The Cal Look

A stock Volkswagen Beetle is comparatively underpowered by modern standards and even as early as the 1950's companies were developing aftermarket performance product for Volkswagen owners that wanted a little more power. After a short period of time Beetles began entering drag racing competitions and holding their own on the strip.

In the 1960's enthusiasts (particularly in California) started to emulate these drag racing cars by stripping of all the chrome, upgrading the wheels and tyres and modifying the front suspension to give a nose down appearance. This style became the foundation of the Cal Look that we see today although it has evolved over time.

Today the Cal Look has become incredibly popular mainly due to the relative inexpensive of the Volkswagen Beetles and the cost involved in creating an eye-catching Cal Look example. There is a myriad performance parts available compared to those available in the 1960's and unleashing large amounts of power from the flat-four engine is fairly achievable on a modest budget.

One of the main features that identifies the Cal Look is the smooth body where most or all the exterior trim etc has been removed. This can be traced back to its drag-racing roots where reducing the curb-weight of a car is a key ingredient in achieving a good time on the drag strip. The steel wheels are also usually replaced with lighter alloy wheels with popular choices being Porsche Empi 5 or 8 spoke wheels. The choice of 5 or 8 spoke is mainly determined by the age of the car they are being installed on because older Volkswagen's had 5 studs whereas the later one only have 4 studs.

A common popular half-way variant on an all-out Cal Look is the Resto Cal Look. These Volkswagens are essentially stock with the exception of a lowered stance and tuned engine. They are often fitted with aftermarket period accessories such as roof-racks, fender-skirts and air conditioning units.

The Cal Look is no longer only popular on Volkswagen Beetle and is now also very popular with Campers, Ghia's and Type 4's.

In Stephan Szantai Demon Bugs book he gives many examples of Cal and Resto Cal Volkswagen's. To see the entire article together with some Cal Look pictures then click here.

Volks Rods

The Volksrod is really a hot-rod that is based on a Volkswagen Beetle but in the style that you may expect from Hot Rods build from Model T Fords or Model A Fords. Some believe that the scarseness of old cars to modify and customise has led to the increased popularity of volksrods while others suggest it could be due to the customising community looking for something a little bit different.

A Volksrod is easily identified as it will usually be in the style of a Rat-Rod and most commonly painted matt black. The wings are usually removed and replaced with wheel hugging mud-guards, to prevent stones from damaging fellow drivers cars.

The front suspension is either moved forward to make the wheel-base look longer with some reworking of the stock suspension and steering components. Another popular modification is remove the stock suspension and steering components and fit the suspension from an early Ford. This popularity of this modification has lead to the creation of several kits that have been made available.

To see the entire article together with some volks rod pictures click here.

Rat Rods

A Rat Rod is difficult to define but you know when you see one! They are often based on cars from the 1940's to the 1960's but some examples are as recent as the 1970's. Some Hot-Rods are assembed from a selection of parts usually dating around the 1930's.

To the people not familiar with Rat Rods these cars may appear unfinished and shoddy but that couldn't be further from the truth. Rat Rods were originally developed as an alternative to the glossy high-price Hot-Rods which were never driven and trailored to shows. Rat Rods are all about the fun of building and driving them and appearance take second place. The majority of Rat Rods that are seen at the shows will be dented and rusty but importantly they will have been driven there. If a part needs to be replaced then the owner will often fabricate the part themselves of fit a part that does the job equally well. If the Rat Rod is painted at all it is usually matt black or primered and often will have Maltese crosses on the doors and skull accessories such as the gear-shifter.

For the builders of these cars it is all about building a car that performs well both in speed and acceleration as well as handling and braking. For that reason the majority of the 'comfort items will be stripped away such as headlining, interior trim to give the best power to weight ratio possible. Many of the cars have heavily modified bodies and are often roof-chopped, channelled, lengthened, shortened etc.

The typical choice of engine for a Rat Rod is a V8 which would probably be a Ford Flathead V8 or an early Chrysler Hemi.

To see then entire article together with some Rat Rod pictures click here.

Lowrider Suspension

There are several options that are available to lowrider enthusiasts to achieve the desired 'in the weeds' look. These include dropped spindles, chopping the suspension springs, hydraulic systems and airbag systems. In the modern lowrider culture airbags or hydraulics are usually preferred over dropped spindles or chopped springs since the ride height is adjustable.

Airbag Suspension

The use of airbag technology is now the most common type of suspension modification due to its price and simplicity. A cheap system can cost about $400 to install leading up to about $1000 for a more advanced system.

To create an adjustable ride the coil springs are replaced with a rubber bag that is filled with air from a central reservoir which is filled using an air compressor. To raise the car the bags are inflated with air and to lower the car the bags are deflated. A simple system consists of a air-bags, a compressor, a reservoir and control unit.

It is important not to drive with the suspension completely lowered all the time as it can lead to premature failure of the airbag itself as the rubber will become fatigued. It is also probably dangerous and impractical due to the inability to move the wheels fully as they will be tucked up under the wheel-arches. Conversely riding with the suspension fully raised will lead to a very harsh ride and may cause cracking around the mounting points of the airbags.

