Someone who works on or has built their own car and can fix it when it is broken, knows how it is put together . It is definatly a mind set and not something you can learn. You have to love and understand cars and how they work. I think a hotrodder is like an artist, they can look at an old peice of iron in a field and envision something great.
People who go out and buy a Viper, Mustang or anything that someone else built are car enthusiests, not hotrodders. Not that that is bad, just not the same.

I beleive the term Hotrodder originated from racers who would do whatever it took to squeze every ounce of power out of and engine, sometimes changing the connecting "RODS" to a hotter setup. There are several versions of the theory as to where the term came from.

Just my .02

Chet

Found these, kind cute and mostly true

# You spend more time in your garage than with your wife/family
# You've sat on your garage floor making engine sounds with a plate in your hand as steering wheel and a fork as shifter.
# You're wildest dreams are about that perfect hot rod with that perfect engine and color.
# If you're talking about your "babe" it's always gonna be your car.
# You get stressed out and nervous if the newest edition of some hotrodder magazine didn't arrive in the mail yet.
# you own any car that gets 6miles to the gallon or worse
# have any auto parts store on speed dial
# your garage will not fit a car because of tools and parts
# You take out the kid´s Sesame street DVD and make him watch awesome street cars with you at dinner.(He loves them)
# The beginning intro to the Van Halen song "Hot for Teacher", sounds to you just like a hot cammed V8.
# The emissions test guy starts laughing as soon as you pull onto the rollers.
# Your 'significant other' is afraid to drive your car.
# You are afraid to drive your car.
# You spend more on tires than on food.
# You spend more on car insurance than on house payments.
# You look in a state police car and see a picture of your car taped to the dash.
# You have to go to the track to buy gas.
# Your mechanic names the new wing of his shop after you.
# You get pulled over for doing 155 in a 35 but the cops will let you go if "they can look under the hood."
# You remove the $2000 stereo system to save 6 lb. of weight.
# You get an anonymous phone call asking if you are interested in being in the Cannonball Run.
# Your face looks like you are riding a NASA centrifuge when you drive the car.
# You need parachute braking.
# Your 'Significant other' won't even ride in the car.
# There is no possible way to "sneak out" of your neighborhood at 6 am.
# Your pets scramble for their hiding spots as soon as the garage door is opened. (Pets, and all the neighbors...)
# Fuel is delivered to your home: in 55 gallon drums!
# You carry earplugs in your car.(doesn't everybody???)
# You find out that side mirrors don't hold up at speeds exceeding 145 mph
# Your exhaust pipes are larger in diameter than your driveline.
# Your fuel pump flows enough to water a golf course.
# Your compression's high enough you could run diesel fuel.
# You measure the fuel you use in "gallons per mile".
# You don't even bother to try and get that grime from under your fingernails anymore....
# You have dates of every rod run marked on the new calender but none of your family's birthdays
# You plan your vacation around car show season!
# The sound of a V8 running open headers gives your loins a tingle.
# Your wife asks to be buried next to the garage so you will come and visit her when she's gone.
# You can drown out that annoying ricer's radio at the red light, by kicking in your carb's high idle cam.
# You know what a high idle cam is.
# You take your dates on romantic walks in the junk yard.
# Your car has so much polish that flying insects skid off the paint when they try to land.

same as a JUNKIE, cept gets a fix looking thru Summit catalogs. spends every spare cent on car stuff. dreams of winning the lotto so he can buy that 60 pontiac 2 door sittin in the weeds in the next town over. eats tuna for a week so he can get the ceramic coating instead of painted or plain part. buys stuff that sits in his front yard (like a 40 tow truck) for two years so he can make money on it cause he bought it for so cheap, sells it at same price he got it for after fixing it, spends hours and hours on hotrodders.com instead of doing something that actually matters, keeps cars/parts/crap all over the yard that "he'll use some day" if he can find them thru the weeds/trees/other junk and they are all rusted to dust. (i sawed a clothes dryer up with a sawzall so i could throw it in the recycle bin and not pay $10 to dump it, i sawed it's drum in two and have them out in my front yard by the sidewalk so someday i might tub something!! I AM A SICK MAN)....etc etc, need i go on? i think there needs to me a AA type club called Hotrodders Anonymous

Well, you are probably more of a hotrodder if you did most of the work but I would go with how you enjoy the hotrod. I don't have much time for trailer queens and show cars that don't get driven. Same goes for collectors who are in it for the investment. If you don't drive the car, a lot, then you are not a hotrodder. Just like buying a Harley doesn't make you a biker.

