Hot-rodding is a popular American culture. The phenomenon was first covered by magazines. Glossy print names like The Rodders Journal, Hot Rod Magazine, Street Rodder, Popular Hot Rodding, and Rod and Custom Magazine are just a few of the magazines that feature this staple of American life.

In addition to the press, hot rodding also gained mileage in the visual wing of the media. Discovery Channel featured a host of race car documentaries including Monster Garage, American Hot Rod and Overhaulin’. And TV shows like My Classic Car and Horsepower TV also had episodes devoted to hot rodding-related topics.

Tom Wolfe wrote about it in his book “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby”. Even the Beach Boys sang about it in “My Little Deuce Coupe.”

Hot-rodding began primarily in the 1930s in Southern California, where people began modifying light cars with large engines and racing them on the vast, empty lake beds northeast of Los Angeles. The original hot rods were vintage cars that were downsized to weigh less and improve aerodynamics. After World War II, many small airports were abandoned in the country. In effect, these venues allowed hot rodders to compete on marked courses. World War II also helped the popularity of the hobby, especially in California, where many of the returning soldiers received in-service technical training to modify such cars.

At the center of it all, the 1932 Ford Roadster was the car every hot rod fan wanted. It was the car that changed the auto industry forever. He was simple, slender and had a coveted handsome body. It also had a very affordable engine, the V8, which earned the 1932 Ford Roadster a reputation as the perfect car for a speed-obsessed nation.

But then, like everything else, the popularity of hot rodding began to wane. Car shows and drag racing divided the hot-roding community. Detroit then released muscle cars like the Plymouth Roadrunner and Pontiac GTO. With these muscle cars, it was no longer necessary to put a Cadillac engine in a Ford Roadster. The Pontiac GTO could outperform any hot rod and offered more room for passengers. There was no longer any need to spend time building and tuning the car yourself. Muscle cars had it all.

But today, the hot rod culture lives on. And in January 2007, Hod Rod Culture even celebrated its 75th anniversary with the release of The 75 Most Influential “1932 Ford Hot Rods.” The list was commissioned by Ford, where a panel of hot rod experts reviewed some four hundred and seventy-four worthy cars and narrowed them down to seventy-five cars.

So if you are interested in being part of the hot rod culture, I advise you to first try to rent the car from one of the car rental dealers in the city. By renting it, you’ll get a taste of the car experience, not just in a nostalgic showroom, but on the gravel itself. If you don’t like it, you won’t regret it because you can return it after renting it. But if you like it (which I’m pretty sure you will), then fine.

You may also want to check out the sites of these car rental dealers. Their websites already offer car models, prices, rental policies, special offers and reservations. Live and be part of the American Way in a rental like the 1932 Ford Roadster. This is the American Way as you know it, discover it first hand in your exotic car rental.