Pearl Harbor Day is significant to Hot Rodders

Pearl Harbor day is a significant memorial for Americans and car guys alike.
Although the auto racing had already taken root in America and in Europe and the Model T was being turned into speedsters and doodle bugs the current automotive culture did not develop until after World War 2.
It was returning WW2 vets who came home and used their increased income and war experiences to begin cutting up and tearing down the older cars that had been setting around the country side.
This abundance of autos and the new found boredom of home away from war lead many young men to go racing. At first it was the venerable Model A and Model T getting the more powerful Ford Flat head V8 engine swaps. These smaller lighter cars found significant gains with a 1932 and up Flatty.
It was during the fifties that these same guys found that the all new Chevrolet V8 which was a push rod engine placing the valves over the heads was far more powerful and accepted modification in a more gratifying way than the now dated Flat head.
The small block Chevy fit right into the light weight 32 Ford and many others. These cars where the first truly quick street cars. Hot Rods became a part of our culture as they were both denigrated and loved. Hated by the clean and straight they represented a dangerous loose life and were not the desired toy of retirees that they are today.
The spirit of the hot rod lives on today. As we modify cars to gain more power and more speed we are following in a long line of Americans who have come and gone.
Today we squabble over a LS1 in a Mustang and claim blowers are better than spray but these things are not new. The true spirit of the Hot Rodder enjoys the pursuit of speed more than the resale value of his ride or cultural taboos. Keep in mind a Chevy in a Ford has been around a long time since the fifty's and like it or not the Flat head V8 was the original engine swap of choice even during the Great Depression. Blowers, nitrous, or moth balls in water, or moon shine injection they are all the same.
So this Pearl Harbor Day stop and consider. When Pearl Harbor was attacked the world barely new the custom car seen. But when those boys came home after wooping some Axis of Evil they came home to become guys that we now immulate with our hobby.

Say thanks to a vet today.
Brian