Why Hot Rod?

It seems like a simple enough question- Why hot rod? Why do we love these wheeled things and spend so much blood, sweat, tears, and cash on them? Thumbing through a stack of 1950s Hot Rod magazines, this single page leaflet from the National Hot Rod Association fell out of an issue, which I have posted below. Read it if you get the chance, as I think it touches on many of the points that still apply to us as hot rodders today. We are still indeed experimentalists and lovers of speed. In the early 50s however, hot rods were getting negative press from street racing, so Wally Parks used his influence as the editor of Hot Rod to help organize and legitimize the sport we love through the NHRA. He likely penned these words, “The hot rod virus bites deeply. It becomes a sport, hobby and avocation all rolled into one.” Preach on brother Wally!