HEAVY-DUTY HOT ROD

sk 10 car guys what the term “hot rod” means, and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. However, most of these definitions will share a central theme. A hot rod is typically a mundane vehicle fitted with the largest-displacement, highest-output engine available — usually a V-8 — which is then pushed even further through the addition of performance upgrades. Some of the earliest examples of this trend came from the Prohibition Era, when bootleggers and outlaws (most notably John Dillinger) evaded authorities in gutted Ford coupes equipped with souped-up Flathead V-8s. Dry-lakebed and drag-strip racers adopted similar tactics, upping the ante with bored and stroked engines, high-octane fuel, and superchargers. In the end,