American Hot Rods For Sale

American Hot Rods

The term "American hot rod" differs depending on who you ask. There is no set definition of the hot rod and what it's true meaning is. It is believed that the term was first used in the late 1930's in California. People in Northern California at that time took to the dry lake beds in northeast Los Angeles to race their hot rods under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association.

The original hot rod was usually an older American made car such as the, Model T Ford, Model A Ford or a Model B Ford. There were usually many modifications associated with the hot rod. Such modifications included, reduced weight, channeling the body and removal of the hoods, bumpers, windshield or convertible tops. Modifying the engine by tuning or replacing the engine with a more powerful one. Wheels and tires were often swapped out for improved traction and handling control. Later on in the 1960's along with these modifications, custom paint jobs were also used to improve the American hot rod.

After World War II there were many small abandoned or in-frequently used airports. This enabled the hot rodder to race on marked tracks. In the 1950's hot rodding was becoming so popular, hot rod magazines and associations started catering to the hot rodder. Safety issues also began to arise as some hot rodder's raced on the streets. A hot rod enthusiast named Wally Parks decided to bring racing off the streets and onto tracks. He formed the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and created rules based on entertainment and most of all safety. There were no limits on which to what kind of hot rods could race: any caliber of hot rod may enter.

In the 1970's auto manufactures began increasing the performance of their vehicles. Up rose the muscle car which out performed almost any hot rod. The want for the hot rod began to dwindle and street rodding was becoming more and more popular. Street rodding was mainly family oriented and National events were hosted by the National Street Rod Association (NSRA) which also stressed safety on the street as the NHRA did about safety with hot rods on the track.

There are still a large number of hot rod enthusiasts today but, they are divided into two main groups: hot rod and street rod. Hot rodder's build their cars following the styles that were most popular in the 1940's through the 1960's using mostly original or old parts. A Street Rod is composed of primarily new parts and is either built by the owner or a professional.