SEMA eNews, Vol. 9, No. 28 - July 12, 2006

“A HOT ROD IS WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE”

The term hot rod has been a part of American culture for decades. What exactly is a hot rod though? If you ask 100 different people, you will probably get 100 different answers. Purists have defined hot rods as pre-1949 vehicles that have been modified from stock. However, as the hot rodding industry has evolved, the definition has changed as well.

The terms hot rod, street rod, custom, musclecar, rat rod, and g-machine are all a part of the hot rodding market. As newer generations have been introduced to pre-1973 vehicles, the term hot rod has been used for anything that goes fast, looks cool and was built before they were born. Subscribers of Hot Rod & Restoration magazine and members of SEMA’s Hot Rod Industry Alliance (HRIA) were asked what their definition of a hot rod is. One hot rod enthusiasts indicated that “a hot rod is whatever you want in to be.” Most agreed that a hot rod is any old car that has been modified from stock, either for performance, for looks, or both.

A good indicator of the popularity of nostalgia vehicles are the sales figures for some popular vehicles of today, which were created to replicate cars of the past.


I AM ASSUMING THIS IS JUST THE PRODUCTION NUMBERS FROM DAY 1 OF THE HHR PRODUCTION TO DEC 31ST 2005, NOT THE TOTAL PRODUCTION NUMBER FOR THE 2006 MODEL YEAR

 

To me a hot rod is a car like a 32 Ford Coupe or a 50 Merc. I can't think of one car past the 50s that I consider to be a true hot rod.

 

Yeah, a 2005 Mustang doesn't strike me as the 'hot-rod' type. In fact, the only ones on that list made to resemble hot-rods are the PT and HHR. Everything else is based on muscle cars.

Well, I dunno. Is a '49 Suburban a hot-rod?

 

i agree with ya in some respect Cap, i also think anything with out smog BS and and big rumbling engine and designations like SS,Shelby,Copo,Hemi etc etc are a pretty good idea of a hotrod too ??

 

I would love to have a old chevy hot rod, but it wouldn't make a good everyday driver. I'll make my HHR a hot rod well as far as I think a hot rod is (Side pipes, flames, crome, and HP). Just to name a few things.

 

I classify hot rods and muscle cars as two seperate things. Hot Rod magazine would disagree with me. I kind of think of the term hot rod kind of as an era thing. When I think of hot rods I think of the cars like the cars in American Graffiti.

 

well i guess the first 3 sentences of the article are correct !

"the term hot rod has been a part of American culture for decades. What exactly is a hot rod though? If you ask 100 different people, you will probably get 100 different answers"

 

No doubt. I'm sure some people think of the sports compact guys as modern hot rodders even though they like to call themselves tuners.

 

I hate tuners. Wish I had a V8 in my HHR.
I like the Hot Rod and Muscle car years. Those were cars.

 

I couln't agree more!