Automotive Cutstomization

Automotive Customization

Anthony McCauley

GEN/200

September 21 2010

John Osborne

Automotive Customization

Automotive Customization is making or changing an automobile to the customer or owners personal likes or specifications. I believe any change to the manufacturer’s basic specifications classifies the vehicle as custom. Personal customization could be something as small as changing the factory stereo for an aftermarket CD player to radically changing the engine and suspension because the owner or customer has personalized the vehicle to his or her liking. Individual and personal definitions vary greatly because of individual time, money, ideas, and extent of work put into the modification of the vehicle.

History

Hot Rods are viewed by the culture to be the original custom automobile. Hot Rods first came into existence during the Depression by those who wanted to prove that they could receive automotive recognition with very little money. Hot Rods focused mainly on power and performance, but it was also a social status. The resourcefulness and independence of those building these cars separated them from the average homebuilt race car. The term Hot Rod didn’t become popular until the 1940s. Before then they were known as gow jobs or soup-ups. Hot Rods are typically Ford Model A and Model T roadsters but evolved into coups and sedans (Warde, n.d.).

Styles

From Hot Rods to bicycles to farm equipment, today the culture has evolved to include many types and ways to customize anything with wheels and an engine.

Hot Rods

The souped-up Hot Rods first came on the scene in the late 1920s. They were mostly made up of Fords, Mercury’s, and Chevrolets and were generally newer cars that didn’t come from salvage yards. Customs began the focus on bodywork techniques such as chopping the top and different lowering styles. This was the era when chrome detailing of the pipes and several other accessories came into abundance....