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
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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:
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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
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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?
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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…