What is a "hot rod"? - Page 2

Cal Metal · #21 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 02:18 PM

Additionally, one only needs to look at the road courses in Europe--again--a beat up, pulverized continent after the war--to get some idea of the interest in road racing: Le Mans, Nurburgring, Goodwood ('47), Reims, Monza, Oulton Park, Spa, etc.

Riverside was built in the late 50s; Elkhart, which is probably the best example of a long European track, was also built in the late 50s, some period of time after the European circuits. Most road racing was done on abandoned airport runways.

Coloradocobra · #22 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 07:14 PM

The other day my daughter asked me what "rod" in street/hot rod stands for and I had to confess that I didn't have a clue. Is it an acronym? What are it's origins?

Gary

decooney · #23 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 07:46 PM

Hey, I did a little checking around in the archives and definitions. How about this?

Hot Rod:

The most popular definition of a Hot Rod would be "a modified
vehicle of American origin, originally manufactured prior to 1949".

Hot:

- prone to overheating

Rod:

- power or dominion

Excaliber · #24 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 08:17 PM

I concur the sports car has it's origin deep in Europe, two seater, small, performance oriented. "Classic" sports cars are EASY to identify, Austin Healey, MG, Triumph. It does get a little more complicated when you start getting into V8 or even V12 territory. The Vette is NOT a sports car in the "classic" sense, and yet the Cobra is? YES! The Cobra with it's Euorpean roots demand it!

Of course "meanings" of words change as time moves forward and today it not uncommon for "people" to refer to Vettes as "sports cars" (the horror)! I'm a "classic" kind of guy myself.

The Hot Rod rooted in the USA? Yeah, by and large, but make no mistake those English and Aussie chaps had a trick or two up their sleeve in the same time frame!

Hmmmm,,,"Hot Rods" being 1949 and older is interesting, yeah,,,,,,I might go with that. "Lead Sleds" of the 50's were "customs". But were do we put "Old Yeller"?

Ernie

Cal Metal · #25 (**permalink**) 01-28-2003, 08:47 PM

Old Yeller. That's a good one. Ernie came up with a trick question. Technically, Old Yeller 2, the most famous of the existing series, is a "California Special" much like the Echidna, BoCar, Scarab, Farrallac, etc. although if they weren't built in So Cal they are simply Specials.

These car were built strictly for road racing but had the heart of the Hot Rod when you think about it. More emphasis on chassis development as opposed to straightline speed. Usually purposefully built frames, as opposed to original. The bodies were home built (OY 2) or Devin built in most cases and did not use the original sheet metal if an original chassis was used (Echidna).

Carroll DeWeese · #26 (**permalink**) 01-29-2003, 04:07 PM

I like Jamo's definition of a Cobra as a "sports racer." This fits the "S/C" in Cobra S/C. The "S/C" stands for sports competition. "Sports" refering to the sports car aspects -- a street car for driving on roads. "Competition" for racing -- a race car for driving on tracks.

decooney · #27 (**permalink**) 01-29-2003, 05:37 PM

Hi Carroll,

from everything I've read in the history books, original articles and brochures, the most common explation of SC is:

S/C ("street/competition", or "semi/competition")

JAM1775 · #28 (**permalink**) 01-29-2003, 06:34 PM

Musclecar ?

Carroll DeWeese · #29 (**permalink**) 01-29-2003, 07:36 PM

deconney,

You are correct. The "S" stands for street, although I think of it as sport. The Cobra is clearly a sports car. It is for both street and competition (track). It fits Jamo's definition of sports racer.

I have always associated sports cars as road cars. The Cobra is one of the few cars that you can drive on the street and race on the track and be competitive. In its day, it way the king of both worlds.

cobrashoch · #30 (**permalink**) 01-29-2003, 08:29 PM

In a classic sense a sports car, muscle car, exotic car, etc. etc. have a "classic" heritage that can be defined within a class or joindra. Cars that have attributes of two or more of these classes combined are better described as crossover cars. Hot rods, and our Cobras fit in that crossover classification and that unique-ness tends to make for popular/desirable cars. Supercars are modern manifestation of that crossover concept, that in the future will produce their own "classic" heritage for our children, I would suspect. My take.
cobrashock