Petersen Automotive Museum

Hot rods originated in the late 1920s when Henry Ford introduced the V8 flathead engine. This technological development spawned car customizers in the backyards of working class Southern California white suburbs like Glendale and Burbank. On weekends, these hobbyists would gather in the high desert at dry salt lakes like the Salton Sea to race and test-drive their custom vehicles.

Those who didn't make the drive to the desert wound up in illegal races on city streets. And there were accidents, some fatal. This stirred controversy.

"Hot Rod"

In 1938, due to the negative press about street racing, the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) was formed to organize legal custom car competitions and help establish minimal safety standards. During this period of the late thirties, the term "hot rod" was coined as a contraction of "hot roadster."

During World War II, the salt lake flats used for racing were used as aerial bomb sites.

National Guard Armory "Exposition"

After the war, returning veterans once again took to street racing and were soon lumped in with the exploits of the newly formed Hells Angels motorcycle club. In 1948, as a response to the Angels' negative publicity, the SCTA threw the first "Annual Automotive Equipment Display and Hot Rod Exposition" at the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles. This event served to bring the then-underground hot rod subculture into the mainstream, complete with corporate sponsors. The job of attracting these sponsors fell to Hollywood public relations man, Robert E. "Pete" Petersen, himself a backyard hot rod enthusiast.

"Pete" Petersen

Petersen saw so much potential in promoting the world of car customizers and enthusiasts that he started popular magazines aimed at this audience: "Motor Trend" and "Hot Rod." Eventually his magazines gained such popularity that he was able to parlay them into a magazine publishing empire, Petersen Publishing.

In 1994, Petersen retired from publishing and decided to open the Petersen Automotive Museum as a multi-million dollar tribute to his love of custom cars and automotive design in general. The Bruce Meyer Gallery is the Museum's tribute to the hot rod.

The Petersen Automotive Museum is located at 6060 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. It's open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm.

Hot Rod Culture Today

In 1996, the Detroit automotive establishment paid its first tribute to the hot rod with Chrysler's Prowler. The tribute, however, was short-lived. Prowler production ended in 2002. It was soon replaced by the Chrysler Crossfire, a smoothed-out version of a roadster. Production on the Crossfire ended in 2007.

SOURCES:

"A short history of the hot rod", John Warde, MSN,

"Hot Rods Redux", Brock Yates, American Heritage