While airbags give the ability to adjust the ride height it tends to be slower than its hydraulic counterpart.

Hydraulic Suspension

With a hydraulic installation it is possible to make the jump, bounce and hop due to the speed at which the ride height can be adjusted. In the air-bag system the suspension spring is replaced with a rubber bag that is filled with air in the hydraulic system however the spring is replaced with a bladder that is filled with fluid under immense pressure very quickly. This rapid expansion causes the car to lift very rapidly and depending upon the speed of the flow can cause the car to jump of the ground.

The pumps required to fill the bladders are very power-hungry and often require the lowrider having several batteries to make the system successful. The flow to each bladder, usually at each corner of the car, can be controlled independently using a solenoid valve that can be switched to give the appearance of dancing. In many cases it would be unsafe to be in the car whilst the car is moving so the switches for the solenoids are made externally accessible.

Installing a hydraulic system on a lowrider can be very expensive when compared to the airbag system.

Hi-Risers - Donks, Bubbles and Boxes

The term Hi-Riser refers to a modified vehicle that has been modified in such a way to that the ground clearance has been increased greatly over the factory standard. This is achieved by adding large oversize wheels with very low profile tyres. The sizes of these wheels are typically between 20-26 inches but with the demand to get bigger and bigger some cars now feature 28 inch wheels and maybe more.

To get such large wheels to fit into the wheel arches the owners of the hi-risers have had to adopt modifications commonly seen on monster trucks and kits are available to give the car the required lift. Particular attention must be paid to the braking system due to the increase diameter of the wheels and the suspension in general which needs to be stiffened to avoid excessive roll when cornering.

Inexpensive automobiles are commonly used to create a Hi-Riser and the model and its age will determine which category the Hi-Riser is in. The most popular models that are used in the creation of a Hi-Riser are the full-size Chevrolet cars such as the Impala, Caprice, Monte Carlo, and Chevelle. A Box is usually a 1970-1990 Caprice or Impala and so called due to their squared off front and rear ends, giving a box-like appearance. A Bubble is usually a 1990 Caprice or Impala and so called because they are rounded at both ends.

A Donk is in a league of its own and is generally created from a mid 1970s Impala, Caprice and Monte Carlo or any mid 1970s ride with a sloping rear end. The stance of a Donk is very important and is slightly different to a Box or Bubble in that the front of the car is slightly higher than the rear, giving a nose in the air appearance. The name Donk has come from the "badonka-donk" noise that the rear suspension makes when it goes of bumps in the road.

Other manufacturers that are commonly chosen for Hi-Risers are Buick, Pontiac and Oldsmobile.

50 Years of Hot Rod

Most car enthusiasts will be familiar with the Hot Rod magazine and this book is a chronical of Hot Rod magazine. The books is categorised into 5 chapters covering the fifties, the sixties, the seventies, the eighties and lastly the nineties.

In the fifties the magazine was mainly covering the drag racing as it evolved into the sport we see today and the formation of the NSRA.

Through the sixties the magaizine covered the big names such as Mickey Thompson, the Summers Brothers and Art Arfons as they became legends in the newly formed automotive arena. As well as covering drag and competition Hot Rod also had pictures of some of the amazing creations by big names such as Ed Roth.

As time progressed hot rodding and car customising became a huge industry and with the arrival of names like Boyd Coddington in the nineties a Hot Rod became the new must have accessory. Celebrities such as ZZ Top all put in their orders for the next cool ride the majority of which adorned the pages of the Hot Rod magazine.

It is interesting to see how the hot rod and car customising community has formed throughout the last 50 years and this book shows it in a very visual and easily digestible format.

If you would like to see the whole review of 50 Years of Hot Rod then click here.

Merchants of Speed: The Men Who Built America's Performance Industry

This book is for budding automotive historians everywhere and describes how the all majority of the big names in performance parts came into existance. This is a very big book packed with pictures from the various companies founders private collections showing the small garages and workshops where it all began.

Through the book many of the founders tell their tales of the relentless quest to go faster and the lengths they went to to achive this, sometimes leading to the inevitable accident.

The following big-names are listed in the book without whom the hot-rodding world maybe a very different (and slower) place:

• Ansen
• Braje
• Crane
• Edelbrock
• Engle
• Evans
• Herbert
• Hilborn
• Howards
• Iskenderian
• McGurk
• Navarro
• Offenhauser
• Potvin
• Scott
• Sharp
• Spalding
• Tattersfield-Baron
• Thickstun
• Wayne
• Weber
• Weiand
• Wilson

You can see the whole review of Merchants of Speed: The Men Who Built America's Performance Industry by clicking here.

About The Author
A longtime hot rod and drag racing enthusiast, Paul D. Smith split his time between Southern California and his native Canada while writing and researching this, his first book. Today he resides in Orillia, Ontario.