The History Of Hot Rodding

It was a denomination used in North America to generically indicate the vehicles that participate in linear speed or acceleration races. The literal meaning of hot rod is " incandescent rod ", an expression that provides a vague concept, either of the type of vehicle used in an acceleration race, or of the particular character that distinguishes the race itself: hot rod is a kind with a mechanism on wheels capable of bringing out all its power in a few seconds; Hot Rodding is a race at an unbridled pace that starts and ends in the space of 400m. The most popular and representative image of the hot rod is that of the « dragster «: The origin of the term dragster is uncertain, although it most likely derives from common expressions of defiance such as drag your car out of the garage and race me (drag your car out of the garage and compete with me), or drag the gear , which means (hasten a development of the change to the limit).

The first dragsters were standard cars with slightly boosted engines and trimmed bodies in order to reduce the overall weight and technically they were called that for the vehicle that reaches speeds of around 400 km / h in 400 meters. The history of hot rodding, However, the dragster does not only represent a single category, the fastest and most spectacular, but also the most limited of the many in which the hot rod is subdivided. Vehicles of any type may participate in all North American acceleration races, for each of which there is a suitable class.

When the Hot Rod proper begins

The talk of hot rod began towards the end of the 1940s, with the dispute of the first legally organized acceleration race. Indeed, as early as the 1920s American motorists used to compare the acceleration qualities of their vehicles in improvised, short-distance, unregulated races.

After World War II: the big takeoff

Returning to peace, the Americans find themselves with an old automobile fleet. Since the beginning of the great war, car factories had dedicated their efforts to the production of military vehicles, so what was known did not give immediate answers to the taste of new fashions. Therefore, many dedicated themselves to reform, what Uruguayans know as " cahilas " or old cars.

After the Second World War they undarn many small military airports across the country that were abandoned or rarely used who were able to use, its runways and landing to be used for these competitions speed. As Hot Rod racing  became more and more popular, magazines and associations were born.

And, as some of these cars were racing on the streets, the need arose for an organization to promote safety. This is how  the National Hot Rod Association (  NHRA  ) was born in 1951  and they began to regulate racing on the streets and on the tracks. They created rules based on safety and entertainment, and allowed any Hot Rod of any category to compete.

The Rod Hod

The best known and fastest hot rods are dragsters. These are part of the Top Fuel category , which foresees few technical limitations. Hot rods of this type are the fastest in the absolute sense and can only be driven by professional riders. Then comes the  Funny Car class , which includes the dragsters themselves equipped with a plastic body that reproduces the line of a series vehicle. This is followed by the Pro Stock class , in which there are standard production cars modified according to standards that allow a wide freedom of action on the mechanical parts.

Group 1 Professional

Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock are the 3 Hot Rod classes that are integrated into Group 1 (professional), reserved for professional drivers.

Group 2 Sport Racing

Then comes Group 2 (sport racing), open to those who are in possession of a driving license and have not suffered penalties for traffic violations. These are subdivided into 4 categories.

Competition , which regroups 7 classes of cars divided by displacement, fuel used, use or not of compressor, etc.

Super Stock , comprising 40 classes of series vehicles prepared on the basis of fairly broad constraints.

Stock , reserved for normal production cars prepared according to much more restrictive standards.

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