Thread: Hot Rod History

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It's generally acknowledged that the origins of hot rodding were spawned in the early 1920's. I suspect there are some who might contend that it started when the very first motoized vehicle was built, and I suppose there is some validity to that. But the creativity of enterprising inventors not withstanding, the popular participation of "normal" motorists in the pursuit of higher performance didn't start until inexpensive, and plentiful, raw material became readily available. So it's no surprise that the most popular basis for early rodding projects was the Model T. They were durable, available, and most important, affordable. In those days top speed was the holy grail. Out west dry lake beds were frequently used to test performance. On the east coast, particularly Florida, the beach was used. In some other areas tracks were fabricated from inexpensive, readily available materials. Most notably, wood or dirt. Yes, track surfaces in the early twentieth century were made of wood. But for all out top speed it took space, thus the dry lakes were the place to be. And since they were in the western part of the country, it's natural that most rodders started in that region.

As demand grew for performance parts the entrepreneurial spirit kicked in. Crafty folks developed, and then produced, cylinder heads, carburetors, modified cam shafts, etc. to increase horse power. And style, often in the name of aerodynamics, prompted the offering of "speedster" body kits to give the Model T a sleeker profile. Modified suspension kits that lowered the stance became available. And custom wheels that mounted wider tires came on the scene. Sound familiar? Hot rodding was born, and began to grow. While the Model T was the most popular, there were still some who had loyalty to other brands, but the majority of rodders voted with their pocket books. The Model T gave the most "bang for the buck" and was the easiest to modify for performance. That's why it rose to the top of the popularity pole.

When Ford finally upgraded their design to the Model A it was easy for the rodders of the earlier era to make the transition. The Model A engine, while much sturdier than the Model T, especially in the crankshaft, was still fundamentally the same design. It was easy for the hot rod component manufacturers of the period to revise their designs to apply to the Model A, B, and C engines. And the Ford four cylinder engines continued to be the engine of choice for hot rodders and speed merchants. These engines even found their way into other makes of cars. Simply said, in hot rodding tradition, the best (in terms of adaptability), most cost effective engine was used regardless of the vehicle. These Ford 4 bangers remained the hot rodder's choice into the mid 1930's because they were affordable, and familiar. Now some of you might be wondering why the four banger remained popular even after the famous flathead V8 was introduced.

In 1932 Ford Motor Co introduced the flathead V8 in their model 18 cars. The choice of the V8 was made by ol' Henry because he wanted to one-up Chevrolet who had introduced their ohv inline 6 in 1929. Yes, it was a numbers game, the good old "more is better" program. Since this was somewhat a reactive decision, the engine was rushed to market, resulting in the early '32 engines having a number of durability problems. Because of these issues, the hot rodders didn't embrace the new engine right away. The speed equipment suppliers had tooling and experience invested in their 4 cylinder products, and the racers were reluctant to give up the success they'd enjoyed from the bangers. This attitude prevailed for a few years until the reliability, availability, and popularity of the V8 increased to a point where it's superiority to the earlier 4 cylinders became apparent. Once the rodding public gained confidence in the V8 design, and enterprising rodders began developing parts to increase power, the infamous flathead V8 became the engine of choice. As before, Ford V8's began appearing in all manner of cars. Not just in cut down earlier model Fords, but also in purpose built vehicles (Indy racers, "streamliners", boats, and so on), as well as competing brands. I can remember rooting through a wrecking yard in 1964 and saw a Chrysler Airflow over in the corner. The body looked pretty good, and I had never seen one before in person, so I went over to inspect it. I thought it was a pretty cool looking car. I had read that they weren't real popular in their day (mid '30's) because the aerodynamic design was too different and enjoyed only limited appeal. When I lifted the hood, there was a flathead Merc V8! Not really a surprise considering that the car was probably modified in the '40's or early '50's. In that time period it was very common for Dodge, Chevrolet, and any number of lesser brand roadsters and coupes to be modified into rods with flathead V8's. It gave the most "bang for the buck" and was the easiest to modify for performance.

The old Ford 4 bangers enjoyed their dominance in rodding circles for nearly 20 years. The flathead V8, like it's cousins before it, also enjoyed a run of about 20 years as the dominant choice of rodders. To be sure, there were devotee's of the "Stovebolt" Chev 6's, and to an even lesser degree some of the other large engines of the period, but none came close to the popularity of the Ford V8. Simply put, the Ford flathead V8 was the most rational choice for the hot rodder. Even when GM and Chrysler introduced their ohv V8's just after WWII the venerable flathead V8 held it's ground, again most likely due to familiarity, size, and cost. Those alternative engines began to creep into the higher end rods and customs of the early '50's, and as drag racing began to gain popularity, the horsepower developing capabilities of the larger ohv engines, especially the Hemi, began to be discovered and appreciated.

Then in 1955 the rodding world was rocked on it's butt! Stodgy old Chevrolet unveiled new body styling, and even more shocking, a brand new ohv V8 engine. For those not familiar with this point in time, this was a major event. Just as Ford shocked the popular priced market place in 1932 by intoducing a V8 after years of blind devotion to the 4 cylinder engine, so too Chevrolet astonished the auto world after 26 years of faithful commitment to the six cylinder design exclusively. (Those of you historically literate might remember the first Chevrolet, ohv V8's of 1917-18, but they were not a market success and therefore don't apply here) The new Chevrolet V8 became an immediate success, and why not? First, it was a near revolutionary design. Unlike it's corporate cousins, it used new casting techniques (much as Ford had done in it's time at the birth of the flathead V8) that made for a lighter and physically more compact size externally. Innovative valve train design allowed the engine to rev more freely and to a higher level without valve float. As such, in the power to weight arena, the engine was miles ahead of it's competitors, including the newly introduced replacement for the beloved flathead V8 that Ford introduced in 1954 (the Y block) which was designed with already aged technology. Second, it was readily available right from the beginning. Though not all Chevrolets in 1955 had the V8 option, with a 28% market share for the entire line, there were engines available in wrecking yards almost immediately. And third, while the flathead V8 had been released in the depths of the Great Depression, the Chevrolet V8 came to market in the midst of a tremendous economic boom period, ensuring a relatively more affluent marketplace in waiting.

