Return of the Rod

Depending on how you look at it, hot rods either embarrassed or inspired Detroit. Whenever automakers introduced dull cars, rebel rodders put their own spin on standard platforms, creating wheels so wild they became American classics. Such customizing flourished in the Fifties, in part because of an outlaw status which made it that much more exciting. The slow, assembly-line barges of the day were transformed into racy, low-slung vehicles called lead sleds--because lead was used to form the slick metalwork. Remember James Dean's lowered, de-chromed Mercury coupe in Rebel Without a Cause, or Edd "Kookie" Byrnes' Cadillac-engined Model T in 77 Sunset Strip? Some guys chopped the tops on their cars--literally taking a section out of each doorpost and roof support. Then they rewelded the lower rooflines, removed the chrome, installed the biggest, most powerful engines they could find and repainted the bodies in pearlescent hues. By 1960, Detroit got the hint. Tearing a page from Hot Rod magazine, automakers dropped their biggest engines into their lightest bodies to come up with such masterly muscle cars as the Pontiac GTO and the Chevrolet 409. Hot-rodding took the backseat for a while; if you wanted a fast, stylish car, Detroit could sell you one. In fact, it wasn't until a decade later that American Graffiti and Happy Days launched a Fifties nostalgia boom. Hot rods were back, but this time a huge after-market industry emerged, offering modern reproductions of old-car bodies and components. There was no longer a need to search junkyards for vintage parts. All you needed was a credit card and UPS dropped the gear at your door. Today, the pendulum has swung back to automakers for fast, innovative new models. But hot-rodders are still competing for leading-edge design. For the past few years some of the car shows' biggest hits have been hot rods. Mitsubishi's Aluma-Coupe, a highly stylized flashback inspired by the 1932 Ford, was 1992's favorite. This year, it was Plymouth's Prowler, an innovative retro-roadster based on Chrysler's production LH sedans and pictured on our opening spread. According to Tom Gale, Chrysler's vice president of design, "the Prowler has received so much interest, we're considering it for limited production." If Chrysler goes ahead with the project, the Prowler will follow in the tire tracks of the Dodge Viper--a no-frills, limited-edition production car aimed at a niche market. The price: maybe $30,000. But don't send in the down payment yet. Instead, if you want a hot rod but lack the mechanical know-how to build your own, look up Los Angeles' Boyd Coddington, Chuck Lombardo or Roy Brizio, or Ken Fenical of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. For $30,000 to $40,000, any one of these metalsmiths will create a custom car. All have impressive credentials: For instance, Coddington built the radical 1948 Cadillac fastback show car named Cadzzilla for a member of the rock group ZZ Top, as well as Chezoom, the updated 1957 Chevy hardtop (below). To see these and other customs up close, you can check out one of the dozens of hot-rod shows held across the country each year. The National Street Rod Association's Nationals topped 13,000 entrants last August in Louisville, Kentucky. Another huge event is held in June at St. Ignace, Michigan. Attending this gathering is like stepping back in time: Doo-wop, poodle skirts and greased-back hair abound. The Oakland Roadster Show, America's oldest and most prestigious hot-rod meet, has been held every January in Oakland, California for 44 years. And the National Hot Rod Association sponsors nostalgia drag races semiannually, featuring competition cars of the past. Bruce Meyer, president of Geary's specialty stores in Beverly Hills and owner of the 1932 Ford roadster (left, facing page) and the chopped 1950 Mercury included in this feature, sums up hot-rod mania: "Hot rods are more fun than driving a Ferrari Testarossa. I grew up a little too late for these cars, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood."