ABSTRACT
Robert Boyle defined the hot rod cult as the most popular form of “automobilism” (a term denoting a devout interest in cars entirely apart from their use as transportation). Hot rodding developed rapidly from the late 1940s, when there were only 3,000 hot rodders in the United States, to an estimated one and a half million by the early 1960s, the peak period of the craze. Their impact included the spending of more than $250 million per annum on car-related products as well as influencing automotive design; the Chrysler 300 represented but one mass-produced line incorporating hot rod innovations.
