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Hot-rodding is a popular American culture. The phenomenon was first covered by magazines. Glossy print names such as 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 activity in the American life.

In addition to print, hot-rodding likewise gained mileage in the visual wing of the media. Discovery Channel featured a lot of hot-rod documentaries such as Monster Garage, American Hot Rod, and Overhauling. And television shows such as My Classic Car and Horsepower TV also had dedicated episodes on topics about hot-rodding.

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 mostly began in the 1930′s in Southern California where people started modifying light cars with big engines and started racing them on the vast and empty lake beds northeast of Los Angeles. The original hot rods were old cars that were reduced to weigh less and improve aerodynamics.