This month's feature : Hot Rod

Definition of a: Street Rod, Rat Rod, Resto Rod and Retro Rod?

Depending on how many people you ask, you'll likely get as many different definitions of what a Street Rod is. Below are some basic facts that will hopefully clear up some of the confusion you may have, if any, between what a Street Rod, Rat Rod and Resto Rod, not to be confused with Retro Rod really is. Starting from right to left. Retro Rod:

The first thing to remember is, there is no such thing as a Retro Rod. For whatever reason, that word has been popping up here and there over the Internet and being poorly used to descried one's Resto Rod. For the sake of argument, no Retro Rod exists except however when using the first part or the word to describe certain types of music from the 1970's

Now let's take Resto Rod: Resto Rod was a phrase coined sometime around the early '70's. Although no one is really sure of the exact date, they all seem to agree that a Resto Rod is any modified pre 1949 vehicle that is left virtually stock in appearance with an updated drivetrain. Items such as, door handles, running boards, cowl lights are left intact.

It was so, in the 1970's when gas, fuel that powers our hobby, briefly became a scarce commodity and the whole hot rodding trend - styling actually - seem to take a down turn for the worse. Fortunately it quickly rebound thanks to guys like Pete Chapouris, Jim Jacobs, Lil' John Buttera, Boyd Coddington and a whole slew of other names that turned street rodding around forever. By the time the 80's rolled around, hot rodding came back with a wonderful vengeance and has stayed that way ever since....read more

article provided by Honolulu Streets Magazine