Hey, gang. As my prewar Jalopy build is progressing, something has been on my mind more and more lately. We have a wonderful and well documented historical record of the seat of hot rodding prior to WWII based around the dry lakes racing in California. But what was happening elsewhere? I understand there isn’t a documented “culture” of early rodding outside of California, but that doesn’t mean that hot cars weren’t being built for racing and for road/street driving. I thought a thread to gather images and information on the people and cars of prewar hot rodding might make for interesting discussion. The parts and knowledge weren’t limited to the west coast. My own personal interest lies in Midwest and Eastern road-driven cars. But anything goes. Here are a few images to get started.
Hey Ryan; Actually, the documentation exists, just not in any one place. Sadly... ;( . Lots of the "racing" involve mileage-'till-breakdowns, mpg to some extent, top-speed for xxx-hrs, etc. Proof of cars' ability to take punishment. Cross-country-trips for time-vs-miles-records. & the roads seriously sucked large back then. Just a little different form of performance than some are used to. One place to look is Studebaker. They were heavily involved in "product performance" & used boardtracks to prove it. Esp in the late 20's-early 30's. + Studes' Indy years & efforts. Also look at Hudson, esp the Essex line in the late 20's. Essex offered a boattail from 27-29. In 29 w/a rumbleseat(yup - ). The body was by Biddle, iirc, & the 29 was seriously good looking, & of course, stupid-rare. I don't know about other mfgrs, but it is interesting. There was one that sold their car w/a 3-stage centrifugal supercharger,(thinking late teens-mid 20s). Not a typo. Can't remember the name at the moment. You also might have to research the different head n hi-po mfgrs from that era. Lots of "bragging" about track & even street performance from them. Miller, "Pops" Green, HAL, Fronty, & about a dozen I can't think of right now. Flatheads, T-heads, F-heads, OHV, single-stick, dohc, etc. Mostly 4s n straight8s. I'll add them later when I can remember them. Also, would a list of books on this timeframe be helpful? See what you can find on AAA. Yup, same group as the road service, but in the 20's-40's, they were a race-sanctioning body. Rather haughty iron-fisted group. Carried a lot of weight, resulting in a lot of outlaw racers n tracks. & then there are the Boardtracks, esp in PA, & NJ. & some of the surrounding areas. + the fairgrounds horsetracks. Should keep you busy for, oh say, a week or three... . Marcus... BTW; you'd make a good historian. I like doing the same thing, but haven't figured out how to monetize it. & eventually, run out of time & $$ to chase the info. ;( .
Cool cars, square roll bars Would be a good addition to your library if you’re looking for some good east coast hot rodding of times gone by.
Great information, Marcus. And I’ll look that book up, Tim. A lot of racing and speed parts development was happening in the Midwest. Racing on the boards and fairground tracks was popular all along the east coast. Advertising was national and parts were being sold nationwide. The Roof and Riley cars above were basically stock with OHV conversions. The Cootie (what a story behind the man in that car…) was a well known car in Virginia and tied to Roof. The rough speedster above is one of the only photos I can find of a modified car on the streets of Pennsylvania prior to WWII. Things were happening. But the images of cars “in the wild” are tough to come by. Ads in local papers are around if you look. Capt. Kopper happens to be the driver of the Cootie above. Was hop up outside of California - other than specifically built race cars - mostly modifying for performance without much of a developed “culture” that surrounded the lakes scene? And a neat image of the Cootie racing in Virginia. There IS a good record - documents and images - of the racing circuit nationally.
Jmho, but I think the reason Cali was more prone to both street hop-ups & pics of them, was due to the climate & also the financial situations. PA was probably as much the birthplace(more-so I think) of early racing as Cali, but for only *maybe* half the year. Cali was essentially year-round. I'm guessing that because of the weather the hopups couldn't be driven for long. Roadster-types even less. Folks don't remember, but it wasn't until ~'30(+/- a yr or 2) that thermostats became common, along w/interior heaters. Studebaker even made a big deal - it was - of spending ~$60k in ~'29 for a spl lab that could go from ~-40f->130f for testing. Usually, by ~thanksgiving, the cars got put away up on blocks 'till springtime. But remember where most of the cars were made. As for the $$$ aspect, PA & the surrounding area was never really "rich". Lots of wealthy folks, but the average guy, nope. Racers did what they did, but having a hop-up + a family car was really rare. Lots of folks didn't even own a car. Depression-times were came a little later & were worse. Still, building a "period-correct" car should not be hard, except for finding the old-time equipment & then paying for it. ;( . Rest of the deal would be mostly stock stuff. Due to the $$$ situation, I'd think that most hop-ups would be using used speed equipment. I have seen some pics of almost new hopups, but those were owned by middle-age(at least) businessmen that had bucks & those cars were, well, new looking. One thing that did show up occasionally was supercharging. You could run one, but you'd be limited to only a couple & they'd have to at least look right - think mid-late20's(again, Miller-type. Also aircraft style.). I'd look at building a belt-drive-turbo(*maybe* drive it w/a shaft n gears), add correct fins to a correctly-styled housing, & mount it as a sidewinder alongside the engine, probably as a blowthru. Look at some of the Millers, etc. Just so you know, this eras' cars, esp the "spls" would usually be finished nicely, not looking like shit. It'd be finished in the same quality-level as oems, probably not better. Remember, cars n parts were only a couple of years old. People had pride in ownership back then. You're on a roll, & have a very nice start. . Marcus...
I have a cool old book full of all Model T hi performance part advertisements I bought at a flea market. It was amazing how much hi-po stuff was made back then.
