Thread: What is your definition of a Hot Rod?

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Hot rod magazine has covered everything from ledsled customs to rail dragsters, v-drive boats to factory muscle-cars to street-rods to corvairs and 914's with v-8's shoehorned into the back..... They have promoted the stuffing of oversized v-8's into just about every known front engine/rwd vehicle under the sun. They have promoted the modification of trucks, panels, and even embraced the vans of the seventies. In all their photo-shoots, they put a "Hot Rod" plate on the front of the vehicle, so I guess the term hot rod covers a lot of different styles of cars....
To me, any v-8/rwd vehicle wearing more tire on the rear, slightly lowered in the front, and dual exhaust with a healthy sound is qualified to be generically referred to as a "Hot Rod"!!

Call it what you want, as long as you build it yourself.

used to be hot rod or custom-----

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

used to be hot rod or custom-----

Back in my day (mid 50's) that was the term we used. A hot rod usually had no fenders,although my 32 5/window was full fendered running a 283 chevy. Customs usually were lowered either rear or all around and were usually 49 and up models dechromed,striped,flames,etc. I sold the 32 in 61 to start a family (dummy) the car is still owned by the fellow I sold it to. I called it a hot rod.

I'm too new to have an opinion... I think the notions and nomenclature of the past have been diluted by publications like Hot Rod magazine... don't see the old definition hot rod in there very often.

Glenn, that was quite eloquent and I like your philosophy.

-Chris

I'm only 39, and never have been around fixed up cars alot. They have "cruise night" here every year, and this year it was just last friday night. They let anyone with a fixed up car be in it. any car that participated in the parade went through the local hamburger stand and received a free "dash plaque" and went through the ice cream stand and got a free ice cream or something. All the kids liked the fixed up newer mustangs and hondas just as much as the t-buckets and 57 chevys, and all the little kids had a great time watching them. My personal opinion, and all it is , is an opinion, is that to define the term "hot rod" in any strict way would be to alianate or exclude a bunch of good people, who are just trying to have fun. It would be like the Harley Davison riders that say if you don't have a Harley, then it isnt a real bike, don't speek to us, don't come around here, and you'r not good enough. People work with what they have and have fun doing it.

My nephew's helping me with mine and having fun. we spend more time together, and we're both learning alot. Maybe it will turn out to be a nice car, and maybe everyone will like it. but even if none of the "hot rodders" like it, we had fun, and maybe a little kid will smile if I honk my horn and rev my engine for him.

Sam

well think i am hotrodder .or some may say other thingsso my 50 is a hot rod to me i built it i can call it any thing i want

"or cut your hot roddin’ teeth on the family’s ’71 Impala " Dad got a new Impala With a 400, I got to drive the 65 C10 230ci 3 on the tree. Beat the hell out of that truck!
I don't think I could define a Hot Rod ,But I think anything can be Hot Rodded.

my family lives on the end of a dead end road. a couple weeks ago, we had my nephews graduation party. all my dads cousins were out front of the house, trying to see who could make the longest black marks on the road with their ford or gm or dodge cars and trucks...just having fun and acting like idiots.....(NO ALCOHOL WAS INVOLVED!!)...and my mom came out and yelled at us and said we were going to make the neighbors call the police on us for "hot rodding up and down the road"

I think everybody has to agree that IF AIN'T A 32 IT AIN'T A HOT ROD ........ted

Three words..."built for speed"

I've always thought of a hotrod as being something absent of bling or billet and a streetrod as being one that had liberal doses of either.

Of course, that only applies to the pre-49 cars. The post 49 cars could all be called hotrods or customs or street machines, but I wouldn't use the word street rod to describe a post 49 car.

Of course I realize that the a-holes at NSRA have done a lot in the last 60 days to try and change that.

Maybe it was just that it was a little simpler for guys my age and older. What I recall was that in the 60s there was a very distinct cut off based on style…… the modified for speed Pre-war (WWII for the youngsters and although the war ended in1945, the prewar body styles were carried over until new tooling came along for the 48-9 Model year ) cars were Hot Rods, the cars that emphasized major body changes over speed were customs (think Barris) and then there were the Low riders and what eventually became know as street machines (later sub divided into street machines and muscle cars).

To the people who were involved in the car thing the distinctions were definitely there and readily apparent but to the non-car people we were all “those gosh darn hotrodders” and that was OK with us. It seems like by the late 80’s and beyond every category ended up being divided and subdivided to the point where it become very specific as to what category a car “should” fit in….Pro street, Pro touring, Hot Rod, Street rod Custom, mild custom, and on and on.

I guess what it looks like to me is that almost everyone who modifies there car to their own taste is a Hot Rodder, but not every car that is modified is a Hot Rod.

Originally Posted by Mike P

….Pro street, Pro touring, Hot Rod, Street rod Custom, mild custom, and on and on. .

These terms describe a style of car. If you say Pro Street you know its tubbed with huge fatties. Pro Touring means modern drivetrain and OD tranny, and 17+ inch tires.
Muscle car are 64-72 midsize cars.
I grew up reading Hot Rod and Popular Hot Rodding, so I guess Hot Rod is the overall term for modified cars.

For me I've always concidered a Hotrod to be a machine purpose built for speed...a bit more hard core than its close cousin .... the Streetrod but less flashy. And typically the older cars....20's 30's 40's....but wait....I would definitely concider a 55-57 Chevrolet with the gasser look a hot rod...and and and... Oh never mind. I like em all so its hard for me to define!

Dave G