In 1955 there was the debut of the small-block (265-cubic-inch displacement) V-8 engine, which combined small size and a favorable power-to-weight ratio. Ford made parts that were cheap, easy to find, and easy to interchange among model years. Although any car could be converted into a hot rod or custom car, until 1955, hot rodders favored Ford bodies, engines, and other parts. While hot rodding has always been associated with drag racing, the aesthetic aspect of the sport, primarily in terms of the modification of stock to "custom" cars, has been equally important. Drag races still measure both statistics for each race, although race winners are those with the lowest elapsed time, not necessarily the highest speed. The tension between these two goals continues to exist in the hot rodding culture. One of the other main results of Parks's leadership, the establishment of the quarter-mile race, changed the nature of hot rodding, since this race valued rapid acceleration-and thus shortest elapsed time-instead of the previously sought highest achieved speed. Parks encouraged a wholesome ethic for hot rodders, suggesting that readers visit their local police to establish good ties, always stop to help stranded motorists, and refrain from using frightening or dangerous-sounding club names. Wally Parks, who took over as the magazine's editor in 1949, believed that by channeling rowdy youths off the streets, where they were a public menace, and into the organized, orderly world of drag racing, he could repair hot rodding's tarnished image and protect the sport from being banned or strictly regulated by outside forces. Hot Rod was instrumental in institutionalizing the quarter-mile drag race as what real hot rodders did with their souped-up vehicles. The magazine promoted safety precautions and responsible driving, and strove to distinguish between the maniacal teenagers and the safety-oriented, civic-minded car buffs who constituted what they considered the real population of hot rodders. By 1948, some car club umbrella groups had decided to take a stand, and developed Hot Rod magazine out of their newsletters and bulletins. Police forces, parents, and the press expressed concern about the growing number of young drivers speeding brazenly down the public streets, with no regard for their own safety or that of others. This divide between more responsible purists and dramatic, aggressive youngsters greatly affected the growth of hot rodding. The postwar affluence allowed both the older, seasoned servicemen and a new crowd of showy teenagers to participate in the hobby, as wealthier families moved beyond the one-carper-household rule that had been de rigeur before the war. Rodding, which valued constant tinkering. The popularity of the postwar do-it-yourself movement meshed perfectly with hot Many of these ex-servicemen experimented with fuel additives that had been used in military aircraft, which caused plenty of repercussions throughout the hobby. Some pursued European sports cars, and thus emphasized handling, while others gravitated towards hot rodding, which focused on American cars and engineering them to go as fast as possible. As gas and tire rationing plans were lifted, car enthusiasts flocked to the ranks of two different auto hobbies. These early motorheads often got their parts on the cheap, by scavenging junkyards or even stealing them from parked cars.Īs thousands of GI's returned home following World War II, they applied their increased technical know-how to the hobby many of them had put on hold for the duration of the war. Before that, enthusiasts tinkered with cars on their own, without the benefit of how-to magazines or speed shops. Either way, the term entered the American lexicon in 1945, at the end of World War II. Some historians assert that the term "hot rod" derives from the phrase "hot roadster," while others explain that rods are key engine parts that heat up when pushed to achieve the extreme speeds hot rodding entails. Roadsters are open cars that seat only two or three passengers, and for many years they were the only cars that buffs modified or souped up. Popular early models were Ford roadsters such as the Model-T, Model-A, or 1932 Ford, better known as the Deuce. Hot rods, cars modified to increase primarily their performance and secondarily their aesthetics, first appeared in Southern California in the 1920s and 1930s.
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