What Makes A Hot Rod A Hot Rod?

We use the term Hot Rod quite a bit through this magazine and don’t really think much of it. Car builders and the automotive industry have used it for decades for a wide range of things but what does hot rod really mean?

Based on the popular usages, hot rod is a word used for an American made muscle car using American made drivetrain components. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a car that has been changed so that it can be driven and raced at very fast speeds.” Which doesn’t really specify the origin of the vehicle or the components used within it.

In 1992, legendary Boyd Coddington seriously put the word to the test. A world renowned hot rod builder built this amazing yellow one-off car for Larry Erickson, an automotive designer for Cadillac. Dubbed the Aluma Coupe, this car was specifically designed as a mid-engine car with styling cues from the Pierson Brother’s 1934 Ford coupe and the chopped 1930 Ford Model A coupe by Art Chrisman. The Aluma Coupe was a head turner from the start.

When it came time to decide a powerplant, Mitsubishi stepped in. Mitsubishi was looking for a way to show off their parts and reached out to Coddington and his team, who ended up dropping in a transverse mounted 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse turbo-charged 16-valve 2.0L 4 cylinder and a 1990 Mitsubishi Galant Transmission. Running at about 320 horsepower, this little powerplant could easily keep the car up at the front of the pack against most traditional V8 powered muscle cars.

So what do you think? Is the Aluma Coupe an abomination that should have a V8 dropped in? Or is it good to run as is? Being 20 plus years later, there are obviously higher horsepower motors easily available on either side of the import/domestic fence. Let us know what you think and what you’d do with a car like this!