I was born in 67 and grew up learning that any car you worked on with the sole purpose of going faster was a hot rod. There were no restrictions in regards to the year of car. I have been corrected many times by some clubs or individuals about how wrong I am when it comes to the year not mattering. For instance, I believe the technical term for my 80 amc spirit with a 360 would be a street machine. I think my 40 nash with a 304 will be a hot rod and my 38 chevy pickup cab with a 401 will be a rat rod. whatever technical term you want to use, they will all still be hot rods to me. No offense intended.