What Effect Did The Hot Rods Have On The Car Industry
Hot rods are vintage American cars that are modified for straight line speed. Young men who wanted speed, built these cars in their backyards. In the early years of hot rodding, 7,500 people were killed in car wrecks, however hot rods have made positive impacts also. For 80 years, hot rods have caused the automakers to create the sports car, and muscle car. Hot rods have had a big influence on the car industry that a lot of people are not aware of.
Hot rods got their start in the early 1920s in southern California. First of all, young men started racing their cars, everyone wanted to be faster than the next guy. Don Montgomery wrote a book titled Hot Rods in the Forties. In the book, it talks about how hot rods got their beginning, bootleggers …show more content…
and dry lake beds racers were the first to soup up their cars (Montgomery). At the beginning of the era, cars were upgraded with homemade speed parts. The auto editors at Howstuffworks did a article “History of Hot Rods & Customs” on beginning of ‘rodding. The first hot rods showed up in southern California in the early 1920s, beginning races occurred on dry lake beds (Auto editors 1). In brief, the roots of hot rods can be traced to the southern California dry lake beds, which created the need for speed.
The cars used by hot rodders were common, cheap cars, because parts were easy to find. In the beginning, the first popular hot rod was the popular Ford Model T. According to “Hot Rods and Mean Machines”, a Youtube documentary, “The most popular rods were small, lightweight and cheap” The Model T was the first car that fit the bill for upgrades. Later on, ‘29 and 32’ Fords became the most common vehicle of choice (Documentary). On the other hand, the engine is the key to a hot rod. Thom Taylor of Hot Rod magazine wrote a article titled “History of Hot Rodding-1940s and 1950s.” The first engines were inline four and six cylinder power plants. But soon after Ford introduced the legendary flathead v8, this became the mill to have for going fast, until the Chevy small block was introduced. This has been the most popular engine choice ever since (Taylor). Therefore,these are the cars and engines used by hot rodders however the parts used have changed as newer technology has come along. As a result of these hopped up cars, races began to be organized to find out whose car was the fastest.
At the beginning of racing, races occured on dry lake beds. The most popular lake beds were Harper, Muroc, and El Mirage, found approximately 50 miles north of Los Angeles. Beginning speed enthusiasts could drive a couple hours and arrive at one of these lake beds (Auto Editors 1). The racing style on lake beds consisted of time trials, the amount of time it takes to go a predetermined distance. A car was set up to go as fast as possible for this type of racing. Later on, since dry lakes can’t be found in most parts of the country, organizations were formed to solve this. Instead, they made their own tracks, typically a ¼ mile of pavement. One of the first was the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), formed in 1951 (Auto Editors 5). This helped stop street racing, and gave rodders a safe place to race their cars. But this kind of racing requires a totally different setup on the car. A drag car has low gearing, wide sticky tires and made to accelerate as fast as possible, rather than the lake racer, which is made to have the highest top speed possible. As a result, drag racing became the most popular form of racing because it is easier to find a drag strip than a dry lake …show more content…
bed.
Hot rodding reached its peak in the late 1940s and 1950s, young men returning from World War II fueled this boom. After World War II, young American soldiers were looking to release the stress that the war had put on them. An article published Hot Rod magazine penned by Tim Bernsau, states that iconic 40s ‘rods were Fords from the Model T to ‘34s. These cars were not painted in flashy paint schemes, most retained the stock wheels and seats. The only body modifications done was to take the fenders off of the cars to save weight, and increase aerodynamics. Engines were not keep close to stock, the most common engine at this point was the Ford Flathead V8. Later on, in the 50s, hot rodding was in its prime. The Auto Editors proclaimed “In the San Fernando Valley just north of L.A., ex-GIs are bent over their crude roadsters doing last-minute checks before heading out at midnight to one of the dry lake beds east of Los Angeles.” This was a way of blowing off steam from the real, working life by street racing. They could go out after work to have a little fun and get some excitement without going into combat. These actions resulted in a bad name for hot rodders, a push started to have safe, organized races. Former GIs led the rise of the hot rod in the late 1940s and 1950s.
