Hotrods. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some are sleek, stylish, and polished, while others may be more crude and unrefined. Some hotrods sound wonderful and run great while some may backfire and smoke. Some have beautiful candy-colored paint while others are rusty and dusty. It doesn’t matter the type of hotrod you have, it’s yours and you love it.
It all starts when you are just a kid and your dad approaches you to have “The Talk”. He sits at the edge of your bed and pulls out a picture book to show you something very important that every child should know: how to build a hot rod.
As he thumbs through his tattered copy of Hotrod Magazine he pauses to show you pictures of 33 Coupes, Model T’s, Roadsters, and Willys. My dad was especially proud of his ’32 Chevy Cabriolet. It was maroon with baby moon hubcaps and DeSoto bumpers. Not to mention the two “cans” out the back for the dual exhaust. From this point on you’ve been bitten by the Hotrod bug and you proclaim that one day you will own a Hotrod with a Hemi.
As you grow up, graduate, and start to work, you find yourself with a couple extra dollars and you feel like now is the time to take the leap. At first it’s hard finding the right one for you. Some need too much maintenance and you could never afford them – while others need a lot of work, which you just don’t have the time for. You find yourself hitting up the usual spots: car shows, auctions, Craigslist, and even eBay Motors. The search can be long and exhausting and just when you feel like giving up and buying a Prius, there she is!
The candy apple red catches the corner of your eye and your head whips around so fast you give yourself whiplash. An uncontrollable grin creeps from the corners of your mouth and you immediately start to daydream what it would be like if she were yours. Wind blowing through your hair, arm resting on the door half out the car baking in the summer’s rays. You proclaim to yourself, “I’m going to make this Willys mine!”
Without hesitation, you ask for the owner’s permission to take her for a test drive. She needs a little work but she’s everything you ever hoped for. From the 426 Hemi to the massive supercharger with blower, this hotrod has it all!
Once the honeymoon is over and you’ve gotten to know her better, it’s time to put in the work. Like all good things in life that are worth working for, it takes a lot of time and effort. Many nights are spent turning wrenches, and polishing chrome while some are spent yelling and maybe even crying. One thing is for certain though, this hotrod is yours and you wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Any true Hotrod owner knows the challenges that you can face but they also know how sweet the reward can be. The reward doesn’t have to be ribbons or trophies. It can be something as simple as the rumble of exhaust, a gawking kid staring from across the road, or sitting down with your children to have “The Talk”. It’s why I wrote Hot Rod Bunny, after all!