Hot Rod - Street Rod or Hot rods are modified older — even historical — cars. Originally the term was used to the practice of taking an old car, usually a Ford, and improving its performance by reducing weight (usually by removing roof , hood , bumpers , windscreen and fenders ), lower it, change or tune the engine to give more power, add fat wheels for traction and paint it to make it stand out.

The term may have originated from "hot roadster " and the term was used in the 1950s and 1960s as a derogatory term for any car that did not fit into the mainstream . Other sources indicate that the term was derived from replacement of connecting rods in engines to allow higher RPMs to be reached without parts failure. When hot rodding became commercialized in the 1970s , magazines and associations catering to "street rodders" were started.

Hot rodders or Street Rodders, including Wally Parks created the National Hot Rod Association NHRA to bring racing off the streets and onto the tracks. The annual California Hot Rod Reunion and National Hot Rod Reunion are held to honor pioneers in the sport.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum houses the very roots of hot rodding and Street Rods. Nowadays people who own hot rods or street rods keep them clean and try to make them noticeable. Those who work according to the original idea of cheap, fast and no frills are often called rat rods .

The Hot Rod era extended from 1945 to the beginning of the muscle car era (about 1965), reaching its height in about 1955. During this time, there was an adequate supply of what hot rodders called "vintage tin" -- junk cars manufactured prior to 1942 that could be had cheaply. Many of these had sound bodies and frames and had been junked for mechanical reasons, since the running gear of early cars was not durable.

Construction of a hot rod or street rod required skill with mechanical work, welding, and automotive paint and body work.

The "classic era" of hot rod or street rod construction ended around 1965, in part because the supply of vintage tin had dwindled, but mostly because new cars were equipped for greater speed and power directly from the factory with little or no modification required.

Today

There is still a vibrant Hot Rod and street rod culture worldwide, especially in the United States. The hot rod community has now been subdivided into two main groups: hot rodders and street rodders. Hot rodders build their cars using a lot of original, old parts, and follow the styles that were popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. Street rodders build cars (or have them built for them) using new parts.

Since there is very little "vintage tin" the hot rods and street rods in Sweden are generally made with a home made chassis (usually a Ford model T or A replica), with a Jaguar rear axle, a small block V8 and fiberglass tub, but some have been built using for instance a Volvo Duett chassis. Because the Swedish regulations required a crash test even for custom-built passenger cars between 1969 and 1982 the Duett option was often used since it was considered a re-engined Duett rather than a new vehicle.

Many enthusiasts who do not posses the construction skills or have the available time to construct a hot rod or street rod will search Hot Rods For Sale ( www.HotRodsForSale.com ) web site to purchase the vehicle of their dreams.