The Resto Rod - original variant of the crazy hot rod

In the 1930s, a tuning culture emerged in the USA, the members of which turned racing cars into everyday cars. These cars have been optimized in weight, performance and driving dynamics to drive races on the road or in dry lakes. These vehicles were then called hot rods, although the origin of the name has not been clearly established. A subspecies of the Hot Rods are the so-called Resto Rods. This article will look at the differences from the hot rods. The delimitation in the Rodder scene is not an easy task and is sometimes very different from country to country.

as close to the original as possible

The principle of Resto Rodding is restoring the car as close to the original as possible. Vehicles are also referred to as Resto Rods, which strictly speaking should not have the designation. Hot rod base vehicles are US cars with years of construction between 1928 and 1948, especially roadsters. Nowadays, however, restorations of more recent construction years are also called resto rods. But these Resto Rods are also close to the original. If everything is removed from the hot rod that is not necessary during the race, the resto rod remains unchanged. Only the smallest changes such as changed seats or minimal changes to the body are OK. The heart of every rod, the engine, is not left out. If a large-volume V8 engine is usually installed when looking into the engine compartment of a hot rod, the original engine should always be installed in the Resto Rod. Of course, this is polished, painted or even chrome, but not changed on the performance side, which should be the biggest difference to the hot rod.

Limits are not always recognizable

But as so often, rules are sometimes broken. So you can find resto rods that are higher, deeper, wider, louder, more colorful or even more powerful than the originals. These vehicles are actually in the area of Restomods relocating is a combination of restoration and modification with significantly newer components. The modification types used in the classic rods, such as that Chopping or Channeling should not be found at the Resto Rodden. In both variants, parts of the vehicle body are removed to minimize air resistance and simply look cooler. So anyone who has committed to a Resto Rod or is flirting with buying one is more of a fan of originality. Then there is again a small drop of bitterness, because if parts of the base vehicle are broken, the selection of spare parts is limited to the originals, which are becoming fewer and fewer. The body parts of newly built rods are often made of GRP, if only because of the lack of original steel bodies. For the Resto Rod, of course, this is frowned upon, as it doesn't correspond to the spirit of the time.

We hope that you the info report on the topic / term Resto Rod from the area of ​​auto tuning.