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Definition
of a:
Street Rod · Rat Rod · Resto Rod · Retro Rod?
What's in a name anyway?
Posted Tuesday, February 3, 2004
Honolulu Streets Magazine
Depending
on how many people you ask, you’ll likely get as many different
definitions of what a Street Rod is. Below are some basic facts that
will hopefully clear up some of the confusion you may have, if any,
between what a Street Rod, Rat Rod and Resto Rod, not to be confused
with Retro Rod really is.
Starting from right to left. Retro Rod:
The first thing to remember is, there is no such thing as a
Retro Rod. For whatever reason, that word has been popping up here
and there over the Internet and being poorly used to descried
one’s Resto Rod. For the sake of argument, no Retro Rod exists
except however when using the first part or the word to describe
certain types of music from the 1970’s.
Now
let's take Resto Rod:
Resto Rod was a phrase coined sometime around the early `70’s.
Although no one is really sure of the exact date, they all seem to
agree that a Resto Rod is any modified pre 1949 vehicle that is left
virtually stock in appearance with an updated drivetrain. Items such
as, door handles, running boards, cowl lights are left intact.
It
was so, in the 1970’s when gas, fuel that powers our hobby,
briefly became a scarce commodity and the whole hot rodding trend
– styling actually – seem to take a down turn for the worse.
Fortunately it quickly rebound thanks to guys like Pete Chapouris,
Jim Jacobs, Lil' John Buttera, Boyd Coddington and a whole slew of other names that
turned street rodding around forever. By the time the 80`s rolled
around, hot rodding came back with a wonderful vengeance and has
stayed that way ever since.
Ahh
the Rat Rod:
Here’s one for the books. That name didn’t show up until five or
six years ago, yet these things have been around since it all began
in the 1940’s and were actually called Hot Rods. What is a Hot Rod
then? Wow, talk about confusing. For now, to stay on track, a Rat
Rod is any pre `49 vehicle that has been drastically modified and
altered which includes being Chopped, Channeled, Sectioned and so
on.
However,
they're usually painted in some form of primer, and not much
chrome. It’s actually a street rod in the crudest raw form made
from an original steel body. That doesn’t mean there’re unsafe.
On the contrary, while some builders prefer not to run, say for
instance, front brakes, the majority of Rat Rods built by
professionals today look as if they were built with hot rod parts
laying around minted from the 1940’s &`50’s and, in fact are
safe. They just look so rough on the outside that one might think
otherwise.
Street
Rod?
What’s the real definition of a Street Rod? Again, it’s any pre
1949 automobile that has undergone a transformation expressed by its
owner. It’s that simple. No guidelines are set with a street rod
other than being pre `49, safe, and able to run on its own power.
The sky is the limit. Any modifications are up for grabs whether the
owner wants to incorporate all the comforts of home or not. It’s
all up to the creator and, a matter of self-expression is the key.
According
to NSRA, the National Street Rod Association, "by definition a
street rod is: An automobile of 1949 or earlier manufacture which
has undergone some type of modernization, to include any of the
following; engine, transmission, interior refinements, and any other
modifications the builder desires. A street rod is to be driven to
events under its own power and is to be used as a safe, non-racing
vehicle for total family enjoyment."
Next
time, the definition of:
Kit
Car · Hot
Rod · Custom · Street
Machine & Muscle
Car. Or, we can just call `em all Hot Rods and have fun.
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