From the chop top hot rods to the classy white 1956 Ford Thunderbird featured in 1973’s nostalgic coming of age film “American Graffiti”, America loves her street rods. The late 1930’s saw the birth of this genre of cars in the desert-like region of southern California. In those days you were lucky to own one car so trailering a race car was not an option. Your regular transportation was also your speedster, and amateur mechanics spent hour’s fine tuning their rides to take them to victory at the salt flats and to their jobs during the week. Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena were just dusty little cities during this era but quickly became known as Street Rod towns.

One of the earliest American roadsters from 1909.

Roadsters, both Model A and Model T, made up most of the street rods in the early days. Any part that wasn’t essential to driving the car was stripped off including parts like fenders and running boards. When coupes and sedans came on the scene they chopped their tops down to reduce weight and improve aerodynamics. Smaller tires on the front axles lowered the vehicle to reduce wind resistance, and to improve the gear ratio they put big tires on the back.

World War II served to add to the thrill of owning and driving street rods because when the servicemen returned home, they had money to spend on their cars and many had spent time improving their mechanical skills while in the service of their country. The popularity of street rods gained momentum in the following decades expanding out from southern California to all across the country. Showing off your car by cruising the strip and impromptu street racing became the cool pastime for American youth.

Street rods today remain popular with collectors and fans of this branch of hot rodding. The National Street Rod Association stipulates that street rods are cars that were produced before 1949. Today’s rods sport beautiful custom paint jobs, upgraded interiors and modern mechanics. To experience some of the coolest rods in the country right where everything began, come to the Pomona Swap Meet and Classic Car Show to see street rods that are for sale and just being shown off. Contact us for more information on our swap meet and classic car show.