Rows of slots, called louvers, were cut into the hood, body,Īnd rear deck lid for engine cooling and to release trapped air. Helped lower the car and rake it forward to decrease wind resistance. Large rear tires were installed on all hot rods to raise the gear ratioįor high speed, while standard-size or smaller tires left on the front Typically, these heavier models underwent drastic surgery toĬhop their tops lower and slope, or rake, their windshields backward. Running boards, ornaments, even the windshield - to achieve maximum Standard procedure was to strip off all nonessential parts - fenders, Plentiful, and lightweight, having no top and only a single seat. Most early hot rods were Ford Model T or Model A roadsters - cheap, The cars used for racing could also be driven to the sites, as well asīack and forth from home to work during the week. Small towns as Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank where hot rodding began Īnd since few rodders had more than one vehicle, it was essential that Those days nothing but open country lay between the flats and such Over straight-line courses laid out on the nearby desert salt flats. Streamlined, no-nonsense racing cars for competition against each other There aĬult of backyard mechanics, working with junkyard parts, created State, generally is regarded as the birthplace of hot rods.

Leading to show cars in the 1960s replicating these same modificationsĬalifornia, especially the dry lakes region in the southern part of the Modifications were considered to improve the appearance as well, 'Hot Rod' was sometimes a term used in the 1950s as a derogatory termįor any car that did not fit into the mainstream. Wheels and tires were changed for improved traction and handling. Modifying the engine by tuning and/or replacing with a more powerful Hood, bumpers, windshields, and/or fenders) lowering the chassis and Typical modifications were removal of convertible tops, (most often Fords, typically Model Ts, Model As 1928-31, 1932-34 Modelīs, or V-8s) that had been modified to reduce weight and improveĪerodynamics.

TheĪctivity increased in popularity after World War II, particularly inĬalifornia, due to returning soldiers, many of whom had been given Under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association. Modified cars on the vast, empty dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles In the late 1930s in southern California, where people would race their Statement, having to do with self-reliance, ingenuity and ultimately

Power and performance, a hot rod has also always been a social To show-up their wealthier peers to prove to them that money wasn‘t Many of those early hot rodders also wanted Little or no money, who were eager to tinker with what then was still a were built during the depression by young enthusiasts, usually with But the first examples - called gow jobs or soup-ups The term hot rod became popular in the 1940s.

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