AUTOMOBILES: HOT RODS

            This series of definitions is not meant to be comprehensive but rather an aid to help fiction writers make their characters’ dialog sound “authentic.” Some are occupational slang. Recording studio musicians for example hate “clams” (sour notes).

Others are basic terms. To a sailor a hold is where cargo is stowed aboard a ship. To a gambler a hold is the bet percentage held back by a casino.

            America’s love affair with automobiles has been going on for over a century now. For this and the next three entries in this series we’ll list a few colorful words used by auto enthusiasts beginning with the classic hot rod as in a bomb, a screamer that has been chopped and raked.

                                                                                                 Michael McKeever

    

AUTOMOBILES: HOT RODS:

classic hot rod: 1920s-1930s car rebuilt as a hot rod in late 1940s-1950s.

bomb:              hot rod.

chopped:         lowered roof.

nostalgia hot rod: modern replica of a classic hot rod.

raked:              lowered front end.

screamer:         hot rod.

skins:               tires.

street hot rod: hot rod with required modifications to make it legal for street driving.

T-bucket:         hot rod built from 1920s Model T Ford.