In the golden age of hot rodding, automobiles started to change.
First, they made the fenders part of the body, car bodies became more streamlined. Suddenly, hot rods looked dated compared to the new body style of cars. No amount of body work could make a ‘32 Ford look like a new Cadillac, so more people bought new cars instead of customizing their old car (Auto Editors 8). The effect was a dramatic change in American car culture. Later on, the manufacturers began to build “factory” hot rods, these were called muscle cars. The name came along, because the big 3 manufacturers started a war to build the fastest car or the car with the most power. Wikipedia says “It was now possible to buy a muscle car that outperformed nearly any hot rod, with more passenger room, and without having to expend the effort of building and tuning the car oneself.” This drew the sales of many speed enthusiasts, because they could go buy a car that was better than one they could build. Muscle cars exceeded the popularity of hot rods until 1973, when the oil crisis occurred, and consumers wanted fuel efficient and safe cars rather than big power (Wikipedia). The muscle car was the response to the hot rod by the automotive
industry.
Hot rods have made major impacts on the automotive industry. Presently, cars that have been influenced by hot rods, include all of the sports cars. Britannica School lists the hot rod has created the car that we now know of as the sports car. Back in the 30s and 40s, there was no fast cars, only standard family haulers. So people built their own cars to fill the sports car role. Currently, Dodge leads the Detroit horsepower war. But the horsepower wars started in the muscle car era, which in turn was started by hot rodders. Hot Rod printed an article titled “Top 100 hot rods that changed the world.” These cars were the key, new design pieces that lead towards the higher horsepower numbers of later dates. Even today, we can still feel the effects of those early hot rodders.
In conclusion, hot rods have had a big influence on the car industry that a lot of people are not aware of. Hot rods began in southern California, racing on dry lake beds. After World War II, hot rodding has expanded throughout the whole country, this was the hot rodding boom. Soon after, the manufacturers responded with cars designed to go fast. The first style was the muscle car, but the modern car is the sports car. Hot rods have experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years. So the future looks good for hot rodders looks good, because people want to have the experience that those pioneers of speed had during their lifetime, there is companies that are producing kit cars for consumers who want to feel the hot rod experience.
Hot rods got their start in the early 1920s in southern California. First of all, young men started racing their cars, everyone wanted to be faster than the next guy. Don Montgomery wrote a book titled Hot Rods in the Forties. In the book, it talks about how hot rods got their beginning, bootleggers …show more content…
and dry lake beds racers were the first to soup up their cars (Montgomery). At the beginning of the era, cars were upgraded with homemade speed parts. The auto editors at Howstuffworks did a article “History of Hot Rods & Customs” on beginning of ‘rodding. The first hot rods showed up in southern California in the early 1920s, beginning races occurred on dry lake beds (Auto editors 1). In brief, the roots of hot rods can be traced to the southern California dry lake beds, which created the need for speed.
The cars used by hot rodders were common, cheap cars, because parts were easy to find. In the beginning, the first popular hot rod was the popular Ford Model T. According to “Hot Rods and Mean Machines”, a Youtube documentary, “The most popular rods were small, lightweight and cheap” The Model T was the first car that fit the bill for upgrades. Later on, ‘29 and 32’ Fords became the most common vehicle of choice (Documentary). On the other hand, the engine is the key to a hot rod. Thom Taylor of Hot Rod magazine wrote a article titled “History of Hot Rodding-1940s and 1950s.” The first engines were inline four and six cylinder power plants. But soon after Ford introduced the legendary flathead v8, this became the mill to have for going fast, until the Chevy small block was introduced. This has been the most popular engine choice ever since (Taylor). Therefore,these are the cars and engines used by hot rodders however the parts used have changed as newer technology has come along. As a result of these hopped up cars, races began to be organized to find out whose car was the fastest.