It is amazing. If you look at something like a RAJO dual overhead cam head for a model T, the technology and innovation is pretty incredible. A lot of this stuff for Ts, As, Chevrolet 4s, Willys, etc. were meant for racing... but a LOT was meant for the road. Ads often touted "for Speed - Power - Economy" or somesuch. My interest lies with the road-going cars of the period throughout the country.
Well thought out, Marcus and I do agree with your points. We know this stuff was getting to market. We know shops and garages were slinging the latest and greatest. There was an aftermarket. We have a good feel for the tech, and what the hopped up cars looked like in California... but what did they look like in, say, Indiana? This is a curiosity of mine beyond the car I'm building because I'm a details and history driven guy. My build is going to essentially be "stock plus"... a '28/'29 Ford Phaeton with some suspension mods and engine supe up and finish work as good as I can manage. Maybe a 'garage' car advertising for the sale and installation of parts to make YOUR car faster, more powerful, and more economical. That's my best guess at the moment. And it's still a guess. And it Drives Me Crazy!
While not exactly a "document", the movie Thunder Road is a must-watch look-back in history. It wouldn't hurt to wiki-google search "bootleg vehicles". The Daytona Beach race has its roots as far back as 1902. My guess is that the first automobile street race happened as soon as there were ever 2 automobiles in the same county.
I've been going through the Secrets of Speed mags I bought looking for eastern or midwest prewar hop ups on the roads. Lots in the speedster era. Lots of race cars. Still hoping to find an A or even a Chevrolet with a high compression head and intake... or OHV head... or modified suspension... on the street.
This is a great book which covers the era you're after, plenty of good info https://www.amazon.com/Business-Speed-Industry-1915-1990-Technology/dp/0801889901
Hey, Ryan; Not sure just how much you'll find that your tub can relate to "exactly". It's not that there weren't any, just not a lot recorded. From the pics I've seen & what I've read, most of the street-going hop-ups emulated their "idols", so's what you'll find the most of, are the strip-downs & probably "tail-jobs". It's really no different than today, & at least since the 60's: cars made to look like/similar to, the drag cars(the sorta current-type heros) - anything from MP all the way to AA/FA & even Funny cars. Consider what the "heros" drove on the tracks of the time, which were dirt horse-rings at fairgrounds, smaller dirt-tracks *maybe* sanctioned by AAA, & the Board Tracks. & of course: Indy. Oh, don't forget Daytona Beach... In the late 20's->say, maybe mid 30's(at the latest) the mfgrs used Board Tracks as proof of concept & mechanical design toughness/quality. Most of these cars would've looked stock - because they were(best were sanctioned & certified by AAA), & the improvements were proved worthy of devolving onto the public. You know that some folks added used speed equipment to their cars, because they wanted to go faster, couldn't afford a new car, gained "status", etc. So building Period-Correct shouldn't be that hard to do, other than you'd need to use parts from that era. New castings would need to be rounded to appear cast instead of sharp-edged like billet. Polished is always nice, as folks from the beginning of time like shiny! Or cast texture sanded out, lightly polished & left to "dull-out" would work, so would simple paint over cast texture. Repaired hot-rod parts would be very acceptable. As would using some slightly different-era-but-mechanically-compatable-parts - speed or otherwise. No different than 30's->48 ford parts, except back then they used a lot of modified cross-make-factory parts, since speed parts could be rare. All works. & although the T & A wire wheels weren't good for racing, for the street they'd be acceptable substitutes - esp for a kinda-bucks-down-guy. But that leaves open solid disc, wood spokes, most any wire wheels - which would be mostly the lock-ring type. Do be aware that during teens->mid30's, different motor/trans mountings were employed, line-fittings looked different, wiring, etc same deal. It is what'll actually make/break the illusion of an old period piece. If that's actually what you're looking for. It's also what will cost the most to replicate, I think... ;( . In a previous post I mentioned the bodywork. You wouldn't find paint-stick-gaps, nor fancy paint - & no rot or rust, remember, folks had pride. Worn was ok, but it had better be taken care of & at least repaired. Shoes, clothes, cars, et-al. Only the factory show-cars or big-buck cars had the very fancy interiors. Leather wasn't considered a luxury - it was std equipment on open cars due to it's practicality. A lot of this depends on the approximate year(s) you are looking to emulate. If just before WW2, then near any mix of the parts would be acceptable for the street, but if you used mid-30's->'42 parts, then remember, they'd be new or almost new parts - & expensive. Not out of the Q or out of line for a build, but do remember the Depression hit hard by '32, jobs n $$$ were scarce, & new car parts were also scarce. What's your backstory... . I'll add a bit mare later to a previous post when I get a bit of time. Marcus... PS: I ran a wanted ad for you in the Linechaser for an old 28/29 tub interior. Who knows what'll happen or showup... ???
I've shared these before, but this roadster belonged to the flight instructor of a friend of mine who was learning to fly airplanes, somewhere in the Manitowoc, Wisconsin area. Although I can't be sure this was before WWII because the guy would have been very old when he gave flight school lessons to my buddy, which wasn't that long ago.
Here's a couple of crummy photos of an already small, low resolution panoramic photo from somewhere very near Denmark, Wisconsin sometime in the 20's. Clearly these were modified work vehicles and not for racing but you have to appreciate the fenderless/no lights/speedster with a truck box vibe they give off, and also the wide variety of vehicle makes and sizes they were using. I wonder what the tiny thing on the right started out as.
Hey, Ryan. Good thread. There is a East Coast Hot Rod page on Facebook that might be a resource. Here's a sample: Merry Christmas. Say hello to Spencer for me.
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