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.

Today

There is still a vibrant Hot Rod culture in North America, especially on the West coast. Hot rod builders such as Jesse James, who is also famous for his motorcycle modifications (choppers), have swept through popular culture like wildfire. The Discovery Channel airs several shows dealing with modern interpretations of kustom kulture such as Monster Garage, American Hot Rod, and Overhaulin'.

Related Topics:
Jesse James - Choppers - Discovery Channel - Kustom kulture - Monster Garage - American Hot Rod - Overhaulin'

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Juxtapoz Magazine, founded by the remarkable artist Robert Williams, has thrived in recent years as the latest and greatest extrapolation of kustom kulture art. It has also begun to garner respect as one of the world's best exhibitors of exceptional contemporary artistic talent that transcends kustom kulture's bounds.

Related Topics:
Juxtapoz Magazine - Robert Williams

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The culture is still going strong in Sweden where there are a lot of automobile enthusiasts, also known as raggare. Clubs such as Wheels and Wings in Varberg, Sweden have established themselves in Swedish Hot Rod culture.

Related Topics:
Sweden - Raggare - Wheels and Wings - Varberg

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On April 7, 2005, Boyd Coddington, famed hot rod designer and star of American Hot Rod, pleaded guilty of perpetrating a "Ship of Theseus" fraud. Coddington's hot rods had been registered as antique automobiles in order to avoid emissions and tax liabilities. However, many of the vehicles no longer contained any parts from the original cars, and some were entirely unrelated to their supposed donor vehicles. Interestingly, most of his cars were hand built one offs, complete with hand fabricated aluminium bodies. Technically, they were often late model cars with copies of 1930's-60's bodies on them. Most of the metal was likely never used on a 1932 Ford.

Related Topics:
April 7 - 2005 - Boyd Coddington - American Hot Rod - Ship of Theseus - Aluminium

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