Hot Rods What is a "real" hotrod?

A "Hot Rod," is what you own everyone else is wrong.

 

I really don't think my 40 is a Hot Rod, even though that's what my kids call it. I think I'll be safe and just call it a 40 Ford. You can call it whatever you want, except a rat rod!

 

That about covers it for me!!

 

Nice Rat Rod

 

To be a real hot rod, at least one of your neighbors must find it annoying.

 

That's the best answer so far.

 

Our Ol' Dad also known as Gray Baskerville of HOTROD and R&C said A hot rod is a vehicle that was NOT designed by a group of engineers or designers in a corporate board room...........

 

[

Or drag you over to his house to show you how great his Bently is..

 

There Gray said it..

 

I was perusing the latest issue of TRJ today....Page 4, the editorial and page 160 bottom left corner....

 

Street Rodders use "paint by number|" and hot rodders use a blank canvas.
Anything goes.....

 

Honestly, some kid throwing a cold air intake on a Honda and a fart can muffler and some headers is pretty much doing what kids did 60 years ago just in a modern context. I don't consider them to be traditional hot rods but the ethic is still the same. I have too little time to worry about applying labels to things. Just have fun building what you build.

 

Really!! The term Street Rod was penned and started by our Traditional Forefathers!! Don't put down what others do or like!! Do your own thing!! Pete

 

I've been doing the hotrod thing for many years, I started to get serious about it in 1956
with a '42 Ford business cp.. This was when any 10 year old car would fit the definition
easily with just a little modification. Now fast forward 60 years,now tell me where the
starting place is going to be for my grand kids generation? I've accepted the fact that
there is damn little pre-'48 iron laying around to inspire young newcomers, and surly
any 10 or 20 year old car is not going to cut it any longer. I think it's high time to consider
looking at a much newer cutoff date, say the late 70's early 80's.

...................................... Jack

 

Like I said before. Real hot rods have 3 pedals, no fenders and will scare old people, dogs and children.

 

While I think this debate is a cool way of getting everyone's opinion about a relevant subject, I can help but think about some guy in the 30's stripping parts off his model T and hopping up the 4 banger, or a guy in the 50's removing the fenders from his deuce and adding more carbs to the flatty, or a guy in the 60's adding a 283 to his 36 Ford, or guys in the 70's with their "Street Rods" sleeping out in the open air to get to Louisville or Detroit for the big show, wondering.."HMMM I wonder what type of car I have, resto rod? Hot Rod? Street Rod?" or did they just do their thing and not really care what it was called? maybe ( in my Boris Karloff voice from the Grinch who Stole Christmas)
Just maybe fun comes not from labels, maybe, just maybe the working, driving means a little bit more.

 

I have hot rods...always have, since 1955. ('T's thru '34s, with a side of '36s, '40s, and some '46s)
I know the difference. I also 'draw the line' at 1934, as the last HOT RODS.

One year, my wife and I were at Billetproof, she was cruising the grounds, over to our re-located spot to park and barbeque with two of my sons, (they have '55 F100s also, that day we had brought mine)
Some nimchuck about 35 or so stopped her, had a big rap to lay on her... "Wow, nice truck! '53, right? Man to have something like this...Now, this is a REAL hot rod!"
She was polite, thanked him...
As she was backing into the parking space, son Tory said, "Mom, you look good in there..."
Wife Joey replied, "Yeah, here in the 'Support Vehicle'!" Sons and I laughed.

If I were full of gazaskahagen, I could call it a hot rod...

 

It's not a real hot rod if the owner isn't at least a little afraid of it too.

