In the years following WWII, the stock of clapped-out cars at their disposal happened to be old beaters that are now too valuable to cut apart. Those early customizers were the old school, and they created that look out of what was readily available. But pioneering hot-rodders didn't start chopping Model As into Highboys because they liked the “old-school” look. We often (and perhaps unconsciously) associate rodding with modifying old cars (or at least cars that look like old cars, which explains the profusion of reproduction Ford bodies available these days). And guys who love their tuner cars are just as passionate as guys who love their Chevy-powered Fords.Īnd that passion is really what hot-rodding is all about. Infusing the enthusiast world with fresh blood means we're going to have to welcome all comers, even if they're driving - gasp - imported cars. But have you been to a hot-rod gathering recently? The crowd tends to be…a bit on the gray-haired side. But a recent Wall Street Journal article on the rise of modified Smart cars and Toyota Priuses has us cheering for the latter (check it out - it's worth it for the WSJ-trademark stipple portrait of a “Smart car, modified” alone).īefore you start questioning our enthusiast cred, hear us out: Our burgeoning appreciation of the low-rider Prius in no way detracts for our love of chopped and channeled, V8-powered American steel. The former does a better job conforming to the popular “hot-rodder” image, 'specially if he's sporting a ZZ Top beard. The other rolls up in a slammed scissor-doored Smart car with a disabled speed limiter and a custom engine tune. One brings his Brookville-bodied '32 coupe sporting a fresh $15,000 paint job. Two car guys drive up to a cars-and-coffee gathering on a beautiful Saturday morning.
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