Hot rod

Hot rods are older, often historical, cars. Originally the term was used to the practice of taking an old, cheap car, removing weight (usually by removing roof, hood, bumpers, windscreen and fenders), lower it, change or tune the engine to give more power, add fat wheels and paint it to make it stand out. The term may have originated from "hot roadster" and the term was used in the 1950s and 1960s as a derogatory term for any car that did not fit into the mainstream. Other sources indicate that the term was derived from replacement of connecting rods in engines to allow higher RPMs to be reached without parts failure. In the 1970s hot rodders tried to clean up their reputation and thus they started to use the term "street rod" instead.

External links

• Archive.org's movies with Hot Rods
• Dmoz directory for Rod and Custom cars
• History of American Prowlers
• Hot Rod Magazine
• Juxtapoz Magazine
• National Hot Rod Association
• National Street Rod Association, UK
• National Street Rod Association, US
• The Hot Rod Home Page, US