 

What is a Real Hot rod? well I use to think I knew this. The older I get the more I"m not sure. I'm 51 years old I wasn't around to live it. I learned a few things from my Dad through the years his interest started in the mid 50's. He told me the 1932 ford coupe was a real hot rod and the 3 window was the ultimate hot rod. I was lucky enough to grow up around real hot rodders guys who raced cars like the filthy forty, chevolution boys the flying Dutchman and the sayonara. I hope I spelled them right. I remember some races, being in the garage when the filthy forty would start up scared the hell out of me. I went to the Melt Down Drags this last year and I found about 500 real hot rods. That was the best time I ever had with cars. The term street rod I think gets a bad rap. Hot rods are meant to be raced I never raced a car so I guess all my cars are street rods but I do love hot rods. I don't think if I ran them down the strip they would change into hot rods I built them to be street cars, I love the way they look and sound.
My Dad built the car in my avatar in 1959 he never raced it didn't build it to race so I don't think it's a hot rod it's a street rod. I think the term street rod has been around sense the 50's so I think a Hot rod is a early 30's with a big engine intended to race

 

I remember one of Bill Burnham's columns about parking his rod outside a diner. Who should come in but an old lakes racer, who asks him about his car. "It's a street rod" said Burnham, modestly.
"Pretty good name for it!", groused the old racer, and proceeded to criticize the safety features, good finish and everything else about it that wasn't just like a barebones racecar.
At first Bill gets mad, but then realizes he's got nothing to prove. He's made passes in modern cars that are faster than anything the oldtimer's done. And his car is after all designed and purpose-built for the street. If he had wanted a raw '40s hot rod he would have built that instead!
The takeaway: there's no shame in building a hot rod for the street, as long as you build it right.

 

My personal definition is "A Hot Rod is what it isn't" . So, another way to describe a Hot Rod would be a minimalistic approach where form follows function with a goal of increasing speed. Initial vehicle selection is based on its weight, ability to transfer weight, or good aero. Everything has a purpose, fins actually cool, flat black dissipates heat, holes actually lighten, gussets actually stiffen, parts removed to improve aero, or parts added to increase aero etc.

I think just about any car meeting this criteria could be a Hot Rod. My brothers Bugeye Sprite looked kinda cute, but when you fired it up with a 1258cc 4 cylinder and a Kent solid cam and you could hear the Dellorto sucking air, it sounded like an angry little shit, and when you shifted the Nissan 5 speed to get the 1200lbs up to speed you couldn't help but say this is a little fricken Hot Rod!

 

By my general defination I would say no. But if you said get in, and you ripped off a 12 second or faster 1/4 I would say that is a Hot Rod!.

 

I attend many different club functions and events. Many have different cut off dates and don't have a problem with any of them. They each attempt to draw a different segment of the hobby, sport or addiction. Whatever you call it. I personally start drawing the line at the years where government started designing the cars instead of the designers (Insurance Company Saver Bumpers) and where the government started building the engines instead of the engineers (Catalytic Converters and Smog Pumps). Funny bumpers started in, what 1970 and Catalytic Converters in 1975? I think trucks were a little latter with cats and much later with bumpers, and only the front If I'm not mistaken. If your grandkids think circuit boards with hula hoop wheels are cool...I'm OK with that but I won't be attracted to their events.

 

That reminds me. Our club has no cut off date. Everyone rolls into an event and throws their hood up including one of our few late model semi-muscle car guys. Low and behold there's another hood underneath. Ha! Ha!

 

This will cover my thoughts. Times are changing and everyone has there own definition, Mine are pre 48 and are all listed as my POS.

 

..............My "real hot rod"............I think

 

My 19 year old grandson has his first car, a late '90's Mustang. He thinks it's a hot rod and he's not any different than I was in high school when I was driving around in my first car, a ten year old '54 Chevy. Different time, different cars, same attitude and enthusiasm.

 

Yep---to the tune of Don Mcleans' American Pie.
1970, the day the compression died.
Long live the last real LT-1

 

REAL HOT RODS: Came from the factory with a headlight bar. They have handles, hinges, caps and rings, lowered and louvers, big-n- littles, loud and lumpy, primer and patina. If it isn’t old steel it isn’t real.

 

Exactly. When the last of the 30's and 40's cars are gone, will hot ridding be dead? Might no be traditional hot rods as we define it but the ethic will last forever.