To me; a '
hot rod' is almost anything that was modified...
But in nowadays vernacular, that was in the 40's & 50's
IMO it was more the rebellious youth, them coming back from the war/s
needed some excitement/adrenalin-ridden fun/automotive style
In the cheap 20s to later 30's American used cars, with V8 transplants
stripped down for performance modified to taste
**think of John Milner's Coupe in American Graffiti,
that is "
a Hot Rod by my standards"
that morphed into
to me;
a car modified that doesn't fit into a niche category,
is a Hot Rod too
just means you modified it...
To me;
at 1st actual '
street rod' is more of the 20's to late 30's era cars
IMO 40's cars are more Hot Rod/Gassers etc.
Street Rods/open
T-bucket/or Tub or model A/B or 32-37 era modified,
lots of chrome, lowered, coupes/roadsters, highboys bodies ontop of the frame
or lowboys channels down over the frames, fenders or fenderless
or
an early Hot Rod, more refined...
(upto the 80's) Wild graphics/paint
that morphed into today's
Street Rods
(80's-90's Popular Hotrodding mag. version, 'more showy')
drenched with billet, tweed, leather, bright paint colors, big & little tires
maybe multiple carbs/maybe a blower, no hood or cut hood with no sidepanels,
usually adorning a transplant, of a loud American V8 engines
some even went into the
Pro-Nostalgia era 1980s
(sort of Pro-Street for hot rods/street rods)
lowered, narrowed rears, fat tires, LA rake, racecar looking 20's to 40's cars
then;
that morphed into & more so a
Street Rod got tamed down
in the 90's to;
no go show boats, Brizio/Boyd styling with same-era cars,
mostly old farts/cruisers-couples, with cash
many times
not as much performance-oriented, more show cars/cruisers,
spoke wheels, full fenders, creature comforts, AC big stereos
many towing a lil trailer painted the same...
(guys/couples mostly affluent empty nesters in their 50s - 80s)
that era's
showgoers, all sitting behind them, talking about their youth
in a car nothing like what they have built now, but wish they had then
now cars covered in billet, $40k paint, usually a SBC (or now LS powered)
IMO;
The '
rat rod' movement
was 'sort of'
in it's early stages
was much
like "what the 40's-50's era Hot Rods were",
stuff the younger war vets came back & did, true rebels
unrefined cars with mismatched parts, for pure speed or post war era looks
lake racers etc.
Then
that Rat Rod morphed into as much
rust & patina & ****/stuff you could pile on
an old rust bucket car/truck of any era, make it look like fake/junk/worn
with Rockabilly music/band playing in the background & people dressed in
50's hipster/greaser clothes/filled with tattoos
that's still morphing today...
I call many cars 'hot rods' still, I've even referred to my many Muscle cars
or the RRs or Chargers as my Hot Rod, in the 70's
now more accurate description is
Resto-Mods, the new vernacular...
To me;
A partially restored/or fully restored Hot Rod-mostly from the Muscle Car Eras
60's - 70s of trucks or cars (even 50's to 80's), could go earlier or later eras now...
Then go to ninth degree;
Pro-Touring
modern drivetrain, suspension, big brakes, lowered, paint like mirror/glass,
bigger/wider wheels & tires, leather interior & accessories/creature comforts
A/C & Overdrives
with that it becomes that is a
Pro-touring car
or something in-between...
did that cover it ?
That probably confused most people, even more
I lived most of it, from my stepdad in the early 60's
to my lifestyle in the 70's to present day...
That's how I see it & refer to it...
my $1.25
