I will go first. You build it(maybe some help) You drive it! You fix it! You sell it so you can build the next one. That is a sickness i think.
What is a street rod? Something built by hand.Not a corvette.Not a PT loser.Not a 70's tank.Not a 4x4 anything.Just wonder what other guys think.Was looking at some members cars and wondered if they really think they are rods(i wont say which ones,just thought it odd on a streetrod site).I dont agree with the whole NSRA thing as i believe there are some 50 merc's ,50's chevys that are rods.

That's exactly what turned me off to NSRA. I had a bitchin' 49 Ford

maybe not all are streetrods, customs or whatever but those that might not be classified as such are still, i'm sure a labor of love or someones pride and joy. i'm glad they find fixing, changing or updating to there personal preference fun. its a good clean hobby, maybe the next one will be an old one from the ground-up. i find it nice that all are welcome on a great site as this, thanks again for all those involved in keeping this site up and going.
rickd :-)
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project...39 ford pickup

Streetrod stuff is truely in the eyes of the beholder. I have been intrigued with machines all my life. When it comes to vehicles, I do not care what it is, as long as it has a "soul". You know, a vehicle with an ownner who puts his "self" into it and the vehicle is an expression of the owner. I can look at all the intricacies, and be held spellbound, by a precision built dragster, a totally stock '39 Chevy sedan, a "in-progress-primered" resto rod, or even one of them fancy-shmancy "trailer queens". It is probably the biggest reason I just love going to the local cruise-ins over the HUGE NSRA or Good Guys events (don't get me wrong, I enjoy those, as well). I just take too much time "seeing" the cars to look at them all. Which brings me to the most important definition of streetrod stuff... the comraderie of all the GREAT people I meet and talk to in this whole "streetrod stuff" scene!
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Art Tabata

On the old RRT one put it this way. A streetrodder has in the trunk, lawn chair, cooler, cleaning stuff,california duster, look but no touch sign. In the trunk of a hot rod are tools.
TOM
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That's my story and I'm stickn to it

How about at a show, any one will do.
A Hot Rodder, will pick up any excuse to "Un-Park" and go for a drive. (taking spectators for a spin is the easiest excuse.)
A Street Rodder worry's about losing his parking spot.

A street rod, by definition, is a modified pre-49 vehicle. That's what the dictionary says it is. The term Street Rod was coined to describe the modified antique cars that were coming into vogue in the late sixties. The name was derived from Hot Rod but softened a bit to Street Rod so it would not evoke the lawless and wild image of their predecessors, the HOT RODS

Customs can be considered to be post 48, however, many pre-49 rods were also considered to be Customs. Purists will want to establish a cut-off year in the sixties for true "customs" but many present day cars are still receiving extensive body modifications that make them true customs.

Simply bolting on store-bought trinkets does not a custom make. Instead, we have a gook wagon or whatever other colloquial tag was appropriate for your region.

McMullen/Argus, as another example of the terms in question, adheres to the 1949/1949 split in the publication of Street Rodder and Custom Rodder.

1949 is an obvious year to set a limit or division point. That was the year that the Big Three began stamping the rear quarter panel and fender as one piece. Prior to that, the rear fenders bolted to the rear quarter panel.

Muscle cars (true muscle cars, not converted six cylinder grocery-getters) grew out of the factory race cars like the Max Wedge MoPars, 421 Catalinas and the 409 Biscaynes of the early sixties. They, in turn, evolved from the Turnpike Cruisers and Chrysler 300s of the fifties. The Pontiac GTO is universally recognized as heralding the dawn of the muscle car era and mandated unleaded fuel and the resulting demise of the high compression engine in '72 signaled the end of the era. The big difference between their predecessors and the muscle cars themselves was the choice of body styles. Muscle cars were high performance engines in lightweight carlines. Their fifties-ear predecessors were large, not necessarily high performance, engines in heavy bodies.

With the muscle cars came the Pony cars. Small block powered Mustangs, Cougars, Camaros, Firebirds, Darts, Barracudas, Valiants, etc. Big block versions of these cars were considered muscle cars.

Clones of these as well as hopped up versions of everything back to the mid fifties got lumped into the Street Machine category. There is something to be said for a matching numbers car and the same can be said for a true muscle car. A true muscle car will have a VIN code designating it as such. The street machine simply won't. A muscle car with an engine replacement (proper displacement) is still a muscle car. A street machine will never be a muscle car.

Interestingly enough, it was the street machiners that began to give hot rodding in general a bad name.

The street rodders, muscle car owners (real, not clone muscle cars) and custom owners weren't interested in acting like mindless children behind the wheel but the street machiners didn't care. They weren't messing with a matching numbers car. They had their life savings (some of them) in these cars and they wanted to show off. This was one of the reasons for the demise of the Street Machine and Van division demise within NSRA. Yea, we all know the vans didn't help, either.


Street rods and muscle cars are clearly defined. The rest is a bit less defined.

This is NOT a street rod, it's a muscle car....a REAL one.


--
Early hemi s.m.e.
Street rod wiring consultant
Free lance rod & custom journalist

Skip-
Thanks for clearing things up.

