Today is also Mary Farace’s birthday. If you follow her on Facebook or Instagram, please make some time today to wish her a Happy Birthday!
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Street rods have a Chevy in front and a can of wax in the back; Hot Rods have a flathead in front and a box of tools in the back.”–Fred Offenhauser
National Name Your Car Day rolls around every October 2, encouraging car owners to give their beloved vehicles a personal moniker. Studies show that naming inanimate objects can make us feel more in control and foster a deeper connection wit them. Off the top of my head, I thought I had never given any names to my cars but when I thought about it more there were two; My first car was a red 1961 Ford Falcon Futura that I called “Rambin’ Rose, for some reason. My 1981 Plymouth Champ was called the “Skate” or “Skatemobile” all nicknames for “roller skate” because it looked like and ran like a roller skate until it didn’t. I never owned a hot rod but always wished I did…
Putting the Hot in Hot Rod
Hot rods are American custom cars that have been rebuilt or modified with larger or more powerful engines that are optimized for speed. Hot rodding developed as a distinctive cultural movement emphasizing hands-on craftsmanship, individual expression, and community. Originating mostly in California during the post-World War II years, it became closely associated with youth culture, drag racing, and associated subcultures.
There are various theories about the origin of the term “hot rod”. One common trope is that “hot” related to “hotting up” a car, which means modifying it for greater performance. With regards to the word “rod”, one theory is that it meant roadster, a lightweight two-door car which was often used as the basis for early hot rods. Another theory is that “rod” refers to connecting rod, the part that connects each piston to the crankshaft. which was often upgraded to increase power output but I’m not buying that one.
There is no single, universally accepted definition of what constitutes a hot rod, and the term has been applied to a wide range of vehicles and styles. Most hot rods are individually designed and constructed using components from multiple sources, and while some are built for competition, many are intended primarily for exhibition or street use.
How I made this photograph: I photographed part of this hot rod at the famous Hot Times, Kool Cars charity auto show that was an annual event hosted by local firefighters and held at the Arvada Center for the Performing Arts, but it is no longer a current event because…
The camera used to make this images was a Contact 167 MT and a Car Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.7 T* lens. It was shot with Kodak Color Negative film; the exposure was not recorded. The film was scanned at Werner’s Mile High Camera in downtown Denver, a wonderful store that’s now closed and had a focus on high end cameras. They got me started in the Contax system when Werner sold me a used Contax G1 and new 45mm f/2 Planar T* Carl Zeiss lens. I still miss that camera.
The scan of the film was made using Kodak’s now-defunct Photo CD process and the file was opened using Lemke Software’s Graphic Converter that produces relatively good quality files from a Photo CD disc but the software is not without its quirks. The digital image file was processed in Color Efex using the Tonal Contrast filter.
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