At the beginning of racing, races occured on dry lake beds. The most popular lake beds were Harper, Muroc, and El Mirage, found approximately 50 miles north of Los Angeles. Beginning speed enthusiasts could drive a couple hours and arrive at one of these lake beds (Auto Editors 1). The racing style on lake beds consisted of time trials, the amount of time it takes to go a predetermined distance. A car was set up to go as fast as possible for this type of racing. Later on, since dry lakes can’t be found in most parts of the country, organizations were formed to solve this. Instead, they made their own tracks, typically a ¼ mile of pavement. One of the first was the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), formed in 1951 (Auto Editors 5). This helped stop street racing, and gave rodders a safe place to race their cars. But this kind of racing requires a totally different setup on the car. A drag car has low gearing, wide sticky tires and made to accelerate as fast as possible, rather than the lake racer, which is made to have the highest top speed possible. As a result, drag racing became the most popular form of racing because it is easier to find a drag strip than a dry lake …show more content…
bed.
Hot rodding reached its peak in the late 1940s and 1950s, young men returning from World War II fueled this boom. After World War II, young American soldiers were looking to release the stress that the war had put on them. An article published Hot Rod magazine penned by Tim Bernsau, states that iconic 40s ‘rods were Fords from the Model T to ‘34s. These cars were not painted in flashy paint schemes, most retained the stock wheels and seats. The only body modifications done was to take the fenders off of the cars to save weight, and increase aerodynamics. Engines were not keep close to stock, the most common engine at this point was the Ford Flathead V8. Later on, in the 50s, hot rodding was in its prime. The Auto Editors proclaimed “In the San Fernando Valley just north of L.A., ex-GIs are bent over their crude roadsters doing last-minute checks before heading out at midnight to one of the dry lake beds east of Los Angeles.” This was a way of blowing off steam from the real, working life by street racing. They could go out after work to have a little fun and get some excitement without going into combat. These actions resulted in a bad name for hot rodders, a push started to have safe, organized races. Former GIs led the rise of the hot rod in the late 1940s and 1950s.
In the golden age of hot rodding, automobiles started to change.
First, they made the fenders part of the body, car bodies became more streamlined. Suddenly, hot rods looked dated compared to the new body style of cars. No amount of body work could make a ‘32 Ford look like a new Cadillac, so more people bought new cars instead of customizing their old car (Auto Editors 8). The effect was a dramatic change in American car culture. Later on, the manufacturers began to build “factory” hot rods, these were called muscle cars. The name came along, because the big 3 manufacturers started a war to build the fastest car or the car with the most power. Wikipedia says “It was now possible to buy a muscle car that outperformed nearly any hot rod, with more passenger room, and without having to expend the effort of building and tuning the car oneself.” This drew the sales of many speed enthusiasts, because they could go buy a car that was better than one they could build. Muscle cars exceeded the popularity of hot rods until 1973, when the oil crisis occurred, and consumers wanted fuel efficient and safe cars rather than big power (Wikipedia). The muscle car was the response to the hot rod by the automotive
industry.
Hot rods have made major impacts on the automotive industry. Presently, cars that have been influenced by hot rods, include all of the sports cars. Britannica School lists the hot rod has created the car that we now know of as the sports car. Back in the 30s and 40s, there was no fast cars, only standard family haulers. So people built their own cars to fill the sports car role. Currently, Dodge leads the Detroit horsepower war. But the horsepower wars started in the muscle car era, which in turn was started by hot rodders. Hot Rod printed an article titled “Top 100 hot rods that changed the world.” These cars were the key, new design pieces that lead towards the higher horsepower numbers of later dates. Even today, we can still feel the effects of those early hot rodders.
In conclusion, hot rods have had a big influence on the car industry that a lot of people are not aware of. Hot rods began in southern California, racing on dry lake beds. After World War II, hot rodding has expanded throughout the whole country, this was the hot rodding boom. Soon after, the manufacturers responded with cars designed to go fast. The first style was the muscle car, but the modern car is the sports car. Hot rods have experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years. So the future looks good for hot rodders looks good, because people want to have the experience that those pioneers of speed had during their lifetime, there is companies that are producing kit cars for consumers who want to feel the hot rod experience.