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My love for American hot rods

8 months ago

Writer:

Ian Callum | Designer

Date:

28 February 2025

I discovered American hot rods on my 13th birthday. My younger brother, Moray, bought me several magazines from a small local newsagent as a birthday present. Goodness knows how such a shop came to have such publications, but they brought West Coast American car culture into my bedroom.

They were called Hot Rod, Car Craft and Rod & Custom. Given he was only nine, that was quite an outlay for a wee boy on minimal pocket money. He also caught the hot rod bug and now has at least three genuinely original Fords. As for those mags, sadly only Hot Rod survives as generations have moved on.

There are many stories of how such cars came into being just after the Second World War and many books written about them. There are several claims to the origin of the name ‘hot rod’, but the most likely is ‘hot’ meaning performance and ‘rod’ being short for roadster. However, the term is now commonly understood as an old (American) car that goes faster than originally intended; and with that came an aesthetic I have always loved. A look that stems from stripping the car right back, reducing weight and any notion of fanciful frills. Original hot rods, like old European race cars, were raw!

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