So a Mag publisher and a dictionary tell what a streetrod is Skip??(seems that means you are told by the people you have to pay money too) Muscle cars are by VIN tag?? I guess we are back to a glass car is what ?and a ERA cobra??? I like the idea of HOT ROD thats sounds better to me.Tools in the trunk i think is great. LOL Ok my vote ,i now have a hot rod not a streetrod.So lets do away with streetrods.(just kidding of coarse) I just dont understand were vettes ,jeeps,SUV's ,caddys and SUV's come in.(Mommy cars or?) bio's i looked at.just wondering.
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Build it! Drive it! Sell! Next!

again on the old RRT, one wrote- a streetrodder slows down to go over rail road tracks, a hot-rodder speeds up.
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That's my story and I'm stickn to it

KC A real rodder will look for away around the tracks so they get more driven time. LOL Aw well i goy my answer.Good to see many opinions here!!
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Build it! Drive it! Sell! Next!

In my youth I went faster over RR tracks because it was smoooooother. Now I go slower because I'm smarter.
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Mike J

One thing a lot of the young guys today fail to grasp is that when a lot of us old farts were rodders in high school, we were really in the minority on the road and there were a LOT less cars on the road to worry about.
So when you hear about street racing back then it was nowhere near as stupid as it is now. But Skip is still right, that's waht gave us a bad name.

I'm a "newbie" to the whole car thing and I'm not quite sure where (if anywhere) I fit into the grand scheme of things. But here's what I've observed in the last few years since Mrs. Graybeard and I became involved in the "car scene".

street-rodders have matching lawn chairs and nice new t-shirts
hot-rodders have matching bandaids and grimey old t-shirts
custom-rodders have matching jewelry and polo shirts
street-machiners have matching summons and so have no money left for ANY shirts
and last but not least-
SERIOUS street-rodders have matching tow vehicles, matching chase vehicles, matching hermetically sealed climate controlled trailers, matching checkbook covers, and one of EVERY shirt for every occassion

Graybeard

He he hee you have to love it.Good one graybeard. Its soooooo true.
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Build it! Drive it! Sell! Next!

Graybeard:
In a recent magazine editorial the guy said "It's amazing when you go to a car show everyone is wearing the same thing; shorts or jeans and a colorful hot rod T-shirt. It's like someone called everyone and told them how to dress".
I think I'll wear a suit to my next car show & see what kind of reaction I get.

Hi Fred,That should make you easy to find in a couple of weeks at the GoodGuys Event!!!Hope to see you there,By the way,what color suit, just in case your post starts a new trend!!!Look forward to seeing you in Dallas.See Ya!!
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DARYLE

I wore a "suit" for so many years I don't even want to be buried in one unless I'm made into a jar of dust! lol
A proper rod show suit is broad in description from grimy cutoffs and t shirt from the 60's to the described Polo shirt and designer shorts and matching chairs and people dressed the same color as their car (and trailer!).
What the heck, it's one of the most laid back forms of entertainment (car shows) and exibitionists that spend money to be seen by those that spend money to see....
I honestly think that the 48' cutoff should be moved up to 1950. A lot of cool rods were designed and built in those few years and I think we are doing a diservice to those that worked so hard to produce a car with "their" identity built in. What comes to mind are the chopped Mercs and chopped, channeled, and sectioned 50 fords!! way cool!
So what if the rear fenders don't come off with a few bolts! they're still part of roddings history and its reflected by the finding of those early pieces of Barris magic and restoring them to their original place in the evolution and even putting them in museums next to "street rods" built during that same time period that also wear the same "wide whites"! A chopped 50's Merc lowered in the rear and with lake pipes and non expensive paint are still looked upon with awe and the thinking of, "sure would like to have that in my garage!" Fred P FWIW
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Fred P.

When I was young I went fast over the tracks to but 35 years later I go slower because a 3'' chop is hard on the bald spot now!!!!!!!!!
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bowtie36mc

My roadster had virtually no head room when the top was bolted on. The first thing I learned when I drove it with the top on was to remove the button from the top of my cap! Damn that smarts!!
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Lynn
'32 3W

"Hot Rod" is an all-encompasing term. Modify anything and it becomes a hot rod. Detroit even had their "Factory Hot Rods". Modify a Honda 4 door and you've got a hot rod.

Vettes, they're little more than an overaged sports car. The early ones could have passed for sports cars. The later ones are just expensive prestige symbols. Yea, the ZR-1 and ten like fit into teh Factory Hot Ropd class but the majority of teh ones sold off teh showroom floor can be put in teh same class as the VW Jettas and Golfs. i.e. rich kid's playtings.



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Early hemi s.m.e.
Street rod wiring consultant
Free lance rod & custom journalist

Well, that's the way I heard it. Good and straight forward comment, by skip. Hey Skip! Can I use your comments in our Club News Letter?
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Street is Neat! And Safety Inspections Keep It That Way!

sure, you can quote it
--
Early hemi s.m.e.
Street rod wiring consultant
Free lance rod & custom journalist

Skip,
All I want to know is, when can I come haul that old green wagon back home? hehe
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Charlie

I have all of those and the tools. Great description.
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Mike J

If one slows down for a railroad track I can only guess that its due to very little ground clearence especially around the oil pan. My 27 is that way....if I slow down I run the risk of getting rear ended by the Hot Rod and if I speed up, does that make me a Hot Rodder?? By my own definition, then I am both. I built my own car, and I carry tools in the back. If it rains, I get wet!
Why put a label on the sport? A car is whatever it's owner thinks it is and if thick skinned enough, won't pay any attention to what others think. No power parking, no sticking to the car at shows, no "do not touch" signs, ( who would want to what with bug covered primer. No bras, ( that would be tough on a roadster!) You can be laid back in a 1938 Chevy Sedan as well as a low budget buildup so my vote( which includes the cool early '50's iron, or even a '55 Pontiac Safari, is one for each if I'm allowed to split my vote. Fred P
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Fred P.