Thread: Do you know the differance between a Hot Rod and a Street Rod?

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hotrods have 3 pedals thats what i know , and streetrods are flashy w fenders and all billet and trashcan covers over there engines .....

Once somebody jams a label on it, I lose interest in them.
Why is it that every forum has a thread about labels...
Just build it well, drive the snot out of it, and enjoy it.
This is a hobby for enthusiasts, not whiners.
Let's hit the road and have some fun...
Jeff

A street rod is what I walk past to go look at a hot rod. Oh, and the only billet parts used on a hot rod will be in the engine, not on it. Minimal bling and traditional all the way. Built with skill, ingenuity and lots of blood, sweat and tears, not with a big check book. My 450 HP daily driver '95 Corvette is hot-rodded but it's not a hot rod. It is a fun, fast, comfortable cruiser and part-time racer. My '30 A will be a hot rod all the way. Fenders? I gave them away as soon as I bought the car....
One hot-rodder's (not intended to be humble) opinion.

Define me........define me...........................have I said that before?

since going thu my first vehicle inspection in b.c. back in 2002,i remember the hoops i had to jump thru! no peep mirrors, keep the fenders! which was
more of a regional thing. side reflectors etc etc

creature comforts you say?, after 4 years driving the 29'er in some pretty nasty weather,yeh i put a heater in it., (was already mandated to have some
form of windshield defroster!)

i consider my machine a hot rod even though whats in a name?
i drive the wheels off of it,i don't trailer it, i even pack tools on the back seat,
mainly cause i got no trunk what a blast,what a rush,
damn are we ever in the (collective) right hobby

Originally Posted by mooneye777

i learned the meaning yesterday. the local cruiser club here had a small show and they are a club consisting of very drivable cars not much in the way of speed. i went anyway with my hot rod,(the only one) and people spent more time looking at my car and asking questions about it then anybody elses, except the judges that were club members, they walked past my car and did not even look at it. trophy time came around and out of 50 cars with 25 trophys, i did not even place, there was a 60 something falcon that had duct tape for bondo, really a whole roll. the car puked a gallon of antifreeze when he pulled it in, it was worth a hundred bucks tops, he got a trophy. i was not mad but i sure thought youve got to be kidding, duct tape man got one before me. i am sure being a club member had its perks there. it was a good time anyway i met a lot of nice people! so now i think a street rod is practical in driving standards and a hot rod is a radical design built with speed in mind.

Well, I guess if I had been to a similar show and didn't get a trophy I would go home knowing that I won!!!!

I don't understand the discontent and BS concerning billet/non-billet stuff on the outside of the engine. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. I certainly don't see why it should be the defining difference. IMO a Hot Rod is for go, a Street Rod is for show. However, about 15 years ago I built a '34 Ford coupe that won 2 Best of Show awards at ISCA shows in the winter, then in April it made it's first pass at Thunder Valley Dragways, Marion SD and layed down a 9.90 with a 3 @144mph for it's best pass of the day. If you want, you can have lots of bling and lots of zing all in the same package!!!! Generally, I hate rules, classifications, catagories, and stereotyping. I build my cars my way and could really give a hoot less what anyone calls it or calls me. What I call it is MINE!!!!!! Sometimes it's driven to a destination and sometimes it rides in the trailer. Seems whichever mode I choose, when I get there I wish I would have used the other!!!! The way I see it, people who use trailers use them because they have them, and people who don't use trailers tend to be an "I drove mine" snob because they don't have a trailer!!!! None of this makes any sense, nor is it intended too. All this catagory and classification stuff IMO is a bunch of BS instigated by people who are really bored and love to argue just for the sake of arguing. It just doesn't matter at all to the genuine hot rodders who are involved because they love cars, and never have and never will consider anything for a hobby other then Hot Rodding!!!!

I'm all for that classification, It's Mine . Hank

in all my years in this i've never known a hot rodder who would pass up a shiny piece for their car. nor would they build it butt ugly on purpose. i was a stocker at a food store just to pay for my car. i did side stuff to save up for a 5 gallon bucket at the chrome shop. bling has always been part of it. you just could not order it from a book. except speedway and jc whitney for me it's about the cars and trying to make each one a little better than the last.

I'll repeat my three categories of cars:

- Those I like
- Those I don't like
- Those I could give a rat's fuzzy backside about

Those are the only three categories that exist in my world . . . because it's my world, and I get to decide.

Jack
- It's good to be the king.

About 80,000 dollars

Originally Posted by shine

in all my years in this i've never known a hot rodder who would pass up a shiny piece for their car. nor would they build it butt ugly on purpose. i was a stocker at a food store just to pay for my car. i did side stuff to save up for a 5 gallon bucket at the chrome shop. bling has always been part of it. you just could not order it from a book. except speedway and jc whitney for me it's about the cars and trying to make each one a little better than the last.

I know what ya mean, Shine!!! Seems I've always had to line up extra projects, work a part time job, or give up doing something to come up with the $$$$$ so I could build a car the way I wanted it. Not having the money for a bit of bling or extra horsepressure simply meant I had to work more to get it and was never an excuse to leave it ugly, then try to convince myself or anyone else that I liked it that way..... Guess it all depends on how much you want a car to be done right, how patient you are, and how much extra work you're willing to do to get the $$$$$....

For most of it I'm with Dave,

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"Well, I guess if I had been to a similar show and didn't get a trophy I would go home knowing that I won!!!!" 


This is a concept I've lived with in a life time of sports and is primary to all the sports coaching I've done. Few understand it....only those who are true sportsmen. It also drives the concept of you maybe not being the best on the field but you force the best to play their best to beat you. Sometimes it happens but many times they can't. You earn big respect from the real players. That's the top of the cake but even that is not necessary.

For the rest of what Dave says ( I respect him, case it's not apparent) I pretty much agree. I build my cars for me not for anyone else. They don't like , tough go look at another car. I bring it on a trailer by my choice not for showing off the trailer or my truck. I drive it to the event by choice because I enjoy driving it, not to impress anyone but me. Simply put, I have a reason for each important to me only.

As for other interests, Cars are a sport to me, I play sports, it's what I do. I also fly big model airplanes which are every bit as difficult to build and fly as any car is to build and to impress no one haha I have a lot more $$$ flying on nothing but radio waves than a lot of rolling stock is worth sitting on the ground safely in the garage.

As for winning and losing haha I rolled an 817 natural ( not my first 800 but the best) at a bowling event and lost to a lady who has probably never rolled over a 100 in her life. She got the $25 prize. I too went home knowing I won. I played my best and lost to luck. That one you never can beat. haha

mooney77, the duct tape one would be hard to take, but I agree you won, let's go have a tea and cry on each other's shoulder.

Originally Posted by shine

in all my years in this i've never known a hot rodder who would pass up a shiny piece for their car.

Hello, nice to meet you. You know one now!

i know guys with cars that they have had since high school and have not driven since. they just go out in the garage and work on them. that is the whole point of having one. driving it is just a perk

Call it whatever you want, the important thing is to enjoy it, in whatever context that means to you.