,,,maybe not at that time but with the small block V8 it was just a matter of a few years.

In the 1960's,,,,the Chevy II's w/t big cubic inch motors were HOT RODS as were the jacked up 55 chevys and fords and everything in between,,,included in that bunch was a little blue 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint,,,with a straight axle and big block,,,and IT was a HOT ROD,,,,

In the 1970's,,a guy by the name of LeRoy "TEX" Smith started to use the term STREET ROD to describe a modified car that in the past had been call a HOT ROD,,,over the years the hotrodders had a bad rep because of the street racin',noise,reckless driving and a hundred other little things that some of ol' us graybeards participated in and many before us back in the HOT RODS in the earlier days.

The Name change,if ya wanna call it that,,,, was to improve and promote a more positive image of the modified cars and along with that the ol' cars became less of a threat to the public and the long arm of the law ,,,,and most of the really hard core street racers went to the strips,,,,

The first time the name STREET ROD was used to my knowledge was in 1953 in the cover of a book written by Henry Gregor Felsen,,,about the kids of that time in souped-up,stripped-down bombs on wheels.

If ya never read it,,,It is cool period readin'.

We have come a long way,,,I remember almost every weekend gettin' a ticket for some minor thing or just hassled into parking my ride for a few weeks,,,,I,,, along with countless others were targets in small town America,,,,,

Call it what you want,,,,,,HOT ROD,STREET ROD,BOMB,JALOPY,GOW JOB or what ever ,,,just drive it and enjoy it! HRP

 

A rainy day, You dont take the car out because you dont want to get wet=Hot Rod
You dont take the car out because you dont want to get the car wet=street rod

 

Billet....

 

Street Rod owners think Coddington is cool.

 

An easy way to spot a street rodder when the suspect has no car with him is this:
ask him about the JUDGING SYSTEM at the show or ask what class he thinks you have the best chance of winning a trophy in......Ha!

AND.....Hot Rods are built using all the"worthless OLD CRAP" parts taken off and ditched during the PROFESSIONAL CONSTRUCTION of a street rod.........

Also we as Hot rodders are MUCH more"LIBERATED" than our alter ego-streetrodders are- as our cars Never wear a BRA!

a final GIVEAWAY to look for is the wear and tear........ERRR-UH.....on their lawn chair.

 

Yes, that too.

 

Ughhh, I hate this one...

Anyhow, my car gets called a street rod by most people and many people have used that in a way that was ment as a jab and few ment it as a full on insult.

My car probably is on the street rod-ish side of the fence, but I don't give a shit what anyone thinks about it.

I like it, and when I see a car I like it or I don't...I like them with a trad vibe or full on trad...but I hate the term "trad."

What makes them different you ask...who cares...you either dig the car or you don't.

Shit, I can't wait for the beating I will get on the next one I wanna do. It aint even started yet and the term cookied cutter has been used by two guys I love to death but they can kiss my butt (did you get that Flt Blk ?)

 

Who is Coddington???

 

LMFAOOL
I hear what you're saying dude, and that must make me a hot rodder.

 

One I can afford on my wages.........and the other would require the assistance of a sugar daddy. I'd rather have a hotrod!
xxx
Brandy

 

well dadgum, wheres this thread leave all the guys that are into customs or kustoms? in my opinion, none of the name things mean much, but if you ask me (and no one did) it can only be called a rod of any kind unless you find a guy/gal who built something special from nothing special.

i dont think that these guys who build cars by signing checks can say that. they rely on someone elses ideas and visions to build them cars. i can do the same thing by stopping at the local kia dealership.

but thats my 2 cents

 

I street rod has rolled up windows for the a/c and the trunk has a detail kit and lawn chairs to stare at their bumper all day. I hot rod has the windows rolled down and tools in the trunk.

It's all in the attitude.

Larry

 

In my opinion a Hot Rod is an older car made to be faster, and a Street Rod is an older car made to be more comfortable/practical/more driver friendly. From there, the interpretations are limitless.