It didn't take rodders of the period long to catch on. Here was a leading edge engine design that was compact dimensionally (important for fitting in those older/smaller engine compartments without major modification), weighed only about 20 lbs more than a comparable flathead V8, and responded very well to both the traditional modifications as well as revealing some new ones. As these rodders began yanking out their flatheads to drop in the Chev they discovered some additional benefits. As serendipity would have it Chevrolet had designed the engine with a rear oil sump, which cleared most front crossmembers handily, and had put the starter on the passenger side where it would not interfere with most steering boxes. Talk about blessed bonuses!! So responsive to hop up tactics was this new engine that before long virtually every form of motor sport made it their favorite application, especially wherever power to weight ratio was important. As with anything else, even though the engine was an immediate hit, trends do have an evolutionary cycle. But it only took a couple years before the flathead became a rarity rather than the norm. It was the most rational choice.

Continued
copyright 2004

Part II

Ford wasn't completely asleep at the switch. Once they finally realized (along with just about everyone else in the industry)that Chevrolet had made a quantum leap in technology, they set out to design a competive engine of their own. It took Ford until 1962 to unveil it's "small block" engine, that, surprise, surprise, copied many of the more innovative features of the Chevrolet (size, weight, valve train, casting techniques, etc.) But for some odd reason they didn't quite think it through. But then, their primary objective was to build engines for their current production cars, not the old ones that they didn't make money on anymore. As such, their engine, while narrow enough (even better than the Chev), was too long to easily fit most older engine compartments. Their oil pump/sump was at the front, which wasn't especially friendly to crossmembers. And within 3 years they were making changes to the basic block that rendered the first few years product as near step children. All in all, they asceded a ten year head start to Chevrolet in market penetration. The die, and loyalties, were set. In the last 15 or so years, parts have become more available to fit an sbf in an older rod with more ease, and these engines have gained more popularity, albeit at greater expense. Brand loyalties aside, it became a standard to put a Chevrolet engine in your older Ford, or any other brand for that matter. Why? It gave the most "bang for the buck" and was the easiest to modify for performance.

Now, there's no point in discounting brand loyalty. There are many who are dyed in the wool Blue Oval guys, just as there are die hard Bow Tie nuts, along with all the other possibilities. This is a myopia I don't personally possess, but I understand and recognize it as a reality. But when we talk about hot rodding as a hobby/sport/whatever, it's about modifying a car to improve performance and style. As such, the entire history of rodding is full of examples of mixing and matching disperate components to create a new whole. And of late, it's become even more nostalgic than ever. This has led to a reawakening of interest in some of the older engines such as flathead Fords, early '50's GM's other than Chev, and of course the mighty Hemi Mopars.

I was struck last night by a news clip of the President touring a "GM production plant". Hanging from the conveyor line in the back ground was a row of small block Chev engines (you can see what my real focus was), based on the exhaust port configuration and the overall silhouette. They all had chrome valve covers and some had the aluminum heads, probably ZZ4 engines, and others had painted heads, probably 330hp engines. Think about it. Here's an engine that is essentially a 50 year old design, still in production, and there for all the country to see are crate engines that are aimed specifically to those of us that are car crazy nuts. The absolute narrow minded will try to rationalize away the dominance of the small block Chev, sometimes to the point of silliness. Oh well, it takes all kinds. But remember, denial is not a river in Egypt. For a lot of very practical, and deserved, reasons, the small block Chev, just as it's Ford predecessors did, has established itself as a hot rod tradition. And like it or not, it's a 50 year tradition that still has legs.

copyright 2004

If you were looking at the same news clip as I was that was SRC (Springfield Remaufacturing Co) here in good old Springfield, Mo. and those were crate engines.

Great points Bob! I remember a variety of "home brew" rods running around Detroit in the 50's & 60's. Salvage yards could supply most of the raw materials at bargain basement prices (man, has that changed). Besides the SBC, the early OHV Olds & Cads were also very popular (cheap) power plants & lots of aftermarket parts were available for them. I had a friend in high school with a beautiful 56 Ford Vicky that was running a 406. He got his butt handed to him one night by a ratty looking 4-door 51 Hudson!! He later learned that the Hudson was running a blown Cadillac with a modified Hydromatic There were lots of odd & exotic cars around in those days. Some of the factory experimental components eventually found their way into production. The first all aluminum CSB I ever laid eyes on, was in a new 4-door Chevy II. This was a GM test mule driven home by a friend's father that was a Chevrolet engineer...this was 1961.

Neat stuff, Bob. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. So, chebby started it all, but they're still playing catch up?? Just the way I see it through my blue tinted oval shaped glasses!!!!!!

Well written as always...

Dave Brisco

Good to see you're still alive Dave!

I am alive, but just spending too much time at the office...

It is 12 midnight and I am just about to go home from a 16 hour day... That is the 4 or 5 th one in the last few weeks...

I still check in when I get a chance...

Dave Brisco