Boy have I got a question

[Zefhix]

So the g/f and I were in bed last night about to go to sleep when she asked me a question that made me go "hmmmmm" She asked "can a euro car be a hotrod?" Hmmm. My first thought was "no"!! Then, I thought about it....why not? From dictionary.com :

hot rod also hot-rod (htrd)
n. Slang
An automobile that has been rebuilt or modified to increase its speed and acceleration.

So where is the defining line? I realize we're a P-T crowd but what is evryone else's though on this? What makes a Camaro with a hot small block any different than a hatchbacked honda with a VTEC motor in it than runs 12s when it comes to describing a hotrod? Does it have to be a '32 highboy with a 350? Or can it be a Supra that runs 8's?

What do you think??

[will69camaro]

I cant speak for everyone else but i know in my own opinion, that a hotrod is a hard to drive rearwheel drive car that shouldn't be driven everyday but usually is LOL. I think that newer cars shouldn't really be considered hotrods but that's again, my opinion. New cars both domestic and imported have higher technology which means they can be fast while still remaining drivable.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Technically you could call an import a "hot rod", going by the definition only, BUT Most people, atleast the people I converse with consider hot rods older cars (pre 1960). That are hopped up for looks, and cruising/speed. FWIW, I DONT consider my Camaro a "hot rod", but that's just me, hot rods to me are older cars, street rods and such. Anything from 66 or so to 73 that was RWD w/ a v8 and some performance is a muscle car. Anything after that I would just consider a performance car, if it happened to be fast.

About the Supra that runs 8s, you'd probably call it a drag car .

[Stu Seitz]

About the Supra that runs 8s, you'd probably call it a drag car .

Word

[boodlefoof]

eh, what's in a label? I like anything as long as it is neat (a very subjective label. ;) )!

[awr68]

From what I've been told:

Street Rods '0-about '40
Customs early '40s-'54 (fat fenders)
Hot Rods '55-about '73 (pre cad. converters and plastic bumpers)

That's just what I've been told by the grey beards and I figure they would know....so by this a guy calling his '32 a Hot Rod...well he's a little wrong....

[TonyL]

the difference to me is simple. does the car have a v8 and rear wheel drive?
that seems to be the splitting factor. but then again, if you put a vtech 4 banger in a 32 highboy roadster, whats that? what about that banks turbo mercedes? my head hurts.

[J-Rod]

When I used to break my cars in the past, I'd always take em to my pops to fix. He'd always give me the same line:

"Well, if you weren't hot-roddin round town all the time, maybe it wouldn't break!"

:icon996:

[rumblee]

Everyone has a different take on the phrase hotrod. I could see a nice old car with a v8 and rwd, but if its not loud or at least fast its just a nice old car. I also think the way a car is driven will give a car reputation as a hotrod.

[hotrodgary]

I've grown up around "street rods" my whole life. I've always considered a hotrod to be pre 34, streetrods 35-48, customs 49-59 or so, but euro's are just euro's to me. I'm not a big fan of euro type cars but I respect them because their car are to them, like my car to me...BADASS!!

Of course I consider my chevelle and my chevy II to be "pro-touring" style, but I dont ever plan on doing a road course with them. So some people would probably consider me to be a "poser"

[BRIAN]

What would make it Pro Touring then? Some guys consider a tube framed undriveable beast others a Camaro with every option and the must have TT2'S the ultimate? Build what you want and enjoy it. By the way I have owned older 80'S AMG 500SEL and driven a turbo M6 that honestly would hit the pro touring mark a lot closer than most cars that wear the label. Driveable anywhere and power to light em up without problem. Not that it matters but I tend to favor the bare bones real Hot Rods A Hot Rod should be " Something that gives a different feel than an eveyday ride"

[34X2Camaro]

Front wheel drive vehicles can not be hot rods, it's the law.

[yody]

you don't to take your car to the track to conider your car "pro-touring" just keep the right mentatility and gear your car towards the ideas of protouring. I don't think euro cars would be "pro-touring" but would be nice sports cars, unless they were old sportscars, but it would have to be a fair comparison. My dad has an old 911S porsche he has added a 3.2L engine totally done up with ported heads, cranktrigger ignition, knifed crank, bigger cams, he has custom coilover suspension with charley bars, 17" Fikse FM5 wheels with toyo tires, killer Alpine sound system, very nice paint, magnaflow exhaust, and all kinds of other crap that i dont know about. Yes if it was an american car i would definetly call it proutouring, but in reality it is a Older german sporst car built to newer specs, he takes it on the track and drives it on longer trips, but there just aint somthing right about calling it protouring, maybe if he put a chevy motor in the back of it!!!

[Zefhix]

So the consensus is...there is no consensus? Hot-rodding is a frame of mind? ;)
So a car is a car that's a car until it's attained a certain level of modification? And the label it suits is based loosely around a certain coreography of modifications it most closely resembles? Damn.
We got ourselves some pretty fickle cars, eh? All of us have the ugly red-headed stepchilden of the hobby...hehe. But now being red-head is cool!!! Retro is in!!!

[Pzary3233]

I think that I have to agree with Hot Rod Gary
"I've always considered a hotrod to be pre 34, streetrods 35-48, customs 49-59 or so"

That is what I always think of when the terms, Hot Rod, Street Rod and Custom come up. Though, it also depends on the style of the build. Such as a radically altered 47 Chevy, I would think of that as more of a custom. But at the same time I would not call a '55 Bel Air that had a healthy motor and a 4 speed in it a custom either...

I just know it when I see it...

Driving style does have something to do with it! We all push our cars, though the corners, on the strights, and deceleration (ie braking). I do not think of our cars as Hot Rods, they are muscle cars... People who drive muscle cars seem to be different from the street rod and hotrod crowd.

Granted I would love to build up a '35 Chevy that could compete on the road course but also be able to bolt on some big and skinnies so that I can have the retro rod look... Only time and money will tell! lets get though school first!

My $.02

[CoryM]

http://britishv8.org/swaps/examples.htm

Those count as hotrods to me :D Im not picky about what I call a hot rod. Basically any older heavily modified vehicle. I am picky about what I call a nice hotrod though ;) . I guess when I think hot rod, the first thing that comes to mind is pre-war cars with a sbc/th400/9" rear.

[JTW]

"can a euro car be a hotrod?"

Some people think so....

1948 Anglia:

[ACEFOOTER]

I look at the "AMG" division of Mercedes Benz as the early European part of Pro-Touring, Bigger motor, Bigger brakes, Better suspension. I think of "Hot Rod" as anything that when you hit the gas hard, it wants to rip the tires off the rims no matter what the Nationality.

[TonyL]

you know. We shoulda thought of the Aussies quicker. can you import a hotrod??

You betcha

holdens are cool.

[hotroddr]

I think you should buy the GF a new pair of shoes for bringing up such a great subject. Most girls are not willing to even talk about this stuff...she brought it up