Hot Rods
From Mod Mania
Hot Rods
Since the begging of time man has desired to go faster. After the invention of the wheel said to be created in ancient Mesopotamia in the 5th millennium BC, it has been the known as the most important piece of human ingenuity. However the wheel was not put into good use until the invention of the car 1769. However these first cars where unreliable and not very fast and not everyman man could afford the car. It wasn’t till a man named Henry Ford came along and built the car for the people.
This car was known as the Model T. The Model T was in production from 1908-1927 but it wasn’t till the depression of 1930 till the Model T really reached its potential. By 1930 the Model T had not been in production for 2 years and earlier models where quite cheap. This attracted young males to buy these cars so they could do them up and race on the salt flats of California. Originally the only way that the teens could make these model Ts go faster was to strip them of many of the body parts, such as fenders, the hood, sideboards and windshields. This gives us the classic hot rod look we all know. This practise is still used today in street racers and even pro race cars that shed weight to gain speed.
Although the Hot Rod had its roots already planted in the 30’s it wasn’t till after the war in 1945 that Hot Roding really took off in America. It was common during the war for solders to not only have pictures of their loved ones and pin up girls, but to also have pictures of their cars. By talking about them to other solders they spread the word and the popularity of the hot rod. Many solders would come home via California so they could see the hot rod races in the dried up lakes.
One of the most famous of these dried up lakebeds is the Bonneville Salt flats. These salt flats have been used since 1912 but they only really took off after Ab Jenkins and Sir Malcolm Campbell set the land speed record there in the 1930s. This then open the gates for others to test out their own cars and push the limits of the hot rod. Popularity of the Bonneville Salt Flats rose dramatically among hot rod culture and eventually turned into the Bonneville Speed Week in 1948. Among hot rodders no Bonneville speed week is considered the holy grail of races, and you’re not a turn motor head till you’ve raced at Bonneville.
Once the hot rod slowly started to rise to fame so did the looks. Many varied designs where beginning to show there where those who stuck with the traditional look of stripping down old Models T for speed and giving more power to the engine, but there where also those building the street rod which was less for racing and more for show. These street rods would have outrages paint jobs and every square centimetre of unpainted metal would be chromed. These are the hot rods that we have become accustomed to today that we see most often in popular culture.
There are now days a few styles of hot rods first there is like I mentioned before the street rod. These are luxury hot rods, leather interiors, highly finished paint jobs, new high performance engines and running gears. The next style is the traditional rod, which as the name says is a hot rod that has been designed to fit into a certain point in time and the building methods of the time, are kept. And finally the rat rods these are the cars that are left in their original condition, this could mean that a rusting door panel could be a feature, or the torn leather seats nothing is done to these cars in terms of restoration.
Along with all the racing and cars there is also a sub culture of society. It is a contemporary movement consisting of traditional car builders, car clubs, artists and regular people who are returning to the roots of the hot rod lifestyle. This group of people are known as ‘greasers’. No longer the young teens in their leather jackets with slicked backed hair, no they are mostly older people however they do still retain the classic Elvis hair style. This is the stereotypical type of hot rod owner we all know. By day he may be a truck driver or work in some office but early on the weekend you can hear them down the road listening Elvis and most likely covered in grease underneath the car.
Not only is the greaser life the passion of so many people but it is also a chance to show what they are capable of, the only limit of the hot rod for these people are their imaginations. Because of this hot rod shows are common, they are a chance for the greasers to get recognition for there work and to also see what is out there one of the most famous of the is the SEMA show in Las Vegas. This show not only has the traditional type of hot rods but it also displays the new and upcoming industry of the 70s muscle car hot rod. Cars like the Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camero and Pontiacs.
Since the invention of the car in 1769 man has wanted to go faster. Some say that the Henry Ford brought the car to the people with the invention of the Model T and the format of car mass production. By the time Ford had made his 10 millionth car 10% of all cars in the world where Model Ts. Never would he have thought that his car would become the idol of the hot rod industry. Not only will it go down as one of the most influential cars of the 20th century but also it will continue to be improved and find its way into poplar culture even if it has been turned into the ultimate roadster.
References Model T facts http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=858 retrieved 2009 Victorian Hot Rod Show http://www.hotrod.com.au/ retrieved 2009 Rat Rod World http://www.rat-rods.info/ retrieved 2009 A Short History of Hot Rods http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=435974 retrieved 2009 Southern California Timing Association http://www.scta-bni.org/ retrieved 2009
