[DanyR]

Chatting with friends last weekend, at a car meeting the discussion about what a hot rod is arose for the umpteenth time, obviously we all know the story and we know that it was a hot rod in 1970, 1980 or 1990, but what is a hot rod in 2023? For me it is a car modified to have better performance, a car that when you see it you see all the work it has, how the owner developed and improved the car.
But it's my opinion, and I'd like to read yours.

 

[curtis73]

The traditional description is more of a style or process. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s folks would buy something cheap (meaning old, like a T, deuce, or a Vicky), strip it down to bare bones to cut weight, and drop the biggest engine they could in it. Strip down/soup up was what they would say. So traditionally a Hot Rod is something like this:

The process of Hot Rodding, however, I think refers to any vehicle that has been altered for performance, but I still think of the term as stripped down/souped up. I personally wouldn't call a Hemi swap in a Jeep a Hot Rod, but an autocrosser who strips off excess body panels, removes rear seats, and drops an LS in the front, sure.

But for my personal brain (maybe because I worked so long in the business), I wouldn't refer to any old performance modification as Hot Rodding. I only refer to cars like above as Hot Rods. I have a 67 LeMans that's getting a 500-hp LS, a T56, and full chassis re-engineering.... but I wouldn't refer to it as a hot rod.

Hot Rodding: Stripping down/souping up
A Hot Rod: Something pre-60s that has been stripped down/souped up.

That's my hot take

 

[ExcellenceAuto]

According to my uncle Skip, anything with bucket seats and a floor shifter!

 

[DanyR]

he process of Hot Rodding, however, I think refers to any vehicle that has been altered for performance, but I still think of the term as stripped down/souped up. I personally wouldn't call a Hemi swap in a Jeep a Hot Rod, but an autocrosser who strips off excess body panels, removes rear seats, and drops an LS in the front, sure.

But for my personal brain (maybe because I worked so long in the business), I wouldn't refer to any old performance modification as Hot Rodding. I only refer to cars like above as Hot Rods. I have a 67 LeMans that's getting a 500-hp LS, a T56, and full chassis re-engineering.... but I wouldn't refer to it as a hot rod.

Hot Rodding: Stripping down/souping up
A Hot Rod: Something pre-60s that has been stripped down/souped up.

That's my hot take

here comes the thing, I don't know how to compare, for example, an original belair 55/56/57, with its v8 engine and good paint and a nova with a chassis, suspensions designed to speed up and an 800hp engine, like that I don't know either How to compare when that nova is made at home with friends helping and contributing ideas to put a good amount of bills and have it put together by a specialized workshop.

 

[curtis73]

I'm not sure a Hot Rod needs to be made at home. I don't judge if someone loves Rods but doesn't have the skill set to do it themselves. If they have a big enough wallet, more power to 'em.

 

[bigmac73]

If you can build or improve your engine to make one HP per cubic inch then to me that is hotrodding and of course loud pipes.

 

[2old2fast]

Hotrods ,IMO , stopped with early 40's cars , the 50's through the 70's were muscle cars , 80's up , streetrods , resto mods ,street bruiser & cruisers , that's about as far as I'd go !

 

[Crosley]

Back in the olde daze (LOL) , Hotrods were all 1948 or older. I knew one fellow that nearly lost his mind when Goodguys and other large events started to allow cars up to the years of 1972 - 74 into the shows. For the event promoters it was a matter of $$ to increase the crowd size and appeal to younger people ?

 

[2old2fast]

Its all " frame of reference" , just think of what the latest group who are only exposed to EV's will think !

 

[Key Largo Realtor]

ppQUOTE="DanyR, post: 4836829, member: 438115"]
Chatting with friends last weekend, at a car meeting the discussion about what a hot rod is arose for the umpteenth time, obviously we all know the story and we know that it was a hot rod in 1970, 1980 or 1990, but what is a hot rod in 2023? For me it is a car modified to have better performance, a car that when you see it you see all the work it has, how the owner developed and improved the car.
But it's my opinion, and I'd like to read yours.
[/QUOTE]
To me Hot Rods ended in the late 50's and Muscle Cars started early 60's
In 1960 I was 10, pumping gas in dads City Service Station, where local hot rodders hung out.
Today when asked which car Im driving, I refer to my 34 Ford as a The Hot Rod and the 69 Chevelle as The Muscle Car.
In the 50's and early 60's Guys were building their cars and still doing it today, like it was said in an earlier post putting big motors in stripped down cars, but in the 60's Detroit started building them, readymade for the public.

 

[1979Malibu]

I've always considered the label of a "hot rod" to be largely a transitory phrase. When the term was coined, the traditional years people think of were out on the roads, available for people to own and being modified. As time passes, newer models and model years could be rightfully "Grandfathered in." In every era, different vehicles fit the exact definition of the vehicles, for which the label was created. They are/were...out on the roads, available for people to own and being modified.

The only aspect of the "hot rod" label to undergo somewhat of a semantic shift has been due to the availability of aftermarket parts. Nearly all of the inaugural wrench turners made their modifications using auto manufacturers original parts. With aftermarket parts so widely used, they even find their way back to models on the list since the beginning. I guess it could be said that aftermarket parts are "Grandson-ed in."

For what it's worth, that's my take on it.

 

[Built6spdMCSS]

Comes down to the car and what's done to it IMO. It's 2023, plenty of kids out there with V6 versions of the Big 3 Muscle Cars: Camaros, Mustangs, Chargers, and Challengers, and think they are "hot rods" with an aftermarket muffler. Then you have the import crowd with their 4 bangers with the same mindset.

Me I prefer the V8 stuff so there's a minimum requirement to fit the name.