Jeez bullheimer, hit a little close to home did we?

I don't know about labels much, but I think there's a place for everything and everybody. The trailered rods are nice to look at and for me, I like to admire the craftsmanship that went into building it, even if the owner bought it.

For me, I enjoy building stuff and figuring out how to make stuff work just as much if not more that driving it. I sit at an office desk all day, but spend my nights and weekends in the garage. In fact, that's the best compliment I get about my car is when someone askes me if I do that for a living or do I have a machine shop.

i guess a hodrodder is someone who looks on this web everday to talk to other hotrodders even tho his wife thinks he's nuts

I think a Hot Rodder is someone who can take a car, truck, moped ....
and make it better suited to his or her preference than it was before.

Strummin

I think that all of those things go into a great rodder, but to me the most important aspect of the rodder is his want to share the knowledge that he has. Showing off is great, winning races is great... but there's nothing better than talking to a guy who's put 30 years into his car, and seeing what he can do, and having him teach you things that you never would have thought of yourself. The true essence of the hotrodder is the knowledge that we all have and are willing to pass on in my opinion, and that's what makes this hobby so great.

Doc here,

Old School Rodders are guy's that will drag THEIR tools, THEIR parts, their WELDER, Their time and talent over to your garage , and help you to wrench your Car until 3 am on Friday night to get it running right and safe...

Only to Grudge race you on Saturday Morning..

Doc

__________________
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I LOVE those guys. They're awesome and rodding wouldn't be the same without them.

Being a Hotrodder is much more than just owning a Hot Rod.......Its a State of Mind!

I may be more of a restorer than a hotrodder, but I sure have a lot of that same State of Mind. Take an old (muscle)car and figure out how to completly rebuild it and make it fast and fun and shiny. I admire the imagination and creativeness of hotrodders, maybe it'll rub off on me reading this. In the meantime all the tool, paint, engine stuff, garage (read all 22 pages of the show me yours thread) on here is awesome. Thanks, from a newbie, for letting me join in the fun, even if my style is a little different. Last car I rebuilt was before internet, this is a whole new world!

Welcome to the Forums BeeTX! I look forward to reading what you have to say about things. =)

Who cares??! Get off the net and get out in the garage if your lucky enough to have one!

well lets SEE!--first of ALL--HOT RODDERS are the Fist Re-Cyclers in History!--First to Re-Cycle Automobles-- as Any Make or Model became Re-Cycled!--thus! the HOT ROD!--my First Look at a HOT ROD was a Model "T" strip Down--as It was Called!--a Fender Less "T" w/ Big Tires I still Chuckel thinking Back to the Three Pedels on its Floor Board & It went as Fast in REVERSE as It DID Foward!--& its was Driven Daiy in a Foot of MUD! & never missed a Beat!--but--HOT RODDING really took OFF--during the Great Depression-when HENRY FORD Intoduced the 32--V-8 Better Known as the DUCE! now Days!--followed by the 33 & 34 right on UP to all the High Pro Vehicles of Today!--the Most sort after are the Converts & Coupes but every once in a While! I see a 4 door station wagon that someone? has Restored--perhaps?? Grampys Car?--& even though its Odd? & NOT a High Dollar Value Car--a Beauty to behold!--as Some Familys Pride & Joy! of yester Year!--from the RAT RODS--Ole Jolopies still in Primer-- w/ Big Powerful Engines that Fry Big Tires!--& GO FAST on UP to the Trailer Queens!--Beautiful Restored Originals--as Perfect as Man can Make them--Better than the Originals I think--as their NOT Mass Produced!-but--Hand re- Built w/ Loving CARE!--some refer to them as BOTTLE CARS!--Beautiful in Ither Case! it really don*t don*t make any Differance what You Call them? as their ALL part of Americas Transportation History!--from the Ole 32s on UP to Todays Chevy Corvette & the MOPAR VIPERS--as their All HOT RODS!--as their All designed to GO FAST & Look like their Going FAST just Sitting Still!--as they ALL catch your EYE as they Pass You on the Highway or Parked at the Local COFFEE Shop! & all though YOU may just Hear that LOW Powerful Rumbel? & Know! its NOT Dads Car!--as YOU Rush to see IT! YUP! thats a HOT ROD all Right!--& YOU Dream of Owning One Some Day!--thats What HOT RODS Are!--any Questions?? --Ole JIM--