Meaningful Post for Us Car Junkies

**coolone** · 01-06-2013

I left this alone becaus I didn't want to reflect away from the OP which was pretty cool. But TX, you didn't say it, but implied is just as good. The oldest racetrack in the World is Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin

. Are you to imply then that this track was built without spectators attending? Sure is wasn't AS popular, but are you referring the the Saturday night crawls? Come on though, really... Modding and tinkering with cars/engines happened as soon as the things hit the streets

**txslow6** · 01-06-2013

Originally Posted by coolone

I left this alone becaus I didn't want to reflect away from the OP which was pretty cool. But TX, you didn't say it, but implied is just as good. The oldest racetrack in the World is Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin

. Are you to imply then that this track was built without spectators attending? Sure is wasn't AS popular, but are you referring the the Saturday night crawls? Come on though, really... Modding and tinkering with cars/engines happened as soon as the things hit the streets

No I'm not implying anything except for the fact that racing and modifying had the largest growth after WWII. It's the reason I stated about speed shops popping up after the war. It eventually became more affordable and the public became more interested in it as a sport, hobby, and seeing who had the biggest cock. I can see why you guys thought I meant the start of automotive competition to begin with, I should have been more clear.

Here ya go explains a little better:

Late 1930s–1950s

The term seems first to have appeared in the late 1930s in southern California, where people would race their modified cars on the vast, empty dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles under the rules of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA). The activity increased in popularity after World War II, particularly in California because many returning soldiers had been given technical training in the service. Many were prepared by Bootleggers in response to Prohibition to enable them to avoid revenue agents ("Revenooers"); some police vehicles were also modified in response.[citation needed]
The first hot rods were old cars (most often Fords, typically Model Ts, 1928–31 Model As, or 1932-34 Model Bs), modified to reduce weight. Typical modifications were removal of convertible tops, hoods, bumpers, windshields, and/or fenders; channeling the body; and modifying the engine by tuning and/or replacing with a more powerful type. Speedster was a common name for the modified car. Wheels and tires were changed for improved traction and handling. "Hot rod" was sometimes a term used in the 1950s as a derogatory term for any car that did not fit into the mainstream. Hot rodders' modifications were considered to improve the appearance as well, leading to show cars in the 1960s replicating these same modifications along with a distinctive paint job.
Engine swaps often involved fitting the Ford flathead engine, or "flatty", in a different chassis; the "60 horse" in a Jeep was a popular choice in the '40s. After the appearance of the 255 cu in (4.2 l) V8, because of interchangeability, installing the longer-stroke Mercury crank in the 239 was a popular upgrade among hot rodders, much as the 400 cu in (6.6 l) crank in small-blocks would become. In fact, in the 1950s, the flathead block was often fitted with crankshafts of up to 4.125 in (104.8 mm) stroke, sometimes more.[2] In addition, rodders in the 1950s routinely bored them out by 0.1875 in (4.76 mm) (to 3.375 in (85.7 mm));[2] due to the tendency of blocks to crack as a result of overheating, a perennial problem, this is no longer recommended.[3] In the '50s and '60s, the flatty was supplanted by the early hemi.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_rod