Hot rods were born in America when the first automotive pioneers created stripped-down, high-performance versions
of their production cars to generate publicity for their fledgling car companies.
Early hot rodders echoed that passion for speed, copying those early racing cars by stripping all non-critical parts from their cars, tuning their engines,
and racing their rods from California s dry lake beds to the beaches of Florida.

Hot rodding is all about performance and style, and that s what the cars in this book reflect.
In Hot Rods, you ll find examples of classic traditional hot rods, exotic show rods, and bare-bones rat rods,
each representing its owner s vision of what a hot rod should be.
These cars embody the spirit of the early hot rodders, echoing the history and purpose of those early days.

Hot rods are cars built by and for the chosen few those who are willing to sacrifice comfort for speed and lots of it.
Like the hot rod pioneers who drove their machines on the dry lake beds of Southern California and the beaches of Florida,
the builders of the cars featured in this book understand what hot rodding is all about: hopped-up engines
and stripping a car of all non-critical parts to maximize performance and style.

In Hot Rods, motojournalist Alan Mayes highlights more than 40 cars that represent the breadth of styles found in hot rodding today.
Classic traditional rods, wild show rods, and bare-bones rat rods are all featured, as are several head-turning cars that defy categorization.
All of these hot rods are meant to be driven and driven fast but they also show off the distinctive and flawless detail work of their builders
and preserve the traditions of that early hot rodding culture.

300 color photos

More than 40 cars

Additional facts and trivia about each car