History of Hot Rods Presented by: Clark A. Kibler, SAE Hotrod n (1945) : an automobile rebuilt or modified for high speed and fast acceleration. Webster’s Dictionary Eras • • • • • • The first cars, ~1900 Model T Fords, 1920s Model A Fords, 1930s The Ford V8, Late 30s (the Flathead era) The big War The 40s and 50s & the Chevy V8 Alex Winton v. Henry Ford • Mr. Winton brings a race car to Grosse Point, MI.: 1901 • Henry Ford builds a two cylinder race car to compete. (He had just gone bankrupt) • Henry Won! • 1902, a rematch, new cars • Barney Oldfield drives Henry’s 999 , 70hp Henry Ford’s #999 Was this the first? The Ford Model T • 4 cylinder valve-in-head engine • Light weight • 1905 to 1927 • But not much power, 20 HP The Ford Model A • • • • 4 cylinder flathead, but more powerful 40 horsepower! Still light weight Speed and power equipment started to be available ( A new industry ) Pre WW II • 4 cylinder flatheads, mostly Ford T & A’s • • • • • • Frontenanc (by the Chevrolet brothers) Crager (Craig Gartz) Roof Halibrand Gemsa Hal Famous names • Rajo, overhead conversion • Fenton, intakes and exhaust • Winfield, cams and carburetion • Iskendarian, “The Camfather” • Edelbrock, heads & intakes Heroes of the era • • • • • • • • • Fred Offenhauser Frank Kurtiss Eddie Meyer John and Dale Drake Harry Miller George Bignotti Leo Goossen Jack Hagemann Quinn Eperly Circle track racing 1932, Fords’ new V-8 engine The FLATHEAD! • • • • • • More power, 85 HP Compact Inexpensive Great sounds Easy to make improvements New styling with attractive grill The 1932 Grill, a classic More new speed names The V8 era • • • • • • • • Barney Navarro Heads, manifolds Alex Xadias (SoCal Auto Parts) Charles “Kong” Jackson (Ignitions) Hedman, Belond (Exhaust headers) Lee Chapel, speed shop in SFern Valley George Wight, Bell Auto Parts Spalding Ignitions Mallory Ignitions Intake manifolds Exhaust manifolds The SCTA was born Southern California Timing Association • • • • California racers at El Mirage & Muroc Started in 1937 No racing during WW II Otto Crocker...electronic timing lights • A madhouse 4 & 5 abreast till Wally Parks Wally Parks, Ak Miller; Foundrs WW II and after • No racing during the big war • Racing back at El Mirage, Muroc, and Bonneville after 1946 • More speed shops and parts businesses • Crower, Sharp, Thickstun, Jahns, Potvin, Moon, Hedman, Vic Edelbrock • Southern California concentration • Means, Motive, & Opportunity Aircraft Mfg. NASCAR • • • • Early moonshine runners NASCAR formed in 1948 First race at Charlotte in 1949 Dirt tracks, ‘stock’ cars •Hudson, Ford & Oldsmobile top runners ’40 Ford pickups were classics Magazines spread the word • At least 30+ magazines over the years have been published. Hot Rod was probably the most significant. • Bob Petersen, now a legend • Local newspapers specific to racing, like Speed Sport News, National Dragster NHRA • • • • • • • National Hot Rod Association, 1951 Organized Drag Racing by Wally Parks First Drags @ Santa Ana, CA (airstrip) Long Beach, CA (LADS) The first computerized timing system Then to Pomona, CA Then Kansas and beyond SEMA • ’64 Speed Equip • ’70 Specialty Equip SEMA Founders • • • • • Ed Iskendarian Dean Moon Paul Schiefer Harry Weber Els John • 1967 first trade show with 47 Exhibitors • Now over 2000 exhibitors, 130,000 Attend • ~$15 Billion in retail sales to ‘Car Guys & Gals’ Early drags, ’32 Ford The Chevrolet V8 • • • • • • • 1955, the venerable Mouse Motor Same weight as a Ford flathead V8 at 550 Fit where a flathead was perfectly Awesome power potential New speed parts opportunities Mass produced in great numbers 265-283-327-302-305-350-400 Kinds of Hot Rods (Old School) • Full fendered roadster • Classic hiboy roadster • Chopped coupe • Channeled coupe and roadster Full Fendered Highboy Roadster Chopped Channeled Al Teague Teague at Speed And sometimes you pay Sacrifices to the God of Speed Kibler Racing Team • Bonneville 1991 • Record 183.1 • Bonneville 1998 • Record 195.7 • Top speed = • 213 Wait a minute! Let’s summarize this: • • • • • • • 1900 first cars 1920 Model T 1930s A’s & V8 1940s 1950s 1960-70s 1980-90s no hot rodders maybe 5 hot rod parts ~20 parts suppliers ~25 parts suppliers >150 hot rod parts Mfg >1,000 mfg totally lost count To current • Rat Rods • Customs • Muscle cars • Street Rods • Cruisers • Retro-Rods • Tuner cars • Pro-Touring • Pure restored • Drifters • And maybe still a classic Hot Rod Very cool builders • Rad Rods by Troy (Trepanier) • Boyd Coddington • Jerry Kugel • Andy’s Hot Rods • Chip Foose • Too many to list Austin shops • • • • • Colvin Automotive South Austin Speed Shop Crushproof Joe White Plus hundreds of individual small garages and shops. A Test! • What is it ? • Who is it ? • When is it ? You tell me: • What’s next? • • • • • Electronics Human powered ‘hot rods’? Non-carbon fuels Innovative variants of IC engines Solar??? Is there really an end?? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3PWo NW4K74 HOT ROD n (1945) : an automobile rebuilt or modified for high speed and fast acceleration. Webster’s Dictionary HOTRODDER n (2007) : “A person from central Texas that really likes cool cars.” …Prof. Matthew’s Dictionary version…